These Sports Figures Could Not Stay Retired

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Parcells' first two comebacks worked out well: he led the Patriots to a Super Bowl in 1996, just three years after taking over as head coach, and Jerry Jones lured Parcells out of a three-year retirement in 2003 to coach the Cowboys to three winning seasons in four years. Success in his third comeback attempt, turning around Miami, which went 1-15 in 2007, might take longer.
After completing the second of the Bulls' two three-peats in 1998, Jackson walked away unsure if he would find another ''basketball challenge'' to accept. But after a year off, he returned to coach the Lakers, leading Shaq and Kobe to a three-peat from 2000 to '02 before stepping down two years later. Of course, he came back to L.A. again the following year, and reached the NBA Finals two seasons later.
The Rocket flirted with retirement before each of his three seasons with the Houston Astros and waited until May 2007 to announce his final comeback with the Yankees. Clemens won his seventh Cy Young after his first retirement in 2004, but his 2008 season netted just a 4.18 ERA and 6-6 record.
Jordan's first comeback, after a stint in minor league baseball, resulted in three straight championships for the Bulls. His second comeback brought a new uniform and a somewhat diminished image as the Washington Wizards missed the playoffs during both of Jordan's seasons.
With rumors circulating of a third failed drug test, Williams retired and sat out the 2004 season before returning to the Dolphins in 2005. He finished the season averaging 4.4 yards per carry with six touchdowns, but was later found to have tested positive for drugs again. While serving his one-year suspension, Williams played in Canada. He returned to the NFL in 2007, but suffered a season-ending injury just six carries into his first game back.
The New York State Boxing Commission forced Ali into early retirement at 25 when it revoked his boxing license for refusing to serve in the Army. Ali returned three years later to stage his epic trilogy with Joe Frazier, and returned from a second retirement at 37, only to get embarrassed by Larry Holmes.
After 10 years away from the ring, Foreman came back from his second retirement in 1988. In 1994, at 45, he reclaimed the heavyweight title he had lost to Muhammad Ali 20 years earlier.
A chronic wrist problem forced Howe to retire in 1971 after a 25-year NHL career, but he got back on the ice two years later for the newly formed World Hockey Association's Houston Aeros. At 51 he signed with the NHL's newest team, the Hartford Whalers, and scored 15 goals in 80 games while helping the Whalers make the playoffs.
The former heavyweight champ retired in 1986 after a second loss to light-heavyweight champion Michael Spinks. Lured by a $3 million payday, Holmes made a comeback to fight Mike Tyson in '88 but lost in a fourth-round knockout and retired again. Coming back in '91, Holmes would eventually lose title bids against Evander Holyfield ('92) and Oliver McCall ('95) before beating Eric "Butterbean" Esch in 2002. He retired for good at 52, ending his 29-year career with a 69-6 record.
Forced to leave hockey for two months after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1993, Lemieux returned to win the league's overall scoring record. Retiring again in '97, Lemieux maintained a position in the Penguins front office before returning to the ice in 2000 to finish with the league's best points-per-game average. Despite becoming the primary owner of the Penguins, Lemieux continued to play until his final retirement in '06.
In 1998, White retired after playing in two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers and being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Two years later he was back on the field as a Carolina Panther, finishing the season with six sacks and 16 tackles before retiring again.
No athlete is known for having more comebacks than Sugar Ray Leonard. His first retirement was in 1982 after he suffered a detached retina in his left eye. He returned a year later but re-retired after a fight with Kevin Howard. Leonard's next return, in '86, only lasted one fight as he beat Marvin Hagler in a split decision. In typical Leonard fashion, that retirement was only temporary and he came back in '88 before announcing two more retirements following loses to Terry Norris in '91 and Hector `Macho' Camacho in '97.

Who Do You Believe? Roger Clemons or Brian McNamee

Wow! I watched the entire hearing on ESPN and still have no idea who is lying more Roger Clemons or Brian McNamee. At times, I thought Roger was looking good, innocent, and felt sorry for him, then I thought he was obviously covering his own butt. Especially the nanny situation. Yes, he did help them out by finding her, but anyone can figure out why he wanted to get to her first. He wanted to see what she was going to say. That still doesn't sit too well with me right now and I love Clemons. I don't want his image to become tainted.

McNamee on the other hand is lying through his teeth, but I don't think he was made to lie about Clemons or anyone else. His statements about Clemons seem to be true and he has no problem telling them. It seems he was lying at first to protect Clemons, then Roger went public with a tape of a phone conversation and that pissed McNamee off, so he decided to cooperate with federal officials. By lying through his teeth, I mean that he is just a plain liar. His history proves that he is a liar.

Now, if this would go to court, there is no way that McNamee would be a crediable witness. Clemons would not be found guilty by a jury of his peers. I think Clemons struggled to wheezle his way out of early questions and looked bad doing it. He even threw his wife under the bus for using HGH. Later in the day he seemed to change his story about whether or not he was at Canseco's house, not the party, but his house.

The big key in this whole trial was Andy Pettite's statement that Roger Clemons did talk to him about using HGH. His wife also left a statement about Clemons talking about HGH. The only problem with this is that he was not at today's hearing. He is considered a very honest man, but he was given a pass and did not have to show up today and physically shove the knife in Clemon's back. Notice, I said knife, not needle.

Now, it will be up to us, the public. What do we believe? I think that he has used it before, but I still think he is the best pitcher ever in MLB. I would still place him in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Somewhere, Barry Bonds is sitting around with a tremendous smile on his face.

read more about today's hearing click here

the entire Mitchell Report click here

Uh, Oh! Beer Cans, Needles, Steriods, HGH? Not Roger Clemons!

As Roger Clemons goes door to door trying to get each member of the House Committe on his side, a bomb was about to drop a few floors below when Brian McNamee opened his folder and showed two photographs of what he thinks will destroy Roger Clemons.
McNamee was on Capitol Hill to meet with the House Committee about the Mitchell Report and his part in it. He had already turned over the hard evidence to prosecutors, but brought his own pictures with him. This was obviously the first time anyone knew of, heard of, or saw the pictures.
Clemons was meeting with each Committee member individually. Huh, wonder what that is all about? Maybe he is trying to get some clean DNA or something. If he wants to clear his name with the McNamee situation, then give a sample of his DNA and clear his name once and for all. At least with Brian McNamee.
A lot of questions are being asked about McNamee and why he held onto the evidence for so many years. I don't care if he used to be a cop or not. Why are you holding on to stuff that should be thrown in the "red hazard bag" and disposed of immediately? What do think about all of this?
Here is a description of the pictures from http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3235046
One photo shows a beer can that Emery said was taken out of a trash can in Clemens' New York apartment in 2001. Emery said the beer can contained needles used to inject Clemens. That picture also shows what Emery said was gauze used to wipe blood off Clemens after a shot.
The other photo shows vials of what Emery said were testosterone, and unused needles -- items the attorney said Clemens gave to McNamee.