25-Aug-2010 20:57 Gavin McDougald/ betED.com
He?s not going down without a fight. You?ve got to hand it to him for that at least.
That said? is Roger Clemens in-frikin-sane?
Last week the multiple-Cy Young award winner was indicted in U.S. federal court, charged with lying to Congress about never taking steroids. Immediately afterwards he stated, through his team of lickspittle attorneys, that he would prove his innocence once and for all and was looking forward to his day in court.
Hilariously, that might even be true.
Roger might not be aware that federal courts rarely do anything unless they have a ton of compelling evidence with which to go forward. His lawyers certainly do, however they are either too money-hungry or cowed by their client to step in and tell him to basically shut up and cop a plea.
What he should have done, from day one, was to admit to congress that he was part of the steroid generation of baseball. Had he done that brave and simple thing when he appeared before John McCain et al, all he would have become is another statistic and would have been accepted as a co-conspirator with the rest of that era?s biggest names, i.e. Don Fehr, Bud Selig, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and on top of the list, Barry Bonds.
But his ego wouldn?t allow that.
He had to lie because he was Roger Clemens - the larger than life man with that multi-million dollar arm and the proverbial 10-cent head.
Now he?s positioned himself to become the face for all cheaters everywhere, and forever.
Barry Bonds holds that spot right now. He?s been relegated to a virtually hermit-like existence just a few years after he had established himself as not just the best baseball players of his time, but of all-time.
It was just six seasons ago that Bonds retired holding the record for home runs in a season and career. He set and still holds records for on-base percentage and slugging averages. At the plate he was unmatched by anyone who ever played the game, yet it turns out from 2000 to 2004, when he was posting those staggering totals, he was also doping with Nandralone and Dianabol like an alley-way crack addict.
Bonds never went to trial however. He was only convicted by the court of public opinion - the same thing that Clemens has already faced.
?The Steroid Era? that we?re talking about was from about 1997 to 2004. During those years Clemens won a total of four Cy Youngs ? to go with his previous three. Only three other pitchers had ever won four Cy Young awards, yet Rocket Roger won his last four when most pitchers his age had long since retired. The 2001 season in New York was the best of his life when he went 20-3 meaning he went 20-3 in the 24th year of his career. In 2005 he led the league for the lowest ERA at 1.87. He was 43 years old.
We all knew he was guilty without being proven so. Now he is going to go the more formal route ? and it will be the biggest circus the sport of baseball has ever seen.
The feds have a bloody syringe. They have the testimony of his former friend and trainer Brian McNamee. They can ask Andy Pettitte about he and Clemens swapping Human Growth Hormone (HGH) stories ? something Clemens insists Pettitte ?misremembers.? They can call on a list of shady characters that were the supply chain for the likes of Jose Canseco, Sosa and McGuire. They can (and should) get Selig up on the stand to expose his years of nod-and-a-wink culpability. CNN, MSNBC and Foxnews will run the trial live with full punditry in tow. Books will be written. Movies will be optioned.
It?s? gonna? be? HUGE!
And in the end Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his or perhaps any other generation, will be exposed as a complete and utter fraud.
He will become the standard bearer for cheaters everywhere and for always.
Going in, that?s not exactly what Clemens was looking for ? but at least his ego can be stoked with the knowledge he?s still No. 1 at something.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
He?s not going down without a fight. You?ve got to hand it to him for that at least.
That said? is Roger Clemens in-frikin-sane?
Last week the multiple-Cy Young award winner was indicted in U.S. federal court, charged with lying to Congress about never taking steroids. Immediately afterwards he stated, through his team of lickspittle attorneys, that he would prove his innocence once and for all and was looking forward to his day in court.
Hilariously, that might even be true.
Roger might not be aware that federal courts rarely do anything unless they have a ton of compelling evidence with which to go forward. His lawyers certainly do, however they are either too money-hungry or cowed by their client to step in and tell him to basically shut up and cop a plea.
What he should have done, from day one, was to admit to congress that he was part of the steroid generation of baseball. Had he done that brave and simple thing when he appeared before John McCain et al, all he would have become is another statistic and would have been accepted as a co-conspirator with the rest of that era?s biggest names, i.e. Don Fehr, Bud Selig, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and on top of the list, Barry Bonds.
But his ego wouldn?t allow that.
He had to lie because he was Roger Clemens - the larger than life man with that multi-million dollar arm and the proverbial 10-cent head.
Now he?s positioned himself to become the face for all cheaters everywhere, and forever.
Barry Bonds holds that spot right now. He?s been relegated to a virtually hermit-like existence just a few years after he had established himself as not just the best baseball players of his time, but of all-time.
It was just six seasons ago that Bonds retired holding the record for home runs in a season and career. He set and still holds records for on-base percentage and slugging averages. At the plate he was unmatched by anyone who ever played the game, yet it turns out from 2000 to 2004, when he was posting those staggering totals, he was also doping with Nandralone and Dianabol like an alley-way crack addict.
Bonds never went to trial however. He was only convicted by the court of public opinion - the same thing that Clemens has already faced.
?The Steroid Era? that we?re talking about was from about 1997 to 2004. During those years Clemens won a total of four Cy Youngs ? to go with his previous three. Only three other pitchers had ever won four Cy Young awards, yet Rocket Roger won his last four when most pitchers his age had long since retired. The 2001 season in New York was the best of his life when he went 20-3 meaning he went 20-3 in the 24th year of his career. In 2005 he led the league for the lowest ERA at 1.87. He was 43 years old.
We all knew he was guilty without being proven so. Now he is going to go the more formal route ? and it will be the biggest circus the sport of baseball has ever seen.
The feds have a bloody syringe. They have the testimony of his former friend and trainer Brian McNamee. They can ask Andy Pettitte about he and Clemens swapping Human Growth Hormone (HGH) stories ? something Clemens insists Pettitte ?misremembers.? They can call on a list of shady characters that were the supply chain for the likes of Jose Canseco, Sosa and McGuire. They can (and should) get Selig up on the stand to expose his years of nod-and-a-wink culpability. CNN, MSNBC and Foxnews will run the trial live with full punditry in tow. Books will be written. Movies will be optioned.
It?s? gonna? be? HUGE!
And in the end Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his or perhaps any other generation, will be exposed as a complete and utter fraud.
He will become the standard bearer for cheaters everywhere and for always.
Going in, that?s not exactly what Clemens was looking for ? but at least his ego can be stoked with the knowledge he?s still No. 1 at something.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
