When I’m not watching the news and being bombarded by the whole 2008 Election coverage, I flip over to anything sports, and get the same amount of coverage of the Roger Clemens/Brian McNamee hearings. First of all, let me say how much I’m enjoying the democratic side of the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Everyone is talking about how it’s a competition and sports-like and such, really the way these two have been going back and forth it’s like watching Pro-Wrestling. I liken Obama to “The Rock”, he’s so charismatic and the way he moves across the stage with such swagger, hell, he even has that same deep and sharp voice that The Rock has. When he starts getting on a roll during one of his “change” speeches, I expect at any second for him to proclaim that “The Obama is going to lay the SMACK DOWN on the Clinton Campaign at Tuesday’s primary, if you smell what Obama is cookin’!” Watching Hillary get into with him over the last couple months, is like watching Triple H feud with him during a promo. Clinton, in the opinion of most, looks like she has a mean streak in her and that she’s constantly pissed off and just lookin’ for a reason to go off, just like Triple H. She kinda snarls and snaps back just like him, they should call her the cerebral assassin because she’ll say and do anything to beat this guy. Obama better watch out as he gets up in the delegate votes column, Hillary may come out of nowhere with a pedigree or some kind of scandalous information on him at the last second.
Moving on, this particular entry was supposed to be about the whole steroid watch and such, so I’m going to get to that. I think it’s ridiculous how many of the news outlets are giving continuous coverage to the whole Roger Clemens saga. When you think about all the important things that happen in a community, is a professional athlete who may or may not be on steroids really the issue that you need to keep up with? I guess it could be worse, if they don’t cover this, it will only be more Britney Spears coverage in that time slot. Now I guess we’re all interested if Clemens “did it or not,” proving that Clemens is on steroids is going to be difficult though. Do I think that he’s on steroids? I don’t believe that he’s any more likely to be on them that anyone else in baseball, however, at this point I believe between 80-95% of the players are on them.
I do find it interesting how he has repeatedly and adamantly denied any steroid use. He has looked into the camera several times with the sternest of faces and said “I have never used steroids.” I can’t help but remember how this became the undoing of Rafael Palmeiro a while back.
Unfortunately, anytime an athlete’s name comes up in something controversial, we all just assume that their guilty, guilty until proven innocent is how the system works these days. If this weren’t a steroids issue, he’d probably get more leeway, but the fans are so outraged that anytime the word “steroid” is mentioned people automatically get angry. Although Clemens has been convicted in the court of public opinion, I don’t think they can get him on perjury or definitively prove that he’s used steroids. Trusting McNamee is like the old days when a former mob member would snitch on whichever gangster was on trial to bring him down, your taking the word of someone who is a criminal, a liar, and someone who is only saying something to save themself, they didn’t come out voluntarily either. Even if Clemens is found guilty you can understand wanting to be better and save his career, but McNamee is nothing more than a common drug dealer on the street. He makes a living off of supplying people with something that destroys their bodies. Then he’s lower than the person who is cheating by doing steroids, because he supplied the steroids, and has the nerve to rat them out.
I think it’s hilarious how Congress has put so much time into the steroids issue over the last couple of years. You have at least half of the country struggling to feed and clothe their families, we’re at war, people are getting killed on every street in some places, and the most important issue that comes to mind is a bunch of millionaires using steroids? Give me a break Congress, your not doing your job. Then it was announced that Andy Pettite wasn’t going to testify during the hearing because they didn’t want to turn the “friends” against each other? Forgive me, but I can’t remember a time within the last 20 years or so, where Congress was worried about ruining the “friendships” of people that were accused of being involved in wrongdoing?
Just like how George Mitchell put together the now infamous Mitchell Report. All these guys could care less about steroid use, their just using this as a way to gain notoriety because they have future aspirations of holding a larger political office, like the presidency. The Mitchell Report was a joke as well, it’s nothing more than a bunch of second and third hand accounts of people taking steroids. Again, most of the information was also obtained by former users, so I have a hard time believing people who were cheaters themselves or second-hand accounts of use, because then it becomes he said/she said.
My favorite part of this is the fact that McNamee alleges that Clemens’s wife took HGH for a Sports Illustrated Photo Shoot. Really? Now we not only have to worry about our favorite players and heroes taking steroids, we have to worry about our girlfriends and wives being on them too? My question is what does HGH actually do for a woman? With a guy, it helps you build muscle and can speed up the recovery process. I miss the old days where all you had to worry about with a woman is if those were really her breasts or not? Now we don’t know if those are really her muscles or not too? Unsettling. And you thought she was moody for at least a week each month before, most guys would be fearing for their lives if HGH found its way into her medicine cabinet? If this becomes the norm, I guess we can tack on another half hour of lateness to events in the future, because now she has to wash her hair, dry it, curl it, put on make-up, and pick out her outfit, and inject herself with HGH, thank a lot Roger.
As much talk as there has been about Mrs. Clemens being on HGH, I’m just waiting for it to come out that they have found syringes in his dog’s house during a seizure. HGH is the only possible explanation for owning a 200lb French Poodle named Kisses who attacks like a Bulldog. I wonder if they’ll try to link his son Koby Clemens to the steroid investigation along with his father? I guess we’ll find out during the scrutinizing coverage that is sure to occupy the airwaves for at least another month or so.
On a semi-related note, I love that John Rocker has said that Bud Selig, MLB doctors, and the players association knew that he was on steroids back in 2000. Rocker has said he wasn’t on steroids before, now he is saying that he was, I’m convinced this guy just loves attention. I do believe that all those people know or have known of players who have been on steroids, but I don’t know if I believe Rocker was one of them. We all know by now, that the League, the franchise owners, and anyone else with a financial stake in Major League Baseball wants steroids. Perception is that it makes players better, they jump higher, hit more homers, more runs being scored, more entertaining, more viewers, and bottom line, more money for everyone who has a stake. All those people care about is the money, when the players get old or can’t hit anymore, or die, they get young guys and repeat the cycle, so they could care less no matter how ethical that is. If baseball wanted steroids out for good, they would get the people who test at the Olympics, and while that would not completely rid the sport, it would get it down to a much smaller percentage. Steroids are here to stay until baseball gets someone who really wants to make the game pure again, when Cal Ripken Jr.’s kids go off to college, if baseball wants to survive, I’d put in a call to him. Back to Rocker though, let’s not forget he was known for his controversial and hateful remarks about New Yorkers in the past, Rocker may have just said those things to get attention back then. Every time we go a couple of years without hearing something from the controversial ex-pitcher, he comes out to try to stir the pot...we may be able to take at least some truth from Jose Canseco, but John Rocker is nothing more than a modern day cook in a small town known for embellishing stories to get attention and getting ran off. Let’s stop giving this guy media coverage and focus on what is important, like the news coverage of the election or Roger Clemens...
One more thing, I’ll never believe steroids make you that much better though or completely account for a lack of talent. You have to at least still be pretty good for steroids to make you or help you get any better. My proof is look at all the Orioles who have been linked to steroids over the past few years, if all those people were on steroids, why have the Orioles lost for 10 straight seasons? They don’t make you that much better, end of story.
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