Let's get a forensics team on this one right away. OK, never mind. It's probably not that important.
But it's safe to say the only people who know for sure whether Ravens fullback Le'Ron McClain spit in the face of Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder Sunday are McClain, Crowder and any teammates lucky enough -- if that's the phrase -- to see saliva spray from one player to the other.
I know, I know . . . is this a grown-up conversation we're having in the Toy Dept today or what?
To recap: in the aftermath of the Ravens 26-10 beatdown of the Dolphins, Crowder said McClain spit on him during a timeout late in the third quarter.
McClain, summoning just the right amount of righteous indignation, said initially in the post-game locker room that he didn't do it and would never do something like that and how could you even think that of him.
"We were right in each other's face, but I didn't spit on him," McClain said. Pause. "I sure wasn't trying, if I did."
Was McClain talking with his fingers crossed behind his back? Would he swear to that on a stack of bibles? Maybe we'll never know.
The referees obviously didn't see him spit, since they didn't flag him for it. But on the replay, it looked as if McClain's head snapped forward at one point in the classic motion of, well, a spitter.
The spitee -- Crowder, in this case -- angered the Ravens by walking through their huddle to call the time-out, never a wise thing to do. (They might also have been ticked with Crowder for calling their 36-year-old wide receiver, Derrick Mason, "the old guy" earlier in the week.)
I suppose you could chalk up the whole thing to the rush of testosterone in the heat of battle, or whatever other tired metaphor you care to use.
And who knows if the NFL will be handing down any fines if they decide to look into the incident more closely?
But one thing's for sure: neither of these teams will be forgetting "Spitgate" anytime soon.
That's the kind of thing that can carry over to the next time the two teams meet.
"If (NFL commissioner Roger) Goodell doesn't do anything and we see (McClain), he's going down," Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby was quoted as saying in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. "We'll see him on the street and we'll handle it like men. One way or another, we'll get it done."
But hopefully without spitting on each other.
