craigdailypress.com

I really don't know what to make of the Roger Clemens incident.

On one hand, I can see the irony of one of the greatest professional baseball players of all time getting tossed from a Little League game.

On the other hand, I'm amazed that a story about such a minor incident could consume so many professional journalists at once.

On Monday, the phone rang non-stop here at the Daily Press.

ESPN, CNN, Inside Edition, Good Morning America, radio stations, network affiliates in Denver, Houston and Bakersfield, Calif., and tabloids in New York all called, wanting more details than I could provide.

Who was the ump who tossed Clemens? Did anyone shoot video of the altercation? Did we have a picture we could e-mail to them?

At first, I admit it was kind of neat to be connected to the Big Story of the Day. But as the phone calls mounted and I couldn't focus on my own newspaper because of an endless stream of interruptions, it really made me stop and wonder.

What's the big deal?

Why should Clemens be scrutinized for getting on an ump's case -- something other fathers do all the time without making headlines.

Doesn't that make the Daily Press guilty of sensationalism? After all, we broke the story. I don't think so. Clemens is a high-profile celebrity and in Craig, Colo., the mere fact that he was in town was news. So I could certainly justify writing a story for our paper about something that happened here.

But I thought the reaction from the national media was a little over the top.

I'm a huge baseball fan. I thought it was neat just to get a glimpse of a living legend. And I thought it was unfair that Clemens couldn't watch his son play in peace. During the game, he was constantly approached for autographs. He signed a lot of baseballs over the weekend.

He seems like a devoted father. He structured his contract so he could spend time away from the Houston Astros when he's not pitching and watch his sons play the game he loves.

By the time you read this, it'll be yesterday's news.