Mitchell steroid probe; Latest - Clemens headed to Court; Congress

[Brian the Automator]

We're just years away from joint replacements with "bionic-like" qualities. What do we do then?

http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/nes/base_wars.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

I know this is a tad off-topic, but I just saw this and wanted to share...

 

http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/trentonian/yankeessuck/uploaded_images/juiced-715226.jpg

 

Hey - at least he admitted!

[don1481]

Why do journalists still insist on linking the Brewers to the Seligs...?

 

Closer Eric Gagne has got to be happy he signed his contract with the Milwaukee Brewers before he was named in the George Mitchell report last week. So far Gagne has been mum on the subject but the Brewers are expecting some answers and some public comment from Gagne before it's all over. An added bummer for the Brewers, whose chairman of the board is Commissioner Bud Selig's daughter, is that Gagne is probably the highest-profile player to be named who is in the group of players who supposedly took drugs post-2004, when the league finally had some kind of rules against performance-enhancers. So that could lead to some sort of sanctions against him unless he can tell the Brewers and the world that he's a clean machine.

[TooLiveBrew]

This is gonna be great - scapegoats, get your scapegoats here. Clemens, Bonds, Gange, _Insert Player Here .

[snyttri]

Not to take this off topic (or even into the verboten political range), but I want to echo aracko's general comments. Shouldn't Congress and our tax money be put to more important things? ...

I hope this is not in the verboten political area either, but the current composition of Washington lends itself to gridlock while the PED problem, whether worthwhile or just grandstanding, at least has bipartisan appeal.

[iluvlamp]

Meanwhile, Schilling tells Clemens to give up CY's if allegations are true. Interesting read over at 38pitches.com.

 

 

 

[Invader3K]

An added bummer for the Brewers, whose chairman of the board is Commissioner Bud Selig's daughter,

Noooooooooooooooo!

Oh wait, I was just having a nightmare, I think.

[patrickgpe]

Kane's latest column

 

basically says that Belichick and Clemens gets off easy because they are white. I think with the Clemens thing if he lies on TV sunday and the trainer sues him and it comes out he lied, he will get as much criticism as Bonds. This has only been in the public eye for a month, Bonds has been for years. The difference as of now is Bonds has been federally indited, Clemens has not.

[Big Reed]

I believe clemens . truly i do. Although, he is probably the only person in the world that uses a needle and syringe to inject vitamin B 12. I guess he's too rich to realize you can get B12 in a vitamin pill at Wal mart.

[don1481]

Clemens and McNamee asked to testify to Congress.

 

And while I'm up to fun linkage, to add to what Reed said:

 

"My name is Roger Clemens and I'm using the Rafael Palmeiro B-12 defense."

 

I'll definitely be watching this interview on Sunday.

[jaybird2001wi]

Former fringe-major leaguer Shane Monahan of the Seattle Mariners admitted to using steroids, but clearly states that steroids are not the main PED in baseball.

This article is rather interesting because it clearly shows that players do everything they can to stick in the majors.

 

 

One recently retired player said of amphetamine use, "If they're including guys that used greenies, they ain't got enough paper to print all that."

What is interesting is that he implicates Lou Piniella because he states Piniella "may have known about his players using steroids."

[jaybird2001wi]

Former fringe-major leaguer Shane Monahan of the Seattle Mariners admitted to using steroids, but clearly states that steroids are not the main PED in baseball.

This article is rather interesting because it clearly shows that players do everything they can to stick in the majors.

 

 

One recently retired player said of amphetamine use, "If they're including guys that used greenies, they ain't got enough paper to print all that."

What is interesting is that he implicates Lou Piniella because he states Piniella "may have known about his players using steroids."

[foamboy1]

Whoa....

 

Looks like Clemens AND his trainer have been requested before Congress. This will make for great theater. Somebody is going to be committing perjury. It will be interesting to see (now that Clemens has already taped the 60 minutes episode) if he picks his words a bit more carefully or changes his story to keep from being in Barry Bonds shoes.

[jaybird2001wi]

For some reason, I am intrigued about Clemens being named so many times in the Mitchell Report. He isn't the most guilty player of all players I believe. It seems like the Report put a lot of stock into the "one or two times" in which Clemens allegedly took steroids or HGH. It seems kind of a smoke and mirrors type thing.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Whoa....

 

Looks like Clemens AND his trainer have been requested before Congress. This will make for great theater. Somebody is going to be committing perjury. It will be interesting to see (now that Clemens has already taped the 60 minutes episode) if he picks his words a bit more carefully or changes his story to keep from being in Barry Bonds shoes.

I've heard the date that Clemens is asked to appear is the same as a golf tournament he was scheduled to appear at. I'd be very surprised to see him in front of Congress when he has the built-in "prior commitment" excuse. From what I understand, he isn't legally obligated to appear before Congress.

 

[foamboy1]

Looks like the special agent that lead the investigation that led to the charges against Bonds is becoming interested in having a conversation with Clemens and his trainer....no doubt his goal would be to determine which one is lying...we know how that worked for Bonds.

