JT the Brick

I need your help. I have spent the last several months on the radio debating the issues surrounding Roger Clemens and his legal woes. These discussions have been very passionate and have gotten heated at times. Most sports fans believe that after Clemens name appeared in the Mitchell Report, he was guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Congress has made it clear that Major League Baseball and all other professional sports leagues need to come clean about their ugly past and begin to prove that they can move forward without the use of these illegal drugs.

I have been very outspoken in my beliefs that Barry Bonds cheated the game of baseball and not only took several performance drugs but also lied to the Grand Jury in San Francisco when he gave his testimony in the BALCO case. I lived in San Francisco for several years, read the book “Game of Shadows” and interviewed several reporters and attorneys who are familiar with that case.

Bonds is about to have his day in court and will have to fight off four perjury charges along with a charge of obstruction of justice. Bonds has a brilliant legal team that constantly reminds him not to talk and to keep a low profile as they prepare his case, but I believe that his time is running out.

It is easy to connect the dots to Bonds and his long time friend and personal trainer Greg Anderson who has already served time in Federal prison on contempt charges because he refused to testify to the Federal Grand jury concerning Bonds in the BALCO case.

Now, let’s move on to Clemens. After testifying in front of Congress, Clemens’s legal problems continue to mount as he has begun his spring training work with the Houston Astros in Kissimmee, Florida.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday requested that the Justice Department open a formal investigation into whether Clemens committed perjury when he gave his testimony on February 13th. The next day, the FBI made public that they have entered into the investigation of Clemens’s testimony and they obviously are serious.

This is where Roger Clemens stands as we begin the month of March and it is painfully clear that he still has a huge fight in front of him as he tries to get on with his life and work with his legal team to stay out of jail.

After laying out the basic facts of this unfortunate debacle each night to my listeners, I get to sit back and listen to a variety of different opinions on the subject. The majority of fans that I interact with believe that Clemens is a cheater and lied before Congress.

I was slow to form my opinion on his potential fate because I didn't believe that there was enough evidence in the Mitchell Report to clearly prove his guilt and potentially prosecute him in a court of law. I tried to keep an open mind leading into his testimony in front of Congress because I was impressed with the fact that he wanted to testify and never wavered in his position that he was innocent. I still give Clemens credit for fighting for his name and legacy if he truly believes that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.