I used to work with McNamee. He's a really honest guy who wasnt the trouble making type. We actually advertised his sports system with roger clemens and andy. I remember saying then that theres no way thats all Roger is taking performing the way he is at that age. There's got to be more to it. Well either way I never got a difinitive answer but I have my suspicions. I'm going to have to go with McNamee on this one. Clemens overall testimony just was not believable. Theres too much circumstancial evidence against him at this point.
It won't happen, and shouldn't. He didn't lie under oath. Once he WAS under oath, he told the truth. To me, Pettitte's testimony is the most damaging evidence against Clemens at this point. What does he have to gain by saying Clemens took the drugs?
As I noted earlier in this thread, there has been some investigation of his numbers, and on the face of it, there seems little doubt that Clemens' career trajectory is unusual, although it is certainly not unique, and by itself doesn't prove anything. No PowerPoint, but there are graphs! http://forums.theganggreen.com/showpost.php?p=769324&postcount=29
McNamee's lawyer predicts Clemens pardon By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer 11 minutes ago One of Brian McNamee's lawyers predicted Roger Clemens will be pardoned by President Bush, saying some Republicans treated his client harshly because of the pitcher's friendship with the Bush family. ADVERTISEMENT Lawyer Richard Emery made the claims Thursday, a day after a congressional hearing broke down along party lines. Many Democrats were skeptical of Clemens' denials he used performance-enhancing drugs and Republicans questioned the character of McNamee, the personal trainer who made the accusations against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. "It would be the easiest thing in the world for George W. Bush, given the corrupt proclivities of his administration, to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children," Emery said in a telephone interview. "It's my belief they have some reason to believe they can get a pardon." During Wednesday's session before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Clemens repeated his denials under oath, which could lead to criminal charges if federal prosecutors conclude he made false statements or obstructed Congress. "I'm not aware of Mr. Clemens having been charged with anything," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said after being told of Emery's remarks. Emery cited Bush's decision last year to commute the 2 1/2-year prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his vice president's former top aide. Libby was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative. During the hearing, Clemens cited his friendship with Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, a baseball fan who regularly attends Houston Astros' games. Clemens said he was on a recent hunting trip when the elder Bush called with words of support. "When all this happened, the former president of the United States found me in a deer blind in south Texas and expressed his concerns that this was unbelievable, and stay strong and hold your head up high," Clemens testified. Emery said as he thought about the testimony overnight, Clemens' reference to the call from the elder Bush convinced him the questioning by Republicans was a concerted effort. "All the pieces fell into place given his friendship, his personal friendship with the Bush family," Emery said. "They have some belief that even if he's prosecuted, he will never have to serve jail time or face a trail. This is a charade we're going through." IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky attended the hearing and watched from the second row. Novitzky has been a part of the BALCO prosecution team that secured an indictment against Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds testified before a grand jury in 2003 and denied that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Emery praised Clemens' lawyers, Rusty Hardin and Lanny Breuer, as knowledgeable and said the prospect of a pardon was the only explanation that allowed the pitcher to repeat his denials under oath. "It's the only reason lawyers worth their salt would allow their client to run into the buzzsaw of Jeff Novitzky and the potential prosecution, tampering and lying to a federal official," Emery said. Joe Householder, Clemens' spokesman, said he would attempt to reach Hardin or Breuer for comment. Republicans on the committee did not immediately return telephone calls. Emery had harsh criticism for Republican Reps. Dan Burton of Indiana, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Darrell Issa of California and Christopher Shays of Connecticut. Shays called McNamee a "drug dealer" and Burton accused McNamee of telling "lie after lie after lie after lie." "It was disgusting and despicable behavior," Emery said. "It was clear to me they were carrying someone's water." Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who said he believed McNamee, was concerned about the apparent Republican-Democratic divide. "Of all the things to become partisan over, this was the wrong one," Cummings said. "What we needed to be doing was to be in search of truth. And I think that when you are truly in search of truth, we need to put the partisan shoes at the door and walk in without them."
^ Dunno if that is at all realistic, but it is a very interesting explanation for why one or the other of these guys would lie in front of Congress. Of course, if that happened, his reputation would be destroyed anyway, but he would stay out of jail.
We're worried about partisanship in a steroids hearing for a sport? Wow, is this what our Founding Fathers envisoned? I hadn't even thought of the pardoning angle before. Interesting. This is all ridiculous. I am totally sick of hearing this crap now. The sport is tainted. Clemen's legacy is tainted. The greatest record in all sports is tainted. Now let's get to the business of playing baseball.
