Ali-Frazier, De La Hoya-Mayweather and now…Clemens-McNamee. By the time you’ve read this, Roger Clemens will have arrived for an event that could define his entire career. “The Rocket” is set to go before Congress this morning and defend his assertion that he’s never taken a performance-enhancing drug. If what we’ve heard is any indication, Clemens could be in for a very, very long morning in our Nation’s Capital.

Remember the last time Major League Baseball stars went before Congress? All it did was result in the complete self-destruction of guys named Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa. Now we can safely assume that Clemens won’t forget English. We can also assume that Clemens will, in fact, be there to talk about the past. But what will happen next is anyone’s guess.

Unfortunately for Clemens, he’ll have few allies by his side. Former teammates Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch have already come forward and admitted their own ‘roid use. But even more damaging for the Rocket was Pettitte’s testimony, which stated that Clemens used HGH nearly 10 years ago. Not good, Roger. Not good.

In the end, this Congress thing won’t be solving much. We can expect both Clemens and McNamee to stick to their stories. We can also expect this media circus to carry on for a few more months. And unfortunately, this saga will only distract people from some actual good news in the world of baseball. Pitchers and catchers report this week!

Roger Clemens needs to find a deep dark hole and climb inside of it to hibernate for a while. The newly-dubbed face of the steroids era is back to his old antics, stirring up the media and pretending nothing is wrong. Clemens showed up to Houston Astros’ training camp yesterday to work out with the team and repeatedly dodged the issue of steroids.

Look, Roger, we’ve had enough. It was bad enough when you kept flopping back and forth out of retirement and took magical “breaks” from baseball for time that, as we can see now, could have directly correlated with an underground suspension for steroids from the commissioners office. You juiced. You won’t retire. You’re becoming as stubborn as Barroid.

Up until a few months ago, Clemens legacy of being a prick didn’t extend much beyond his Brett Favre-esque indecisiveness about retirement. Now that he’s been indicted for steroid use, his legacy has only gotten worse. And don’t tell me he’s actually thinking about coming back for another season with the Astros. How long is this “door’s always open if you want to come back” policy in Houston going to last. Christ. I thought 2006 was the last time he’d play for the Astros. Probably not.

I’ve had just about enough of the Barry Bonds steroid saga and I’m not sure how willing I am to endure Clemens running the same show. He’ll go down as one of the greatest pitchers to ever toe the rubber, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an attention whore. Give it up, Roger.  If you want the media to leave you alone like you’ve said multiple times, then stop putting yourself under the spotlight.  Stop doing stupid things that grab everyone’s attention.  Go back to spending time with your family only, this time instead of parading around with “personal trainers”, actually do it.

Well, after a ten day period where most guys on the Mitchell report had come forward and confessed their role in steroid distribution and use, Roger Clemens finally has something to say.  It’s about time, Rocket.  If you’re so “innocent” and “never used steroids” then why the hell did it take you ten days to come out and say something to the media.  And why is this a recorded message?  Where’s the press conference, Rocket?  Why aren’t you running around to every major media station in the country demanding your name to be cleared?  Why are you issuing statements through your attorney instead?  Most importantly; why the hell should I believe you?

We’ve all seen the names, we’ve all heard the audio clips, and we all have our own opinions on what happened with the Mitchell Investigation. But what does it mean for us now? The secrets are out, Major League Baseball has lost face, and in the wake of the Mitchell Report, baseball will enter a new era. hat will happen to the big names hit by the report? What will become of the likes of Roger Clemens, and Miguel Tejada, and Eric Gagne? Only time will tell, but perhaps just as importantly is the question of what will happen to Matt Herges, Glenallen Hill, Jack Cust, and the rest of that caliber of player? Will they be as affected by this news? Will they be more affected, again only time will tell.

Baseball is at a turning point. The league knew that they had a problem, and to be honest, they tried to sweep it under the wrong. Are we to blame them? No, everyone tries to hide their problems, but the issue for MLB suddenly got out of hand. In addition to them knowing they had a problem, all of a sudden the front offices knew, and then the fans, and then congress, soon enough the whole world knew there was a problem, hell even Osama Bin Laden probably figured it out.

But did any of us know that the problem was this big? I mean, maybe we should have, maybe the hints were there. After all, Wally Joyner had come out before the report and admitted to using steroids. Wally freaking Joyner. I hate to be pessimistic, but if that man was doing steroids, then who in the big leagues wasn’t? So perhaps we shouldn’t have been as surprised as we are. Regardless of if the shock should or shouldn’t have hit us, it most certainly did. This report rocked the sports world, and baseball in particular more than anything has in a long while. Read the rest of this entry »

Less than a month ago, Tigers shortstop Neifi Perez tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended 25 games. You may remember Sportable running an article on Perez, mocking him for his stupidity. Well, it’s time to open up a can of smack talk again because Perez lacks anything resembling common sense.

If you ask me, Perez should be repeatedly kicked in the throat. Better yet, take something upside his head because he’s got absolutely nothing between his ears. It’s stupid for an athlete to get busted for a banned supplement once. It’s even worse for an athlete to be busted twice. Neifi Perez being busted for a third time defies humanity. It takes stupidity to a level previously only attained by the likes of Lawrence Phillips and Darryl Strawberry. I’ll pose the same question that I asked when Perez first was suspended; Why? Here’s a guy who hasn’t seen the field since the beginning of July and his .172 batting average scares absolutely nobody.

Hey Neifi, steroids won’t improve your hand-eye coordination. Steroids won’t ‘roid out your .172 batting average. And whatever you were taking sucks because you only have one home run on the year. Just one. Athletes find new and innovative ways to amaze me with ignorance, but this one might take the cake. Don’t do steroids. They test for that sort of thing now a days. If you get caught, take a hint and stop juicing. Neifi will have plenty of time to think about what he’s done. 80 games is a long time.

From time to time, we’ll be sounding off on what sports figures would be better off shutting their mouth. We start with Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who has come out and criticized players for using steroids.

Curt Schilling loves opening up his mouth. He’s done it his entire career, whether it’s criticizing Phillies closer Mitch Williams or sounding off on steroids. It looks like Curt has opened up his mouth again, stating that steroid users should have all their accomplishments erased from the records. But for once, somebody besides the blogging world is sick of Curt Schilling. His name is Jose Canseco.

“What a horrendous performance he put on with the spotlight on him in front of the whole world and he could have said something important. Of all people to be saying something like that. Are you kidding me? He’s a complete hypocrite. Nobody takes him seriously. People around baseball all feel the same way about him.

“I could care less what Schilling thinks.”

For once, Canseco isn’t talking out of his ass and making some sense here. When various Major League Baseball players went in front of Congress in 2005, they all gagged in the spotlight and said nothing worthwhile. Sammy Sosa forgot English, Mark McGwire didn’t want to talk about the past, and Curt Schilling simply talked out of his ass, something he does quite a bit. Two years ago, Schilling said the steroid problem in baseball was “overstated and that he “never saw a syringe.” Now he’s bashing his fellow players. Tell us Curt. What do you really think?

For being an incredibly clutch pitcher and one of the best in the last 25 years, it’s really hard to like Schilling. He’ll throw fellow players under the bus when talking to reporters or writing on his blog. But when the time comes for Schilling to make a difference and take action, he backs into a corner. Do us all a favor, Mr. Schilling. Shut the hell up. Thank you.