 

I was wondering if this was going to happen a month ago (a number of posts back). If someone denys they did PED's, would the government question them to get their comments under oath (like they did with Bonds). Clemens was deafeningly silent for the first week while a bunch of folks admitted it (usually with the excuse of recovering from an injury, blah, blah, blah). Clemens then came out hard defending himself. Don't you think if you were wrongfully accused and your reputation built over 20 years being destroyed that you would have been outraged from the first minute your name was in print?

 

Anyway....this is going a bad direction for Clemens. Now that he's made this interview denying any use, look for the Fed's to get involved. Clemens may dodge them in January in front of Congress, but I have no doubt that either the FBI or that IRS agent named in this article ( http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3183738 ) will request a conversation. If Clemens accepts, he'll run the Bonds risk (assuming he's guilty and he's acted like a guilty guy to me); if he denies that story will get out and he'll be painted the same as if he was guilty anyway (if you don't have anything to hide and you're upset that your name is being smeared, you'd have the conversation).

 

Just my hunch.

[don1481]

That was an interesting interview on 60 Minutes... I honestly don't know whether or not to believe Clemens. I would like him to take a lie detector test, just like basically said he would if asked.

 

Parts of his interview seemed like cop outs, especially considering his earlier stance of saying that whomever brought upon fake accusations better have a really good lawyer. If he feels he's been defamed, sue. If he wants a chance at the Hall of Fame anytime soon, he's going to most likely have to.

[Schlitz001]

I'm finding it more and more difficult to believe Clemens.

[danzig6767]

That was an interesting interview on 60 Minutes... I honestly don't know whether or not to believe Clemens. I would like him to take a lie detector test, just like basically said he would if asked.

I didn't hear Clemens say he'd for sure take a lie detector test, sounded more like he danced around the question to me. He kinda said he'd take one at first, then he seemed to back off that he'd take one by questioning the reliability of the tests.

[don1481]

Hmm... looks like Roger decided to put his money where is mouth is:

 

Clemens Reportedly Sues Trainer for Defamation

 

 

Interesting.

[Patrick425]

Roger Clemens filed a defamation suit against former personal trainer Brian McNamee in Texas state court Sunday night

This is something you can do on a Sunday night?

[fondybrewfan]

So how is he actually going to prove that he never took the stuff? Isnt that the only way he is going to win the case? I also find in laughable when he said he was "suprised" or "dumbfounded" that Pettitte took steroids. He was your best friend, you always played together. Thats a crock of you know what. Of course he knew and of course Pettitte probably knows that Roger did them as well. I want to see him on capital hill, preferably after Bonds gets proven guilty of perjury and is sent to jail, might make him think twice about lying. What did his trainer have to gain from naming Clemens anyways? Absolutely nothing.

[foamboy1]

They filed the claim on Sunday night electronically....and then I'm sure tipped off the media on where they could find record of the filing.

 

I admire Clemens career...and always wished he pitched for someone I could root for.....but just don't believe him on this. It doesn't change my opinion of him though as I always believed he was doing it anyway....just as I believe so many of the guys still do today.

[crewcrazy]

So how is he actually going to prove that he never took the stuff? Isnt that the only way he is going to win the case? I also find in laughable when he said he was "suprised" or "dumbfounded" that Pettitte took steroids. He was your best friend, you always played together. Thats a crock of you know what. Of course he knew and of course Pettitte probably knows that Roger did them as well. I want to see him on capital hill, preferably after Bonds gets proven guilty of perjury and is sent to jail, might make him think twice about lying. What did his trainer have to gain from naming Clemens anyways? Absolutely nothing.

That's what I'm wondering, too. Words can't describe how difficult it is to win a defamation suit when you're a celebrity, and if he goes through with this, he'll have to testify under oath about everything that he's ever put into his body. The problem for Clemens is that there really is no way to retroactively prove his innocence, which is what he alluded to in his interview last night. Clemens seems to think that McNamee only "lied" to avoid going to jail, but the penalty of lying to the federal government about something like that would be greater than just telling the truth, so I don't know what his motivation was. I just loved how Clemens threw McNamee under the bus by dismissing him as a "steroid pusher" yet claiming he never took "a banned substance" when he was training under him.

Here's the link to the video on the 60 Minutes website if some people haven't seen it yet..it was an interesting interview, but Clemens' "anger" about this seems to be forced at times when he's trying to be careful with what he says at the same time: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3680216n

[RobertR]

A couple of thoughts on the Clemens suit.

 

I believe that the lawsuit will give Clemens cover from testifying before Congress. He can decline to answer on the advice of his lawyer pending the suit.

 

I'm not sure of the endgame, but it should be noted that Clemens has millions more to toss into a lawsuit while McNamee, after his own legal problems, probably can't mount an effective defense. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the best endgame for McNamee is to settle out of court for "undisclosed terms" and a gag order on both sides.

 

Then again, I'm also reminded of Oscar Wilde's lawsuit vs. the Marquess of Queensberry (<-- look an historical and literary reference) and how that turned out to be a disaster for Wilde.

 

Robert