Heroes and Thieves

In her song by that name, Vanessa Carlton sings

Heroes and thieves at my door
I'm not sure that I can tell them apart anymore. . .

Exhibit A:

Major League Baseball Players of the "Performance in a Syringe" Era. Look here for a breakdown of how the fifteen ESPN.com writers who have Hall of Fame votes voted, most particularly for (or not for) Mark McGwire. Kudos to Peter Gammons for taking a stand, and brickbats to toadies Tim Kurkjian, Buster Olney and Jayson Stark for not doing so. And, of course, there was Roger Clemens' press conference yesterday. Who do you believe? Is Clemens a hero worthy of the Hall. . . or worthy of WWE?

Exhibit B:

The Lords of the BCS. They thought they were doing everyone a favor by creating this concocted system, but they're wrong. Why is it that Divisions I-AA, II and III have wonderful playoff systems and Division I-A can't get out of its own way? Instead of creating galvanizing playoff games, we were left with watching meaningless (and bad) bowl gams (okay, Michigan, you're an exception) and a national championship game that almost became an afterthought because a) it was held after the first weekend of NFL playoffs and b) Roger Clemens' press conference almost eclipsed the game. Sense. . . or nonsense?

The lists of exhibits can go on and on, but I think that Vanessa Carlton has coined an epitaph for an unsettled generation in sports.

And that's a shame, because there are some truly good guys and people out there who have always done the right thing and continue to do so. Most recently, though, a good amount of confusion reigns.