I'm listening to a bit of this today.  Whatever you think of Congress getting of involved in baseball (which is the obligatory response to the topic), this is a train wreck.

So far, I've heard Clemens throw:

-His wife under the bus (saying she took HGH and complained she was suffering from circulation problems, but he somehow remains completely unaware of its most basic properties)

-His doctor under the bus (saying that an abscess was caused by a bad B12 injection, when the doctor was quoted as saying he'd never seen that type of reaction to a B12 injection in over 1000 injections)

-Chuck Knolbauch and Andy Pettite under the bus (saying Pettite "misheard" that Clemens had used HGH, that it was actually about a TV show about 3 old men using HGH)

-Threw his agent under the bus, saying he himself had no idea the reaosn Geroge Mitchell, head of the freakin' Mitchell Report, wanted to speak with him in regards to baseball (what else would they talk about?  Campaign Finance Reform?).

McNamee comes off weasely, too, but he had less far to fall.  Clemens looks bad today, really bad.  He's vague, he didn't have direct answers to questions a few times, and generally falling back on the "they must have misunderstood/misheard/misremembered" continually.  He couldn't answer why he swore he'd never had a conversation with McNamee regaridng HGH, yet contradicted that in another statement.  

Christ.  Clemens' nanny just testified that Clemens that Clemens WAS at a BBQ that he said he was not at.  Damn.  Clemens' attorney is flipping out.  Yipes.  That hurts him, badly.  Clemens has now been thrown under the bus.  This was a big, big, big uppercut. Clemens is on the mat, and they are BLINDSIDED.

Clearly there is a deep and far-reaching conspiracy to ruin the character of Roger Clemens.

Before you know it, the stars will be aligning unjustly against Barry Bonds as well.

!i!

I am also left with the impression Rep. Dan Burton, from my own state, is a fuckstick.  He definitely has a few autographed baseballs in his office, methinks.

Thanks for the play-by-play, Zach!  Great stuff.  Clemens is such a scum bag.  How much easier would it all have been for him if he'd just admitted it from the get-go and apologized?

Does anybody over the age of 6 in America believe him?

Clearly friends and family of Clemons should steer clear of bus routes...

The moment he threw that broken bat at Mike Piaza (sp?) all those years ago, i knew he was a douchebag. Most players seem to hate him.

Is he in the hall of fame? I recall Mark Maguire's chances disappeared after the hoo-ha he faced.

He isn't eligible for another 5 yrs, Dan--he played part of '07.

There was a 15-minute recess.  Eleanor Holmes-Norton was about as sarcastic as humanly possible right before the break.  She pretty clearly doesn't

I mean, it wouldn't be a huge deal if he had, would it?  Its just the lying about it.  Just be a man and be upfront--hell, Andy Pettite admitted he took HGH, and you know what?  OK--you did it, you admitted it, its over.  Don't throw everyone you know under the bus, have your lawyer threaten a congressional panel, and just own up to it.  He wouldn't have gone to jail, and still would have ha d a clear shot to the Hall.  Now, if they discover he's perjured himself (which will not be an immediate occurence, mind), he can face upt 5 years per lie.

Really, the first indicator will be if the panel decided the Mitchell Report bears no further investigation and continues to be taken as gospel truth.  That's the indicator right there they believe Clemens is lying.

EDIT:  On the subject of Clemens trying to feed the nanny testimony, and her blowing a hole in his story that he and his wife were never at a BBQ, I seriously thought they were going to walk out.  Wow.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaClearly there is a deep and far-reaching conspiracy to ruin the character of Roger Clemens.

!i!

I blame the Star Chamber: Bush, The Terrorists, Obama and McCain.

Quote from: Zachary The FirstHe isn't eligible for another 5 yrs, Dan--he played part of '07.

Ah. I wasn't sure on the means of entry. Being British and yet a fan of Baseball, i still don't know the inns and outs of it!

[OT] It's cool that we get 1 live game a week during the regular season here and the full world series though! Jonny Gould for the win! [/OT]

Quote from: One Horse TownAh. I wasn't sure on the means of entry. Being British and yet a fan of Baseball, i still don't know the inns and outs of it!

[OT] It's cool that we get 1 live game a week during the regular season here and the full world series though! Jonny Gould for the win! [/OT]

That's cool!  I'm a BB fan, but only technically--I cheer for the Kansas City Royals (thanks to my time being stationed outside KC and getting to meet some of them).

What can I say?  Between the Royals and Indy Colts, I have a thing for teams in blue and white that disappoint.

Quote from: Zachary The FirstThat's cool!  I'm a BB fan, but only technically--I cheer for the Kansas City Royals (thanks to my time being stationed outside KC and getting to meet some of them).

What can I say?  Between the Royals and Indy Colts, I have a thing for teams in blue and white that disappoint.

Cheer up, Zachary! The disappointments make the eventual triumphs that much sweeter, as we Red Sox fans know all too well.

And as a Sox fan, we know Roger pretty well. A truly amazing pitcher - the best in his generation without question, and maybe the best ever - but a rather dim bulb outside the foul lines. I doubt his career was affected in any way by his HGH injections, but he's tarnishing his own reputation much more effectively than just admitting it would do. Between lying and posturing, and playing past the time to quit, he's just hurting himself.

-clash

Rep. Davis throws a softball to Clemens--Clemens now retracts, and er, uh, yeah, it's possible he could have stopped by the BBQ party.  Rep. Davis does nothing with it.


Roger Clemens doesn't know what a vegan is.

Clemens is now stuttering pretty badly.  This is not fun to watch.  I'm not taking any joy in this.

Rep. Bruce Braley is now asking why Clemens is basing all these regimens and health decisions on people who aren't professionals.

He was preceeded by Rep. John Duncan, who characterizes the evidence as "weak".  He's very pro-Clemens.

Weirdly, the red-staters seem to be throwing the softballs to Clemens (but not all, remember this is a 40-person panel).  It's the blue-staters who are really going after him.

Glad to see our Congress dealing with the most pressing issues...

Quote from: CallousGlad to see our Congress dealing with the most pressing issues...

Congress? Pressing issues? That's what we have the internet for! Congress is for entertainment!

-clash

Clemens is reading an article from his wife.  She says McNamee gave her a "test shot" of HGH.  

Rep. Viriginia Davis showing 4 photographs, ranging from 1995-2004.  She's coming down on the side there hasn't been a big physical change (which, we should point out here, isn't not a definitive side effect of HGH).

She throws him a pretty easy question, asking him to describe how he stays in shape.  In fact, it wasn't really much of a question--just sort of an open-mike chance.

At this point, the proceedings have disintegrated completely in to Republican vs. Democrat.

Clemens starts to ramble, starts to imply McNamee works with high school kids and Wall Street guys...Waxman has to pull him back him and have him answer the question of his workout regimen (such as it was).

Rep. Murphy now up.