News item: Major League Baseball has accepted the recommendation of steroid investigator George Mitchell and created a permanent investigative unit to monitor drug use in the sport.
My take: Funny, I thought there already was a permanent investigative unit to monitor illegal drug use in sports. It's called the Justice Department - the same one that provided Mitchell with most of the real evidence for his report.
News item: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo takes the field against the New York Giants today after a barrage of public second-guessing over his decision to vacation in Mexico with Jessica Simpson during his team's playoff bye week.
My take: He really has painted a bull's eye on his forehead, but I doubt the Giants are going to hit it.
News item: Roger Clemens and his attorney played a tape recording of a telephone call between "The Rocket" and Brian McNamee, hoping the cryptic conversation would bolster Clemens' contention that his former personal trainer lied about injecting him with steroids and human growth hormone.
My take: Like everything else Clemens has done during this textbook case of bad crisis management, it only made things worse.
News item: Lawyer Rusty Hardin said during the news conference Monday that he initially thought McNamee contacted Clemens to try to "set Roger up."
My take: Interesting choice of words. If Clemens is innocent, how exactly was McNamee going to do that, by getting Clemens to accidentally admit to using steroids even though he didn't?
News item: The Ravens continue to interview candidates for their vacant head coaching position, but no clear front-runner has emerged.
My take: I don't know who it is going to be, but if it was going to be defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, you'd think we'd know it by now.
News item: Track star Marion Jones begged a judge to send her home to her children, but she was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about her steroid use and complicity in a check-fraud scam.
My take: There are a number of lessons to be learned from this, chief among them that it's probably not a good idea to take steroids and lie about it at the same time your friends are passing millions of dollars worth of counterfeit checks.
News item: Southern California coach Pete Carroll might have the best job in college football, but he apparently is a serious candidate to be the next Atlanta Falcons coach.
