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I’m back with another edition of spring training notes. But first, remember that you have until 5:00 p.m. today to make your suggestions for the Houston Astros 2008 marketing slogan. So get them in now.

Speaking of suggested slogans, Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com had an article on the whole Rocket circus the other day. And he suggested that with Rocket, Tejada and Pettitte associated with the team, the Astros should have a Plea Bargain Night. And a friend of mine suggested the team could give out the cards of bails bondsmen to the first 10,000 fans. Which gave me an idea for a slogan: Astros Baseball: Plea Bargain 2008.

But on with the fun.

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With only 22 games left in the season, the Houston Aeros are caught in a dogfight. A dogfight for a spot in the AHL playoffs. And after last night’s 1-0 victory over the Lake Erie Monsters, the Aeros are now in a tie for that last spot.

Barry Brust got his second shut-out of the season, and his second shut-out in the row as the Aeros won their fourth straight game. Joel Ward scored the game’s lone goal midway through the second period. This was the third time this season the Aeros have had to back-to-back shutout victories. And their record after 58 games is now 31-22-2-3.

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The FBI has just announced that it is opening an investigation into whether former Red Sox / Blue Jay / Yankee / Astro / Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens lied to Congress regarding questioning on steroid use.

The investigation will be conducted by the Washington Field Office of the FBI, and follows yesterday's Congressional request to the Justice Department to investigate whether Clemens did lie.

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I know I’ve been hard on the Astros so far. And truth is, they really suck. But I’ve got to thank the good people at Texas Monthly for giving me a little perspective. Because, you see, no matter how much the Astros suck, at least they’re not the Texas Rangers.

As the article reminds us, despite the Astros failure to ever win a World Series, they have actually gone to a World Series. The Astros, despite trying to rebuild without rebuilding, aren’t the Rangers who have seemingly spent their entire existence rebuilding. The Astros might just be dealing with the fallout from Rocket and Andy and Miguel Tejada, but at least they never gave a home to Jose Canseco. And at least the Astros never had a steroid-user write a tell-all in which the team played a prominent role.

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Okay, it's official. Congress today asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens lied under oath.

So, if the Yao Ming news was the worst news that Rocket attorney Rusty Hardin has heard in weeks, as he told the Chron, I wonder where this news will rank. Once again, just allow me to say that you've done a great job, Rusty. Has your nearly dead career flashed before your eyes, yet?

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“Why us?”

“Here we go again.”

Chances are those exact thoughts filtered through the mind of each and every member of the Houston Rockets organization upon first hearing the news that franchise center Yao Ming would be lost for the season due to a stress fracture in his left foot. You could hardly blame them for momentarily bemoaning their misfortune. After all, the timing of Yao’s injury couldn’t be worse; coinciding as it does with the Rockets most inspired play in more than a decade.

But give the team credit. Armed with every imaginable excuse to turn Tuesday night’s game against visiting Washington into a giant group pity party, the Rockets opted for a block party instead; rejecting shot after shot on their way to a resounding 94-69 win over the Wizards—Houston’s 13th consecutive victory.

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JCF: What on earth went through your mind when you first heard the news?

DM: I think I went through the five stages of grief in record time. Actually, I was stuck on denial for quite awhile until the doctors explained the severity of the problem.

But I think it’s what goes through fans’ minds: It’s shock and disbelief because there was no event that led to it. We go into the season planning to be ready for injuries to both those guys, but the plan really is to have them available in the playoffs. So at the start, the hope was there was going to be some chance for him to return and the doctors quickly dismissed that idea after explaining the injury.

JCF: And when you say “both those guys” I assume you mean Tracy and Yao?

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I know you're not going to believe me on this, but really, I want to leave this whole Roger Clemens steroids / HGH thing alone. I'd much rather write about how the Astros are really going to suck this year. But stuff just keeps happening.

Rocket is reporting to Astros minor league camp today to spend a couple of days throwing at the heads of minor leaguers -- including Rocket Son, who he's thrown at in the past. But Rocket has made it clear to Astros officials that he will not be speaking to the media -- I guess Mike Wallace won't be around to ask him softball stuff, though I'm sure Jose de Jesus Ortiz would gladly do the job.

