Live-blogging the Clemens interview
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- January
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The football watching is over and now we’re turning our attention to Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes. The Rocket will be the third segment, behind the president of Pakistan and a Mafia hitman.
Now that Clemens has been called to testify before Congress later this month, this interview has lost a little significance. We’re not expecting any great revelations. But it’ll be interesting to see whether 89-year-old Mike Wallace makes the Rocket squirm a little.
UPDATE, 7:49 p.m.: Hey, the president of Pakistan has one of those blue dress shirts with a white collar like Bob Kraft. Wonder if he knows Tom Brady?
UPDATE, 7:54 p.m.: The Associated Press saw the interview already and has a story.
UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: According to Wikipedia, Wallace has had four wives (impressive) and retired in 2006. He also went to Michigan. He’s at the Stadium pretty often and always sits in George Steinbrenner’s box. Wonder if Hank will let him in this season?
UPDATE, 8:04 p.m.: The hitman is on now. Steve “Sid and Marty” Kroft is interviewing him.
UPDATE, 8:07 p.m.: The hitman is from Boston. Turns out he played high school football with the late Ed Bradley.
UPDATE, 8:12 p.m.: Here’s the complete transcript of the Clemens interview.
UPDATE, 8:14 p.m.: Turns out the hitman went to the Feds, testified, did 14 years and got out last year. The Kirk Radomski of killers.
UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: The hitman is done. Clemens up next.
UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: The interview was conducted more than a week ago in Texas. Wonder if they’ll show old Roger hanging out with Koby, Kory, Korncob, Krazy Kat, Koala and the rest of those Clemens kids?
UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Comanche Moon will be on CBS next Sunday in case you missed the 1,187 commercials today.
UPDATE, 8:20 p.m.: This is the first ballplayer Wallace has interviewed since Wee Willie Keeler.
UPDATE, 8:21 p.m.: Clemens says he’s a good player and good guy, so we should believe him.
UPDATE, 8:23 p.m.: Wallace is reading the Mitchell Report to Clemens. Roger is denying it all. … Roger really does look furious.
UPDATE, 8:24 p.m.: “Never happened” seems to the stock answer. Can McNamee sue over this?
UPDATE, 8:25 p.m.: Roger is drinking a lot of water. Probably a masking agent. Roger is “pissed off.”
UPDATE, 8:26 p.m.: McNamee ratted then used Roger’s fishing equipment in Cabo. That bum.
UPDATE, 8:27 p.m.: Roger knows nothing about Andy Pettitte’s HGH use. “Andy’s case is totally seperate. I was shocked to learn about it,” he says.
UPDATE, 8:28 p.m.: Clemens said he got painkiller and B-12 injections. He also got pain shots. He says Torre shut him down when he wanted to get a shot. He had a “golf ball” in his elbow.
UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Clemens said he ate Vioxx like Skittles. That explains some of his postgame interviews. … Mike Wallace is pretty sharp for 89.
UPDATE, 8:31 p.m.: Roger says he would tell Congress the same thing as Wallace. He’s waving his arms now. He’s blaming the country for thinking he’s guilty. … McNamee refused to talk to CBS.
UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: Roger says he “probably” will retire. We’ve heard that before.
UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: Interview over. Nothing to see here, folks. Little substance.
UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: If you didn’t believe Clemens, I don’t see how this interview would change your mind. He was angry but that’s easy to fake. His defense was that people should believe him because of who he is.
The testimony before Congress will be much more revealing, I suspect. Hard to rehearse those answers.
UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: Hey, Andy Rooney is still alive!
UPDATE, 8:39 p.m.: I have no idea what he just said. Something about the presidential candidates having unimpressive names. Thanks, Andy.
OK, that’s it for the live blog. Thanks for checking in.
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on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 7:49 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
Eighty nine?
Wow.
Of course Clemens is the third segment, that’s the only way they’ll keep viewers for the entirety of the show!
I can’t believe this guy Mushariff is blaming Bhutto for killing herself because she stood up in her car and he says it with a smirk on his face. Thank God we live in the USA – it can be dangerous here but at least nobody laughs when there’s a killing!
Rebecca, 60 Minutes doesn’t exactly need baseball fans watching… they do quite well.
