jillcarlson's Blog

I watched much of yesterday's Congressional hearings with Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee and I've got to tell you, it was tough to stomach from every perspective.   Neither is telling the absolute truth and one is lying more spectacularly than the other.  And based on the sworn testimonies of Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch, I'm inclined to believe the not-exactly-credible McNamee more so than Clemens.  There are too many inconsistencies in Clemens explanations of what did or did not happen.  And the fact that his wife would have taken HGH without his knowledge or urging is just too much to believe.  But he so desperately wants us to believe his version of the truth that he even threw his wife under the bus.  McNamee's stories have changed and morphed as time has gone on and even if he did save the syringes and cotton swabs he allegedly used when injecting Clemens, the way in which the ex-cop saved the evidence will prevent that being used as absolute proof it happened.  There is no way a court of law would allow that evidence to be admitted because there is no way to prove it hadn't been contaminated or manufactured outright.  

So what have we learned after each refused to budge?  Nothing...we still don't know the whole truth nor are we likely to ever know it.  The hearing was the worst kind of dog and pony show with no real point to it that I've witnessed.  Why was money and time spent on this?  So that at some point, Clemens or McNamee can be brought up on perjury charges?  Shouldn't these elected officials instead be trying to find ways to shrink the deficit?  Get the troops responsibly out of Iraq?  Develop a workable health care system?  Oh...that's right...they are ELECTED.  You don't think increasing their profiles had anything to do with this, do you?  If the stated reason of holding this hearing was to dissuade children and adults from using these illegal and banned substances, it's not going to work.  All it did was further tarnish a Hall of Fame career and possibly show kids that with reponsible use of steroids or HGH, you can, in fact, prolong and strengthen your career thereby earning you millions of dollars.  You might never make the Hall of Fame and might be embarrassed...but you'll be rich and famous.   Maybe that will be and should be enough to dissuade some from every using it...but there will be plenty of others who won't give a darn.   What a sad, sad day for sports and politics.