The Big Story: The rise and fall of Roger Clemens

[RBLwebguy]

Editor's Picks - Boston.com

I think based on the way he rebounded after Boston and the freakish transformation that he actually used the roids. Well most people did. He should have had better advice and told the truth and moved on like Giambi, Pettite, A-Rod, etc.

[Skipaway]

Next stop: Lance Armstrong.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by RBLwebguy

Editor's Picks - Boston.com

I think based on the way he rebounded after Boston and the freakish transformation that he actually used the roids. Well most people did. He should have had better advice and told the truth and moved on like Giambi, Pettite, A-Rod, etc.

It's remarkable, that last point. I am guilty of reacting the same way, although I shouldn't (and though I did bash A-Rod in another thread here).

These guys cheated like the rest of them, yet I don't feel as badly about them as the guys who arrogantly and self-righteously denied everything. It's as if they thought they could get away with it because people were too dumb or weak or gullible to find them out and hold them accountable.

That's why Bonds (he of the mammoth hat size - believe what he tells you, not your own eyes), Palmiero ("I have never used steroids. Period."), Sosa (who suddenly could not speak English at his hearing), McGwire ("I'm not here to discuss the past"), and yes, Clemens ("Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH.") bother me a lot more than Giambi, Pettitte, and Rodriguez.

I don't want to convict the man before trial, but Clemens has been indicted by a federal grand jury for six counts of lying to Congress. You don't get to that point without some pretty strong evidence, much of which we already know about. If he's exonerated, fine, send him to Cooperstown. If he's convicted, however, he goes into the pile of fools listed above who thought they were above it all, beyond reproach.

Clemens and Bonds will be the biggest fools of all if they are the only ones to actually spend time in prison trying to top their own excellence in what essentially is a game. A high-stakes one, but a game nonetheless. What a shame.

[Left-handed Badger]

I dont know. While I dont like Clemens. Congressional hearings make it almost possible for me to see the guy being accused as the good guy.

I just seem to be allergic to Congressional holier-than-thouing.

[Jason Moyer]

Bonds isn't going to see a day of jail time. Clemens, on the other hand...

[Left-handed Badger]

Clemens on the other hand will learn why you probably shouldnt screw with the feds.

[Jason Moyer]

Someone needs to go back and read all the threads from 2001-2002 (I guess 02, the old board isn't archived anywhere is it?) and find all the places where people were ripping on Bonds and McGwire and touting A Rod and Clemens as examples of clean baseball.

[Left-handed Badger]

Havent been around that long, but I do remember even 3-4 years ago people were saying how clean Rodriguez was.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Jason Moyer

Someone needs to go back and read all the threads from 2001-2002 (I guess 02, the old board isn't archived anywhere is it?) and find all the places where people were ripping on Bonds and McGwire and touting A Rod and Clemens as examples of clean baseball.

Originally Posted by Left-handed Badger

Havent been around that long, but I do remember even 3-4 years ago people were saying how clean Rodriguez was.

Good points. We all wanted to believe in A-Rod and Clemens at that time, and we ended up disappointed. But, to the point of this thread, they both came to the same fork in the road and one took the high road and the other took the low road. I cannot feel warmly about A-Rod, but at least he did not lie like Clemens has allegedly done. That makes a considerable difference.