Tape delay in my time zone. Please provide play-by-play and color analysis. Thanks!
yawn
Mushariff
yawn
Bhutto
yawn
Clemens
yawn
I heard the audio on 880. Clemens was pretty emphatic.
Interesting article, Well if you supplied Roger come out and tell us!! We are waiting.
It kind of spoils the fun of watching the interview to know that the AP has already seen the entire thing and commented on it. That’s not a knock on you for reporting it, Pete. I just hate that everybody’s not on an even playing field when it comes to hearing what was said in the interview since we’ve all been anticipating it up to this point. It’s akin to someone on the East coast announcing who wins a televised primetime contest while you’re on the West coast still watching the show 3 hours behind.
Oh well, technology is great. LOL
oh Damn I forgot that they play it on the radio. Did he say anything of interest?
Wolf: I agree, it kind of does spoil the fun!
here’s the full transcript:
http://www.boston.com/sports/b....._60_m.html
Having lived in Boston during the heyday of the search for Whitey Bulger the hit man interview is fascinating. His brother was president of the Ciy COuncil it was always interesting hearing about Boston politics
Thanks Rebecca – although I guess in retrospect, “fun” is an odd word to use regarding this particular situation. LOL
I have to admit I just read the article, but I’m still going to watch the televised interview to watch Roger’s body language and such.
Yeah, this interview is kind of interesting…
So who will more full of it? Clemens, Musharif, or this piece of garbage thug?
Roger is right about the fact that he hasn’t broken down. If he took that much in steroids, why hasn’t he? Also why did he stop?
The hit man interview is really interesting, movie quality stuff.
“The hit man interview is really interesting, movie quality stuff.”
Interesting? I disagree. He’s a piece of human filth. Somehow, he fancies himself as a hero. This guy should be in prison until he’s dead.
I’m waiting for the body language experts to watch Rogers interview and analize it.
One portion I’ve seen he says no while shaking his head yes.
Drew exactly,
He is speaking so matter of factly and he killed at least 20 people.
He is Catholic, and he doesn’t believe he is going to hell.
He just said he would kill again!!
McNamee’s lawyers must be in heaven about this. Wait. Unless it’s true? What were the feds after him for?
BY the way cant wait for Commanche Moon
Okay it is on!!
40 minutes until the best show on television returns for the fifth and final season!!! The Wire!!!
Here we go.
He looks pretty darn good for 89!!
Pete
DO YOU THINK CLEMENS ASKED FOR THE HITMAN’S PHONE NUMBER??
Mike Wallace looks great for a 90 year old man. I hope I look that good when I’m 60.
drew: I didn’t say the guy was a saint…
Again, Roger’s first line of defense is “Look at all I’ve done for baseball. Why won’t you just believe me?”
I’m a Clemens fan, but that’s weak.
He doesn’t have the arms like Jason and Bonds have.
Clemens sounds rehearsed.
Stephen,
I’m not an apologist, but if he’s innocent he’s got every right to feel indignant. Many people and the media were quick to assume he was guilty. Again, that’s if he’s innocent.
Clemens looks a little nervous, to me.
Nice shot to David Wells lol about not taking the ball right before a big game
Mel, I agree that he has every right to be angry if he’s innocent. I just don’t like home Clemens says we’re supposed to believe him because of what a legend and good guy he is.
I have a feeling tomorrow’s press conference questions will be a lot more difficul than what Mike Wallace is asking to me that is more interesting than this. I know ESPN is showing it live at 5PM
Didn’t he take the ball but begged out after 2 innings?
HAHAHA. He won’t sue because it costs a lot of money??
Well, perhaps I missed the point he meant to make.
gayle is it regular espn? I need to set it.
Okay maybe I am naive, but I believe him.
Clemens response to taking a liar detector test was pretty weak.
cloverfield looks awesome
This video footage of Britney’s breakdown is pretty interesting.
He doesn’t want to sue because of how expensive it is? Is this a joke?
That makes me believe he’s guilty.
Drew I disagree, if he passed it people will say that he fooled the test. It means nothing, I’m sure people fool lie dector tests all the time.
It’s not what Clemens said that had me paying attention, as it was how he was saying it.