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Standing next to Yao Ming’s locker Sunday night, I saw the big man grimace as he slid his injured left foot into a tub of ice. He was obviously in pain, but he’d also just put in another 36 minutes at the office. He said his ankle was giving him some trouble, but he never gave any indication it could be something more sinister. Besides, at this point in the season, nearly every player is nursing an assortment of aches and pains. Bags of ice are just as ubiquitous an accessory as the iPhones and other gadgets athletes can’t live without.

Now we know. Stress fracture. Season over. Championship dreams erased. The good vibes and great hope of 48 hours ago might as well be from another lifetime.

The avalanche of questions is already upon us. Are the playoffs still possible? Can the Rockets recover? Do they have to change their identity midstream? Is that even possible? There are no easy answers. But unfortunately, those aren’t even the truly difficult questions.

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I hope Jason doesn't mind my getting in on his basketball beat, but...

The Rockets are holding a press conference later today to announce that All-Star center Yao Ming will be missing the rest of the season (and post-season) due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

I'll let Jason come along later to break down what this means to the team. But if you ask me, I think it means the Rockets can kiss the playoffs goodbye. -- John Royal

Before I go further, I just want to remind everyone of the contest for the Astros marketing slogan for the 2008 season. Remember, we’re taking entries until 5:00 p.m. Friday, so you still have time to submit if you haven’t already.

One of the things I like about spring training, besides it meaning that baseball is close at hand, is reading all of the notes from across the majors and finding what the clubs are planning to do for the season. So I’ve decided to do a little spring training notes column of my own, putting my own little spin on things that I see.

So, let’s get to it….

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Welcome to today’s edition of good things happening to bad people. Otherwise known as the baseball injury blotter.

Our first entry belongs to one Brandon Backe. Backe, who’s been recovering from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss most of the 2006-2007 seasons, was slotted for a shot in the Astros starting rotation. On Saturday, he was struck in the right foot by a line drive, causing a bone bruise which will cause him to miss his first spring training start. This serves to further throw the Astros rotation into chaos and might open the door even wider signing Rockie / Yankee / Pirate reject Shawn Chacon.

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The Aeros had lost three straight games heading into this weekend, but now they’re on a three-game winning streak. They defeated the Syracuse Crunch 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night. They defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, and yesterday they shutout the Rochester Americans 4-0.

The win streak has upped the Aeros record to 30-22-2-3 with 65 points. This puts them in a fifth-place tie in the AHL’s West Division with the Milwaukee Admirals. And the team is now one point behind the Peoria Rivermen for fourth place in the Division. The win streak has also put the Aeros back into the playoffs. Of course, with over a month left in the season, the Aeros and a playoff spot are not a sure thing.

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As sports fans, we can never leave well enough alone. We’re always in search of the next something. The next Jordan, Magic, Bird, whomever. For whatever reason, we never allow the past, present or future to simply stand on its own. It’s absurd.

And yet… one thought kept racing around my mind while watching the Rockets roll to a 110-97 victory over Chicago Sunday night: Shane Battier is the next Bruce Bowen. Think about it. Like the Spurs’ stopper, Battier always guards the opponent’s best perimeter player, and, more often than not, he aces that assignment. He absolutely adores the corner trey, Bowen’s bread-and-butter shot. And while it’s safe to assume he’ll never acquire Bowen’s “dirty” label, Battier’s got more than a few tricks up his sleeve; just watch the way his hand always darts right in front of a jump-shooter’s eyes the moment the ball is about to be released.

Bowen and Battier are the ultimate glue guys. They don’t win games of one-on-one, but they do help their teams hang banners. Fans recognize that; at least they usually do. When the Rockets are winning, the Duke product is a pretty popular dude. Everyone appreciates his hustle and praises him for all the little things he does that don’t show up in boxscores. But during the bad times, well, get ready to be pummeled by an onslaught of Rudy Gay references.

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CBS News must have a thing for former Houston sportscasters. First it was Hannah Storm who, for several years, anchored CBS’s The Early Show. Now it’s Chris Wragge.

Who?

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