Mr. Clemens Goes to Washington
In the aftermath of his day on the Hill, has PP's opinion changed at all about Clemens?
We were left with a very uneasy feeling. To us Clemens sounded very believable and McNamee did not. However, looking at all the evidence, the complete opposite seems to be true. McNamee ratted out 3 players, 2 of them confirming his story (of course Clemens being the other one). Roger's best friend and work out partner Andy Pettitte was taking HGH and he never knew about it (even though Pettitte says they did talk about it, even saying Roger told him he had taken HGH in the past). Roger's wife had even been injected with HGH by McNamee in their own home.
There were lots of other little side plots and "he said, she said" details brought to light by Congress, but the meat of the evidence says something ain't right with Roger's story. For him to claim ignorance seems to be just that: ignorant. Clemens did his best to seem like a simple country bumpkin with an "aw shucks!" attitude, but this guy has been around the block. He's made his bones in the world, attending college, earning millions, living in big cities like Boston and New York. He knows what time it is. I'm sure he's not nearly as simple as maybe he wants to be.
In the end, Roger's story just doesn't add up. McNamee has everything to lose, and Clemens not so much. Even if convicted of lying to Congress he'll do less than a year in prison and won't lose all that much money relative to what he has made. Congress did their best to ruin McNamee's credibility. And he does have a checkered past. I wouldn't trust the guy for sure, but to me he just seemed like a man who knew it was time to come clean.
The real sad part of this story is that Roger was one of the best pitchers ever even before he allegedly started taking HGH. Just like Barry Bonds before he started taking steriods, Roger was a first ballot Hall of Fame player. Now what is he? Time will tell, but it seems like he will just be another story of wasted talent.
We want to believe you Roger. We want to love you, but we just can't.
We were left with a very uneasy feeling. To us Clemens sounded very believable and McNamee did not. However, looking at all the evidence, the complete opposite seems to be true. McNamee ratted out 3 players, 2 of them confirming his story (of course Clemens being the other one). Roger's best friend and work out partner Andy Pettitte was taking HGH and he never knew about it (even though Pettitte says they did talk about it, even saying Roger told him he had taken HGH in the past). Roger's wife had even been injected with HGH by McNamee in their own home.
There were lots of other little side plots and "he said, she said" details brought to light by Congress, but the meat of the evidence says something ain't right with Roger's story. For him to claim ignorance seems to be just that: ignorant. Clemens did his best to seem like a simple country bumpkin with an "aw shucks!" attitude, but this guy has been around the block. He's made his bones in the world, attending college, earning millions, living in big cities like Boston and New York. He knows what time it is. I'm sure he's not nearly as simple as maybe he wants to be.
In the end, Roger's story just doesn't add up. McNamee has everything to lose, and Clemens not so much. Even if convicted of lying to Congress he'll do less than a year in prison and won't lose all that much money relative to what he has made. Congress did their best to ruin McNamee's credibility. And he does have a checkered past. I wouldn't trust the guy for sure, but to me he just seemed like a man who knew it was time to come clean.
The real sad part of this story is that Roger was one of the best pitchers ever even before he allegedly started taking HGH. Just like Barry Bonds before he started taking steriods, Roger was a first ballot Hall of Fame player. Now what is he? Time will tell, but it seems like he will just be another story of wasted talent.
We want to believe you Roger. We want to love you, but we just can't.