Waxman comments on the Clemens Circus Waxman Regrets Hearing Was Held By DUFF WILSON and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT Published: February 15, 2008 WASHINGTON ? A day after a dramatic, nationally televised hearing that pitted Roger Clemens against his former personal trainer and Democrats against Republicans, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Thursday that he regretted holding the hearing in the first place. The chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, said the four-hour hearing unnecessarily embarrassed Clemens, who he thought did not tell the truth, as well as the trainer, Brian McNamee, who he thought was unfairly attacked by committee Republicans. ?I think Clemens and McNamee both came out quite sullied, and I didn?t think it was a hearing that needed to be held in order to get the facts out about the Mitchell report,? Waxman said. ?I?m sorry we had the hearing. I regret that we had the hearing. And the only reason we had the hearing was because Roger Clemens and his lawyers insisted on it.? The decision to hold the hearing had been made in early January, as Clemens was publicly challenging the veracity of the Mitchell report. But Waxman said he and Tom Davis of Virginia, the ranking Republican and former chairman of the committee, decided by last Friday that they did not need to conduct the hearing as scheduled because depositions taken last week from Clemens, McNamee, Andy Pettitte and others were thorough, as was the committee staff?s own investigation, and that a hearing would not provide a great deal more insight. ?Roger Clemens?s lawyers told us he wanted the opportunity to make his case in public,? Waxman said. ?He had his opportunity.? Now, Waxman added, 90 percent of the people being asked their opinion of the hearing were stating that they did not believe Clemens. Waxman?s regrets, and his assertion that Clemens?s side was responsible for the hearing taking place, was assailed last night by Clemens?s lead attorney, Rusty Hardin, who said Waxman?s statements were ?unbelievable, disingenuous and outrageous.? ?He is the one who created this circus in the first place,? Hardin said of Waxman, contending that Clemens and his lawyers had asked several weeks ago for the hearing to be called off, only to be rebuffed by Waxman?s staff. ?We didn?t think any good would come out of having a food fight with the accuser,? Hardin said in reference to McNamee. But once the depositions were taken last week, he said, the Clemens side felt it had no choice but to proceed, fearing that the committee would use the depositions to produce a hostile written report. ?We wanted this out in the open,? Hardin said. And it was out in the open that it became Democrat against Republican. Waxman said he was shocked at the partisan nature of the hearing, with Democrats, for the most part, grilling Clemens, while Republicans lambasted McNamee. ?I was disappointed to see that kind of partisanship, and I can?t understand it,? Waxman said. Waxman said Davis and Mark Souder of Indiana were the only Republicans on the committee who actually read through the depositions that were filed last week. Souder was also one of the few committee members who refused Clemens?s request for a private meeting before the hearing. And it was Souder who stood out from his Republican colleagues by stating during the hearing that the depositions were ?fairly devastating? against Clemens. ?I don?t think, quite frankly, that they anticipated quite the solid wall on the Republican side, the defense of Clemens,? Souder said Wednesday of the Democratic members of the panel. Speaking of Clemens, he added, ?It wasn?t an accident that word got to me that he?s a Republican, or he said that President Bush called him.? Meanwhile, Waxman said he had not made a decision as to whether Clemens would be referred to the Department of Justice for investigation into possible perjury charges. However, the Justice Department could start an investigation on its own. The F.B.I. in Washington confirmed Thursday that it had several agents at the hearing, in addition to the I.R.S. and F.B.I. agents from California who have been involved in investigating steroid use in sports and were present as well. One lawyer directly involved in the case suggested Wednesday that the Justice Department would lead an investigation of Clemens from its Washington headquarters and convene a grand jury in Washington, with the California agents, including the I.R.S. agent Jeff Novitzky, who has become the face of the various steroid investigations, also taking part. The lawyer was granted anonymity because he did not want to speak publicly about possible Justice Department strategy. Still, for the moment, it was Wednesday?s partisan rumblings that continued to echo. Richard Emery, who is one of McNamee?s lawyers, even predicted Thursday ? somewhat sarcastically ? that Clemens would be pardoned by President Bush before the possibility of a perjury charge even emerges, which is legally possible. Clemens, like President Bush and his father, George H. W. Bush, lives in Texas. In his testimony Wednesday, Clemens told the committee that the former president Bush had reached out to him after the Mitchell report was released and told him ?to stay strong and hold your head up high.? ?It would be the easiest thing for George W. Bush,? to do, Emery said, ?to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children.? The White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto told The Associated Press, ?I?m not aware of Mr. Clemens having been charged with anything.? A Republican staff member of the committee, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the hearings, said the partisanship arose Wednesday more because of Waxman than because of Republican support for Clemens. Waxman is a tough Democrat who can take on a prosecutorial tone, he said, and some of the Republicans reflexively did not want to help him. Some Republicans also thought it was good for them to argue that the Democratic-controlled Congress was wasting time with baseball. That was a theme on Fox TV news coverage Wednesday, even as the news channel broadcast hours of coverage of the hearing. ?Only Congress could take a Clemens-McNamee controversy and turn it into a political controversy,? Earl Ward, a lawyer for McNamee, said after the hearing. The Republican staff member said that party leaders on the committee instructed members not to attack Waxman, partly because that could also be viewed as an attack on Davis, who chaired the 2005 baseball hearing that featured Mark McGwire?s denials and who has worked closely with Waxman over the years. ?Criticisms of the chairman were not fair game,? the staff member said. So the Republicans held back from attacking Waxman in the committee room and attacked McNamee as a proxy, the staff member said. And a day later, Waxman was unhappy with the whole thing. Alan Schwarz and Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington.
See, that's something I never bother to talk about, but him throwing the bat at Piazza is not indication that he's a roid rager. I throw shit all the time when I'm frustrated. Drives my wife nuts, and forces me to fix the walls in the apartment far too often. I've never touched a steroid in my life. I'm just a hot-head. And the only point I was making was that why can't you just keep the talk to the two threads already dedicated to Roger, or one of the other steroid threads already established. This stuff is tiring. The guy is retired. Screw him. He'll pay the Piper, and that will be the end of it. Then we'll all go on watching for the next guy to be a surefire roider.
Two threads is enough for me to talk about him. He made a huge mistake of approaching this the same way he pitched- dont hesitate to throw the high hard one, knock people down who crowd the plate, and throw as hard as he could. Didnt work for him in this situation, though.
SportsPickle.com Weekly Poll What will you remember the most from Roger Clemens' hearing? the 10-minute break ordered when Roger Clemens' pants caught on fire Mrs. Clemens 'roid-raging out and beating to death Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) when everyone endorsed Andy Pettitte for president Clemens asking McNamee to inject him so he could have enough energy to make it through his statement I'm not sure. I misremember much of what transpired. :lol:
