Putting His Faith in Telling the Truth

By GEORGE VECSEY
Published: February 19, 2008


Tampa, Fla.Considering that his old buddy Roger had thrown him under the stagecoach five days earlier, Andy Pettitte was in a tolerant mood about Clemens on Monday, even if it fell slightly short of turning the other cheek.

Pettitte still loves Clemens like a brother, he said, even if Clemens testified at a Congressional hearing that Pettitte “misremembered” that little conversation they had in 1999 about human growth hormone. Pettitte has testified under oath that Clemens admitted using the stuff, and Clemens has denied it. A small misunderstanding between buddies.

“The truth will set you free,” Pettitte said, quoting Christ’s words in John 8:32. Pettitte’s manager, Joe Girardi, had used the same phrase earlier in the day. Pettitte has played a bit loose with details in the recent past, but Monday he seemed chastened, horrified, by his public exposure, and seemed to need a public forum to set himself free. Always quick to note that he is not very smart, Pettitte did it four or five times during a news conference that was remarkable not only for its length of 57 minutes, but also for its tone of humility. Pettitte rarely preaches in the clubhouse. His references to his Christian faith generally come out in the context of the life he is living, which has always seemed controlled and sober and decent.

Not totally dimwitted, Pettitte did manage to make this key point in the standoff between Clemens and Brian McNamee, the rogue trainer who claims he administered illegal bodybuilding drugs to Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch and Pettitte.

“Mac told the truth about me,” Pettitte said Monday, a remark that underscored that Clemens has not exactly seemed candid since the Mitchell report came out in December, naming Clemens frequently and citing Pettitte.

On Monday, Pettitte sat still for questions about how he could square his dabbling in an illegal drug, twice in 2002 when he was with the Yankees. He also was asked why he did not tell the Mitchell investigators about two other times in 2004, when he was with Houston, that he used H.G.H. he had gotten from his father, Tom, who was under medical treatment.

“Stupid,” Pettitte said of himself. He did not recoil in anger when asked if he was a cheat for having used drugs banned by federal law, even if Major League Baseball had dawdled in banning such drugs.

•

“I was desperate,” Pettitte explained, referring to injuries in 2002 and 2004. “Do I think I’m a cheater? No, from the bottom of my heart. I wish I hadn’t done it. Stupid


More at: The New York Times

Hehehe@'mis-remembered'. Sounds like any other congressional hearing, 'I can't recall' etc. Remember the latest one with the attourney general last year? Bush had to finally tell him to get lost after that fiasco!

One thing that I found strange was that the Dems went after Clemens and the Reps went after the trainer? Clemens is an avowed Rep, I wonder if that had anything to do with it?

A total shambles IMO, the congressmen just wanted the attention, not to fix the problem. Where were Bud Selig et al through all this who seemingly have the power to change things.

Now the congressional spotlight will beam on the NHL

Quote:

The National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association will be under the steroids microscope Feb.27 in Washington, talking to a different panel of United States congressmen from the ones who this week grilled Roger Clemens over performance-enhancing drug use in baseball. Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly will speak before the congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection in a hearing titled "Drugs in Sports: Compromising the Health of Athletes and Undermining the Integrity of Competition." "We'll be providing Congress with an update on our program and how it's operated and evolved in its first 2 1/2 years of operation," league deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. The hearing will look at the Mitchell Report – baseball's self-examination of performance-enhancing drug use – as well as steroid use in other sports. Representatives from Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Basketball Association are expected to attend.

Where's the WWF? These people are the uber steroid users. Just look at these monsters! I remember watching 'wrestling' with my dad and there was no one that looked like they do today.