Clemens came across as very rehearsed stiff and unnatural. Did no good for me.
Someone needs to get Andy a pair of sissors.
How old is Andy becuase he looks ever second of it.
Roger looks legitimately pissed.
Didn’t the interview seem very edited?
Roger will never be able to prove he didn’t do it. It is fruitless.
Well he probably interviewed him for 2 hours so of course it was edited.
Interesting interview. I still don’t know how to feel about him, though. I do think Andy Rooney needs to retire, or at least run his crap past a producer before he goes on air. Tonight was embarassing.
Ugh. That post was just drenched in bad jokes.
What exactly are you expecting out of Clemens? How is he supposed to prove he’s innocent?
Pete and Stephen -
How can you say his main defense was “just believe me because of who I am” ?
I missed the end of the interview (damn DVR) but he also included “if I bought this stuff, who sold it to me, please come forward”. He also mentioned that he works out very hard and his body remained exactly the same. Most of the convicted or suspected (Bonds, Giambi,etc) players saw major changes in their body type.
I am not going to make judgement on Clemens yet, but it seems to me like both of you already have and are conveniently focusing on what you want to, rather than all of the facts… or lack thereof.
Jennifer I think the crawl said ESPN2 – but check ESPN News crawl as that is where I saw it
I fell asleep and missed most of it. damn it!
the only thing I learned from that interview is that Brian McNamee is indeed….. a real scumbag.
“Hey Roger, where’d you leave all that great fishing equipment?”
His anger doesn’t mean much to me. Either he’s angry because they’re all lies, or he’s angry because his entire career and legend is blowing up in his face.
Either way, I think he’d be angry.
seems like that “if i bought this stuff, who sold it to me” sounds like whitney houston asking her drug dealer to come forward with receipts for her crack! clemens was sweating, swallowing and setting up a “VIOXX” explanation of why he is going eventually to break down. he is just a pathological egomaniac who can’t believe he’s been caught. astonishing.
Doesn’t anyone realize how ridiculous it is that people are calling for him to take a lie detector test?
Shouldn’t McNamee be the one taking the test, since he’s making the claims? McNamee needs to prove Roger is guily… Roger doesn’t need to prove he’s innocent.
Besides, Polygraphs are very flaud and are anything but reliable. If Roger were to take one and the test was wrong, he would be screwed. And Polygraphs are wrong more often then people think. They aren’t considered enough evidence by themeselves to prove guilt in a court of law.
There’s a reason why polygraph tests are not admissable as evidence.
scott mandell – watch it again. not sure how you made your analysis but its way off.
“Clemens sounds rehearsed.”
Rebecca: I suppose a few more “duhs” and “ums” and some stammering would have made him sound more truthful? (j/k) Clemens is a jock, not William Jennings Bryan.
I thought he did reasonably well considering that it’s pretty hard to prove a negative. And Wallace didn’t throw him softballs either. Keep in mind nobody has seen McNamee answer any questions at this point to be able to evaluate his demeanor and compare it to Clemens. If McNamee comes off not so smooth I don’t want to hear people excusing that. McNamee was a cop and had some practice testifying in his admittedly short (I wonder why) career as a cop. He’s also got a Master’s Degree, a bit more education than Roger. McNamee has to do a lot better than, “As Senator Mitchell said, why would I lie?”
boston dave…didn’t he asked whoever sold it to him to come forward? didn’t whitney houston request the same thing? isn’t he setting up a vioxx excuse? watch it again, dave.
Murphydog: It’s not the uhs and the umms, or lack thereof…it’s the way Clemens looked really stiff the entire time.
He certainly sounded pissed, but, for me at least, there was something off about the whole thing.
scott mandell –
hope you never end up on a jury…. or vote. your attempted parallels are laughable.
Did I read that AP story right? McNamee and Roger spoke on Friday? Whaaaat? (Is McNamee still working for the Feds, trying to get Roger to incriminate himself?)
I’ll just record both of them cover my bases.
Yeah, it seemed rehearsed, but I’m sure all of us would be rehearsing in our heads what we were going to say if we knew this interview was coming up on our agenda.
A lot of eyes darting around and repetitive denials. I keep asking myself how I would react if I were in that seat and I know that not only would my frustration show, but I would be hesitant to look firmly in the interviewer’s eyes the entire time as well.
