Steroid Nation

DNA on 'waste' matches Clemens' DNA found on juiced medical equipment

As the Roger Clemens trial grinds on, there are several developments (which we will try to document).

Today a forinsic expert testified that DNA (and here)found on equipment used for steroid injections retained  by the trainer, McNamee

A forensic scientist testified that two cotton balls and a syringe needle allegedly saved after a steroids injection tested positive for Roger Clemens’ DNA, a key moment on Friday as the government tries to prove the former pitcher used performance-enhancing drugs.

Alan Keel told jurors that the DNA on both cotton balls were “unique to one person who has ever lived on the planet” – Clemens. He said one of the cotton balls had a random match possibility of one in 15.4 trillion for Clemens’ DNA, and the other had one in 173 trillion, when comparing to the population of white people in the U.S.

Both cells and blood were 'matched' from the discarded cotton balls and syringes containing PED substances, with Clemens' DNA.

Experts testified that the medical waste contained traces of 'roids.  Thus there is a tenuous link betweem Steroids and Clemens on physical evidence, that appears to corroborate the oral testimony of Clemen's trainer Brian McNamee (below right) about the Rocket's use of the PEDs.

Obviously questions remain, as this is not a forensic sample, about the links among the bits of evidence that Clemens deceived others about his steroid and PED use.

 On Thursday, two forensic analysts said they had found steroids on the items, some of which included needles, gauze, and a broken steroid ampoule that had been stuffed into a Miller Lite beer can. Clemens attorneys have already indicated they will argue that there is no way to tell how steroids got onto items connected to the pitcher. They countered on Thursday that someone may have dripped steroids over the medical items and that chemicals in the batch of evidence could have mixed together, making it hard to tell whether steroids were on items connected to Clemens. McNamee admitted last week that some of the medical waste was from other players.

 

 

 

Kirk Radomski, steroid dealer, pushes supplements

Kirk Radomski, who supplied all kinds of unhealthy PEDs to professional athletes is now concerned about health.  As noted in the Daily News, Radomski pushes supplements, like Mass Arrival X0Treme.

A man wearing a blue lab coat and a shower cap pushes a hand truck loaded with 249 boxes of dietary supplements out of the factory loading dock and toward the GMC Acadia. The next chapter in the life of Kirk Radomski — the man who supplied steroids and human growth hormone to dozens of major leaguers for 10 years — has begun.

“I want to see people lose weight,” Radomski says as he and his partner, Steve Cohen, loaded boxes of “Mass Arrival X-treme,” a supplement that boosts testosterone levels, into Cohen’s vehicle. “I want to see people get bigger muscles. I want to see them live healthier live...

“I’m a convicted felon, but that didn’t stop people from coming up to me and asking my advice about supplements,” he says. “I really couldn’t recommend a lot of products. There are a lot of companies out there that shouldn’t be in business. They put illegal ingredients in their products.

Radomski is free to engage in business activites, of course.  What is bizarre is that people ask him about supplements and nurition.

Like asking a street narcotics dealer what to use for pain relief.

Curt Schilling would not open Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame to 'roiders' like Bonds

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling expresses her opipion on the entrence of PED abusing MLBers like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire (New York Daily News):

Curt Schilling says Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and anyone else linked to steroids doesn’t belong in Cooperstown. Their records, the former Red Sox pitcher said during his Wednesday night appearance on “Conan,” should be expunged from the record books.

“If you cheated, you’re done,” said Schilling, who will join Clemens, Bonds and Sosa on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

When the Daily News called Schilling to ask him about his comments, he declined to talk. “I’m not interested in talking about any of that stuff,” he said.

Here’s a question we’d like to ask Schilling: Who made you the steroid arbiter?

From 1988 to 1996, Schilling’s record was 52-52. After he turned 30, he went 164-94 from 1997 to 2007. That kind of jump in performance, especially during the years when Major League Baseball didn’t test for steroids and even the guys selling peanuts appeared to be on the juice, deserves some kind of explanation, doesn’t it?

Snarky of the Daily News to throw in the latter comment.  You are publishing his comment aren't you?  So don't be a jerk when the guy gives you his opinion.

Schilling delivers a basic moral stance: If you cheated you are out of the HOF.  Life isn't always that simple, however that is one legitimate opinion.

Roger Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin on society

Here is Rusty Hardin's quote on society. 

We would add: Hopefully we haven't reached a stage in this country where you lie under oath about something you DID do.

Clemens) high-priced legal team, led by Rusty Hardin, probably is happy, too, as those legal bills really will start to pile up now. Clemens, 48, faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted, though he'd probably serve fewer than two years under federal sentencing guidelines. But he wanted no part of a plea bargain, instead vowing to pitch his way out of another jam.

"Hopefully," Hardin said at a news conference Thursday in Houston, "we haven't reached a stage in this country where you have to admit to something you didn't do."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100821/OPINION03/8210397/1129/sports0104/No-surprise-in-way-Roger-Clemens-is-handling-indictment#ixzz0xLMp4i

One

Early takes on the Roger Clemens indictment: Oath and narcissim

Numerous comments followed the Roger Clemens indictment accusing him of perjury in a congressional hearing.  Some hit the mark, some miss.

One illogical column in the Detroit Free-Press reasoned Congressmen are liars, and therefore should indict themselves rather than Clemens.

Congressmen of all party affiliations can blatantly lie to their constituents and often the only crime committed is their re-election. But if you lie to them, your address could change to Leavenworth.

Ah ... the sweet elixir that is hypocrisy.

There's no defending Roger Clemens if he indeed lied under oath to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during his nationally televised testimony in January 2008.

If he's that stupid, voluntarily putting himself in this mess, he deserves all the humiliation he gets. I suppose he's employing the George Costanza Principle -- "It's not a lie if you believe it's the truth."

But Congress' relentless pursuit -- a six-count indictment against Clemens for obstructing justice and perjury -- nonetheless comes across as arrogant for a legislative body that has a hard enough time holding itself accountable.

Sigh.  The principle here is that under oath, a witness shall not lie in a congressional hearing.  How does pursuing truth amount to egotistical?  Does the writer not understand that the justice system is based on veracity under oath.  It continues:

These political hacks can't understand that Clemens' and Bonds' career legacies and personal reputations already are shot regardless of what Congress says or does. Nobody really cares if Clemens and Bonds spends a second in federal prison, because the court of public opinion already has tried and convicted them, sentencing them to a life of open scorn and ridicule.

OK dude, the world is not all a sports driven event.  Because Barry Bonds will not make the Hall of Fame, justice is not served under oath.

The message is that when sworn in a court or a hearing that the truth needs to come out -- or simply shut up.  Clemens was not compelled to testify; He could have declined the opportunity.

Journalists speculate why Clemens might have distorted the truth (which we don't really know that he did). The Rocket is NOT delusional.  Clemens knows reality; he does not think green men are bugging his cell phone.

However like other powerful men, acclimated to power and adulation, the narcissism comes out.  This is a man who didn't attend spring training, who flew in his own plane to games.  He didn't play by team rules, and thus why should he play by the usual rules common non-VIPs observe?  (who would pose with his wife for skimpy photo shoots without a huge measure of narcissism?)

Bonds too, suffered from the VIP-adulation-power narcissism where he demanded public attention and worship.  Rules are for mortals, not gods like Clemens and Bonds.  Same reason that John Edwards, Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton, George Bush etc etc.  Power, Visibility, Sex...

Imagine if John Edwards were President today...

Cheating be it like Tiger Woods or John Edwards infidelity sense, or with PEDs in the Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens sense is understandable when you look at the aggressiveness of these men.

The cheating may lead to certain consequences, however the cover-up really torpedo these guys.

Should Clemens be indicted?  IDK, however one could predict that Congress will protect the matter of truthfulness under oath.

Roger Clemens indicted for obstruction of justice during Congressional steroids hearing in 2008

In a House of Representatives chamber in 2008, Roger Clemens assured the gathered congressmen that he never took steroids.  US federal attorneys are accusing Clemens of not representing the truth in his testimony.  (from the AP)

Roger Clemens was vehement: "Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH," he told a House committee in 2008. Now, instead of the Hall of Fame, baseball's seven-time Cy Young winner could go to prison after being indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly lying to Congress.

The case writes a new chapter in one of baseball's worst scandals, the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s and early 2000s, and leaves Clemens' legacy in jeopardy.

The six-count indictment alleges that Clemens obstructed a congressional inquiry with 15 different statements made under oath, including denials that he had ever used steroids or human growth hormone.

Virginia Congressman Tom Davis relates this about the Rocket:

"Clemens was not under subpoena. He came voluntarily," Davis said. "And I sat there in the office with (committee chairman) Henry Waxman and said, 'Whatever you do, don't lie.'"

Clemens was sticking to his story Thursday. He insisted he was telling the truth, again denying any wrongdoing on or off the field.

Through his lawyer, the veteran Rusty Hardin, Clemens claims  he neither lied, nor took HGH or steroids.  Clemens turned down a plea bargain.

Clemen's ex-trainer Brian McNamee reports he administered PEDs to the Rocket.  One would think that the Government has ascertained other witnesses or other evidence to Clemens' PED use.

Baseball's Mitchell Report mentioned Clemens a few times -- like 82.

MLB fan opinion: High salaries are more problematic for baseball than steroids

The American Chronicle carries a piece on baseball, and the problems fans perceive.  Apparently salaries -- which are set by supply and demand -- are perceived are more problematic than steroid-cheats.

I was watching Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN 2 today (March 2009), when they discussed an interesting survey conducted with baseball fans. The question: What is the one thing that is most responsible bringing Major League Baseball down? Both Mikes thought the majority would say high ticket prices, but this was only 23%.

Even the steroids abuse was only 22%. The answer that received 51% was the high salaries being paid to baseball players. Interesting is it not? Despite all the media exposure of big name ball players exposed as hypocrites and liars about their steroid use. Despite high ticket prices directly affecting their family economics. Exorbitant salaries are what tick fans off the most.

Perhaps this should not be such a surprise. After all, exorbitant salaries and bonuses have been getting even more media attention than steroids as of late. The public is quickly losing their taste for those being paid ridiculously high salaries and bonuses. We see so many examples of pay far exceeding the value that any one person could offer. If you are the owner of a business, then I say that this is an entirely different matter, but if you are an employee (and even a CEO is an employee), of a publicly help corporation, there should be a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders for reasonable wages.

One argument for high CEO pay is that they are being paid according to their peers. If you do not pay, they will leave and move on. The self serving argument has produced a situation in the USA where a CEO makes over 400 times the earnings of the average worker. The next highest country is 29 times the average worker. The boards of directors that are supposed to oversee companies are composed of CEOs. Why wouldn't they participate in the escalation of salaries and bonuses?

If you argue that the business increases and they deserve these extravagant amounts, I would argue the businesses might be charging too much. If we cut baseball player's salaries then this money flows back to the owners. We then put pressure on the owners to reduce the price of attending a ball game. If we cut executive pay, then shareholders, employees and customers should all benefit.

As a nation, we need to make better judgments as to when enough is enough. Why is it that we so envy power, money and fame? Where has it gotten us? Why are we so concerned about what we have rather than who we are as a human being? What would our daily life be like if we were all more concerned with being good people rather than rich people? All we have to do is establish a mindset of sharing the wealth rather than stealing the wealth.

Interesting comment.  We noted the fan survey which rates salaries a problem.  On one hand, salaries are determined by the market o supply and demand.  Ticket prices too.  This is what baseball fans will pay.

On the other hand the high compensation drives the cheating to a degree.

Roger Clemens: Over and out...legal and literary

Roger Clemens makes the news again.  Apparently he cannot stand Manny and A-Rod stealing the headlines.

Roger: Out (US AG)

The United State Attorney General Eric Holder, all busy with torture and such, is calling himself recused from the Roger Clemens investigation going on in DC with the FBI. Apparently the Rocket showed Mr. Holder how to throw a backdoor slider.  From Reuters:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has removed himself from the criminal probe into whether baseball pitching great Roger Clemens lied to Congress about steroids, a Justice Department spokesman said on Thursday.

The FBI began the investigation more than a year ago after Clemens denied in testimony before a congressional committee that he used performance-enhancing steroids. His former trainer testified Clemens had used steroids and human growth hormone.

Department spokesman Matt Miller said Holder was recused because he previously worked at Covington and Burling, a law firm that had represented Clemens.

Roger, meanwhile continues to maintain that Brian McNamee injected his rocket rear with PEDs.  The Toronto Star carries this one:

Clemens again denied that former personal trainer Brian McNamee injected him with performance-enhancing drugs in a phone interview on ESPN. "He's never injected me with HGH or steroids," Clemens said of McNamee's assertions to baseball investigator George Mitchell...

Clemens said he chose to speak out yesterday because it was the release date of a book about his alleged drug use.

"It's important for me to do that," he said. "I've seen excerpts of the book and they're completely false. ... You know, guys, it's piling on. It's hurtful at times. But I'm moving on."

Clemens must have some reason for fervent denials.  A deal with McNamee "Don't ask, don't tell what you're injecting".

Others are moving on too from the Clemens affair...like the Hall of Fame voters.

ESPN writer Howard Bryant calls out 2002 Angels - Giants World Series as apex of steroid juiced MLB

ESPN writer Howard Bryant (Juicing the Game) calls out the players and management of both teams in the 2002 World Series between the Anaheim Angles (Troy Glaus) and the San Francisco Giants (Barry Bonds).   Bryant doesn't spare the doctors, also popping unethical California physician Ramon Scruggs who supplied steroids to the Angels' players.

The cornering of Alex Rodriguez and his subsequent admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs represented, for all intents and purposes, the nadir of the steroid era with few, if any, remaining ambiguities: The A-list, Hall of Fame's best used drugs; and so did the mediocre; and so did the worst. The general managers demurred, the leaders shrank and the men who signed the checks, like everyone else, made a fortune. The shock is gone. Little else can surprise our calloused sensibilities.

That said, the intricate details of just how this confidence game was carried out still carry immense value, for they cement a discredited time with facts instead of speculation. Understanding the foundations of the steroid era also reveals that this industrywide failure stretched far beyond the players connected to Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski or the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. It provides even more evidence that so much of what we've seen on the field during the past decade and a half needs to be recast.

Recently, The New York Times obtained transcripts of interviews by federal agents with four major league players conducted as part of the ongoing criminal investigation of Ramon Scruggs, a physician under indictment for illegally distributing steroids to big leaguers, police officers and corporate executives, among others.

As we have said, dirty trainers, doctors, and health professionals often stand behind the doping curtain:

Meanwhile, dirty doctors such as Scruggs have applied the same cheap excuses for their behavior that we've heard for years from the players. Glaus told investigators he used steroids to recover from a shoulder injury that was not healing. According to the Times, Schoeneweis told federal agents he felt run-down. Greene said he was fearful of losing his spot on a major league roster and so would not be able to support his family. Valdez said shoulder and knee injuries were not healing. Suggs mailed him steroids and syringes.

Each player used an old rationalization -- I wasn't trying to cheat; I was trying to stay on the field -- to soften the appearance of his actions, but the domino effect remains the same. At this late date, the excuses grow thin, the lies nothing more than a self-created noose.

And that 2002 Series pitting Glaus and the 'Angels' v. Bonds and the 'Gaints'.  We will not point out the delicate irony behind those monikors (we just did):

The 2002 Angels, for example, are the legitimate champions of an illegitimate time, just as Bonds is the legitimate home run champion of a discredited era. Despite Angels manager Mike Scioscia's adamant public stand against drugs, people around the game point privately to that club as one of the premier steroid-fueled teams thanks in part to a bullpen rife with career minor leaguers who suddenly began throwing in the mid-90s after their 30th birthdays.

Glaus was the MVP of that 2002 World Series, which is looking more and more like the definitive Steroid Series. Glaus, Brendan Donnelly and Schoeneweis, all of whom have been implicated, played for the Angels that season. On the Giants, there were Bonds, Benito Santiago, Marvin Benard, David Bell and Rich Aurilia. And that doesn't include the players who were suspect.

Bryant's exleeent writing is very dense reading, packed full of fact and logic.  Excellent piece.

Jocks breaking rocks: Athletes (boosters, trainers) behind bars

Reasononline carries a very nicely researched piece on athletes, boosters, and trainer who walk the line in a prison.  The athletes end up in jail for drug-related offenses, which recently included illegal steroids and PEDs.

 The article sets the stage with the conviction of Logan Young, the 'Bama Booster who bought players for the Crimson Tide:

Before his untimely death in 2006, Logan Young faced six months in federal prison for “conspiracy to commit racketeering” and “crossing state lines to commit racketeering,” both felonies. While those charges made Young sound like a mafioso, his real offense was violating the recruiting rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)...The conviction of Logan Young as “the first college sports booster sentenced to prison essentially for busting NCAA rules” (in the words of ESPN.com’s Mike Fish) is just one example of a disturbing trend: the federal criminalization of private rule breaking in the world of sports.

The authors look at athletes who did time for crimes which include steroid offenses:

Marion Jones:

Former Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones served six months in federal prison last year for making false statements to two grand juries about her personal use of performance-enhancing steroids. As part of a highly unusual plea agreement, unrelated check fraud charges against Jones were dropped in return for her publicly admitting her past steroid use and retiring from the sport...

Barry Bonds:

All-time Major League Baseball (MLB) home run leader Barry Bonds was scheduled to begin trial in March on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, based on his grand jury testimony in a steroid distribution case that closed in 2005 after producing just four minor convictions that netted seven months prison time combined (half as long as Bonds’ personal trainer served behind bars for criminal contempt after refusing to testify about his boss). At press time, yet another federal grand jury was hearing testimony about whether former MLB pitching great Roger Clemens committed perjury when he denied using steroids after being hauled in front of Congress in February 2008.

There are also 'derivative crimes'; as a 'derivative' in finance refers to an instrument that derives value from the underlying entity so do 'derivative crimes.  For instance money laundering, obstruction of justice, racketeering and so on.  Same with jock crimes.

In 1990 Congress added performance-enhancing steroids to its list of banned substances, largely in response to a scandal involving Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medal after testing positive for anabolic steroids. Capitalizing on the public outcry, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) held hearings on doping in sports. McCain threatened to introduce legislation that would take away the autonomy of the U.S. Olympic Committee unless it adopted aggressive anti-doping policies.

The article continues with a lengthy discussion of the BALCO derivative crimes, found after the jump..

Steroid prophet Rick Helling, hired by MLB Player's Association

The LA Times says that Rick Helling, once the prophet of steroid corruption in the MLB, will be hired by the players union.

Rick Helling's major league career was nothing remarkable. He won 20 games for the Texas Rangers in 1998, albeit with a 4.41 ERA, but mostly he showed up every fifth day and ate a lot of innings.

But Helling, a Stanford product, was active in the players' union. In the winter of 1998-99, following the season in which Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa captivated America with the race to set the single-season home-run record, Helling stood up at a union meeting and said--this according to an excerpt from Joe Torre's book, "The Yankee Years"--what prompted Time magazine to label him "The Man Who Warned Baseball About Steroids."

He told his fellow union leaders that steroid use by ballplayers had grown rampant and was corrupting the game.

"There is this problem with steroids," Helling told them. "It's happening. It's real. And it's so prevalent that guys who aren't doing it are feeling pressure to do it because they're falling behind. It's not a level playing field. We've got to figure out a way to address it.

"It's a bigger deal than people think. It's noticeable enough that it's creating an uneven playing field. What really bothers me is that it's gotten so out of hand that guys are feeling pressure to do it. It's one thing to be a cheater, to be somebody who doesn't care whether it's right or wrong. But it's another thing when other guys feel like they have to do it just to keep up. And that's what's happening. And I don't feel like this is the right way to go."

What Helling had just done was the equivalent of turning up all the lights, clicking off the music and announcing the party was over. "He was the first guy," David Cone said, "who had the guts to stand up at a union meeting and say that in front of everybody and put pressure on it."

Back in the day, Donald Fehr disputed Helling's account.  However:

The news: Fehr hired Helling as a special assistant this morning. From the union's news release...

Interesting.

Anti-Steroid, anti-doping crusader and IRS agent Jeff Novitzky under the spotlight

ABC News posts a story on the journey of IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, who once tried out for Lute Olson at Arizona basketball, as he crusades against steroids and  doping and some say too zealously Barry Bonds.

The story starts in a California courtroom where Novitzky participated in the BALCO trial of Victor Conte.  And it will continue in the same courtroom:

Sometime in the next few months, Jeff Novitzky will walk back into the same 10th floor courtroom, raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth in the case of the United States v. Barry Lamar Bonds. He will say that Bonds lied in that same courthouse five years ago when he told the grand jury he never knowingly took steroids. And then he'll wait for the jury to decide if baseball's home run king was telling the truth.

But no matter what the jury decides -- and face it, most of us have already made up our minds about Bonds -- it is clear that the detective and his gun has replaced the scientist and his test tube. What isn't clear is whether Jeff Novitzky is part of the solution -- or if he's now the bigger part of the problem. 

Novitzky's early life was highlighted by the Olson connection:

There is nothing about Novitzky's life before Balco that suggests a man destined to direct the biggest investigation in sports history. Or one who would crave or abuse power. He grew up the son of a Bay Area hoops coach, a basketball and track star who still owns the San Mateo County high jump record of 7 feet. Coming out of high school in 1985, he tried out for Lute Olson's Arizona University basketball team. When he fell short, Novitzky returned home to play backup forward and teammate to his big brother at San Jose State.

His athletic career over, Novitzky got a degree in accounting and took a job in San Jose with the IRS's criminal division, a select group of agents who use tax laws and their guns to bust up all sorts of criminal operations.

After the jump we examine more of the extended story on Novitzky...

Suspicious double helix found on Roger Clemens's syringe

The Wapo reports that investigators discovered DNA at the end of a Roger Clemens syringe -- as claimed by Brian McNamee.

Federal investigators are looking into the possibility (!) that the ex-multiple Cy Young award winning pitcher used anabolic steroids and HGH, then lied to Congress about PED use last year.  The investigation -- part of the never-ending Clemens saga -- sounds serious:

Scientific tests have linked Roger Clemens's DNA to blood in syringes that a personal trainer says he used to inject the former star pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The DNA results, which are preliminary and subject to verification tests, could prove critical if prosecutors seek an indictment of Clemens on charges that he lied about the use of steroids, according to the sources.

Clemens told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Testifying at the same hearing, the pitcher's former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, said he injected Clemens nearly 40 times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

McNamee's attorneys have said their client gave federal investigators syringes, gauze pads and other items that he claimed he used to inject Clemens. He stored the items in a FedEx box in his basement.

Are the syringes actually Clemens's paraphernalia?  Were they used for injecting steroids (could be tested).  And was the DNA, glutteal DNA, or perhaps Clemens was flossing his teeth with the needles.

The chain of custody will be critical if DNA procured from bloody steroid syringes holds up for legal proceedings.  Is this a breakfast read or not?

Clemens and his defense team have long challenged McNamee's credibility, saying the former trainer has lied about the pitcher's alleged drug use. They also have said that McNamee may have cooked up the evidence.

Yesterday, Rusty Hardin, Clemens's Houston-based defense attorney, said the DNA tests "won't matter at all."

"It will still be evidence fabricated by McNamee," Hardin said. "I would be dumbfounded if any responsible person ever found this to be reliable or credible evidence in any way."

We would expect Clemens's defense attorney to claim that the syringes would not be admitted as evidence.  Clearly bloody syringes and gauss pads collected by a trainer would be suspect evidence.  Nonetheless, not a situation that lends itself to peaceful sleep at night for the Rocket.

Ex-President Bush exits without a Clemens Clemency

Ending speculation that departing President Bush would pardon Roger Clemens, even before he was indicted and convicted, the 43rd president left Barack Obama in charge without a Rocket 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for his various PED imbroglios.  To the New York Daily News:

There was no last-minute pardon for Roger Clemens before President Bush left the White House Tuesday, and the federal grand jury that has been examining evidence that the former Yankee star committed perjury will continue its work.

Brian McNamee's attorney Richard Emery raised the possibility of a Bush pardon after Clemens testified at the Feb. 13, 2008, congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report.

"We're glad neither Clemens nor Bush stooped to conquer," Emery said. "We hope by raising the issue we inoculated it and helped avoid it."

Emery said he raised the pardon issue because Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform seemed eager to protect Clemens and attack McNamee during last year's hearing.

Clemens also brought up his friendship with former President George H.W. Bush during the hearing. Clemens testified that he was never contacted by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell or his investigators, but Bush Sr. tracked him down on a duck hunt to wish him well after the release of the explosive report on steroids and baseball.

So even all the good old boy network didn't come through with a curve ball from Bush to let Clemens off the hook.  There were reasons why a Bush pardon wasn't considered to be coming out of the presidential dugout:

Clemens' attorney Rusty Hardin has said he would not seek a pardon on behalf of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. Hardin has steadfastly denied his client ever used performance-enhancing drugs, and has said innocent people don't ask for pardons.

"Richard Emery just has to quit smoking his own dope," Hardin said after Emery first raised the pardon issue.

Despite Clemens' ties to the Bush family, Washington insiders said in recent weeks that a pardon was unlikely.

One reason revolved around race. Barry Bonds' perjury trial is scheduled to begin in March in San Francisco. Olympic track star Marion Jones, who served a six-month prison sentence for lying to federal investigators and check fraud, unsuccessfully sought a pardon. Bush would have ignited angry protests if he intervened for Clemens but not for two prominent African-American athletes.

Bush made headlines when he commuted Scooter Libby's 30-month prison sentence in 2007, but the 43rd President was apparently not a fan of pardons. Bush may still be smarting from his Dec. 23 pardon of Isaac Toussie, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to lying to the feds to obtain mortgages for unqualified home buyers. Bush later revoked the pardon after the Daily News reported that Toussie's father had donated $28,500 to the Republican National Committee.

If Bush did get involved in the Clemens investigation, he would have raised questions about his own, albeit indirect, role in Major League Baseball's steroid scandal. Bush was the the managing general partner of the Texas Rangers when Jose Canseco claims he taught his teammates about performance-enhancing drugs.

Bush raised the steroid issue in his 2004 State of the Union address, when he called on sports leagues to crack down on drugs.

"The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message - that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character," Bush said.

Of course we have to see how new Attorney General Eric Holder treats PED offenses.  The new AG was an NFL lawyer who downplayed steroids-related issues.

Roger Clemens exploding: The Rocket getting blasted from all sides

Interesting juxtaposition of events this week.  As the Baseball Hall of Fame announced honorees, one sure-fire future Hall of fame candidate -- Roger Clemens (now pictured more frequently in court than on the mound) -- must feel a tightening noose around his legal neck...and must also feel the HOF slip away too.

Jim Rice, whose numbers looked pedestrian compared with the steroid era sluggers, found his way into the Hall when voters regrouped to look at the average achievement of Rice's contemporaries  However Clemens, who numbers appear arguably inflated in his late career flourish, seems pale and vulnerable.

Reports this week indicate that Jeff Novitzki is participating in the Grand Jury investigating Clemens.  Considering Novitzki's expert in BALCO, that is not good news for the Rocket. To the Examiner:

Jeff Novitsky, the investigator who gathered most of the evidence in the BALCO cases has now been asked to provide assistance in the Clemens matter. All Roger has to do is call Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Trevor Graham, Tammy Thomas and others who Novitsky nailed after they gave statements under oath or to prosecutors about their knowledge of the steroids distributed by BALCO.

Today, Metboy and steroid dealer Kirk Radomski showed up at the Grand Jury.  Ex-Clemens trainer Brian McNamee claims that he scored steroids and HGH from the former Met clubhouse boy who copped a plea deal last year to avoid big time in the big house.  (New York Daily News)

Steroid supplier Kirk Radomski testified before a grand jury investigating Roger Clemens for perjury for just over two hours Thursday morning at a federal courthouse in Washington. Wearing a black windbreaker, the burly Radomski entered the grand jury room just after 10:15 a.m. and left accompanied by a Capitol security officer.

Radomski  began reviewing previous testimony that he sold and shipped drugs to dozens of Major League Baseball players, as well as Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee, who told prosecutors that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone over a period of several years. McNamee also cooperated with former Sen. George Mitchell in his explosive report on drug use in baseball. Radomski pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance in 2007 and has cooperated in the government's ongoing steroid investigation.

Radomski awes the Gov't prosecutors favors after they went lightly in his conviction and sentence.  The Metboy may be a key witness is several on-going prosecutions of MLB players.

The testimony of both Radomski and McNamee will be crucial to the government's  investigationon into whether Clemens lied to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs during a congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report last February.

Radomski is among the first of the witnesses who will appear before the grand jury and he could be asked about his dealings with Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, who is also under investigation for allegedly lying to Congress, as well as about  his dealings with McNamee.

Minutes before Radomski arrived at the third floor of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, assistant United States Attorney Daniel P. Butler appeared and made his way to the same room. Butler returned to his Capitol Hill office after Radomski's appearance ended.

McNamee is expected to meet with Butler and other federal officers on Friday.

Lastly ex-trainer Brian McNamee says today that Clemens will end up in Jail.  that remains to be seen, as Clemens has never been charged with a felony.  It is also clear that steroids and PED convictions are difficult to obtain, and that sentence are light.  (New York Daily News, again)

Brian McNamee predicts he'll see Roger Clemens in uniform again - but this time his old boss won't be wearing pinstripes.

McNamee says the Rocket's 2009 uniform will be an orange jumpsuit, with a serial number across the chest.

In a video on the Web site Sportsimproper.com, McNamee tells host Mai Tran he believes Clemens will be sent to prison for his repeated denials of steroid use during the Feb. 13, 2008, congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report.

"Let me ask you this," Tran asked McNamee. "Do you foresee seeing Roger Clemens in a uniform next year?"

"He'll probably be wearing a uniform, but it will be one of those orange jumpsuits with a serial number on it," McNamee replied.

"Sounds like a prison uniform to me," Tran said.

McNamee told Tran that he was told the evidence that federal investigators have been compiling against Clemens is "overwhelming."

McNamee may be angry at Clemens's intemperance, however he should be very careful in venting his frustration in public.  Never know what will come back to bite...

The Rocket near explosion status: Clemens target of grand jury probe

A federal grand jury will examine Roger Clemens's truthfulness under oath last year in the Congressional steroid hearings.  Regardless of anyone's opinion about the worth of the Congressional hearings, it should be agreed that lying under oath is not a good thing, even if you're a Hall of Fame caliber pitcher.  To the Washington Post:

A federal grand jury is investigating whether former pitcher Roger Clemens lied under oath to Congress last year when he denied taking performance-enhancing drugs, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The sources said the grand jury was convened several months ago in response to a referral in February by Congress asking the Justice Department to investigate Clemens's sworn statements in a deposition and his testimony during a hearing Feb. 13.

However, the grand jury probe was described by the sources as a routine part of such an investigation and that no indictment or other public action was imminent

The evidence that Clemens lied under oath appears over-whelming to laymen; however that doesn't mean an indictment if forthcoming:

Clemens told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during the Feb. 13 hearing that he had "never taken steroids or HGH [human growth hormone]" but that he had received injections of vitamin B12 and the painkiller lidocaine from team personnel over the years.

But his statements contradicted the testimony and assertions of other witnesses, including Brian McNamee, a former personal trainer who has been cooperating with federal authorities and who told the House committee he had personally injected Clemens with steroids and HGH at least 38 times between 1998 and 2001, at Clemens's request.

Two weeks after the hearing, the committee, headed by chairman  Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and then-ranking minority member Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), formally asked the Justice Department to investigate Clemens. Through a spokesman, Waxman declined to comment yesterday.

There is speculation that Clemens and McNamee may have another chance to set the record right:

An attorney for Clemens, Lanny Breuer, did not respond to a phone message seeking comment. Clemens has filed a defamation suit against McNamee. Another attorney for Clemens, Rusty Hardin, was unavailable to comment because he is in trial, according to a receptionist at his Houston law firm.

Richard Emery, a lawyer for McNamee, said yesterday his client has not been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, but welcomed the opportunity to do so. "Obviously, Brian has been a federal witness in this case and will continue to cooperate fully," Emery said.

Many players, trainers, and drug dealers could have something to say about Clemens's history, and it doesn't look good:

Multiple news organizations reported that the grand jury has subpoenaed Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse attendant who supplied McNamee with the drugs he allegedly administered to Clemens.

It is also possible pitcher Andy Pettitte, a longtime Clemens teammate and friend, could be called to testify. Pettitte, a free agent who spent last season with the New York Yankees, gave a sworn affidavit to the congressional committee in which he claimed Clemens confessed his HGH use to him 10 years ago. Pressed by committee members during the hearing about Pettitte's claim, Clemens said his friend "misremembered."

Prosecuting hearing isn't easy; Raffy Palmeiro received a pass despite his obvious inaccuracies about his steroid abuse years ago.  However the Post ends it's report with this important observation:

In the past year, baseball has seen the best hitter and best pitcher of the past quarter-century under federal investigation for lying about steroid use. Seven-time most valuable player Barry Bonds was indicted last year for perjury and obstruction of justice, stemming from 2003 grand jury testimony, and his trial is scheduled to begin next month in San Francisco.

