I’m not Christopher Walken’s character in True Romance so I’m not that good at telling if someone is lying (if that’s even possible), but now I’m even more confused than before. At first I thought he was absolutely guilty. Then the 60 Minutes interview cemented it- specifically his comments about “why don’t I have a ear growing out of my forehead”- that sort of ridiculous exaggeration seems to get us to infer he is so out of touch with steriods that he thinks that that would be a possible side effect. Surely he is aware of the hundreds of admitted users who have no side effects and are fully fit- Jose Canseco looks as good as he over did.
He also seemed oddly indignant and pissed off- the whole “25 years, you’d think I’d get an inch of respect”- why exactly are you trustworthy becasue of the length of your career- Bonds wasn’t.
The comment about “why didn’t my tendons turn to dust” is odd as well, and similar to the above. But in his defense, his surreptitiously taped call to McNamee is odd- why would you call and try to get someone to admit to a lie, if they weren’t lying? The call itself was ambiguous at best, but McNamee never said “Roger they made me tell me the truth”, but he also never came close to admitting he was lying.
For me, it will come down to if he does testify to Congress (I think he’ll back out and say his lawyer told him not to, even though he reeaally wanted to). And if he does testify, what action Congress or McNamee’s lawyer takes- his lawyer seems to be gung ho to go after Clemens if he lies to Congress. And keep in mind, McNamee was told by the investigators he better tell the whole truth or else his ass was in a sling- lying at that time would be odd unless there was a Mike Nifong who for some odd reason really wanted to bag Clemens for no apparent reason. I do think though if Clemens did it, he damn sure thinks there is no way to ever prove it.
Also, I heard an excerpt from somewhere when he was asked about the HOF, and he got all pissy- “You think I give a shit about the HOF, you don’t want to vote for me, don’t, I don’t care, etc.”. Uh, we know you do care, and since its voted on by the people you’re getting huffy with, maybe that’s not the best approach. Unlike McGwire, you do have a solid pre-steriods body of work, assuming you’re guilty.
That phone call with McNamee just made me disbelieve him even more. It was so obviously staged by Clemens and his handlers. It was a fishing expedition hoping to get McNamee to slip up,which he didn’t.
I like him even less than I did before. His defenses are crap. If goes to court with this his reputation will take an even bigger hit. His phone call only showed that he is a heartless idiot.
I was talking to one of my friends yesterday and he told me of the days when he was in the Blue Jays minor league system. Clemens was on the team back then and they brought him in to talk to the minor league guys. Someone asked him what it takes to get to the big leagues. Clemens started out talking about hard work and then progressively went into meltdown mode. By the end he he was screaming at them along the lines of them being mother fuckers who will never get his job. Then he stormed out. What the hell is wrong with that guy?
I’m not entirely convinced that McNamee wasn’t in on the call as well. I’ve only heard little snippets, but both seemed to be very careful not to say anything of substance. All the phone call did was muddy the waters even more.
As far as whether or not I believe Clemens, I don’t.
Well, the temptation to use steroids is pretty powerful. Millions and millions of dollars in a world and a sport where money is the yardstick of your excellence. Not surprising that they go for it.
Lidocaine which he claims was injected in his butt is a local anesthetic. It is used by dentists to numb a tooth area. All it would do is numb the area around the injection site.
Then when he tells of all that he has done for baseball. For baseball. Getting 20 mill for a half season and demanding all kinds of special treatment. No way.
Lidocaine is very useful. It can be injected into joints and by tendon insertion sites to help reduce pain in the short-term. This could be helpful (but risky) for an athlete prior to a performance.
It is often injected into the trochanteric bursa (not far from the butt) for pain in that site.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle had a couple of questions he wished Mike Wallace had asked…
If a doctor prescribed lidocaine, why didn’t a doctor do the injections?
Why do you think Brian McNamee would risk jail time to lie about you?
Why do you think Brian McNamee told the truth about Andy Pettitte but lied about you?
