As I said here, Roger Clemens engaged in an act of self-immolation every bit as spectacular as Tiger Woods. Today, he was indicted by a Federal grand jury for lying to Congress in their steroids investigation of MLB.
From the article:
“A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens for allegedly lying to Congress about using steroids.
Clemens faces charges of obstruction of Congress, making false statements and perjury.”
From my review of the Senate Hearings, which I attended:
The difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice is not just the difference between HGH and B 12, Clemens and McNamee, but the difference between testing that is ineffective and ineffective, between expelling cheats and concealing them, and between avoiding scandals in the sport by excoriating and excommunicating the cheater for making the wrong choice.
Public embarrassment and the according legal expenses could be an enormous deterrent. If a player knows that he’s on an island if he gets caught – instead of protected – he’ll think twice. He’ll think twice about what he’ll put his wife and kids through. If he knows he’ll be treated like you would – scorned and ridiculed instead of insulated and protected, that will add significantly to the risk. We have to increase the risk involved in doing these drugs as well as the consequences. When they see how far they have to fall – jail, serious health risks, public humiliation, the kids’ college fund going to some lawyer – maybe now they’ll think more about the long run and less about a fast buck.