The whole fishing equipment thing…. geez, that’s just low. That’s a conundrum in itself though – as much as it would be the “decent” thing to do by letting someone know they just talked to authorities and your name might be brought up – it wouldn’t be an easy thing to do either. But at the smae time – to be contacting him at that particular time to use fishing equipment is pretty crappy and selfish.
I’m still not convinced one way or another, but I’m leaning towards saying Roger didn’t do a very good job of convincing me he didn’t do it.
I will say that it’s the first time I have ever heard the phrase “The higher you are on the flagpole, the more your butt shows.” Classic.
If its Clemens’ assertion that he took certain injections for legitimate medicinal or therapeutic reasons, wouldn’t the teams he played for be able to corroborate that? I mean, is it typical that a player would be doing all this self-medicating without the team’s knowledge? Especially in the case where McNamee injected Clemens while he was the Blue Jay’s strength and conditioning coach, wouldn’t records have been kept by the team about this?
i gained nothing from watching this… roger gave nothing but the same rhetoric… such is life in the post mitchell report world of roger clemens.
Wolf – some good points… but what can Roger realistically say to prove his innocence? what do you think he should have said, if innocent, to convince more people?
murph – excellent points as always. McNamee should have to be put in a hot seat as well so that his reaction can be gauged too.
And the whole thing about speaking on Friday – what the hell was that all about? I mean, besides Clemens telling McNamee he was going to put a boot up his biscuit?
Rebecca:
Well, everybody sees different things. That’s why juries have more than one person.
I think that he was understandably tight under the circumstances. He’s talking to Mike Wallace on National TV about serious stuff (not a baseball game), and he’s angry and saying he was falsely accused. Also, there was a lot of editing so it’s going to look a little chopped up.
I know I’ve never seen Roger talk about anything other than baseball so I don’t know what he’s like when he talking about anything else. For all I know, this is Roger. But like I said before, nobody has seen McNamee answer questions. Let’s keep an open mind and see how McNamee does.
Wolf,
Thanks a lot. I had erased the image of Roger’s big white butt out of my head. How long until Thanksgiving?
dave the only laughable thing tonight was roger clemens’ performance and denials. my comparison to the diane sawyer interview with whitney houston is indeed valid. they are both public figures being interviewed on television about rumored problems with drugs. whitney “kiss my ass” houston said that if it was true that she was using crack, let the dealer come forth with receipts. yes, she really said that. to me, that was as false as roger (blame it on the vioxx) clemens asking why the people who have sold him his drugs haven’t come forward. it’s not a difficult analogy. no need for insults, either
Yeah what a dirt bag, can I use your fishing equipment.
As long as he stays retired I don’t really care how much Vioxx he ate or how often he got injected in the butt.
Boston Dave – I don’t know. I really don’t. I wasn’t trying to incriminate Roger with my remarks there, or suggest that I believe he cheated – because I still have yet to see or hear anything that really puts me on either side of the fence.
You’re right, though – what can he realistically say? And even Roger said that people have pretty much made up their mind in the public court and he has no idea how to defend himself because of that.
LOL! Sorry mel.
baseball, baseball, think baseball, think baseball. Oh wait, that’s not going to help you in this case.
Umm… I dunno, do a google search for your favorite male hottie and cleanse the palate. (shrugs)
murphydog
Don’t talk about juries,
I was called for jury duty, I don’t want to go.
lol, Wolf. I’m a little old to have those kinds of fantasies. Maybe I’ll just focus on the Yankees winning the World Series. You know. Keep your eye on the prize.
Jennifer,
I worked with an old lady a long time ago who had a surefire way of getting out of jury duty.
She told the judge that she could tell someone was guilty just by looking at them.
Do I bother to watch it ???? The fallout of living on the Left Coast is that I have to wait 3 hours after just about everyone here has seen it, and has commented about……
Scott Mandell – If Clemens were innocent, then why would his denials be laughable? It’s pretty sad that we have people like you in the world who are willing to make up their minds based on little or no evidence. Whether or not Clemens is guilty, there is nobody in this blog who can be as definitive as you are without sounding like an ignorant fool.
You have to admit it’s pretty stupid to drive through a crowd of hundreds standing up unprotected in a vehicle in a country (Pakistan) crawling with Islamic Fundamentalist and Al Qaeda. After all they did make an attempt on her life last October.
And did it work?
I’m trying to think of everything I can. I wanted to tell them, that this is my busy season at work, but i was told that def would not work.
I’ve never been called before. I don’t know how I got away so long.
mel-I’m psyched! How about you? January 6th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Jennifer,
I worked with an old lady a long time ago who had a surefire way of getting out of jury duty.
She told the judge that she could tell someone was guilty just by looking at them.
Totally stolen from Carlin
Jennifer – jury duty isnt so bad. You get out of work and most times you either arent needed or only have to spend a short time there.
that is what I am hoping for. They let me leave at 1 ish and I go down the street and shop at the mall.
Jennifer,
Tell them you can’t do jury duty because it interferes with your blogging duties and ability to follow the Yankees.
Prete,
This lady was old enough to be George Carlin’s mother, so I think he lifted it from her.
dave are you joking with your nasty remarks? shame on you. you’re kind of biased yourself. you’d probably find clemens not guilty because of your idol worship.
I’ve been called for jury duty maybe 4 or 5 times over a 20-yr period and only had to serve on a case once. Enjoy the mall, jen.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ… huh- wha – Never wha?? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
You know, I was actually called for jury duty but it must have been when I was at school cos my parents sent in the form saying I was excused or whatnot, and I was actually upset.
I wanted to get called!
Wolf I hope you are right.
Jen:
Jury Duty is good karma (kharma?).
You could get excused early, maybe meet a nice lawyer. (I know, lawyer and nice… oxymoron).
Jennifer – if not, just contract a bad case of Tourette’s Syndrome all of a sudden. That should get you excused pretty quickly.
murphy maybe
murphy you forgot to add the word RICH!!
Roger is being truthful.
Kudos to “60 Minutes” for having the hitman segment on before the Clemens interview. That guy might as well have been George P. Mitchell with a face makeover.
mandell –
if someone put a gun to my head and told me i had to get it right, I’d probably say Roger is guilty. Fortunately for Roger and all of us, that’s not how it works.
However, anybody who is as definitive in their judgement as you (based on very little “evidence”) in addition to seemingly trying to persuade others is either a complete ignoramous or has a hidden agenda (e.g. Sox troll).
OFF TOPIC
Went to Mo’s restaurant last night for dinner. Enjoyed it alot. Mo wasn’t there but everyone who worked there were incredibly nice. Place was smaller than I would have thought (probably about 100 seats) and had less memoribilia than I would have guessed. They had one showcase with a few dozen signed balls from various players, 2 signed footballs- Phil Simms and Peyton Manning and an array of paintings and photos on the walls all with a Yankee theme.
Food was outstanding. Everyone had a different entree and no one was disappointed in their choice. About $50 a person included a cocktail, appetizer and entree.
I gotta tell you all…I don’t care. Retire…don’t retire…I’m bored and lethargic on this matter.
The one thing that he did say that was the truth, IMO, is that you are no longer innocent until proven guilty in this country, especially in the media. Also, the higher on the flag pole you are, the more your ass hangs out.
A part of me thinks this is such a bunch of crap, when I’m paying some 3.25/gallon on gas and other people can’t get affordable and/or good health coverage, this what congress needs to be worried about.
Re the 60 minute interviews:
1. The Musharraf interview reminded me why I no longer watch 60 minutes. The info-babe doing the interview amazingly kept asking him if he liked Benazir Bhutto. That would be like asking Hillary if she liked George Bush! a. Is she kidding? They were political rivals, they probably hated each other. b. That type of question brings this down to a People magazine level of reporting. Ridiculous.
2. The Boston hit-man didn’t like the term. Sorry but amoral lowlife gangster scum don’t get to make those rules. Also he stated he was reformed and would not kill again. That is, until Kroft asked him if he would kill his former boss who ratted on him. His look was priceless. There is no doubt what he would do with that guy if he got the chance.
3. Clemens looked angry but I think he was acting deceptive. Notice I did not say he was lying. I have no idea if he is telling the truth, but his eyes to me indicated deception.
