Liar, Liar

Let me get this out there right off the bat: I was NEVER a fan of Roger Clemens. But, much like Brett Favre, I respected his accomplishments and always included him in a conversation about the greatest pitchers of all-time.

Notice the use of past tense in that paragraph.

Now, let me also make it perfectly clear that I think Clemens is a steroid user. I think his numbers are tainted the same way I think Barry Bonds should still be somewhere around 647 career home runs.

Clemens is as guilty as (new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl) Marisa Miller is hot.

I don’t necessarily hate him for that, however; I hate him because he’s wasting my time and yours.

Since the Mitchell Report was released on Dec. 13, Clemens has vehemently denied that he used steroids and performance enhancing drugs by:
‡issuing a formal statement
‡releasing a video statement on his web site
‡doing an interview on 60 minutes
‡holding his own press conference to play a recorded phone conversation between himself and his accuser, Brian McNamee
‡releasing a statistical analysis with scientific data to prove his career didn’t take an unnatural curve at the end, and
‡meeting with members of congress one-on-one and sitting before congress on Feb. 13.

Sorry, but when some of your best seasons occur between the ages of 40-45, I’d call that just a tad bit out of the ordinary. Players not hiked up on HGH and steroids don’t do that. It’s called aging, and that is natural.

By my count, that’s roughly 6 hours of my life that could have been spent doing better things—like cleaning my apartment or organizing my photo albums into alphabetical order.

Clemens cares so much about public opinion--despite claiming that he doesn’t give a “rat’s ass” about the Hall of Fame—that it makes me sick. Now, I think Clemens is also one of the dumbest people alive. It’s been proven time and time again that all the public wants is the truth and an apology and it will all go away.

Does anyone outside Colorado still hate Kobe Bryant for committing adultery—and probably raping that woman? No, because he apologized and cried his way out of it.

Is Jason Giambi still being booed in stadiums across the country? No, because he apologized. Although we still can’t be entirely sure what for.

Are people making as big a deal over Andy Pettite’s admitted use of HGH? No, because he came out right away and admitted to it and apologized for it.

To me, Pettite and Chuck Knoblauch’s admissions are all I need to know about Clemens’ reported use. By no means is McNamee a saint, and his credibility certainly came into question at the congressional hearings.

With that being said, the one thing he seems to have a firm grip on is whom he did and did not inject with illegal substances. Even Roger’s wife, Debbie, says McNamee is telling the truth about her use of HGH before a photo shoot that had her posing in a bikini.

So, McNamee is a cool 3-for-3. I seriously doubt the only one he lied about is Roger Clemens. If it wasn’t true, why put his name in with the rest in the first place?

When Clemens’ best support to date comes from Jose Canseco with regards to not being present at a BBQ where McNamee claims the two discussed steroid use, I can’t help but laugh. One thing we can be sure of is that Canseco will write and say anything to be put in the public eye, especially if there’s some benefit for him (monetarily or otherwise).

If Clemens and Canseco were, in fact, present at a social gathering should we really expect Canseco to remember years later? His body was filled with so many illegal things, who knows where his mind was at any point--especially when he could be enjoying a fine cigar and taking down some alcohol on top of that. Besides, Canseco never struck me as the brightest candle on the Menorah.

As I’ve stated many times in the past, this is all just the start to the fallout of a dark era of baseball—the Steroid Era. Yet, I find it fitting that the two players that benefited most and the two that catapulted themselves into debates regarding their all-time status—Bonds and Clemens—are the two in the most serious trouble.

For the last 20 years, children had posters of these two hanging on their walls. I feel sorry for them. Their idols are cheaters, liars and arrogant jerks. I won’t feel sorry for Bonds or Clemens, both of whom may wind up behind bars in the future. Perjury charges have already been brought against Bonds and may be against Clemens as well since either he or McNamee must have lied under oath.

Now that would make for a great photo on the cover of a magazine. The best power hitter and the best pitcher of their generation in a jail cell.

Lets conveniently place their posters on the wall to give the cell a more homey feeling.

NEXT WEEK I’ll begin my 2008 MLB Preview with a division-by-division rundown going from baseball’s worst division to its best!