I don’t like it when people mess around with the handful of sports figures, movie stars, etc., that I consider “heroic” because of their accomplishments and/or character. Roger Clemens would be one of those few baseball figures I figure deserves heroic status. You’re free, of course to have a contrary, totally wrong-thinking, stupid, opinion on the matter.
My wife and I watched the interview with Clemens on “60 Minutes” last night and we were both glad to see this morning that he’s suing the clown who accused him of illegal drug use. What amazed us about his “60 Minutes” appearance was the apparent dumbness of Mike Wallace as to motive. He seemed puzzled why the guy who made the allegations would lie, as Clemens claimed.
Duh. It seems to me a couple of paragraphs in the story I’ve linked to above makes it pretty clear about what the guy’s motives would be:
“The lawsuit also quotes McNamee as saying he was under pressure from IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella, both key members of the BALCO prosecution, to implicate Clemens as having used performance-enhancing drugs.
“According to the lawsuit, McNamee had repeatedly denied any knowledge of Clemens using steroids until the second day of interrogation, after which Parrella told him he had one strike left before going to jail.”
Of course, those are just the allegations in the lawsuit and could be totally false. Clemens’ statements on “60 Minutes” could have been a bold lie, too. But, as my wife says (and she’s the best judge of character I’ve ever known), if Clemens was lying, he should get an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, because he surely seemed to be truthful.
Don’t mess with my heroes. I don’t like that. Next thing you know, somebody will be attacking Nolan Ryan’s career, or Jimmy Stewart’s acting. Will it never end??
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