Houston hospital jettisons the Rocket's -- Roger Clemens -- name on sports institute

For 3 years Roger Clemens's name emblazoned the sport medicine division of a Houston area hospital -- the Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine at Memorial Hermann Medical Center.   Now, considering the Rocket's own sports medicine prescriptions - anabolic steroids, HGH, and Viagra -- the hospital is changing the sports service's name.  To the New York Daily News:

Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center announced Saturday that it is removing Clemens' name from the Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine, a facility that opened three years ago.

A statement released by Memorial Hermann said, "To better reflect its commitment to all sports and athletes, the facility will transition to become known as the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute, effective Jan. 1, 2009. The move reflects a desire to promote the broad range of sports medicine services and programs offered by Memorial Hermann across the greater Houston area."

According to reports, Clemens donated $3 million to Memorial Hermann for a pediatric wing at Memorial Hermann's Children's Hospital.

Rusty Hardin, Clemens' attorney, declined comment.

Quite a few hits for the sputtering Rocket over the past year: Mitchell report inclusion, dis-invited to coaching talks, name removed from golfing tournaments, girlfriends attempting suicide.  Tough year.

It is the latest headache for Clemens, who saw his reputation and legacy hammered this year following the release of baseball's Mitchell Report on Dec. 13, 2007, in which Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee claimed he injected the pitcher with steroids and human growth hormone several times between 1998 and 2001.

Last month, the Daily News reported that Clemens had been asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament he had hosted the previous four years with Nielsen, the Houston broadcaster and former Oilers quarterback.

MLB.com reveals why the wing took the Clemen's name...looks like 3 million gets you only 2 years of your name on the walls.  The Sports Institute features a 'human performance lab'...OK no smart comments about Clemens's performance enhancement.

Clemens, who once donated $3 million to Memorial Hermann's pediatric wing, has denied using performance-enhancing drugs and filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee.

When times go bad, they really go sour...

"He is dealing with some tough issues," Nielsen told The News then. "He is dealing with something that is very challenging. The accusations against him are serious. It just made sense to say go take care of these issues and we will revisit the relationship later, when it makes sense. He was very receptive. He was very understanding."

Clemens is still under investigation by the Justice Department and FBI for perjury after he testified before Congress in February that he never used performance-enhancing drugs. He has continued to deny McNamee's claims. Clemens filed a defamation suit against McNamee on Jan. 6 in the Southern District of Texas. Several months later, the News exposed his lengthy extramarital relationship with country singer Mindy McCready as well as affairs he had with several other women.

As the negative headlines continued, Clemens went into relative seclusion, occasionally making appearances at his oldest son Koby's minor-league baseball games. The Rocket was not included in the Yankees' video tribute during the final game at the old Yankee Stadium.  Last Tuesday, McNamee filed a claim in a Queens court against Clemens for defamation.

Clemens last pitched in the majors in 2007 when he signed a pro-rated, $28 million deal to play a second stint with the Yankees.

Much of that money now in lawyer's pockets...

Eric Holder -- Barack Obama's Attorney General nominee -- not a big hit with doping agencies

President elect Barack Obama nominated long time Washington lawyer Eric Holder as his cabinet's Attorney General (AG).  Holder's nomination prompted some critique of his time in the Clinton White House.  However the countries anti-doping enforcement agencies also hold opinions about the AG-in waiting.  They are not pleased.  Maybe Holder will treat steroid offenders the way he treated Clinton-era sleazeball Marc Rich.

Seems Holder wanted all the information top steroid-enforcement government agencies could gather, but didn't want to reciprocate.  Guess that's called 'diplomacy'...or 'stubborn self-interest''. Lester Munson writes a fascinating article at ESPN on the subject.

When the NFL grew tired of embarrassing disclosures and congressional hearings about performance-enhancing drugs and wanted to establish a voice in the federal government's investigations, league officials turned to Eric Holder, the man who is now President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general.

Holder quickly gathered senior executives from the other three leagues and their player unions and led them into a series of meetings in 2007 with top officials of, among others, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the agency that presides over the nation's "war on drugs." The sessions began with a measure of fanfare.

Holder was a natural choice to lead the effort. He served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and then became a partner in Covington & Burling, a powerful Washington law firm that has long represented the NFL. For seven years, Holder helped the NFL through a number of difficulties, including an investigation of the dog-fighting charges against Michael Vick, the implementation of the Rooney Rule that requires owners to interview minority candidates for head coach vacancies, and the league's personal conduct crackdown.  

Meetings began with all concerned hoping to develop a cooperative environment.

At the outset, hopes were high. After the first meeting in March of 2007, Scott Burns, the deputy director of the ONDCP and a participant in the sessions, said, "This is the first step in changing the way we look at the problem in the U.S. I hear more about human growth hormone and steroids and athletes than I do about crack cocaine. This is important to America."

Darryl Seibel, an official of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which also participated in the meetings, was equally hopeful. "You have, for the first time, a collaboration on an entirely new level on a national issue that requires a response such as this," he said.

But the efforts at cooperation ended badly when, led by Holder, the leagues and the unions refused to consider serious reforms in the way in which users of steroids were investigated and prosecuted and insisted on maintaining their own drug enforcement procedures under their respective collective bargaining agreements. The collaboration between law enforcement and sports organizations quietly fell apart.

"There was no substance to it," said one law enforcement official who participated in the meetings. "It was all for show."

Apparently some organizations, and their representatives, cannot play well with others:

"Holder and the professional leagues wanted us to share information with them," a top official of a law enforcement agency who participated in Holder's meetings told ESPN.com. "They wanted to know what players were involved. They wanted an end to leaks from our investigations. But when we asked for their information about players who used or where players bought their drugs, they didn't want to give us anything."

Might Holder's cooperating and stances with top Federal law enforcement agencies filter into the AG confirmation hearings?  Interesting questions, and ESPN responds after the jump.

Ex-trainer Brian McNamee names Roger Clemens in $10 million defamation suit

Not a great year for the Rocket, Roger Clemens.  The Hall of Fame pitcher saw his name flashed in the Mitchell Report about one year ago.  The date is significant, because ex-Trainer Brian McNamee, hauled through the muck by Clemens, filed a defamation suit less then one year from the date of the Mitchell Report.

McNamee, leaned on by the Feds, gave the Rocket up to investigators.  That apparently led to Mitchell's information, and to a Congressional hearing on the issue of Clemens's steroid use.  In the process, McNamee produced bloody syringes from the Rocket's bottom, and testimony against Yankee pitchers, and McNamee clients Andy Pettitte and Clemens.  Clemens, meanwhile, was exposed for a number of philandering affairs, PED use, and his choice of a cowboy lawyer Rusty Hardin.  Clemens also threw his wife under the HGH bus (summary here).

We forgot, Clemens also labeled his ex-trainer McNamee a lier.  That is when McNamee and his legal team took exception.  To the New York Daily News:

Almost a year to the day after the Mitchell Report was released, Roger Clemens’ former trainer Brian McNamee filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against the pitcher.

To avoid a statute of limitations issue, McNamee’s lawyers Earl Ward and Richard Emery quietly filed a summons and complaint for defamation Dec. 12 in Queens Supreme Court, one day before the one-year statute would have expired.

According to Ward, Clemens has not yet been served and is not aware of the suit.

Surprise Roger.  Not only is the FBI investigating you, and Congress is a bit miffed, and the women you hung out with slitting wrists, and your bloody syringes getting checked for DNA, but surprise, you're sued again.  Good thing he has all those Red Sox and Yankee bucks in the bank.

Honestly, this is a mess.

McNamee is defending a separate defamation suit Clemens filed in January against him in the Southern District of Texas and awaits a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison on McNamee’s motion to dismiss. Last week, Ellison received affidavits from federal prosecutors saying that comments McNamee made to former Sen. George Mitchell in Mitchell’s report on drug use in baseball were part of a proffer agreement McNamee made with the government to avoid prosecution.

Clemens sued McNamee in January for telling Mitchell that McNamee had injected the seven –time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone over several years.

Clemens immediately attacked McNamee after the Mitchell Report’s release, calling him a “troubled man” and a liar. Clemens told Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" Jan. 6 that he never used performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens made similar comments before Congress in February at a congressional hearing on the Mitchell Report. Congress then referred Clemens’ case to the Justice Department for investigation of perjury. That investigation is still ongoing.

McNamee has been unable to resume his career as a trainer in the wake of the report.

Looks like the Daily News has made the4 case for defamation, especially if someone somewhere finds that Clemens indeed used PEDs.  Dig deeper Rocket, dig deeper.

Does the double helix (DNA) lead to double trouble for Roger Clemens...Genetic perjury?

The New York Times reports federal investigators are snooping around in Roger Clemens's ex-cell nuclei...looking at the DNA hanging on the bloody syringes that ex-Clemens trainer Brian McNamee claims came from the Rocket's rear-end after steroid injections.

Is this creepy?  Investigators taking old bloody syringes for DNA evidence that the needles went into the butt of a multiple Cy Young award winner?  Is this exercise preparing a perjury penalty against the Rocket?

Brian McNamee has submitted samples of his DNA to federal investigators, who are seeking to determine whether Roger Clemens committed perjury when he told Congress that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs, according to two people familiar with the matter.

McNamee, who is Clemens’s former trainer, has said that he used needles, syringes and gauze pads to inject Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in 2000 and 2001 and that he kept the materials in his basement for years because he was afraid that Clemens might someday betray him.

In January, McNamee gave the materials to federal authorities, who need to determine whose DNA is on the material if it is going to be a factor in the investigation.

It is not clear whether the authorities also have Clemens’s DNA. His lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, declined on Monday to say whether DNA samples from Clemens had been turned over...

The request for McNamee’s DNA sample suggests that readable DNA has been found on the items that McNamee submitted. Experts in criminal investigations said it was highly unlikely that authorities would request DNA samples without having something with which they could be compared.

It appears the Feds are making a case that in Congressional hearings -- where McNamee and Clemens presented diametrically opposed testimony -- Clemens fibbed about not using steroids and HGH.  Investigators must be looking for Clemens's DNA and fingerprints, as well as McNamee's on the syringes that contain PEDs.  Thus, evidence for perjury.

Authorities are also trying to determine whether there are fingerprints on the materials McNamee handed over. Emery said in February that in addition to the syringes, needles and gauze pads, McNamee provided authorities with steroid vials that Clemens had given him at the end of the 2002 season.

According to forensic experts, it is fairly easy to plant a person’s DNA on an object they have not touched. The argument that DNA evidence has been tampered with is often made at trials. However, it is much more difficult to get someone’s fingerprint on something without them being aware of the circumstances.

What does perjury in a doping/steroids case get you theses days?  A few months house arrest, apparently.

In other news charities don't want none of Roger Clemens's DNA anymore.

Baseball to look at growth of HGH in sport: Why no 'non analytic positives'?

Major League Baseball and UCLA will examine the growth of HGH in sports come next month.

Major League Baseball and the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP have partnered with the Office of Continuing Medical Education at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles to conduct a Growth Hormone Summit on Monday, Nov. 10th, Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today.

The world's leading anti-doping experts and scholars will convene in Beverly Hills, California for the summit and will be chaired by Dr. Gary Green, Clinical Professor in the Division of Sports Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Major League Baseball's consultant on Performance Enhancing Drugs. Entitled "Growth Hormone: Barriers to Implementation of hGH Testing in Sports," the summit will attempt to identify the scientific, medical, legal and ethical issues that must be addressed before Human Growth Hormone testing can be considered a routine part of sports drug testing.

The educational objectives of the comprehensive program will focus on understanding the currently available methods for identifying use of hGH and understanding the viability of urine testing for hGH in the future; building a consensus on the most effective methods of implementing widespread blood testing for abuse of hGH; identifying future strategies for hGH testing; and understanding the United States Laws regarding the regulation and distribution of hGH.

"After the Mitchell report, one of my main goals was to bring together the leading anti-doping experts for an hGH summit," said Commissioner Selig. "The effective regulation of hGH remains one of the foremost challenges for anti-doping efforts in all sports. This summit is a significant step forward, and Major League Baseball is pleased that Dr. Green, one of the foremost experts in the field, will head this initiative."

Here is the All-Star cast:

Moutian Wu, PhD, who served as the Laboratory Director for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and who currently works with the National Anti-Doping Laboratory and the China Anti-Doping Agency, will be one of the principal speakers at the summit. Other summit presentations and panel discussants will feature Anthony W. Butch, PhD, Director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory; Don H. Catlin, MD, Director, Anti-Doping Research; Alan Goldhammer, PhD, Vice President, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; Richard I.G. Holt, MD, PhD, Professor in Diabetes & Endocrinology in the School of Medicine at the University of Southampton; Lance Liotta, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Center for Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine at George Mason University; Robert D. Manfred, Jr., Major League Baseball Executive Vice President for Labor Relations & Human Resources; Matthew J. Mitten, Professor of Law and Director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University Law School; Thomas H. Murray, PhD, President & CEO, The Hastings Center; Thomas T. Perls, MD, MPH, FACP, Director of the New England Centenarian Study; Douglas E. Rollins, MD, PhD, Executive Director, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory; Travis T. Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency; and Frank D. Uryasz, President of The National Center for Drug Free Sport.

 

Maybe someone can explain why MLB never punished baseball players who reportedly ordered HGH form the Florida Internet pharmacies.  Track suspended athletes with  'nonanalytic positives', but baseball doesn't (uinless a player is in the minor leagues)

Steroids figure prominently in Washington Post's 'hateable athletes' list

The WaPo drew up one of those 'Top 5' lists today...this one listed: " Who is, or was, the most hateable successful athlete?" Numero Uno on the list, went to two athletes: a tie between Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (tie)

It's a tie! What can we say, maybe we just didn't want to see either of these schmucks come in first in anything. But really, the two just have so much in common, principally being on most people's never-send-a-Christmas-card list. Both men enjoyed late-career renaissances that seemed remarkably impressive at first, until a pile of evidence made us all feel remarkably naive. Thanks to the Balco scandal, Bonds became the suspiciously bulbous face of baseball's problem with performance-enhancing drug use, while Clemens, displaying his trademark competitive fire, caught up in a hurry after being named in the Mitchell Report and subsequently appearing, unconvincingly, before Congress. But the beauty of both men is that they were hateable long before anyone began to contemplate what they were jabbing into themselves. Bonds became widely known as surly, arrogant and indifferent to fans back when he still played in Pittsburgh. He hardly endeared himself to the Pirates faithful by repeatedly referring to then-teammate Andy Van Slyke, a fan favorite and a very good player in his own right, as "The Great White Hope." When Bonds returned to Pittsburgh for the first time as a Giant, he was booed with the cathartic venom of thousands of people finally telling the guy how they really felt about him. But Barry has nothing on Rog when it come to charming remarks. After winning the 1986 AL MVP, Clemens was informed of Hank Aaron's opinion that once-every-five-days players shouldn't be eligible for the award. Clemens's take? "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Nice. Then there was the time during the 1990 ALCS when he told Oakland pitcher Bob Welch, a recovering alcoholic, "Have another beer, be a man." And who can forget Clemens throwing a bat shard at nemesis Mike Piazza during the World Series? Yup, both Bonds and Clemens a a lot alike. Mostly in not being liked.

Number 4 was another juicer: Bill Romanowski.

Bill Romanowski

Many think that, with his nonstop antics, Terrell Owens is spitting in the face of the game. Well, here's a guy who really did hock one, right into the face of an opponent. That's just one of Romanowski's heinous acts; he also kicked a player in the head, broke a teammate's eye socket with a punch and snapped an opponent's finger. Oh yeah, and he later admitted to loading up on steroids, so he was a dirty player and a cheat.

2,3, and 5 were Kobe Bryant, Christian Laettner, and Curt Schilling.

We would venture that #4 Romo was far worse than the others.  Not only was Romo a 'roid abuser, but he viscously hurt people.  Clemens missed Piazza with the bat piece.  Bonds never hurt anyone physically with his brand of arrogance.

Move Romo up.

Met batboy Radomski finds evidence of Rocket fuel delivered to Roger Clemens's Houston pad

The New York Daily News reported that Metboy Kirk Radomski found receipts for packages of HGH shipped to the Rocket's Houston launching pad.  The new evidence further complicated Clemens's steroid/HGH defense. (Update:  ESPN reports Metboy Radomski found the Clemens receipt under a broken TV:  "My TV broke and I said, 'Damn, I got to get it off the dresser,'" Radomski said Wednesday. "And it was right there.")

Confessed drug supplier Kirk Radomski has provided documentary evidence to the government showing that he shipped drugs to the Texas home of Roger Clemens, who is under investigation for perjury after telling Congress he never used steroids or human growth hormone.

According to sources with close knowledge of the investigation, Radomski has discovered shipping receipts for a package of two kits of human growth hormone that he sent in late 2002 or 2003 to Clemens at the pitcher's palatial mansion in Houston. Radomski is believed to have also provided the government with new information and receipts for drug shipments to other players.

However, the beneficiary of the HGH might not have been the Rocket, but rather Debbie Rocket, Clemens's admitted HGH using wife.

Radomski, who received a five-year probation sentence in February after cooperating with government investigators, recently informed the feds about the materials. The Justice Department is continuing its investigation in New York as well as in Texas and Florida.

The Clemens package was addressed to William Roger Clemens, in care of Brian McNamee, according to the sources, who said that McNamee did not sign for the package.

According to the sources, the timing of the shipment to Clemens' home coincides roughly with the dates when Clemens' wife, Debbie, used human growth hormone in preparation for her participation in a pictorial in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. They also expect the evidence to corroborate McNamee's claims that Clemens was behind his wife's use and was present when McNamee injected her just after the drugs arrived at the couple's home.

Clemens denied use of PEDs including anabolic steroids and HGH, however admitted wife Debbie used HGH to prepare for a Sports Illustrated expose' photoshoot with the Rocket.

Clemens has denied under oath using human growth hormone, or having any prior knowledge that his wife was going to use HGH. The Daily News was the first to report in February that Debbie Clemens received at least one injection of the drug from McNamee.

Reached Tuesday by The News, Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said he wasn't aware the government had been informed of new shipping receipts .

As Hardin says the Rocket can deny almost anything because he never tested positive for a PED under baseballs anemic PED testing back in his day.  However the receipts do suggest that McNamee was truthful when he testified that Clemens was pumping his wife up, and was aware the ex-trainer injected the female Rocket with some extra juice.

Daily Steroids Dose

1.  The  Federation of Gay Games and Cologne for 2010 will be instituting a full panel of doping tests.  (Bay Area Reporter)

2.  Guilt by graph - Roger Clemens.  (Lab Notes, Newsweek)

3.  Curlin -- reigning horse of the year -- juiced.  (ESPN)

4.  Rare instance of basketballers doping -- in Australia (AFP)

5.  Oh oh.  Hormones and injections for breast enhancement in Ghana.  (ADM)

6.  Spain given 6 months to h and over Valverde's blood doping bag.  (The Star)

7.  Phillip Hersh on  Dara Torres.  (LA Times)

Daily Steroids Dose

1.  More on Roger Clemens's legal problems. The good news is that Clemens would be a first time offender. (SI)

2.  MMA fighter Alexandre "Pequeno" Nogueira tests positive for steroids.  (MMA Fighting.com)

3.  Jason Giambi's new image: the mustache...next a Corvette.  (The Missoulian)

4.  New Mexico security guard is a felon with weapons, 'roids, and a Whizzinator. (KOB)

5.   Hard not to be cynical when watching extraordinary athletic performances these days post-pharmacology.  (LA Times)

6.   Dwain Chambers seeks injunction to run in Olympics.  (Times Online)

Does Dara Torres suffer from a double standard of doping scrutiny?

Interesting column from the normally logical Gwen Knapp today.  She wonders why a 40 year-old male like Barry Bonds received a free pass when he belted a home run every time he spit, meanwhile a successful 41 year-old female swimmer -- Dara Torres --  comes under the intense scrutiny of the doping-suspicions crowd. (Torres simply delivered a baby at age ~39, then records 5% faster times in her postpartum swimming years than she did in her college competitions; maybe she cut down on that college drinking).

We are going to suffer from the fallout after we deliver our opinion, however it is obvious where this is going: a double standard of men receiving the pass and women receiving grief.  Knapp might have added in the double standard between Euro and African genes -- some say African-American athletes suffer discrimination and thus are accused of doping more often than Euro athletes.  We can't keep up with all the double standards...

A 41-year-old woman did the impossible. Dara Torres swam faster than she ever did before, making her fifth Olympic team. As a result, she faced questions about doping, suspicions she fully expected and completely deserved.

But when Barry Bonds, at age 37, suddenly went from a great hitter to a supernatural one, increasing his home run output by nearly 50 percent, the media didn't put him on the defensive about steroids. It would take a lot more than 73 home runs in a single season to make that happen.

When Lance Armstrong returned from cancer treatment and transformed himself from a cyclist who barely could get through a Tour de France into the imperial master of the event, no American reporter dared challenge the authenticity of his accomplishment.

We've come a long way since the BALCO investigation schooled us on performance-enhancing drugs. But how far have we really come? Olympians are still held to higher standards than better-known jocks, and women somehow keep paying higher prices for doping awareness than their male peers.

A great deal of water flowed under the doping bridge since Barry Bonds lit up the night with steroid-fueled home runs in 2001.  BALCO. Operation Puerto.  The Mitchell Report. The Carolina Panther Superbowl Scandal.  More Tour de France scandals involving luminaries like Floyd Landis.  Of all these various doping and steroid scandals, only several women trickled out of the predominantly male scandals: Marion Jones, Chryste Gaines,  and cyclist Tammy Thomas to name several of BALCO fame.  Jones and Thomas exacerbated part of their plights: the simple doping truth would have saved their souls and actually their careers.  (And why is BALCO-linked swimmer Amy Van Dyken less notorious than Jones or Thomas?  Gender bias?)

Point is that the sporting public is much much more aware of steroids and HGH and insulin and modafinil now than in 1998 when McGwire and Sosa set personal bests in home run totals, not in the 50 freestyle.

Performance alone rarely triggers widespread suspicion in the media, but it sufficed for accusations against Torres and, 20 years ago, Florence Griffith-Joyner. The same scrutiny does not apply to men until they have a failed test on their record, federal investigators on their tails or a member of their entourage under indictment.

Oh really? Roger Clemens comes to mind.  How many dope tests did Roger Clemens fail?  The Rocket suffered more scrutiny than anyone since Bill Clinton over the past year.  Time and time again fans referred to Clemens rather mundane pitching numbers in his last years with Boston, and the sudden revitalization of the 34 year (that's right 34, not 41) at Toronto.  No doping positives there either.  Clemens doesn't even live with an endocrinologist, although wife Debbie is expert in HGH use.

Need some other names who never failed a test, yet are mentioned in doping: Brady Anderson and Luis Gonzalez come under scrutiny for storybook -- but unusually dubious -- sporting achievements.  None is admitting to cooking the books (or their looks), nor are Internet pharmacy receipts found for these males, yet the steroids-scrutiny continues on.

Is there some belief in male athletic accomplishment, perhaps its confirmation of masculinity, that does not surrender as easily to the realities of doping? Or is it simply that the most prominent women tend to be Olympians, and we expect greater purity from athletes who represent our country? Whatever the reason, men get to spin their fairy tales with less resistance.

Fairly tales with less resistance?  How about Usain Bolt, a young athlete setting the world record in the 100M?  In his 3rd or 4th 100M he was under scrutiny for doping, with nothing much known about the guy.  The Y chromosome sure didn't save his butt from the hot spotlight of doping suspicion.  Every remarkable achievement in sports henceforth will come under 'PED scrutiny'; such is modern life post-pharmacology.

(more controversy after the jump)

Daily Steroids Dose

1.  The FBI interviews Roger Clemens's flame Mindy McCready. (AHN)

2.  Anastasios Papadopoulos, Australian bodybuilder, nailed for selling steroids (HeraldSun.com)

3.  Trotters feeling stepped on with the new anti-steroid horse climate.  (USTA Newsroom).

4.  Hoping Little League players are juice-free.  (Argus Courier)

5.  Roid rage for Shawn Chacon?  (Fan IQ)

NFL prospect Heath Benedict died of irregular heartbeat; enlarged heart and drugs (Viagra) noted

Heath Benedict, a small college big time football player found dead at his home last March, appears to raise many questions.  At 6-6 and 320 pounds, any NFL prospect draws attention to possible steroid use, An early death compounds the concerns.  At the time this was said (USA Today)

Heath Benedict, a two-time Little All-American offensive lineman at Newberry College in South Carolina, was found dead on a couch in his Jacksonville home.

Jacksonville police said no foul play is suspected in the death of the 24-year-old Benedict, a 6-6, 326-pounder who finished up his senior season in the fall and left school to train for next month's NFL draft. He was nine hours short of a business degree.

Benedict took part in the Senior Bowl in January, the first Division II player to do so since 2004, and was invited to last month's NFL combine.

"He was a big, tough man, but he had a very gentle heart," Newberry president Mick Zais said. "He was a teddy bear."

Benedict, who redshirted at Tennessee in 2002 before moving to Newberry, was a native of the Netherlands. He played high school football at the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.

More than a gentle heart - an enlarged heart with an irregular heartbeat.  What might cause cardiac hypertrophy?  A congenital condition, or drug use.  Drugs like anabolic steroids or more notoriously HGH can enlarge the heart, thus causing major problems.  And what was found at Benedict's house?  These drugs (The State):

Former Newberry College football standout Heath Benedict died of an irregular heartbeat caused by an enlarged heart, according to the Duval County Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville, Fla.

The report also reveals a syringe and three bottles were found near his body on March 26. One of the bottles contained water, but the other two were labeled “L-Via” and “L-Dex,” liquid forms of the drugs Viagra and Arimidex.

Deputy chief medical examiner Jessie Giles made it clear Benedict’s death was caused by dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart-muscle disease that leads to a fatal irregular heartbeat. However, Giles said the role Viagra, an erectile dysfunction medication, and Arimidex, an anabolic steroid used by post-menopausal breast cancer patients to reduce estrogen levels, could not be determined.

“The role, if any, of anabolic steroid or other similar drug/preparation use ... is unknown and beyond the scope of this office,” Giles wrote in the report.

The newspaper distorted the facts somewhat.  Arimidex (anastrozole) is not an anabolic steroid, however is a masking agent or an anti-estrogen drug.  It acts by inhibiting conversion of androgenic steroids to estrogen, thus reducing side effects like enlarged breasts.

Injections of Viagra and Arimidex is somewhat bizarre.  Was this player attempting to maximize his NFL potential, yet trying to avoid detection at dope testing?

Stories recently centered on Viagra as PED, apparently used by big time drug-cheat Roger Clemens.  (Sporting News).  Listen to this quote attributed to Clemens:

Roger Clemens, among other athletes, used Viagra to improve their athletic performance, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Clemens got the pills -- which are not banned by Major League Baseball -- from a teammate and kept them in a GNC vitamin bottle in his locker, according to an anonymous source cited by the newspaper. He also reportedly told a friend that the drug made him feel flushed and made his heart race. 

The newspaper also quotes BALCO founder Victor Conte as saying, "All my athletes took it," in reference to a Viagra-like drug.

The drug and its over-the-counter substitutes reportedly have numerous off-label uses. These include helping build endurance and delivering oxygen, nutrients and performance-enhancing drugs to muscles more efficiently.

Researchers at universities across the country are now trying to determine whether anecdotal evidence that Viagra aids in training and improves performance is based in scientific fact.

Heart racing?  Perhaps leading to cardiac arrhythmias in an athlete who might have primed his heart with anabolics?  This isn't good.  More on the topic later...

Add#1We added a continuation of the State article which stated that Benedict showed "two puncture wounds in his arm, which isn't consistent with anabolic steroids.

Add#2:  We found a research study where Arimidex increased testosterone in 'elderly men' from about 375 to 575.  Not a bad increase.  The mechanism appears to be by blocking the negative feedback from estrogen on LH/FSH or GNRH release in the pituitary.

 

Balk? Did MLB officials -- Fehr and Selig -- fib before Congress

ESPN reports that California House member Henry Waxman is none too pleased with Bud Selig and Don Fehr's 2005 testimony before his committee investigating steroid use in baseball.]

Henry Waxman, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, is disputing the validity of testimony given by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and union chief Donald Fehr regarding drug testing during a March 2005 hearing, The New York Times has reported.

Waxman has grown skeptical of statistics provided by Selig and Fehr that showed a significant downward trend of positive tests results from 2003 to 2004, the report said.

"It's clear that some of the information Major League Baseball and the players union gave the committee in 2005 was inaccurate," Waxman said in a written statement. "It isn't clear whether this was intentional or just reflects confusion over the testing program for 2003 and 2004. In any case, the misinformation is unacceptable."

Sometimes one wonders whether these guys intentionally cover up doping issues, or whether they are simply uninformed or inept.  Further --

The issue centers on the fact MLB had suspended drug testing for much of the 2004 season in response to the federal government's investigation of BALCO, The Times said. Selig and Fehr failed to disclose this in their testimony, which did reveal the number of failed drug tests processed in 2003 was about 100 but was reduced to about 12 the next year.

"In 2004, each player was tested on an unannounced, identified basis for the unlawful use of steroids," Fehr said in written testimony to the committee, according to The Times. "No player knew when he was going to be tested."

The information from 2003-04 came to light in former Sen. George Mitchell's report of December 2007 in a section titled "Allegations of Advance Notice of Tests," nearly 300 pages into the 409-page report.

The Mitchell report disclosed that the anonymity of the drug-testing program required by MLB's collective bargaining agreement had fallen into doubt after federal agents raided two companies involved in BALCO survey testing, resulting in the temporary shutdown of baseball's testing.

"In the course of these searches, the agents seized data from which they believed they could determine the identities of the major league players who had tested positive during the anonymous survey testing," the Mitchell report states on Page 281.

Further, it says: "Ultimately, the Commissioner's Office and the Players Association agreed to a moratorium on 2004 drug testing. While the exact date and length of this moratorium is uncertain, and the relevant 2004 testing records have been destroyed, [Deputy commissioner Rob] Manfred stated that the moratorium commenced very early in the season, prior to the testing of any significant number of players."

The suspension of the program "lasted for a short period," according to Manfred, the Mitchell report says.

Waxman's concerns come less than three weeks after the MLB and its players implemented a new, more regimented drug-testing program and nearly four months after his committee held hearings in which Roger Clemens and his former personal trainer Brian McNamee testified about performance-enhancing drugs and allegations by McNamee of their use by Clemens.

Interesting, a little deception to the congressman.  Will Waxman call a steroid balk?

 

Daily Steroid Dose

1.  Which juicer is more obnoxious: Clemens or Bonds?  (Deseret News)

2.  Saying Winstrol is used to enhance appetite in horse, Big Brown's vet dismisses steroid withdrawal (great logic; by this logic because Vioxx was used for arthritis, it cannot have caused heart attacks). (NY Daily News)

3.  Everyone is jumping on Big Brown, including the Toronto Star.

4.  Chicago bodybuilder -- steroids and booze -- on Real World. (Yawn, Chicago Sun-Times)

5.  Do vets understand steroid withdrawal?  (NY Times)

6. Article says to tune out juiced-up Hulk Hogan.  (Galveston Daily News)

Daily Steroid Dose

1.   FBI interrogates Roger Clemens' s singer Mindy McCready.  (Philly.com)

2.  Is there a logical path from Tiger Woods's arthroscopic knee surgery to Oscar Pistorius's  prosthetic legs?  (Bloomberg)

3.  Carl Lewis talks about drugs, school, and sports. (The Daily Voice)

4.  FIFA adopts anti-doping code.  (ABC News)

5.  Drug taking in mountain climbing (Pistehors.com)

Daily Steroid Dose

1. Roger Clemens adds more charges to his (?futile) lawsuit against Brian McNamee.  Wants trail held in Texas (well duh!). (Houston Chronicle)

2.  Florida needs to rework steroids tests for high schools. (Orlando Sentinel)

3. Is Barry Bonds paying attention to the Trevor Graham Trial? (San Jose Mercury)

4.  IMagine - offering an MMA/UFC fighter steroids and HGH.  Preposterous (Sherdog)

Daily Steroid Briefing

1. Husband of a Missoula cop pleads guilty to selling steroids over the Internet. (Billings Gazette)

2.  Just what did Roger Clemens apologize about? (Ledger-Enquirer)

3.  Steads on steroids; horse racing discusses the juice (Erie Times-News)

4.  Baseball and softball dropped from Olympics; Anti-doping measures (in baseball) not up to WADA standards. (Monterey County Herald)

5.  Brit Olympic athletes targeted for new HGH test (TimesonLine)

Will his women pump up Roger Clemens's steroid levels? The Feds want to know

Women, wine, and Winstrol...sounds like fun.  Roger Clemens's fun might be stopping soon as women may lead to Winstrol as reported by the New York Times.

...significant than the defamation suit is the federal investigation into whether Clemens committed perjury in denying to Congress that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. And the several women who were linked to Clemens in articles that appeared in The Daily News last week could have an impact on that investigation.

Investigators will pursue the woman named in the New Daily News series to see if Clemens leaked any PED/steroid information to them.  One of the key witnesses against Barry Bonds should be his ex-mistress Kimberly Bell.  We may well hear one of Clemens's women testify against him someday too.

