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Pardon Us, Roger, If We're Skeptical

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2008

During his Sunday interview with Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes," baseball superstar Roger Clemens was defiant in denying he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs.

"It's hogwash for people to even assume this," Clemens said. "Twenty-four, 25 years, Mike. You'd think I'd get an inch of respect. An inch."

Pardon us, Mr. Clemens, if we're skeptical. The public has been lied to so often by high-profile athletes that we can't help but take a wait-and-see attitude.

Take Olympic sprinter Marion Jones. Despite accusations by a number of associates over the years, she vigorously denied using steroids - until last October when she admitted she had been lying.

Or how about baseball's Rafael Palmeiro, who during a congressional hearing jabbed his finger in the air and raised his voice with all the indignation of a man falsely accused and said, "I have never used steroids. Period." He later was suspended by Major League Baseball for 10 days after testing positive for steroids.

Clemens said his lawyer advised him not to speak with former Sen. George Mitchell, who spent 20 months investing steroid use in baseball. Why? Perhaps Clemens' lawsuit against the trainer who made the accusations will reveal the facts.

Wallace asked Clemens whether he would take a lie detector test. "Yeah," he answered. "I don't know if they're good or bad."

We don't know if Clemens' word is good or bad. We do know there are professional athletes who will look you in the face and lie about their drug use.

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