The most interesting item I thought was the fishing equipment detail. What gall this guy has to rat on his long-time employer/benefactor then ask to use his gear on vacation. The other interesting point was that if Clemens used PED’s and got such great results, why stop? What about the long periods in between use? That to me is the big hole in McNamee’s story.
How bout that Eli Manning?
Clay Bellinger,
Props to your young QB. He outplayed Garcia and surgically cut up the best Defense in the NFC. If he plays like that next week Dallas is in trouble.
A disappointing end to the season for my Bucs but they greatly improved from last season and have reason for optimism going forward.
I don’t understand why Clemens has to defend himself. The only evidence against him is the word of a guy trying to escape jail time. There is no proof either way and its pretty shameful that Clemens is being crucified for this.
I agree with all points, but would not go so far to say the Bucs have the best D in the NFC, although I would put them in the top 3. I think Eli played a little over his head today, hopefully this is a sign of things to come for him. Weather was a big factor, he can’t play in bad weather. Garcia is good but he was facing a great D-line.
Agreed Patrick. I have no idea what to think but its pretty sad that he’s being crucified on such little evidence. And it appears McNamee is the type of scumbag who really might lie.
Is anyone watching American Gladiator? It’s pretty terrible. I miss the old ones.
Dunno if anyone’s watching ESPN, and I don’t know if this is old news, but Jake Peavy signed a three year extension with full NTC.
By the way, that call McNamee made to Roger to ask about using the fishing equipment might have been about the fishing equipment… or it might have been made to demonstrate to investigators that McNamee really did have Roger’s phone number and a high level of knowledge and detail about Roger’s life. Informants are sometimes asked to place calls to targets or perform other preliminary tests to show that they really know the target and have a good basis of knowledge before they sit down and really negotiate a cooperation agreement.
But it’s a long way from knowing where the fishing rods are to proof positive that McNamee told the truth about any injections.
Yanksrule,
That “info-babe” is Lara Logan. She’s one of the most respected international affairs journalists in the country, no thanks to comments like yours.
Clay Bellinger,
Statistically the Bucs were 2nd in the league to Pittsburgh in most categories. Manning has now had 2 good games in a row against NE and TB who I think you would agree are pretty good. The weather is a crapshoot this time of year. Most people think Dallas is in the south and don’t know how bad north Texas winters can get.
As for Garcia, he was off balance the entire game with guys hanging on him or in his face. He had a couple of bad judgement plays but believe me I’m a fan of his. I got to meet him this year at an autograph signing and have his signed jersey on my wall.
Good evening, everyone. I liked Pete’s quote about Roger’s decision to “probably” retire. I’m not sure why I think this, but I could definitely see him pitching for the Astros this season. Clemens’s attempts at retirement are a lot like Michael Jordan’s attempts at retirement were.
P.S. I am REALLY disappointed with how the Tennessee-San Diego game went.
I have never been a big Clemens fan. Something about the guy has always irked me. But I gotta tell you, I think he was telling the truth here. The big hole in the story like he said, PED was so good why would he stop? What we should be doing is testing congress for drugs and alcohol. A better use of our time when the nation is going down the drain.
I feel bad he’s being judged solely on the word of a rat. I was guilty of it, and I’m done. I don’t know if he was telling the truth, but I found it to be convincing. Innocent until proven guilty.
I got called for jury duty and couldn’t serve. I’m not a citizen.
Stephen,
Please, did you watch the interview? That line of questioning was tabloid-like. He is a head of state. Why do we care if he likes his primary political rival? 60 minutes is a Monumental program to Liberals and to question their journalistic chops is heresy.
I’m sorry but your bias is showing here.
I should have mentioned that I’ve never been a Clemens fan so no blinders on or anything.
Murphydog: No one needed him to call Roger about fishing equipment to prove they were close. He was employed by two teams he played for and his role as his personal trainer is well documented. Their relationship is no secret to anyone.
Bob:
When you are thinking about giving a guy a cooperation deal, you don’t assume anything, you do your own homework. At least I used to.
