Posted on July 23rd, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
Once again, it’s time to check off some items on my “TIDU List” — Things I Don’t Understand:
• How Steve Williams can complain about the timing of his firing.
He earned an estimated $20 million on Tiger Woods‘ bag alone, which would place him around 32nd on the PGA Tour career money list. Yet, Williams had the nerve to whine about being dismissed, saying “I’ve stuck by him through thick and thin” and “I’ve wasted two years of my life, the last two years.”
Please. Elin showed more class, and she was actually aggrieved.
• Why anyone’s surprised that Albert Haynesworth plans to show up.
He’s already in danger of losing $847,000 unless he wins the appeal of last season’s four-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the club.” There’s no way he’d risk losing more money — while making himself less desirable to interested teams – by failing to report when training camp opens. He’ll probably be on his best behavior.
Not because everyone’s watching, but to drive Mike Shanahan crazy.
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Posted on July 22nd, 2011
By VANESSA W. SNYDER
The b-word has been circulating around my house off and on for several years, but it’s getting a little louder now and I am forced to address it.
In my mind, my girls are too young (15 and 12) to be thinking about the b-word. I didn’t even want to hear it at one point because the very thought scared me so bad. I had decided that the b-word would not be discussed until at least junior year of high school.
Silly me.
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Posted on July 20th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
Soccer lovers in the U.S. have a chip on their shoulders and with good reason, miffed that their sport isn’t as beloved here as it is worldwide. But they aren’t the only fans frustrated by America’s particular taste.
The world’s favorite team sports, based on total fan rankings by www.mostpopularsports.net, are soccer, cricket, field hockey, volleyball and baseball. In the U.S., it’s baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer.
So fans of “the beautiful game” have to get in line when lodging complaints that America doesn’t get it. At least they have Major League Soccer and the fledging Women’s Professional Soccer to provide a fix. There aren’t many domestic options for spectators in search of pros wielding wickets or spiking sets.
The just-concluded Women’s World Cup gave soccer its every-four-years booster shot that doesn’t exist for many sports outside of the Olympics. And the U.S. team’s thrilling performance was a big hit at home, generating huge TV ratings and saturation coverage in print, cyberspace and broadcast reports. Predictably, thoughts have turned to what it might mean for women’s soccer here, and U.S. soccer overall.
Unfortunately for diehards, it won’t result in a dramatic reshuffling of our pro sports preferences. Soccer will still trail baseball, football, basketball and hockey, and women’s pro soccer still will struggle to be viable.
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Posted on July 20th, 2011
By VANESSA W. SNYDER
If you want to avoid drama later, teach your children to do chores and demand consistency early. I didn’t do that and now I’m having a hard time getting them to comply.
I’m not sure what I was thinking by not insisting that my girls do chores regularly over the years. Sure, they’ve done them here and there, but never as part of an established routine. Maybe it’s because I love to cook and enjoy being in the kitchen doing the mommy/wife thing. Who knows?
The problem is, they’re likely to be in a dormitory a few years from now and might be ill-prepared to meet their domestic needs. So now I’m on the fast-track with them. We’re following a schedule for cleaning the kitchen, as well as the bathroom and bedroom. It’s not easy because I never insisted that they do so on a consistent basis.
Consistency is one of those parenting terms that ‘s tough sometimes. However, if you’re like me and you’re a little late in implementing chore requirements, don’t give up. Remember, they’re still living in your house!
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Posted on July 8th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
In deciding to voluntarily testify before Congress in 2008, Roger Clemens displayed little intelligence and insulted our own. Now everyone has to pay as baseball, yet again, is dragged through its Steroid Era.
The federal trial taking place at 333 Constitution Ave. would be totally unnecessary if Clemens had exercised a smidgen of common sense. He should’ve either clammed up or ‘fessed up when his name appeared in the Mitchell Report, baseball’s independent investigation into steroid use in the game.
But no, not the “Rocket,” not a mean and ornery Texan who couldn’t stand the thought of admitting he wasn’t as big and bad as his image suggested.
No one forced Clemens to file a defamation lawsuit against his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, who claims he injected ‘roids into Clemens‘ butt on multiple occasions. The seven-time Cy Young winner didn’t have to hold a news conference and play a secretly recorded phone call with McNamee that proved nothing. And Clemens wasn’t obligated to sit down with the venerable Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes” and vehemently deny ever using performance-enhancing drugs.
But those bonehead decisions were merely wild pitches, none of which led to Clemens‘ presence in U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton’s courtroom the past couple of days. The reason he’s facing possible jail time is the high and tight offerings to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, even though he was told he didn’t have to testify.
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