Comments on: The Clemens-McNamee case gets even more pathetic

By: Angela

Angela — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:46:05 +0000

Great post, I really enjoy your blog, I will be stopping by again soon.

By: Ginger Rhorer

Ginger Rhorer — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:58:31 +0000

Hey mate, when viewing at your blog i see some kind of weird codes all over the page, in case it’s important I just thought I’d let you know it says this with all sorts of other stuff after it: “Can’t locate MT/Bootstrap.pm in @INC”

By: tony damico

tony damico — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:34:11 +0000

now we know why clemens threw the broken bat towards mike piazza he was having a roid rage the sleazeball.

By: Right

Right — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:43:16 +0000

Right, it doesn’t make any sense to me why anyone would support one side or the other. Heaven knows, or some lobbyist.

By: Wil

Wil — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:43:58 +0000

Congress made matters worse by choosing sides. Hard to believe that all democrats believed McNamee and all of the GOP members believed Roger……

By: lepusrex

lepusrex — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:22:39 +0000

Roger is not a bad person, you people are retards, get a life.

By: JoeRunner

JoeRunner — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:06:26 +0000

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive.”
Scott
It is fascinating what comes from a single, simple lie.

By: Tony A

Tony A — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:05:29 +0000

I wasn’t a “scumbag”, I was merely someone being entertained by Baseball…mark my words, if baseball went back to the ’60s for lack of steroids, we’d all be referring to the steroid era as “the good old days”, ansd longing for its return…

By: Rick2009

Rick2009 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:51 +0000

It sounds like Brian McNamee has nothing to lose. Roger, cut your losses. You don’t want anymore of this stuff coming up or any new revelations about your private life. You will just look like a fool and further hurt your reputation. Go on with that defense about just joking, just a little kidding between you and Brian. Maybe he will let you off the hook for an apology and some cash. Unless of course you can use your charm and personality to get the judge to drop the case. Being rich doesn’t hurt either. You could tell the Judge, as it has been suggested in previous posts here,”How in the world could I defame someone that is a known liar, drug dealer, has questionable moral values, gets caught in uncompromising situations, and is just a lowdown, dity, rotten scoundrel that kicks dogs and is mean to his Mom. Just kidding Judge. Just wanted the publicity.”Tell them that Roger.

By: ding

ding — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:55:13 +0000

what should Roger do???

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:34:23 +0000

The only thing we know for sure is that Rusty(Clemens Attorney) has a cash cow and Roger still has not recognized that fact. He has spent millions of dollars and all he had to say up front was I did it and I’m sorry and he would have saved those millions and been back in baseball.( See Mark and Andy)

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:20:14 +0000

It occurred to me during that twilit moment between still being asleep and being awake enough to check which babe is holding down the morning anchor desk on The Weather Channel that this upside-down defamation case reminds me of nothing so much as the way Oscar Wilde's defamation action against the Marquess of Queensberry blew up in his face. 'Course I wouldn't want to be within 90 feet 6 inches of the Rocket when I compared him to Oscar Wilde, lest I get plunked between the ear and the occipital bone a la Mike Piazza. However, anyone interested in comparing what Craig has to say about the Clemens-McNamee fiasco with the Wilde-Queensberry fiasco can check it out here: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/fTrials/Wilde/wilde.htm And we can all say, with Oscar (and any client of Scott Boras): "Give me the luxuries of life. I'll do without the necessities."

By: MW

MW — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:16:40 +0000

Rick,
The article makes it fairly clear to me that Clemens is a scumbag, has received TERRIBLE legal counsel, and his own public performances have made things impossibly worse.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:31:52 +0000

Lee — some responses to your comments:
1. I don’t think that McNamee shouldn’t be allowed to recover if defamed. I’m simply acknowledging — as a litigator — that it’s way easier to defend a defamation lawsuit from someone who has had widely publicized negative publicity like McNamee has. We can parse how bad his drug dealing was (whether it was heroin or steroids, he sold illegal drugs) or his incident with the police (charges or no, the point is that he was widely publicized as having lied to the cops) or his other stuff, but the fact remains, if you’re Clemens lawyers, how are you not telling the court that this man has a much harder road to prove defamation damages than you or I or anyone else?
2. That particular post may say more about McNamee than Clemens. It does so because I was attempting to demonstrate that Clemens is in a pretty bad litigation position if he’s struggling to defend a lawsuit brought by a guy like McNamee. In the past two years, however, I have written extensively on the Clemens-McNamee stuff, and if you look around for it, you’ll find that I have been just as much if not more critical of Clemens than I have of McNamee. One example:
http://shysterball.blogspot.com/2008/04/monster.html
I am fully aware of the rest of the story. The post I wrote yesterday was merely a response to one discrete part of it.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:56:21 +0000