Yanksrule57
The only thing that could hurt Dallas is the possible unavailability of Owens. Dallas also has a great young defensive line and a much superior offensive line than Tampa that the Giants had problems with when they were totally healthy. And lets not forget the last Dallas game Shockey caught something like 15 passes against Dallas. Dallas played Washington last week without 3 Pro-bowl starters in Owens, Newman and Gurode, plus the young nose tackle Ratliffe who was recently given a 5 year contract and will be an all-pro in the near future. The press said NY would beat Dallas the first meeting, then it was the second. I guess at some point the law of avaerages will catch up, but I don’t think it will be next Sunday.
Murphydog: I can understand that in cases where the parties are not well known. But thinking that was the case here is a stretch to me.
dave WHAT IS A SOX TROLL??? have you just lost your mind or, as roger suggests, a third arm has grown out of it?
“Based on their findings, Graham and his collaborators linked Vioxx to more than 27,000 heart attacks or sudden cardiac deaths nationwide from the time it came on the market in 1999 through 2003.”- from usa today
until clemens mentioned vioxx, i hadn’t paid much attention to it. i think it’s pretty safe to say that vioxx has caused more deaths than steroids and other peds so why is there the fixation on steroids and hgh?
wasn’t vioxx a performance enhancement drug? it enhanced performance by reducing pain so a player like clemens could perform better when he used it, so i’d say it fits the definition. so why aren’t all peds under scrutiny? why the focus on anabolic steroids and hgh. it appears vioxx was more dangerous than either.
the following link is for an article from the national review that basically says there’s a hysteria with steroids that is not connected to the actual danger and that congress is overreacting to the dangers of it compared to other dangers.
http://64.233.169.104/search?q.....ent=safari
from the article:
“Scott Gottlieb, a former senior policy adviser to the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, notes: “There are plenty of people with [multiple sclerosis], Crohn’s and colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and other diseases, who are on much higher doses of chronic steroids. Certainly, they have a lot of side effects, but they don’t drop dead of [heart attacks] so easily.”
the article ends with this about the congressional baseball hearings :
“With Congress grossly exaggerating the “public health crisis†from suicides to justify their involvement, it is hard to believe that their motives are based on little more than grabbing attention. ”
clemen’s mention of vioxx was for a reason. he’s clearly saying he didn’t do steroids, but since we’re on the subject of dangerous drugs that help performance,what the hell happened that he was given vioxx by people he trusted and no one cares about that.
we sit and watch tv and see about a thousand pharmaceutical commercials a day and we’re worried about why young people are using peds? isn’t the culture saying there’s a drug for everything?
this whole thing is not what it seems. it’s clearly a dog and pony show, but i have no idea what the point of it is. it’s certainly not to protect our youth.
I don’t know why Clemens is so quick to pooh pooh a polygraph, I think he should do it.
I would never take a polygraph, even if I was innocent. I’ve read many times that those things are basically worthless. So what happens if you are innocent and fail the thing? You’re screwd, that’s what. I would never hold it against anyone who refuses to take one.
scott Mandell-
Are you related to matt Mandell by any chance?
dave, i think i understand. you think i am a spy from the red sox nation? i’m not. i’m a new yorker who has many things to do in his life. sometimes i post an opinion on a blog. i have no agenda. i work too hard to support my family and pay my bills to have the time to develop an agenda about roger clemens. it was just my thoughts that i expressed. you seemingly are a very big poobah here on this blog, since you respond to everyone as if you are the classroom monitor, bestowing agreement here, disapproval there, so i will leave you to this blog and this position of determining that someone who disagrees with you is an ignorant fool or an ignoramus, or as you put it an “ignoramOus.”
Bob:
Even if we are talking about parties whose relationship is well publicized, you still don’t know the real details from reading the papers or watching ESPN. Also, knowing about Rocket and being with him at the stadium and on the road is one thing, but McNamee says he was at Roger’s apartment and knew him outside the office, so to speak. I’d need the guy to show me something to back up the outside the office knowledge.
But let’s not forget that this guy is a demonstrated liar from the date rape case in Florida, 2001. He would need to show me plenty before I relied on him even when it came to a well-documented relationship like the one he had with Rocket.
The polygraph issue is a red herring. Their usefulness is very limited, and the results can vary widely based on many factors unrelated to the truthfulness of the subject.
