Liar Liar

There are good liars out there but Roger Clemens is not one of them.

Judging by Clemens’s body movements and voice in his 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, it has become clearly evident he is covering something up. Now we do not know if he used anabolic steroids, human growth hormones or any other performance enhancement drugs but we do know he used something.

First off, Wallace tried to ask Clemens the tough questions but the all-star pitcher danced around them like Laurence Maroney running up the middle. He took his time answering Wallace’s questions like he was looking in his brain for the right answer. When a person has to look for the “correct” response, there is a higher probability that he is leaving out an important part of the story.

It is not always the case in certain circumstances. You have to take into the person’s speaking ability but this is not the case with Clemens. The man is a good public speaker so there was no reason to believe he has a speech problem. Johnny Damon has a speech problem. (If Damon was answering Wallace’s questions like Clemens, it would be almost expected because Damon has a type of speech impediment prohibiting him from getting things out clearly and quickly.)

When faced with what Clemens actually did take he answered “lidocaine and B-12” so quickly it made your head spin. Then make you say, how could this man answer that question that fast but the others so slow like the grandma driving on Storrow Drive at 5:45 in the afternoon? It made you think there was something fishy going on. And there is something going on underneath the surface.

Most professional athletes have taken lidocaine-type substances to relieve pain from injuries they received during a 162+ game season. It is no secret. You see players getting cortisone shots before and after games. Cortisone is a legal anti-inflammatory steroid used to relieve an athlete’s pain.

Later in the interview Wallace asks Clemens the question most of America wanted to hear about Clemens not talking with investigators when questioned. The reasoning Clemens gave was certainly a valid response. Lawyers will tell you not to talk to investigators if questioned. Investigators can not promise confidentiality and anything said in the interrogation is considered on-the-record. It can be considered in a court of law or by another governing body, such as Major League Baseball.

Following the instructions of his lawyers, Clemens was correct. But how much of what Clemens told his lawyers was correct? Now we all want to believe people would never lie to their lawyer based on lawyer-client confidentiality (similar to the doctor-patient confidentiality) but you just do not know what people will say. Clemens might not have been fully honest with his lawyers but we will never know. Even if Clemens does testify we will not know because of the code, unless his lawyers come out and break the code.

We will just have to wait to find out what happens with his defamation lawsuit against his former trainer Brian McNamee. Court cases are public domain and unless Clemens perjurers himself we will have the answers because Wallace’s interview with Clemens told us nothing except that Clemens is a horrible liar.