Interested to hear Craig’s take on Lee’s comments as that was my read of the article as well.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:59:09 +0000

Paul, hang onto that card and don’t use it as a noisemaker with your bicycle tire spokes just yet. If the Rocket goes to prison, this kitsch-driven culture of ours being what it is, the value of your card will go through the roof.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:35:08 +0000

Both scumbags. Both greedy. One living in total fantasy land, trying to save his legacy, his ego, and his false image of himself. The other saying whatever he needs to say to hopefully stay out of jail. I just wish they would both go away. But when you’ve got this much money (and fame) on the line, what else can you expect? As Chris Rock so eloquently said, behind all great wealth you will find a great crime. Clemens was looking washed up, then he suddenly had this magical resurgence, because of his “rededication to training and fitness.” At the same time McMonster and Sammy Souped were hitting baseballs like golf balls. And we all loved it. And we watched them on the TV and went to the games. And we turned blind eyes because we wanted to believe the fairy tales. Are we the scumbags?

By: Lee Blitstein

Lee Blitstein — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:33:07 +0000

Craig:
I think you miss the point. Your blog insinuates that because Mcnamee is an admitted liar (he didn’t lie to congress or federal procesutors, admitted steriod dealer (sounds different than drug dealer), was accused by witnesses of non-consensual sex (where were they, when did they see him with her, etc) in a never prosecuted crime (because we all know how district attorneys hate to file rape charges) that he shouldn’t be allowed to recover if defamed.
As a retired administrative law judge, I can assure you that the framing of issues is as important as arguing them before the court. No one is defending either character in this circus, but your blog attacks Mcnamee while tapping softly on Clemens.
For example, you could have referred to Clemens as a cheating, lying husband having an affair with an emotionally unstable female who witnesses claim was not 18. Sounds a little different than your version doesn’t it? Framed in this fashion, both men appear equally ridiculed and equally juvinile.
Good luck with the rest of the story.
Sincerely,
Lee

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:27:59 +0000

Not to mention he’s killing the value of his rookie card, which I happen to own three of.

By: Rick2009

Rick2009 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:39:52 +0000

By the way Craig , just f@#$%^g with you . However, a lot of people don’t believe in kicking someone when their down even if they are a scumbag . I bet a lot of so-called trainers gave their athlete/clients illegal substances but they never got caught. And I don’t think anyone should get away with lying to congress, but that’s just my view.

By: Dean Moriarty (AKA Old Gator)

Dean Moriarty (AKA Old Gator) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:36:23 +0000

I also go by Cody Pomeray from time to time….
Judges usually have the authority to find a lawsuit without merit and boot it to the curb, but few will, especially the ambitious ones, because they don’t want the apellate courts to overturn their rulings. For any judge looking toward bigger and better things – Commissioner of Baseball when Bud Selig finally decays out from under the job, for example – overturned rulings are kind like a gunfighter having the notches on his pistol sanded off. So to both Roger and his antagonist I would say
Fare thee well now,
Let your life proceed by its own design;
Nothin’ to tell now,
Let the words be yours, I’m wasting mine….

By: Rick2009

Rick2009 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:08:20 +0000

Of course your right Sal. Let’s let sports writers decide if this is a waste of judicial resources. Or we could put it to a vote. Maybe binding arbitration . Whoever spends the most money or has the biggest soapbox gets to decide .

By: Sal Paradise

Sal Paradise — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:57 +0000

I love this quote:

Let’s let the lawyers and the judges decide if this is a waste of judicial resources.

Who gets to decide if letting the lawyers and judges decide if it is a waste of judicial resources is a waste of judicial resources?
Should we let the lawyers and the appeals court figure that one out?

By: peteinfla

peteinfla — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:31:43 +0000

Hey Michael,
As a proud Yankee fan, I got to tell you that I am just a disgusted with Clemens’ behavior as you are. I think it is pretty obvious in this case that even though MacNamee is a piece of slime, Clemens is at least as bad. Instead of taking the high road, ala Pettite or A-Rod and admitting what seems obvious to evryone, he made matters uglier by not only denying his guilt, but then getting into a fingerpointing and name calling war with MacNamee who as Craig points out is at the very least an admitted drug dealer. At least one of them lied to congress, MacNamee lied to the NY Times, Clemens cheated on his wife, MacNamee screwed sone drugged (Supposedly underage) girl in a pool… they are both pieces of crap! I hope they both go to prison and are forced to room together!

