Steroid hearings, Jones verdict, Clemens denial

Today begins the Congressional hearings on the Mitchell report of the use of steroids, HGH and/or other Performance Enhancing Drugs, (PEDs), in MLB.

The first subject of the questioning will be former senator Mitchell who wrote this report. We all know that part of the story.

The bigger part of the story, is what will happen as the questioning turns to the accused in the Mitchell report? We will just have to see.

One thing we need to keep in mind is that this all comes on the heels of last friday's verdict against Marion Jones, who was sentenced to six months in prison and two years in prison for lying about using steroids in her bid for Olympic gold in 2000, as well as lying about knowing that her former coach was part of a check-fraud scam.

Now, consider that for a moment. Marion Jones was NOT, repeat NOT, convicted and sentenced to prison and probation for doing any PEDs, nor for even knowing about what her former coach was doing, but for LYING about it to congressional hearings when asked to appear and answer questions.

The question for me becomes this. Will Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and other MLB players mentioned in the Mitchell report, ALSO be found guilty and sentenced in like manner? Honestly, they should. There should NOT be a "double standard" applied here. And I do not mean that based on gender, but on sports equity. Just because these MLB players are extremely wealthy and play a major revenue sport should NOT mean that they receive anything LESS than what Marion Jones received. In fact the penalty for them should actually be higher, IMHO. They are far more well-known and play far more important a role in mainstream sports fan minds than an Olympic medalist from 4 years ago. I do think it bodes well for a fair and equitable justice system though that Barry Bonds HAS been indicted for lying to congress. So perhaps this will out, we will just have to wait and see.

As to the Roger Clemens innocence or guilt as to the Mitchell report accusation of alleged use of PEDs, I only have this to say right now. I distrust his adamant denials. Why did he wait almost 30 days before addressing this issue? Why when he did, did he and his lawyer play only snippets of a phone conversation between Clemens and his accuser and ex-personal trainer McNamee? Why did Clemens and his lawyer start hedging on whether to appear before congress to answer questions, about the same time that the Marion Jones sentencing came down? Too many questions that look far too much like damage control, and legal gerrymandering, than true, honest proclamations of innocence.

Which brings me to Andy Pettite. The single most interesting and most OVERLOOKED person in the whole sordid issue of PED use. Until the Mitchell report, we had heard literally nothing of any insinuation that Pettite had used any type of PED. And just as shocked as we were about Clemens mention in the report, we were just as much with Pettite's name appearing there. But here is where the comparison ends. Barely more than 3 days after the Mitchell report was release, Pettite came out and announced to the media and the world that he did indeed use steroids. And what was the public and especially the media's reaction to that proclamation?

(crickets chirping)

Right. DEAD silence. There was no outcry of Pettite's "cheating", no demanding of records being expunged, nothing. As a matter of fact it has been almost the complete OPPOSITE of those. Pettite is coming off almost as a "victim" in this issue. At worst, nothing more than a pathetic and pitiable athlete that became caught up in the push to compete and stay on top of his game, while his body grew older and his skill diminished. Something most of us who are growing older can relate to.

This is really the social and cultural part of this affair. Sports fans want to believe that their "icons" are pure as driven snow. Even when we know they are not. We will turn a blind eye and ear to that, UNTIL that athlete gets caught cheating. However, what we as fans want from an athlete when they get caught is NOT for their head on a platter, but true, heartfelt and honest contrition about their actions. We WANT to forgive our athletes. We want them to be bigger than they are, but will understand their humanness, if they will only own up to their actions.

The lesson we are learning in all aspects here, judicially, legally, socially, morally, ethically, and culturally, should be not only that it is unacceptable to use PEDs as a form of cheating, but that if you do and get caught, do NOT lie to the fan base and media about it. We are not stupid, but we actually are pretty forgiving.

A lesson that Pete Rose needed to learn a LONG time ago.