Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens has long held to his statement that he never used performance enhancing drugs during his long tenure as a professional baseball player. Yesterday, he got the opportunity to testify in front of members of Congress to reiterate that assertion. Rather than being nervous, however, Clemens appeared ahead of time to welcome the opportunity, as well as to get in a little bit of golf while he was around. Appearing in Washington, Clemens plead not guilty to six felony counts, including perjury.
The irony of the situation, of course, is that Clemens could face as much as 30 years in jail for lying to a congressman. The result of a congressman lying to millions of Americans, however, appears to simply be two more years in office. Clemens was, apparently, so unfazed by talking to members of Congress that he had planned to play in a golf tournament in South Carolina with his wife Debbie after testifying. Clemens took a private plane to DC to testify, and was then set to travel via private jet to the links as well.
Of course, if Clemens insists that he is not guilty instead of accepting some sort of plea deal, things are going to get really ugly, really fast. Of particular note is that Any Pettitte will be called to testify against Clemens, his friend and long-time teammate, and will likely be attacked viciously by Clemens’ attorneys. Whether their friendship can survive that remains to be seen, but what is certain is that Major League Baseball would just as soon have Clemens accept a deal and move on from the mess.
