[Houstonist] Roger Clemens Agrees to Answer Fan's Questions

It's not that I hate him. It's not that I like him. It's just that I don't care about him either way.

That's why I want him to go away...

 

Give it up, Fatty. Roger Clemens will never let you tongue kiss him.

 

He's not going anywhere -- get ready for another baseball season filled with Clemens dirty laundry.

 

Yeah, he wouldn't have it any other way. Bad publicity is better than none at all. The guy is an attention w**** to the umpteenth degree.

 

Except he was the one that asked to testify to Congress. And then he perjured himself there.

 

It's not even a story anymore. ESPN tried to make a huge deal out of his interview with Mike & Mike the other day...and he got on there and repeated the very same things we've already heard....no new angle to it at all.

Manny was a HUGE story because he's a current player...but it's dying away, too, as a story.

I think we're approaching the point where, now that we have better testing, it will be viewed more like how it is in the NFL. Test positive...story breaks...guy gets suspension...guy still plays in Pro Bowl....no one thinks he's any less of a player. (see Merriman, Shawne)

My take on all this is that there's enough blame to go around everywhere. Players cheated and knew it....and MLB knew it was happening and did nothing. Fans knew something was up....but they bought tickets in droves. And the media certainly knew more than they let on...but down-played it.

 

We (Houstonist) made the NY Daily New today:




Roger Clemens has decided to take his message directly to the people.

Widely criticized for repeating his steroid denials on ESPN Radio in response to the release of the book "American Icon" this week after 15 months of silence, the steroid-stained star sent an e-mail on Wednesday to Houstonist, offering to field questions from readers of the Web site.

"The fans and the folks in Houston have always been great to Deb, the kids and me and we're grateful for the support," Clemens said in the e-mail to the Web site, which focuses primarily on Houston-area news, restaurant reviews and event listings. "I know a lot of baseball fans read the Houstonist and that they have asked questions about the false allegations against me. I welcome the chance to answer the questions of your readers."

Jen Chung, the co-founder of Gothamist LLC, Houstonist's New York-based parent company, said her staff at first suspected a prankster was trying to perpetuate a hoax. But they were able to confirm that the former Yankee pitcher had sent the appeal for questions with a phone call to the Roger Clemens Foundation.

Chung said Clemens may be trying to influence public opinion by leapfrogging over mainstream media and reaching out to fans through a local, general-interest Web site that doesn't focus much on sports.

"Maybe he wants to try with a different audience," Chung said. "Maybe he wants to see how the blog might work. It is surprising he didn't go to a sports blog but a local blog instead."

Clemens appeared on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on Tuesday to refute allegations that he used steroids and attack "American Icon, The Fall of Roger Clemens and the rise of Steroids in America," a new book by the Daily News sports investigative team.

The book is drawn from interviews from scores of sources, including people in Clemens' camp. Clemens was aware of much of the material that appeared in the book and prepared his response to coincide with the launch of "American Icon."

"He decided to tell his story when the book was coming out," said Gene Grabowski, the crisis management expert who recently began advising Clemens. "The book has nothing new in it."

Clemens has repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs in the 18 months since he was identified as a steroid cheat in the Mitchell Report. "American Icon," however, offers a detailed view of the last decade of Clemens' scandal-scarred career and how the choices he made helped transform a shoo-in for Cooperstown into the target of a federal perjury investigation. The book officially hit bookstores on Tuesday, the same day as Clemens' 14-minute interview with ESPN Radio.

Grabowski told the Daily News it was the Rocket's idea to reach out to fans through Houstonist.

"Roger is doing that himself," said Grabowski, who also appeared on ESPN Radio on Tuesday to defend Clemens. "Roger should be getting out his message in the way he feels is right. My job is to not get in the way."

Chung said Houstonist has not made any arrangements with Clemens or his advisors to answer questions from readers. But she does have some preferences: She'd like Jason Bargas of Houstonist to sit down with Clemens and present him with questions submitted by readers, and ask a few of his own as well.

The Houstonist audience doesn't seem particularly eager to throw the Rocket softball questions.

"Wouldn't it be better for everyone if you just apologized and moved on?" wrote one Houstonist reader. "There isn't any real way you can prove a negative and virtually everyone who cares has already formed their opinion. You aren't going to change it.

"You're only digging yourself in deeper every time you speak about it. Swallow your pride, issue a vague apology and let's all move on."


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...-14_roger_clemens_taking_steroid_denials.html

 

It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out. Regardless of what happens to Clemens, Manny, A-Rod; how the records get reflected and who makes into the HoF or not, we're stuck with the baseball PED situation for at least the next 40 years until this generation of players and much of the next have run their course and fans begin to believe in the testing. Even then, doubt will exist.

Shoot me an email if you have a question you want me to ask him (questionsforclemens at houstonist.com) or post it in the comments (http://houstonist.com/2009/05/13/roger_clemens_wants_your_questions.php)

Is it time for Game 7 yet?

JB