Roger and Out

God damn Clemens, McNamee and the rest of them for taking attention from, you know, the actual games on the field.

That being said, there's this weird misperception out there that you believe either one or the other, take their word as the gospel truth, and stick your fingers in your ears at any evidence to the contrary. This, I believe, is hooey - I've got no use for either one of them. To sum up, we have:

Clemens, who...

• Threw his wife, his trainer, his best friend in baseball, and his nanny under the bus in order to save his own hide
• Once threw a piece of broken bat at Mike Piazza, having apparently misremembered what a baseball looked like. (And even if it had been the ball, why wasn't he throwing it to first?)
• Did something that looks a lot like witness tampering from here when he summoned his kids' former nanny for a pre-testimony debrief
• Has pulled the "LOOKIT MEEEE!" bit on his retirement/unretirement so many times that even Courtney Love thinks he's a bit of an attention whore
• Gave his kids gimmick names to match his ESPN commercial - which wasn't actually that funny
• Contradicted his own statements
  
• Always came up with some sort of minor injury when the chips were down

and McNamee, who...

• Admitted to withholding some evidence
• Is linked to an alleged incident of rape
• Has a "PhD" from a mail order diploma mill
• Is an admitted drug dealer
• Claims to have voluntarily stuck things in Roger Clemens' butt

In other words, they're both crumbs, and it's time for them to both go away - particularly if Clemens committed perjury before Congress. Yes, the hearings were a joke and never should have happened, but that doesn't excuse the fact that lying in sworn testimony is a serious business. By leading with his stubbly, oversized chin, Clemens put himself in a position that he can't bully his way out of, or rely on his iconic status to protect him from. He waved a red flag in front of the FBI and Congress, and now he's surprised the bull is charging. Rusty Hardin may be talking a brave game - and his words sounded subtly like a threat to me - but at this point it has the sound of hot air and bluff.

Ultimately, what actually happened may or may not have anything to do with the verdict of juries. In my personal opinion, I think that Clemens took PEDs, whatever good they might or might not have done him. I believe he got them from McNamee, and I believe they're both lying so-and-so's who don't seem to realize that they're just taking each other down.

Screw both of 'em. Play ball.