By: Joey B

Joey B — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:16:37 +0000

“LOL @ Joey B: Punishing a drug dealer is like punishing a drug mule? What??”
Re-read it.
If a drug dealer hires someone to bring in $10M worth of drugs that he’ll sell for $20M, and he pays the mule $10,000, who do you find more culpable? 99% of the population will say the guy making the $10M, not the guy than made the $10,000.
Clemens paid MacNamee a couple of grand to go out to procure drugs for him, which Clemens used to enhance his career to the tunes of tens of millions. There is no doubt where the guilt is in this case. MacNamee is no angel, and his lawyer is laughing all the way to the bank dealing with the village idiots, but it’s beyond ridiculous that Clemens is paying this guy to get him drugs, and some people find the poor sap more guilty than the guy paying him and profiting from it.

By: Rick2009

Rick2009 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:22:58 +0000

Well Craig; here’s the thing. There really isn’t much to this story. Brian McNamee; like a lot of other people; has made a lot of mistakes in his life and I hope he has realised that and is trying to reform.If I knew him I might think he was the worst person in the world but I only have what I have read to go by. Roger Clemens probably has an ego the size of his paychecks and will never admit he ever did anything wrong. There are a lot of baseball players that took steroids and I bet that it was someone besides McNamee that provided them with these and other drugs. I have even read that some baseball players provided other baseball players with drugs. That would make them both drug users and drug pushers. I have to wonder how this drug usage escaped the notice of other players, coaches, and clubhouse personel. How many of these individuals knew what was going on but said nothing. How many are scumbags like these two. As we find out the truth about people, there are many things we don’t like to hear. Those athletes we have idolised sometimes become less than nothing.

By: willmose

willmose — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:29:31 +0000

Craig, I agree that no matter how much you lie about McNamee you can’t damage his reputation. Just like saying Clemens is a no good mother loving son of a puppy, can’t possibly damage his reputation. Keep Clemens out of the hall, keep him away from little league baseball games, and fast pitch softball games. Finally, let’s see McNamee and Clemens square off at the annual cow chip eating contest. My guess is Clemens pulls off the win, but I won’t bet against McNamee.

By: comeonman

comeonman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:16:40 +0000

Actually I don’t care about this case or any steroid case and Roger
no longer play’s for the YANKEES.YOU FELLAS KNOCK YOURSELF OUT, I’M STILL HAPPY DRUNK ABOUT THE WORLD SERIES WIN!!!!!!!
THE YANKEES ARE CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL……..AGAIN.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:16:16 +0000

Rick — I can’t tell if you’re trying to pick a fight with me or just pontificating. If the latter, apologies. If the former:
It matters in the grand scheme of things whether someone lied before Congress. It doesn’t matter to the claims asserted in the Clemens-McNamee defamation lawsuit, at least as long as someone doesn’t say something differently under oath in one than they did in the other. It “matters” if you shoplifted something last week. But whether you did or not doesn’t matter to a civil case you have going arising out of an auto accident last year.
As for your other stuff, no there’s not necessarily anything wrong when a guy like McNamee is walking free. He walked on potential drug charges because he cooperated with George Mitchell and federal agents. If he said nothing, he almost certainly would have been charged. In fact, that is the justification he cited in defense of the suit Clemens filed against him (I was under government compulsion to talk, so anything I said was privileged under the law).
He didn’t go to jail for rape charges because the police found insufficient evidence to bring a charge. Which, no matter what I think about McNamee, is a good thing, because I don’t like the idea of police charging people unless there is clear evidence. They did think he was lying to them, though. That’s right in the police report. Take it for what you will.
And who says I want Clemens back in baseball? I said he could be back in baseball if he had proceeded differently. He didn’t do that though. And based on what we learned about him after the fact — mostly the McCreedy stuff — I’m not losing much sleep over what if anything happens to him.
I get the sense that you want a world in which (a) Clemens is evil; (b) anyone opposed to Clemens is, by definition, good; and (c) anyone opposed to Brian McNamee is, by definition, a supporter of Roger Clemens. That’s not the world we live in.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:07:48 +0000

I get it, commenters. You hate Clemens. Funny how all the loud and proud Yankee fans are taking a pass on this one. And the ones who ARE commenting don’t seem to have a fully formed idea of who McNamee is – they only know that Clemens was one o’ them lowdown dirty steroid users.
Rick2009: “Let the lawyers decide”? There’s a recession on. You stop the sports industry from commenting on that stuff and you’ll put thousands out of work. (Please let one of them be Colin Cowherd.)
LOL @ Joey B: Punishing a drug dealer is like punishing a drug mule? What??
And Judge Wapner became a judicial reporter? When? …Ohhhh, you’re just making a funny and “Judge Wapner” is a funny sounding name. Sorry.