Roger Clemens, Get Yourself a Lawyer

The Roger Clemens hearing is very compelling television.

Inasmuch as we lose sight of the fact that this is simply a story of an athlete who plays a sport and may have taken substances which improved his endurance, strength, or longevity (or nothing), the one amazing factor in the whole equation is why Clemens is now forced to fight for his reputation when an early admission as to use, as others chose to do, would have permitted him to avoid the criticism and scrutiny that this hearing now promises to provide. And, in the end, he may face criminal prosecution as a result of the stand which he has chosen to take.

Roger Clemens has received terrible legal advice. His lawyers ought to be fired, and perhaps disciplined, if they were the ones who advised Roger to tape record telephone conversations and meet with his nanny prior to turning over her "contact information" to the investigating committee. Advising Clemens to go public with the tape-recorded telephone conversation with McNamee when the telephone conversation was inconclusive of anything was an historic mistake of epic proportions.

If they really had solid evidence which would have absolved Clemens from any wrongdoing, the same should have been turned over to the proper authorities. Instead, he chose to be a TV star, and public sentiment began to turn against Clemens quickly. McNamee is no angel, and a proven liar, but Clemens has fallen behind in his battle against such a weak opponent, because the advice he received was so faulty.

Ben Johnson did the same thing. After beating Carl Lewis in the 100 meters to win the Olympic gold medal, he was stripped of the medal after failing a urine test. During the public inquiry in Canada, Johnson maintained his innocence before Justice Dubin, when a simple admission of wrongdoing would have been accepted by the public and forgiveness would have been forthcoming. Instead, as a result of terrible advice, he compounded the problem by maintaining his innocence until such a time that he could no longer do so.

And we also know that criminal prosecution and incarceration lays in wait for those who are convicted.

The better advice would have been for Roger to have admitted taking whatever substances he took, and maintain that he relied on the advice of McNamee. The "steroids" did not make Roger the pitcher he was, but may have contributed to some degree to his success. But we already know that he won two Cy Youngs prior to meeting McNamee and was a household name in baseball lore before he allegedly immersed himself in drugs. Clearly, he had the talent and work ethic prior to these transgressions, if they occurred.

Why exacerbate the problems by lying? Poor advice is one answer.