Murphydog: Alll they would need to do is lok at the 60 Minutes footage from a few years back where he was at his home working out with him.
Instead of calling about fishing equipment, they should have been more interested in providing proof that he injected these things in Clemens before ruining his reputation. Instead they just trusted the word of a lying creep who slips chicks the date rape drug.
Yanksrule–
Sorry to all as this is not baseball related but comments like that cannot go unanswered.
That line of questioning is ENTIRELY appropriate given what is happening right now in that country. This is a President who has been accused of being complicet in what happened to Butto. On top of the fact that this is someone who put her under house arrest because she was an opposition leader, whose information minister went on the national television and said that she died from hitting her head on the sunroof rather than the bullet wound, who has been accused of notr giving her the proper protection someone running for Prime Minister is accustomed to. WHat his feelings were toward her and how those feelings affected what he may or may not have done are very important to what is happening.
Lara LOgan is a very very good reporter. Obviously you do not watch 60 minutes often which is fine but her reporting has been fantastic especially her coversage of the MIddle East and also on our soldiers who are fighting over there.
I’m with Murph. That phone call wasn’t about fishing equipment, it was about seeing what Clemens would say to McNamee knowing that the Mitchell Report was in the wind.
To me, Clemens is going out like a punk with these absurd denials. He should make the argument that he seemed to want to make during the Vioxx part of the interview: You’re damn right I used steriods. And HGH, and Vioxx, and Lidocaine, and Cortisone, and every other permitted and prohibited chemical believed to improve performance. Guys on every team were doing it, openly, and the powers that be knew and did nothing. Now their gonna come along years after the fact and retroactively enforce the rules? Screw them. I sacrificed my body and risked my future health to perform at the highest level possible. I gave everything I had. I have no regrets.
A little morally ambiguous? Sure. But it would be the truth and I think most people would respect it more than the nonsense he’s spewing now.
no, sorry, buddy, i have no relative named matt mandell.
Add me to those that wouldn’t take a polygraph, regardless of my guilt or innocence. I don’t trust that method of getting “the truth” as far as I can throw it.
randy l – great points, bro. It gets me thinking – how far do we go down the pharmaceutical tree before something isn’t considered “an advantage”? Can players use ibuprofen or Advil for pain or headaches? Can they take a little Echinacea to ward off sickness? Claritin for their allergies? What about taking a little sumthin’ sumthin’ when you have a case of the trots because the city you travel to has water that doesn’t agree with you? Seriously.
How about Howie Mandell
I kid, I kid…
Great points by randy l
Wolf: How about a cup of coffee?
Someone hinted that Cameron’s test was from too much java. That’s a joke, right?
Exactly, blatgh… lol
Ummm. b-l-a-r-g-h. There, got it right that time. Guess I need a good cuppa joe myself.
I was expecting Roger to stand up and take his shirt off and let Mike see his back for acne marks,while the camera zooms in.
The other known ~determining factor~ we’ll never know, has to do with another pair of cajones,that would be incredibly small,also not for primetime viewing.
AS close as He and Andy are He didn’t Know Andy took hgh,that seems odd? I thought bff told each other all.
For McNamee: Clemens sounded odd when he said he’d be disformed if he used steroids, and when he asked if he should just keep spending to prove his innocence. Pretty off message.
That said, why don’t you try to prove your innocence against that former associate who just told the media that you did those terrible things behind closed doors with him?
rebecca i even get barbara mandrell questions too! amazing
One more thing: I can’t help but think what kind of pressure Mitchell must have been under before McNamee served him Clemens. What do you think would have been the opinion of the report if it hadn’t (supposedly) bagged at least one new elephant?
I personally don’t think Mitchell himself would have done anything unethical, but I can’t help but wonder if someone who worked for him knew the risks of a report sans-elephant, and let McNamee know what he needed. I think Mitchell would have been fried in the media without Clemens.
OK, I know, call Oliver Stone.
Clemens is pretty fat and soft-looking for a guy taking steroids.
Mike Wallace’s ties to Michigan are greater than just going there.
http://www.umich.edu/~mjfellow/
Clemens is a liar.The only reason hes suing is so he has a feasible reason to sidestep Congress.”I cant comment on pending litagation”