Roger Clemens, NOT GUILTY…
Boy, you don’t hear those words often in federal court. They win nearly 95% of their trials. Which doesn’t mean the defendant is guilty, the Feds just have the power to always win. But not this time.
In fact, the government has now wasted millions of dollars and manpower to stage yet another public witch hunt that the public did not want to go along on.
Remember, Barry Bonds also walked.
Bonds was convicted of one minor charge but did no jail time. Clemens was cleared of everything. The government chose not to indict Lance Armstrong.
Did all three of them do steroids? No doubt.
The problem is, so did thousands of other baseball, basketball, football players just to name a few sports. "Roids" are now a common "vitamin" amongst not just pro and college athletes but Americans in general.
With the Clemens case over, it’s unlikely the government will ever again try a steroid/pro athlete case.
The public has spoken; "We don’t want to hear it."
For many reasons. For one, we love our superstars – even Bonds is loved in his city. Clemens is arguably the best baseball pitcher of all time. He’s won more Cy Young Awards than any other pitcher, including one at age 42 just seven years ago. Amazing. Even with steroids.
And you still have to be better than pretty good to do all that, huh?
Yes, steroids make you play better, especially in muscled up areas like home runs. However, it’s not fair to go after a chosen few when the entire NFL has to use them to not get KILLED out there.
So why slice and dice a few super star baseball players?
Simple, the government wants to slow down the use of steroids among young people.
Yet there is NO proven harm from the drugs when they are used correctly.
You can overdose on almost all legal drugs. The best examples of that being Arnold, Sly and Mickey Rourke – all movie stars who over used. Still they all seem to be in pretty good shape and healthy.. Stallone and Swartzenegger are now 70 and looking pretty good.
That being said, we live in a dangerous world. Our nation has a high crime rate with the less educated Latino and Black groups.
Rampant steroid use would only grow young potential violent criminals to massive sizes.
It’s as simple as that.
Imagine 10 or 20 million thugs the size of Lebron James. Not a good thing.
So this is the major reason steroids are a no-no with the Feds. They don’t care about your health. Please.
Steroids are the new "fountain of youth."
This is the only major way to slow down the aging process, look fit and young even into your 70’s. Nothing else can do that. Nothing. Sure it helps to eat right and work out, but again, PLEASE.
Testosterone and HGH are both legal today when doctor approved. So how bad can they be when used properly?
In generations to come these drugs and other steroids will allow people to live to be well over 100, maybe even 120. More importantly, they’ll look damn good even at 80, maybe 90.
Just think 80 will be the new 40. Damn. Sadly we won’t be here to see that.
Clemens and Bonds did pay a price.
Roger likely won’t go into the Hall of Fame for some time, and who knows if and when Bonds will ever be voted in? Plus they suffered great financial losses with lawyer bills and many sleepless nights. Most of all it hurt their families, their pride and their legacies.
Yes, they were all guilty of using steroids, but so were most of your pro heros.
My favorite Roger Clemens story – I’ve told it before but it bears repeating – was when Clemens and Red Sox pitcher Matt Young came into Stanford’s in Westport years ago. It was around 4 PM and they were in town to play the Royals. I walked up to Roger, introduced myself and we spoke for a bit. When I walked away he said, "Hey Craig, aren’t you gonna buy us a drink?"
I turned and said, "Roger you make more money in a year than all the people in this restaurant put together, you should buy us a drink." Roger smiled and said, "You’re right. Bartender, buy everyone in this joint a cocktail on me."
And he did just that. Great guy.
But damn, I wish it had been later at night – we’d have been busier and made a killing!