Wednesday Congressional Hearings On Steroids

- Barry Bonds, Basketball -

Let’s pause for a moment and create a mental picture:

Somewhere in the Bay Area, Barry Bonds lounging with his feet up on the couch, his hands buried deep in popcorn and/or pretzels (not sure which is his junk food of choice) and laughing his large-domed tail off. In his mind, today’s action on The Hill may be the best comedy of the year.

At the end of the day, either Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee will be under investigation for perjury. McNamee claims to have injected Clemens on over 20 occasions with steroids. Clemens claims McNamee’s claims are untrue. Someone must be lying.

Clemens requested the committee hearing today to “set the records straight,” because at this point he feels as if his name can no longer be completely absolved of all the speculation surrounding his career. Much like with Bonds’ accusations, Clemens has already been viewed as guilty in the court of public opinion. The public is not the best judge for finding guilt for persons either famous or unknown. But, as we saw during the Bonds witch hunt, the “Making of Bonds: The Anti-Hero” book deals and numerous accusatory articles pointing fingers at players, media ratings spike when strong claims are laid out against our most famous entertainers.

Right now Clemens is getting grilled by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) of the House committee, playing defense mostly, trying to hold strong to his own claims of innocence without trying to smear his old buddy Andy Pettitte’s credibility. Pettitte is the X-factor in the hearing, claiming that Clemens told Pettitte in 1999 or 2000 that he’d used human growth hormone (HGH). So at this point, Clemens is trying to play nice with Pettitte’s highly respected name as an honest person, saying his old buddy simply “misremembers” their conversation.

And the band plays on, as the MLB reputation ship sinks…

Court TV meet MLB TV. Introduce yourselves, get to know each other and get comfortable. Strike a deal, create promos with the most famous MLB players setting up clips, and get this relationship going. There are dollars to be made.

Clemens testifies to House committee I’ll keep my eyes and ears glued to the congressional testimonies today. Clemens appears to be up against the ropes, getting grilled pretty intensely right now. If we had to call the “match” right now, Clemens has already provoked enough conflict of testimonies to justify an investigation into perjury.

Clemens has an uphill battle to fight. What are the chances Bonds takes a break from rolling on the floor in laughter to pick up the phone and offer some support?

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