Professional athletes are proud warriors.
As an 11-time all-star and a 6-time AL Cy Young Award winner, Roger Clemens is no doubt one of the top pitchers in the history of baseball, but his persistent determination to clear his name of steroid allegations, true or untrue, may be his undoing in the court of public opinion.
Clemens? close friend and former teammate Andy Pettitte admitted in a government affidavit in 2008 that Clemens had received performance enhancing drugs and Clemens? former trainer Brian McNamee has maintained inside and outside of a federal hearing that he provided and injected Clemens with performance enhancing drugs.
?No matter what we discuss here today, I am never going to have my name restored, but I?ve got to try and set the record straight,? Clemens said in his testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
It seems instead of setting the record straight, Clemens has only further tarnished it in his dogged devotion to salvage his legacy.
His name is no longer connected to his career Earned Run Average of 3.12, his 4,672 career strikeouts or his failed Roger Clemens Flame Roasted Chicken chain.
Roger Clemens name, guilty or innocent, is connected to steroids.
Now Clemens has been indicted.
Joe Posnanski wrote in a blog on August 19 that much of what has unfolded is really not necessary, but it was the will of Clemens that made it so.
?He went to Congress,? wrote Posnanski. ?He said dubious things. He raised suspicion. He found his personal life unveiled for the tabloids. He inspired a government investigation. He got indicted. Now he will have to fight for his reputation and his freedom. Why? People say it?s because of his ego. People say it?s because he has to win. People say it?s because he believes in his innocence and he?s not just going to stand there and let people lie about him. People say it?s because pushing the envelope is just what he does ? it is what made him a great and dominant pitcher. People say. But people don?t know. Nobody really knows.?
It was reported on Boxingscene.com on August 20 that, ?Manny Pacquiao?s lawsuit, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character, will move on.?
Manny Pacquiao is in a much better position than Clemens, as there are only hollows fingers pointed at him, the accusations are much less credible but no less damaging. Pacquiao?s insistence on bringing Floyd Mayweather jr., Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Shaefer to court on charges of defamation hints at Clemens-like bravado, he should recognize them as ignorant comments made by uninformed people and leave them alone
Albeit De La Hoya and Shaefer should know better, but the claims are baseless and bringing the matter in front of judge not only hurts the possibility of a megafight but also could tarnish the image of the Pacman.
Mayweather Sr. has repeatedly accused Pacquiao of using steroids.
He has also accused Pacquiao of not taking a steroid, but created a scenario that could have come out of Josef Mengele?s laboratory, that something was given to the Pacman by the Government of the Philippines.
?It?s not a steroid,? Mayweather Sr. told Boxingscene.com in February. ?It?s something from the Philippines. Something they use in the army. When you hit a guy with a .45 or a .38 and they keep coming after they get shot. Whatever it is it has to be something strong for you to keep coming forward after they get shot.?
At the end of July, Mayweather Sr. told On The Ropes Boxing Radio, that Pacquiao was, ?One of the biggest faggots on the planet.?
Floyd Mayweather Sr. says stupid, baseless things that hurt him more than anyone he is talking about.
Mayweather has, in the past, called Joe Calzaghe the worst fighter he has ever seen in his life and called Leonard Ellerbee, Mayweather?s adviser, a homosexual.
Pacquiao would be smart to ignore previous comments made and move on with his career, not only for the good of boxing but for himself.
The most probable scenario is that nothing will be proven in court, at the conclusion of the trial, Manny Pacquiao will not disprove the Mayweathers, whose accusations will also not be shown to be true or untrue and the Mayweather?s collective mouths will get no quieter.
The sure bet is that the trial will serve to perpetuate the ideas planted by the Mayweather?s, Shaefer and Ellerbee for a little while longer.
Instead of fighting Mayweather in court in 2011, he should try his hardest to fight him in the ring.
