Tuesday, January 08, 2008

More and More Like Barry ...

The big news story over here in the States is this whole Roger Clemens steroids situation. For those of you unfamiliar, Roger Clemens is arguably the best baseball pitcher of our generation – he has played for over 24 years, and with the exception of a few bad years in the mid 1990’s, the man has been more dominant than a pack of pitbulls in a nursery school.

A few weeks ago, a report conducted by a former U.S. senator, named Mr. Clemens (among many others) as a steroid user. The evidence was “procured” from a former trainer of Clemens. This past Sunday night on 60 Minutes (a popular “journalism” show), Clemens proclaimed his innocence, and went on to discredit the trainer. Later that night, he filed a lawsuit against the trainer, and yesterday, he held a press conference in which he played a 17-minute “conversation” he had with the trainer (In case you are interested in finding out more, check out this link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3185451&sportCat=mlb).

When the Mitchell Report was first released, it didn’t shock me that Clemens was on this list. I mean, the guy is well into his 40’s, and was pitching some of the best baseball of his career at an age when most starting pitchers opt for middle relief. The allegation made sense to me, and I won’t apologize for this. After all, I reacted the same way with the Barry Bonds situation. However, I was willing to listen to Clemens because, frankly, I didn’t find him to be anywhere near the a$$hole that Bonds it.

I watched the 60 Minutes interview, and Clemens convinced me at the very least that it was possible he didn’t do steroids, and I genuinely felt bad for the guy – mainly because his credibility took a hit with the report. However, the shenanigans he pulled on Monday even made Bonds cringe. This phone call he played ruined his credibility in my eyes. What an absolute scumbag he is (and yes, I know, the trainer is probably a scumbag too, but I just didn’t expect Clemens to go to that level).

He secretly taped a phone call solely because he’s a self-centered jerk who will do anything and step on anyone’s throat to ensure that he gets his way. He is your typical grade school bully, except he was lucky enough to be allowed to continue being a bully even in adulthood. The trainer called to try and clear the air and to find a way to get Clemens’ forgiveness, even telling Clemens about his ailing son. Clemens “claims” this is why he agreed to talk to the trainer – absolute rubbish. What a jerk.

Clemens went on to answer some press questions – basically sticking his chest out and ruffling his feathers like a pissed off rooster (and yes, I deliberately made the cock reference), daring anybody to ask a controversial question. Hey, Roger, you say repeatedly that steroids are a short-term fix for people, and the health risks are too great to justify taking them – yet you freely admit that you took pain-killers like they were candy, repeatedly getting “shot-up” so that you can continue playing. Hey buddy, isn’t this a health risk? Sounds to me like you’d do anything (and yes, I mean anything) to continue pitching.

Seriously Roger, maybe you and Bonds can find a few more years in entertainment by signing on with the WWE as the “Scumbags,” or the “Needle Dicks.” Your legacy was even more tarnished by your childish behavior big guy.

10 comments:

Jeff said...

Being a jerk isn't illegal -- it just buys less sympathy.

Things known about Bonds but not about Clemens:
- Which specific drugs were used.
- Who bought the drugs, when, how often, and at what cost.
- The manufacturer and distributor.
- Dosages, frequency, and duration.
- ANY corroborating evidence.

Clemens may have been on the Canseco Milkshake, but so far his case is closer to the Duke lacrosse case than to Bonds.

Lisa said...

I'm pissed off that Congress is involved. These guys may be jerks, but don't our legislators have anything better to worry about than a bunch of guys who popped pills 20 years ago? Like, how about the ~50million people with no health insurance?

And I agree, Clemens and Bonds are asses of monumental proportions.

Crassius Maximus said...

Did Clemens' numbers get better like Bonds' did in his late 30's? Or was he just able to sustain good numbers into his late 30's and early 40's? There has been evidence of athletes maintaining performance at that age (NRyan and GForeman)but where Bonds comes into question is his home run spike after age 35. Hitting 50, 60 and 70 after only hitting more than 30 once is very questionable.

Sandi said...

Alway hated Clemens, always will. Methinks he doth protest too much!

ToddPacker said...

clemens = the devil

El Padrino said...

he's a bigger dick than Bonds

believe it

El Padrino said...

good point lisa

Superstar said...

I watched the 60 min Sunday night about that.
WOW!
I had no idea that Mike Wallace came out of retirement for this "story" of the decade!!!

LOL
OH was that my sarcastic voice???

Isn't that the truth? You couldn't get it if you needed it...but when your famous enough you can have you cake and eat it too??? Unless you get caught???

Los said...

Jeff - somethin' still doesn't seem right about Clemens.

Lisa - Agreed!

Crass - Even though he does hail from Texas, you need to look at it objectively.

Sandi - I used to like Clemens.

TP - I agree 100000%.

ElP - I find that hard to believe.

Superstar - that Mike Wallace interview was a joke.

Anonymous said...

Hell, if I was Clemens..I'da jus' come out and said:

Hellya I did 'em and so did a lotta ballplayers..We figgered as long as Fehr, Selig and the owners saw nothing wrong with it..we figgered we might as well..Hell, they forced us to do 'em just to compete..If the hitters can get an edge and get away with it..Why not pitchers...All I did was follow the structure MLB ALLOWED..