I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)

Poor K-Rod.  Baby hurt his thumb beating somebody up.  Poor Roger.  Baby's feelings were hurt.  We have two cases here of people who, if they had followed the old adage, "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me," might not be facing criminal charges today. 

K-Rod, alias Francisco Rodriguez, should have thought before hitting his common-law wife's father.  Whether Frankie slipped afterward and tore ligaments in his thumb or messed the large digit up during the alleged pounding, the real issue is he never should have been in that predicament in the first place.  It's not just K-Rod who should have known better.  It's the wife of his children.  It's the man allegedly beaten up.  It's K-Rod's mother.  Everyone should have been aware of these thoughts:

1.  K-Rod is making millions of dollars and was/is contractually obligated to earn many more millions over the next couple of years.

Therefore...

2.  Any action the young man took to jeopardize those many millions should have probably been avoided.

Why?

3.  Trickle down economics.  Even if the girlfriend/common-law-wife and K-Rod broke up tomorrow, unless there's some sort of pre-nup for people who aren't married, the common-law status of the woman entitled/entitles her to millions of those dollars, some of which would land in the pockets of her father.

So what's going to happen?  My crystal ball says:

1.  K-Rod will still be pitching for the Mets in 2011.  Nothing goes right for that organization these days.  They'd love to shed the contract.  Which means they're stuck with it.  He'll still make his money.  Oh, and he'll still show periods of greatness.  And some periods of not-so-goodness.

2.  K-Rod will get probation of some sort, do 150 hours of community service and move on.

3.  He'll be served a civil suit by the father-in-law and settle.  The millions will end up in making their way around lawyers now as well.

Then there's Roger Clemens.  He was served an indictment on August 19th for allegedly lying to Congress when he testified in front of them back in 2008.

Here's a guy who had it all.  Gorgeous wife, athletic kids, many, many millions of dollars, millions of fans, a home, healthy, and a nice Hummer courtesy of Los Yankees.  His image was of a man who worked hard during his career.  He was an incredible competitor, intense, and was incredibly successful because of that attitude.

It all came crashing down with The Mitchell Report.

Once he was named, Roger Clemens took the opposite route of Andy Pettitte, who admitted the allegations were true and is basically unscathed these days (we can't blame his groin problem on HgH).  Even A-Rod, later, admitted he used.  Since, he's won a World Series and hit his 600th home run.  His reputation is more soiled than Pettitte's, but Yankees Stores are still selling Alex Rodriguez shirts to young kids and Fifth Avenue business men.

But Roger...  Oh, Roger.  That pigheaded stubborness has gotten him in way deep.  You don't want to piss off Congress, which he did.  You don't really want to go head-to-head against them.  Politics is power, moreso than money, because you need money to survive in politics.  You need a huge ego to survive in politics.  You need a competitive spirit to lead you past anyone who tries to beat you.  The people responsible for indicting Roger Clemens are versions of Roger Clemens who never wore pinstripes.  Do you think the folks in Congress don't know how to fight?  Do you think they don't have the drive that Clemens has to win this fight?  If you do, if he does, then you're all wrong.  This will be a big fight.  It's going to drag on for a year, maybe two or three years.  Congress is going to spend millions on this battle.  Clemens will spend millions as well. 

Who's going to win?

In a way, Congress already has.  Roger Clemens is a punchline now.  In the court of public opinion, there's enough circumstantial evidence to shed doubt on the man's mound legacy.  Yes, he was great.  One of the best of all-time.  Maybe he got some help via the needle.  Even if we're not sure, we believe that it's possible.  In our world, that's a conviction.  He won't serve time in jail.  But his retirement years won't be what he'd hoped. 

Roger Clemens and K-Rod - two men fighting the law.  It's already won.