According to lawyers familiar with the matter, federal authorities will probably try to question the women to see if they can link Clemens to the use of steroids and human growth hormone.

The lawyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to comment publicly about a continuing investigation, said it was unclear if authorities would seek to question the women immediately.

One of Clemens's harem apparently snooped into his suitcases:

One of the women, Mindy McCready, a country singer, confirmed last week that she had had a longstanding relationship with Clemens. In a telephone interview Wednesday, her mother, Gayle Inge, said McCready’s lawyers had informed her that federal investigators would probably contact her.

Inge said she had asked her daughter whether she believed the allegations linking Clemens to performance-enhancing drugs. Her daughter replied that she did not.

“She said she’s looked in his suitcase and everything,” Inge said of her daughter, “and she’s never seen anything like that.”

The FBI and the FDA already began tracking down informants on Clemens's PED use, in the investigation into possible perjury.  Sounds like they smell blood:

Two F.B.I. agents — one from Washington and the other from California — spent last week in Houston, where Clemens lives. While there, they questioned Shaun Kelley, a weight-loss center owner, about Clemens. Kelley said last week that the agents administered a lie-detector test and that he was certain that he had passed.

He has publicly denied knowing Clemens or providing him with drugs.

And two weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration agent Jeff Novitzky and two other federal agents questioned José Canseco about his knowledge of Clemens’s activities.

In other Clemens news, the coach of USA Baseball says Clemens will not be considered for the roster.  Their loss, Clemens could bring some fine women along to the games...

Roger Clemens tees off with John Daly's ex-wife -- Paulette Dean Daly

Does it stop?  When will the Rocket completely self-ignite?

New reports link part time pitcher and part time hedonist, Roger Clemens to John Daly's ex-wife Paulette Dean Daly.  The Chicago Tribune takes over from here:

Paulette Dean Daly, former wife of professional golfer John Daly, is the latest alleged liaison of former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, sources told the New York Daily News.

According to a story published today by the Daily News, the two supposedly met in Palm Springs, Fla., after which Clemens may have arranged for Daly to see him pitch against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif. The relationship started after Paulette Dean Daly's marriage to the golfer ended in the late '90s, the Daily News said.

Apparently the flood gates -- and other gates -- are open for Clemens now.  It's lift-off time for all of Clemens's peccadilloes.  Steroids, HGH, Mindy McCready, One of John Daly's ex-wives...where will the Rocket's auto-combustion occur next?  (more from NBC-4)

"Yeah, I've known Roger quite a while and we are friends," Paulette Dean Daly told the Daily News on Wednesday.

Daly didn't elaborate on the nature of her relationship with Clemens, but she did not deny any allegations.

When the Daily News asked her if she was romantically involved with the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Daly said, "You know what? I'm really uncomfortable talking about this. I'm just going to have to say 'no comment.'"According to the Daily News, Clemens' relationship with Daly began after her marriage to the golfer ended.

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  Mike Cameron comes off suspension. (Chicago Sun-Times)

2.  Jose Canseco interviewed by the Feds on Tuesday. (SI)

3.  FBI interviews Roger Clemens buddy in Texas. (NY Times)

4.  More docs plead guilty of steroid distribution in Alabama.  (Press-Register)

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  The Boston Globe says Roger Clemens could have avoided this Rocket explosion.  (Boston.com)

2.  Old report, but the curse of the Mitchell Report hits Gagne and Giambi.  (Sporting News)

3.  Studs on steroids: horses juice up. (Courier-Journal)

4.  MLB's drug unit probing ID theft as well as drug use  (AP)

5.  HGH testing to be introduced in Australia (The Australian)

6.  Boxes of HGH missing from a juvenile detention center in New Jersey.  (Wall Police Blotter)

7.  Someone doesn't like it that Roger Clemens dated a 15 yar-old girl. (Boston Herald)

The Rocket -- Roger Clemens -- appears to be in frequent launch mode

Due startling revelations the past few days, Roger Clemens's reputation lies shattered on the launchpad.  Singer Mindy McCready admitted yesterday to an intimate relationship with the Rocket.  However, several other 'intimates' came forward over the past few hours, reports the New York Daily News.

Roger Clemens hung out with several attractive women in his baseball career, including beauties in California and Boston and a former Manhattan bartender named Angela Moyer.

Clemens, 45, flew the women around the country on his private jet and bought expensive jewelry for at least one of them, a source told the Daily News Tuesday.

As the Daily News first reported Sunday, the Rocket carried on a decade-long affair with country singer Mindy McCready, who confirmed the romantic relationship Monday.

Moyer, a 30-year-old Realtor who lives in the Harrisburg, Pa., area, worked as a bartender from 2000 to 2004 at Sutton Place, a yuppie East Side watering hole. That's roughly the same time the pitching legend played for the Yankees.

A woman in every space-port, eh? Rocket?  Could it be all that nandrolone?  But at age 15?  The speculation centers on how all this plays out for Clemens in his current fights against ex-trainer Brain McNamee who says Clemens partook in steroids and HGH.

Singer Mindy McCready played poker, while her mother admitted the Rocket orbited around her daughter:

"I've been playing poker and I invented a new game called 'I win,'" McCready said with a laugh, still nervous from her time under the media microscope this week.

Her mother, Gayle Inge, later told The News, "I know Roger was infatuated with Mindy."

Ever Jose Canseco, long known for his veracity, appeared 'stunned' at the accusations bombarding his firend Clemens.  In his book Canseco claimed Clemens was a virgin (wink wink).

Former slugger Jose Canseco said he was stunned to learn his former teammate had an affair with McCready.

"I found out about it Tuesday and it took me completely by surprise," said Canseco, who wrote in his first book, "Juiced," that the legendary pitcher never strayed from his wife.

"I saw none of it. If it is true, he kept it secret."

Right, Jose.  Looks like Canseco's thin credibility becomes even thinner.

 

The Rocket -- Roger Clemens -- misfires, while singer McCready lifts off

As Roger Clemens denied an affair with singer Mindy McCready, the singer tacitly accepted the story's premises:

"I cannot refute anything in the story," McCready told the Daily News in a story posted on its Web site Monday.  "I have known Roger Clemens for a long time," she said, without detailing the nature of their relationship. (and Daily News story)

Clemens, through his lawyer denied any intimate contact with the singer:

"Mindy McCready is a longtime friend of Roger Clemens and the Clemens family. At no time did Roger engage in any kind of inappropriate or improper relationship with her. It is unfortunate that the Daily News has chosen to report anonymous allegations that are completely unfounded, have no basis in fact, and have nothing to do with Roger's baseball career or the issue of steroid use in baseball."

Seems the last part of that statement carries some logic.  Although it seems Clemens started flirting with the singer when she was 15m that action has little to do with his steroid and HGH use -- unless this is more evidence of Clemens's lack of veracity.  Clemens's credibility comes into play when assessing the he said-he said Clemens-McNamee feud over Clemens purported steroids and HGH use.

The other side of the story present Clemens as a humanitarian.  If ever in trouble we urge readers to petition the Rocket for some quick cash...

The newspaper said Clemens sent cash to McCready to help her with legal issues and reached out to her when she was in jail last year in Tennessee. Clemens sometimes sent her amounts of $25,000, the paper said.

The 32-year-old McCready was sentenced last September for violating probation from a 2004 drug arrest and was released from jail last Dec. 30. The violation occurred in July when McCready was accused of scuffling with her mother and resisting arrest at her mother's home in Fort Myers, Fla. She still must serve two years' probation.

McNamee's lawyer continued:

"The point is whether he was damaged by the allegations that he used steroids - he claims he was hurt. But if there are other women - and there's not just one case, but many - and he holds himself out as a family man and an American paradigm, it's relevant.

"None of this would have been revealed but for his lawsuit and sanctimonious testimony before Congress."

Clemens's affair with singing star: Does this blow-up the Rocket's red glare?

Roger Clemens's nightmare of unwanted publicity simply went berserk a few minutes ago when the New York Daily News published reports of a 10 year Clemens affair with 25 year-old Mindy McCready.  Clemens reportedly met McCready when she was 15.  To the story:

Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News.

The revelations could torpedo claims of an unsullied character that are central to the defamation suit Clemens filed Jan. 6 against his former personal trainer Brian McNamee. Vivid details of the affair could surface in several media projects that McCready is involved with - including a documentary that begins filming today in Nashville, a new album and a reality show.

Apparently the Rocket became smitten with the singer on first glance:

According to sources, Clemens was with his Red Sox teammates in a Fort Myers, Fla., bar when then-teenager McCready caught his eye. After Clemens threw a shirt with his and several teammates' signatures onstage, an introduction was made.

"It was love at first sight, no doubt about it," said a source with intimate knowledge of the relationship.

Clemens's lawyer admitted to Clemens's relationship with the singer however denied the amorous nature, and the relevance to the Rocket's suit against ex-trainer Brian McNamee.

Roger Clemens' lawyer Rusty Hardin, speaking for Clemens, denied that his client's long-term relationship with country singer Mindy McCready involved sex. But Hardin also emphasized that an affair would be irrelevant to the defamation suit his client has filed against Brian McNamee, the trainer who accused Clemens of using steroids and human growth hormone. "I think it's totally irrelevant to the issue of whether Brian McNamee is telling the truth about Roger using human growth hormone and steroids," said Hardin. "The character trait that you put in issue should be the character trait that the defamatory statement was made about."

McNamee's lawyer disagreed:

Richard Emery, a Manhattan-based First Amendment specialist brought onto McNamee's legal team, told the Daily News that he would seek to depose McCready, in part because a habit of infidelity would undermine whatever claims Clemens had to an undamaged reputation. "He brought it on by putting his reputation at issue," Emery told The News. "He can't cabin off his reputation with respect to the use of steroids from the rest of his reputation. If he has a reputation as a cheater, liar, philanderer, his damages are lessened.

It's all B-12 and lidocaine, baby, B-12 and lidocaine.

So who skated in the new MLB steroid-amnesty plan?

So who skated with MLB's new steroids/HGH amnesty program?   Who will be taken into the witness protection program?

1.  The Royals Jose Guillen will not serve a huge 15 day suspension for HGH.  (Royals Authority)

2.  The Cardinals reliever Ron Villone, who took HGH delivery, will walk.  Cardinals players Troy Glaus and Rich Ankiel also escape any consequences for using PEDs. (St Louis Today)

3.  The Indians HGH-loaded Paul Byrd skated.  (Canton Rep)

4.  Andy Pettitte who used his own, and his dad's, HGH received clemency.  He may need the witness protection program for testifying about Roger Clemens.  (NY Daily News)

5.  Jay Gibbons, free from penalties, collects at least 11.9 million dollars to dull hi tremendous pain after Baltimore released him.  (SI.com)

6.  Rockies relief pitcher Matt Herges seems relieved he didn't get sent to the shower over steroids use (MLB.com)

7. Miguel Tajada sakted this time, but may not for the FBI. (Houston Chron)

Meanwhile, White Sox manger Jose Guillen received a harsh fine for critical comments about an umpire.  (Sun Times) 

Justice.  You cheat the game using illegal drugs and you skip out with no consequences.  You hurl a couple words an umpire's way, and you get a nice fat fine.  Justice, MLB style.

Listen-up kids...moral lessons here.

