Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Did he or Didn't he?

For many this particular subject is going to have little meaning. But for me, Roger Clemens has been a source of interest for a couple of years, specifically when he played for the Astros and we had real shots at the World Series. I have jokingly hated the guy for going back to the pinstripes but truth be known, I think he's awesome.

My younger brother and I spent over thirty minutes on the phone this afternoon discussing this very issue.

I'm torn. My perception about the Rocket is that he truly loves the game and that he challenges himself to do well every time. He's disciplined and has been an inspiration to many players and wannabe players. I find it so very hard to believe that he would have participated in performance enhancing drugs. My brother brings up a point that he probably used them when he was coming out of retirement to help speed up his "recovery" so he could get back into the game. I would buy into that and don't see that as an issue. I don't think for a second that he used them to actually enhance his performance during the season. And I don't believe he used them in key months of play (July - August) as McNamee suggests. His skills as a player are just too consistent for me to think he was relying on these drugs.

I think he made a mistake having the recorded call with the trainer that ratted him out and then making it public. I was listening to Dean and Rog this morning, they're local morning talk on FM 93.7 The Arrow; and I think it was Rog that made the comment that it didnt seem as though the two men were speaking to each other. I was waiting for Clemens to ask the question: "Why'd you do it?, Why'd you say that about me?" But he didn't. The call seemed like a dance of sorts and really wasn't conclusive enough for me. Here is an article about McNamee, the trainer, and even here it is unclear that McNamee's stance is so solid.

If Clemens has to back down from his claim that he didn't do it, it's going to look really really bad for him.

And, if that isn't enough, from my conversation with little brother, I find out that Pujols is named as well. And, oddly, I do believe he does steroids.

Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to hearing his testimony before congress whenever that is supposed to take place.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think he did it, probably you're right, coming out of retirement. I think it just helped him perform at the level he was normally able to. We watched his interview on 60 Minutes Sunday and when the interviewer (whose name I cannot remember) asked him what he wanted to say to the trainer, his response wasn't "why the hell did you lie about me?" which is what mine would have been if innocent. It was, "Why did you do this, I treated you well, I treated you fairly." Which to me reads as, "You little shit, I paid you good money and this is how you repay me?"

Cathy said...

I agree, his response during the interview was not something that indicated he was innocent of the accusations.

I kept telling myself he is a man and men communicate differently than women but even with giving him the benefit of the doubt I still doubt him.