I do think there’s a likelyhood prosecutors, in their zeal to get McNamee to testify, had threatened jail time if he didn’t name someone big. In other words, one of the things you’ve always got to look for in a case like this, motive, may be there in spades. Also, where’s the corroborating evidence and/or accusations? If it all comes down to an accusation from one guy that had a reason to lie, then seeing the reputation and career legacy of a man potentially destroyed on such a pittance, no matter how big of a jackass he may come across as being, is a real shame, a tragedy even.
I’m really torn and hope something definitive will eventually come out. At first I thought he was lying through his teeth. Now, I’m not so sure. In the end, I blame Baseball, Selig and whoever, for ever allowing such a scenario to even have become a remote possibility. This is what you get for never addressing it firmly in the first place. Look at the NBA, the NFL and then yourself, Bud, and why you and not they have such a huge, crushing problem.
he said he took it in the butt. If it were in his shoulder or arm I would have understood. Plus it wont last for 2 1/2 hours. And would numbness be helpful to a pitcher.
In the phone call McNamee struck me as a regular kid who got the cool kid in trouble and didn’t mean to, and now feels bad about it because the cool kid isn’t his friend anymore.
Yes, my opinion on Roger Clemens has changed, mostly because of his Linda Tripp moment. Previously, I thought he was a jerk who probably used steroids. Now I think he’s a major creep and almost certainly used steroids.
McNamee himself is also a creep, and unlike Clemens, he has a rap sheet, but it sounds to me like Clemens called him on the pretext of offering sympathy for his sick son, but was actually taping the call in the hope that McNamee would say something that would cast doubt on his testimony. While McNamee never said “I didn’t lie,” he never said he did, or said anything that hinted he was pressured to implicate Clemens. In fact he offered to perjure himself before Congress, it sounds like, to save Clemens’ reputation. I wonder if Clemens was regretting taping the call at that moment, since I imagine he was dying to say “Would you?” and couldn’t because the tape was rolling.
I’m not sure if I believe him or not. But in response to him getting a shot in the butt, it was for his hamstring that was causing him pain, not his arm.
The last story I read had McNamee wanting to speak with Clemens, and Clemens consulting a lawyer before agreeing to talk to McNamee. As for the content, well, it is what it is, and what it is is a bunch of nothing. IIRC, Clemens lawyer was also present (not 100% sure on that, though).
No one is (hopefully) going to confuse Jason Giambi with a HoF player, but I bet he’s sitting back right now thinking, “I’m glad I got my confession - kinda, sorta - out of the way.” Had I been a McNamee client, I would have gotten in front of the story and admitted ahead of the report’s release. Pettite is taking far less heat; who knows if what he’s admitted to is accurate, but at least he is out there saying he’s used. Clemens should call Palmiero and find out how testifying to Congress worked for him.
As for Clemens flipping out to the rookies story above, while it could be 'roid rage, there are lots of paranoid people flying off the handle every day who never touch the stuff.
McNamee said at one point someone else might be listening. That could mean he had a lawyer with him at the time or he suspected a recording was being made be someone.
I thought Clemens was an asshole before and now I think he’s an asshole and a 'roid user.
Canseco looks as good as ever in more ways than one. His book is looking more and more truthful as we go along.
People keep saying that… am I the only one who still thinks he’s scum? While he was probably right about a number of individual steroid users, I notice that the publisher passed on his second book, which I bet is because he made a lot of allegations that could have resulted in a lawsuit.
Canseco simply told the truth and informed the public of what was going on. Fans are angry at him and I do not know why. They should be mad at those who did it.
I still object when Roger talks about what he did for baseball. What does that mean. He is bigger than the game, more important. What arrogance.
His “ounce of respect for 25 years of service” jive is completely laughable for this reason- like he sacrificed himself for the game of baseball, like a suicide bomber. You’re a fucking famous rich athelete instead of a guy working at the mill, and you did it all for the baseball fans out there- thank you Roger!