MLB: Mr. Clemens Goes to Washington
Posted February 13th, 2008 by George Thomas
Was it a witch hunt by those congressional muckety mucks by having Roger Clemens
show up on the Hill to answer questions about his alleged use of steroids and human growth hormone. Oh, joy! Just what I want to hear regurgitated over and over and over…
It's getting to the point to where I am numb on this topic, primarily because it's too little too late. For all practical purposes, the steroids era ended almost six years ago.
Now Congress decides it wants to stick its nose in because someone that stature of Clemens may have actually been a cheater. Wonderful. Apparently they've forgotten it's an election year and people are more concerned about things such as oh, I don't know, the mortgage crisis, a possible recession and the rising cost of health care. I dunno, it seems to me that those itty bitty things might take precedence over a gazillionaire ballpayer who allegedly shot his ass full of muscle medicine.
This all should have been left dead and buried after the Mitchell Report came out in December. Mitchell seemed to take a common sense approach to this entire scenario. It happened. The league was at fault for turning a blind eye and the players were certainly at fault, but it's over. Mitchell recommended no retroactive investigations, but that is being ignored by Congress and my guess would be that baseball czar Bud Selig will do the same. If that's the case he comes across as someone trying to protect a sorry legacy that likely will have little worth remembering when he's done anyway.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
[...] George Thomas wrote a fantastic post today on "MLB: Mr. Clemens Goes to Washington"Here's ONLY a quick extractWas it a witch hunt by those congressional muckety mucks by having Roger Clemens show up on the Hill to answer questions about his alleged use of steroids and human growth hormone. Oh, joy! Just what I want to hear regurgitated over and … [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I agree about the grandstanding witch hunt but the steroids era ended six years ago? Someone needs to tell Pronk and all of the Browns' offensive linemen.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
From what I read, the only reason they held the hearing was that Clemens demanded to respond before congress on the charges leveled against him.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Can somebody please explain to me why not one single Congressman asked Clemens, "Hey, Texas Tea. You've been pretty damn wealthy for years. Some really, really, really handsome contracts. If I had your money, and I had a severe pain in my intestines, I wouldn't pay my neighbor to put his arm halfway up my ass to check things out. No, I'd literally pay a visit to the best and most expensive gastroenterologist in town, or even hop a plane across the country to visit that specialist. When you literally have a major pain in your ass, hey, that's where you go. So please, kindly tell us why a guy with your cash and your connections would ask some nobody to put down his bowl of Rice Krispies, grap some bootleg syringes hidden in the back of his towel closet, and then shoot your ass up with B-12, available by prescription only, and lidocaine, a local anesthetic available by prescription only. By the way, what, did you have painful boils on your ass that needed to be numbed? Were all of your local doctors out of needles? Was there a syringe shortage? Were they all on backorder?"
The most painfully obvious questions showing the sniff test wasn't passed, and not one person thought to ask them. Who was in charge of the committee, Danny Ferry?
And speaking of sniff tests, and I know it might break some local hearts, but put Pronk under oath.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
One other thing, George … How can you possibly assert it's "over" (as emphasized with your fancy schmantzy bold print) when there's still no testing for human growth hormone? All you're doing is perpetuating a myth. Slap together some collective bargaining agreements permitting the random sapping of blood from the Indians, Cavaliers and Browns, any cerebral person would likely find it's barely just begun. They've merely switched from Dianabol and Winstrol-V to something else.
Is LeBron James using some funny business to help build his body to take all of his hard work to the next level? Who knows. And given that outrageous one-season drop in his slugging percentage, perhaps the highest single season slugging percentage drop of all-time, I think the answer to the Pronk question is fairly self-evident.
February 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Awww, Alan you grumpy old guy. I meant the investigation is over.
HGH is still an issue and until they develop a test for it, it will remain an issue.
February 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
"For all practical purposes, the steroid era ended six years ago."
February 17th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
If we're no longer in the Steroid Era, I guess this means we're now in the HGH Era. Until they invent a reliable human growth hormone test and until they allow the draining of a guy's blood instead of taking pissing in a plastic cup at face value, this new era is going to last for a very long time. It will be the media's responsiblity to keep this fact in the public eye.
After last season's incredible slugging percentage nosedive, I'm guessing Pronk is going to get back on the juice and tell his bride to mind her own damn business and butt out. Good for Indians fans, I suppose. Much like Vegas, what happens in his butt stays in his butt.