I don’t know about Clemens and steroids, but I’m not naive enough to be surprised if it’s true. What I do think is it’s a sad, sad thing that players of Clemens’ and Bonds’ absolute talent and dominance of the game felt a need to be bigger than the game. Bonds probably would have beaten the record without using steroids, and ironically may not have been plagued with the particular injuries he’s now suffering from. Or maybe not. But he sure would have been close.

The reason why Clemens gets some benefit of the doubt is that he’s had a strong work ethic ALWAYS and no one has ever challenged that; in addition, he’s been a good teammate, for the most part, during his career. Again, I know he’s not been a boyscout and he also has a big ego—he knows he’s Roger Clemens.

I think one of the differences with Barry Bonds, and why he gets no sympathy, no benefit of any doubt, no nothin’, is that he’s NEVER been seen as a team player—mostly a selfish guy who thinks his talent and his “pedigree” puts him on a plane above anyone else he plays or has played with. He’s arrogant, and I think that is what no one will ever be able to forgive him for. Is it fair? No, but that’s human nature. We can take conceit, but only with a grain of self-deprication.

Giambi “apologized.” Or at least you felt he was humbled a little by the experience. Again, he’s another guy you see as a team player.

McGwire I don’t know enough about, but he’s never seemed to get that whatever he took at least may have enhanced his performance. But I also think he never expected to hit that many home runs; I think he, as much as all of us, got caught up in the hype and excitement of it all. Add in the fact that it was a race with another player, it all became larger than life. What seemed ridiculous with McGwire was his “performance” in front of Congress. Perhaps he felt between a rock and a hard place, but there had to be a better way to handle it—maybe he should have gotten better lawyers. But the fact that’s he’s locked himself away speaks volumes. It either says he’s too ashamed to face the questions; or it can also say, he simply does not know how to handle it. Either way, it’s sad.

I have learned as I’ve gotten older that most of my “heros” from my youth (in many areas, not just sports) have not lived up to my idea of what I thought they were. As long as I didn’t read the “unauthorized biographies” or watch the 60-minute-type exposes, or actually listen to them open their mouths and sound so collossally stupid, I was okay. But sometimes reality stinks.

The people who did accuse Clemens also accused Pettitte. Now if you look at pictures of Pettitte, he looks exactly as he did when he broke in with the Yankees (just saw the 1996 opening day on YES over the weekend, no skinnier than he is now). He is another one who had put on some weight but now that he’s been on Clemens’ workout program, has slimmed down, but his body does not look to have changed.

I won’t balk at people bringing Clemens’ name up in these conversations because of the sheer unlikelihood of what he’s doing. But, I will argue it is not some foregone conclusion like it is for Bonds, McGwire, Canseco, etc…