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  Topps predicted baseball's steroid era with 'Big Head' Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro...  (Fan IQ)

2.  Victor Conte again says Shane Mosley took 'roids.  (LA Times)

3.  Plano TX man says Saints lineman Matt Lehr distributed steroids.  (KFAA-TV)

4.  University of San Diego reporter considered steroids to improve softball home run swing (Volante Online)

Daily Steroid Briefing

1.  New York City cops get lecture on steroids.  (NY1 News)

2.  Gilbert Arenas does not have freedom of speech about Roger Clemens and steroids (AOL Sports)

3.  Barry Bonds might still be swatting at balls this year.  (Trading Markets)

4.  WADA plans on testing for HGH during the Olympics in China.  (ESPN)

5. Rafael Nadal, looking really buff for a tennis player in Florida tournament.  (Palm Beach Post)(Go out and hit)

Photographic memory: more info on the Canseco/Clemens party photos

More information concerning the Canseco Party in 1998 where Roger Clemens talked steroids (and may have used some) emerged today.  This story takes on legendary status as the weeks go on.

The controversy seems trivial: so what if Clemens attended some goofy Party at Canseco's house?  Two important points:

• The fact of Clemens attending the Canseco party starts the true/false controversy.  This represents the beginning of the Clemens steroid story in the gospel according to trainer McNamee.  One person is not truthful about the fact.  Both testified under oath on his side of the truth.
• At the party, McNamee says The Rocket learned about steroid use, although others say he was already an knowledgeable juice consumer.
• Now reports says Clemens may have juiced at the party.

The New York Daily News contends that IRS/BALCO investigator Jeff Novitzky possesses photographs of both Canseco and Clemens putting them at th party seen with a teenage fan.

Two photographs that may link Roger Clemens to having attended the infamous 1998 party at Jose Canseco's Florida home are in the hands of IRS special agent Jeff Novitzky.

Novitzky, the lead investigator in the BALCO steroids scandal who is investigating whether Clemens perjured himself before Congress, wants to meet with Canseco to discuss the photos, according to Canseco's attorney Robert Saunooke.

The Daily News first reported the existence of the photographs in February. Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer turned accuser, claimed in the Mitchell Report that the Rocket was introduced to steroids at the party. McNamee also said in a Dec. 12 taped conversation with two investigators that Clemens may have even used performance enhancers at the party.

McNamee's attorney, Richard Emery, told The News on Feb. 21 that he'd been made aware of the photos. An 11-year-old boy who apparently attended the same party had photos taken of himself with Clemens and with Canseco. Saunooke said Saturday night that he had no idea how the photos would place Clemens at the party since Canseco and Clemens are not photographed together. The two players were Blue Jays teammates during the '98 season.

"Jeff called me. He apparently has two photographs, one of a boy with Roger Clemens in a pool and one of the boy with Jose. He wants to meet with Jose, so we're going to try and work something out in the next 30 days," Saunooke told The News last night by phone. Canseco is currently on tour promoting his book "Vindicated."

Clemens's grandstanding lawyer, Rusty Hardin, backed off statements Clemens was not in attendance.  Someone's veracity will be suspect when this is all over.

 

Waiting for the bloody syringes: McNamee puts up Clemens memorabilia on Ebay

In a brilliant move to clean out the garage, and raise some much needed cash, ex-Roger Clemens trainer Brian McNamee is putting up some of the Rocket's goodies for sale on Ebay:  Autographed baseball and an autographed photo.  Both items now list at over 4000.00.  Don't fret on time, there is over a day left to submit a bid (Paypal accepted)(Update: only 13 hours left to bid)

McNamee says the proceeds will go to charity...may we suggest our charity (address given upon request).  The AP carries an interesting angle:

 ...McNamee turned over 50 to 60 items including hats, uniforms, balls and pictures of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jose Canseco — "all the steroid guys," Castinetti (of Sportsworld) says.

To make them unique, McNamee also signed them, and managed to take a dig at Clemens at the same time. Clemens often signs "Cy 7" after his name to denote his seven Cy Youngs.

McNamee signed some of his "Ly 0," — as in zero lies

We really want to buy the used Clemens syringes.  Although those syringes carry no handwritten Clemens signature, we guess the Clemens signature DNA would be smeared all over the plunger and syringe. (perhaps to clone a new Clemens someday???)  Fond memories of fun days gone by -- bargain prices on Ebay.

Bid now, although the snipers will be out in full force at the end of these auctions.

Daily Briefings

1.  Illegal PEDs including Steroids and HGH  will be banned in the 2008 Beijing Olympics; the banned list also included powerful drugs like deer penis and turtle blood.  (Deadspin)

2.  Roger Clemens ex-Trainer Brian McNamee ws going to put up some Clemens memorabilia on EBay.  Wonder what those old syringes will bring?  (The Daily Gleener)

3.  A former Auburn football player says Auburn was the original steroid distribution center for the US.  (Birmingham News)

4.  Former Olympic gold medalist Alexi Grewal pens an essay on doping in cycling. (Velo News)

Canseco fingers A-Rod and Clemens in "Vindicated" for steroids

Alex Rodriquez, Mags Ordonez, and Roger Clemens appear in Jose Canseco's book "Vindicated", according to Deadspin this morning. Not good.

Canseco tried implicated A-Rod last year, and also tried to blackmail Ordonez too.  No surprise he names these 3 in his new book;  however it is a surprise that he says A-Rod tried to sleep with his wife -- probably pre-implant-contest-Jessica.  To Deadspin:

In the next week, you're going to see more of Jose Canseco that you likely have much desire to see. But Canseco has a new book coming out April 1, Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball, coming out just in time for opening day and promising to, once again, blow the lid off the steroid menace. Once again, he's naming names, and, according to a man named Joe Lavin, who bought a copy accidentally put on sale early at a Boston bookstore, those names are Roger Clemens, Magglio Ordonez and Alex Rodriguez.

Here's what Lavin reports him saying about A-Rod:

As for Alex Rodriguez, Canseco says he didn't inject Rodriguez, but that he "introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids." Canseco didn't mention Rodriguez in the first book because he "hated the bastard." He was worried that people would have "questioned [his] motives" had he included Rodriguez.

Why all the hatred, you ask. Well, Canseco claims that A-Rod was trying to sleep with Canseco's wife. Apparently, even after Canseco had been nice enough to help A-Rod find a friendly steroids supplier, A-Rod kept calling Canseco's wife.

What did Canseco expect?  He got A-Rod's libido all juiced-up...

Train wreck Clemens case turns into car wreck for trainer

We can empathize.  Brian McNamee, the trainer involved in the Roger Clemens steroid controversy, fainted while driving his care today, crashing into a bus.  (SI.com)

Brian McNamee, the personal trainer who has said he injected former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone, fainted while driving and crashed his car head-on into a city bus, a newspaper reported.

Brian McNamee told police he blacked out because of an ongoing medical problem and regained consciousness only as his Lexus hurtled into the bus Thursday in Queens, the Daily News reported Friday.

(from CBC) McNamee's Lexus, another car and the bus were involved in the crash around 12:30 p.m. Thursday on Central Avenue in Queens' Far Rockaway neighbourhood, according to the newspapers.

McNamee must be continuously be under incredible stress from the Clemens episode.  His 'taped' phone call to Clemens in December indicated as much.

McNamee was in legal trouble for steroid distribution, when connected to Radomski, & the the Mitchell Report.  He then gave up Clemens and other MLP players as a result of legal leverage.  Further, he was part of the national spectacle during the Clemens-McNamee Congressional Hearings.  All this apparently built up.

Here's hoping things get better for McNamee.  No one deserves all this pressure -- unless there is deception involved.

Ex-Red Sox slugger Mike Greenwell goes 'roid rage' over steroids

Mike Greenwell discussed his career with the Red Sox yesterday.  He related his less-than-rosy memories of the juicing in MLB at the time:

Greenwell, 44, who says he's retired from his post-baseball career as a land developer after scoring a bonanza on a land deal in Fort Myers, said it was an eye-opener when he was told during contract negotiations that the difference between his salary and that of Canseco's was " 'he's hitting 40 home runs,' and I knew why. I didn't tell them I knew why, but I knew why and I always took issue with the fact that I was putting up similar numbers without the power numbers."

"Well, all at once, the numbers got crazy. Well, why? We all know why and I knew why. I did lose the MVP to Jose Canseco and also lost Rookie of the Year. If you'll look back, the guys that finished in front of me, we would all have doubt."

In other words, Greenwell feels cheated; they juiced, he didn't.  One or two went on to put up huge numbers...based on some chemical interventions.  (question: why does the MLBPA let this go on?)  Greenwell points out how he was cheated -- out of stats, and thus out of income.

Mark McGwire was the 1987 American League Rookie of the Year. Kansas City third baseman Kevin Seitzer and Detroit catcher Matt Nokes also finished in front of Greenwell in the voting.

"[If] I could have won Rookie of the Year and MVP in back-to-back years, you're looking at a different person sitting here, aren't you?" said Greenwell. "You really are. You're looking at a guy who did something unbelievable, but the guys that finished ahead of me, I wonder.

"The reason I brought it up and made attention to it was Jose admitted he was doing steroids during that time. He said, 'I would not have hit 40 home runs, I would not have stolen 40 bases without doing steroids.'

The following statement from Greenwell seems very well reasoned; MLB players clearly possess talent, but the enhanced talent puts unjuiced talent at a distinct disadvantage.

"I get a little miffed at people when someone makes the argument, 'Well, does it make the player?' Of course it doesn't make the player, but I promise you as a guy that could hit like I could hit, if the ball would have traveled 20 more feet for me, what kind of player am I then? If I get healthier faster because of that, what kind of player am I then?"

Greenwell said he "was very tempted" to use steroids because "I understood the pressure to perform." But he is proud of the fact that he didn't.

(why didn't Greenwell juice?  Answer after the jump)

Sports Illustrated takes a look at HGH and anti-aging

In a well-written Sports Illustrated piece, Jack McCallum looks at how enhancement pervades American culture, in sports, in the arts -- in almost all aspects of life.  A nation on dope.  A Steroid Nation.

We are a juiced nation.

We are a nation on dope.

We are a nation looking for enhancement, a way to age gracefully, perform better and longer, and, at the outer edge, vanquish what was once considered that alltime undefeated opponent known as aging. We do that by Botoxing our wrinkles, lifting our faces, reconstructing our noses, despidering our veins, tucking our tummies, augmenting our breasts and taking a little pill to make sure we're ready when, you know, the right time presents itself. We also do it by injecting human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone, America's new golden pharmaceutical couple...

The truth is, sports do not define the culture -- they reflect it. Society's image of the ideal body is shaped largely by forces outside the chalked lines. And the belief that life can be improved, even extended, by drugs comes not from sports but from the burgeoning field known as antiaging medicine.

This is good stuff.  We should take the time to analyze this article, however right now, we can only point you to the SI site to read the work.

We point out that the steroids/PED/HGH aspect may only be the tip of the iceberg on this issue.  How far will enhancement - drug, hormonal, cosmetic, surgical, silicone -- take humans?  Will we be cyborgs in the future, part man, part machine, part materials, part hormones?

(and by the way, we have a small quote in the article, but by far the most profound quote -- OK not all that profound...but it is small)