02/13: Clemens and McNamee Testify in Front of Congress
Posted by: Patrick
Today, Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee testified in front of congress. Buster Olney liveblogged it and has a nice summary of the events. ESPN has some videos and WCBS 880 has the audio in it's entirety. Over at house.gov, you can find documentation related to the hearing, including interviews, affidavits and photos of the physical evidence that Brian McNamee has turned over, among other things.
We learned a number of things today. The biggest things came in the revelations tied to Andy Pettitte's affidavit. In it, he states that Clemens told him that he used HGH, stating:
Pettitte also goes on to say:
Pettitte also admitted to using HGH in 2004 while with Houston. Pettitte's attorney says that he withheld this because he obtained the HGH from his father, who had obtained it for his own health issues.
Brian McNamee also admitted to lying several times to different parties in addition to receiving a PhD and representing himself as such, when it was later found that the place that he got it from was a diploma mill, something he agreed on, in testimony.
Reviews are mixed as far as the winners and losers. Really, all things considered, I think that there are no winners here. McNamee comes off as a liar - you simply cannot trust anything that he says. Yes, he was more able to give concise answers, but that's helped by the fact that his path is mostly set and he's not on the defensive here. Public opinion is in his favor, by all accounts I've seen and everyone already looks at him as the bad guy liar who helped players get steroids and he agrees.
I thought Clemens and co. handled themselves alright, given the circumstances, but the real problem comes with the introduction of the Pettitte statements. While not infallible, they represent a serious question mark for Clemens as does the fact that both Pettitte and Knoblauch confirmed what McNamee said.
Personally, I reserve judgement because I don't feel it's fair to ruin someone based upon the testimony of Brian McNamee. Pettitte says that Clemens admitted it to him, but Pettitte didn't back up McNamee in the sense that he actually saw it happen or saw McNamee do it. So, though a majority of fans may be ready with the torches and pitchforks, I'm not ready to do that. What I'm ready for, however, is some baseball.
Via Peter Abraham.
We learned a number of things today. The biggest things came in the revelations tied to Andy Pettitte's affidavit. In it, he states that Clemens told him that he used HGH, stating:
In 1999 or 2000, I had a conversation with Roger Clemens in which Roger told me that he had taken human growth hormone ("HGH"). This conversation occurred at his gym in Memorial, Texas. He did not tell me where he got the HGH or from whom, but he did tell me that it helped the body recover.
Pettitte also goes on to say:
In 2005, around the time of the Congressional hearings into the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball, I had a conversation with Roger Clemens in Kissimmee, Florida. I asked him what he would say if asked by reporters if he ever used performance enhancing drugs. When he asked me what I meant, I reminded him that he had told me that he used HGH.
Roger responded by telling me that I must have misunderstood him; he claimed that he told me that it was his wife, Debbie, who used HGH.
I said, "Oh, okay," or words to that effect, not because I agreed, but because I wasn't going to argue with him.
Roger responded by telling me that I must have misunderstood him; he claimed that he told me that it was his wife, Debbie, who used HGH.
I said, "Oh, okay," or words to that effect, not because I agreed, but because I wasn't going to argue with him.
Pettitte also admitted to using HGH in 2004 while with Houston. Pettitte's attorney says that he withheld this because he obtained the HGH from his father, who had obtained it for his own health issues.
Brian McNamee also admitted to lying several times to different parties in addition to receiving a PhD and representing himself as such, when it was later found that the place that he got it from was a diploma mill, something he agreed on, in testimony.
Reviews are mixed as far as the winners and losers. Really, all things considered, I think that there are no winners here. McNamee comes off as a liar - you simply cannot trust anything that he says. Yes, he was more able to give concise answers, but that's helped by the fact that his path is mostly set and he's not on the defensive here. Public opinion is in his favor, by all accounts I've seen and everyone already looks at him as the bad guy liar who helped players get steroids and he agrees.
I thought Clemens and co. handled themselves alright, given the circumstances, but the real problem comes with the introduction of the Pettitte statements. While not infallible, they represent a serious question mark for Clemens as does the fact that both Pettitte and Knoblauch confirmed what McNamee said.
Personally, I reserve judgement because I don't feel it's fair to ruin someone based upon the testimony of Brian McNamee. Pettitte says that Clemens admitted it to him, but Pettitte didn't back up McNamee in the sense that he actually saw it happen or saw McNamee do it. So, though a majority of fans may be ready with the torches and pitchforks, I'm not ready to do that. What I'm ready for, however, is some baseball.
Via Peter Abraham.
Seamus wrote: