Are Step-Parents' Genes Inheritable?

A quote jumped out at me in the otherwise tame Clemens interview today. I thought for a moment I misremembered what he said, until I saw the partial transcript at Awful Announcing.

"You know guys, let me just add to it. Common sense…our family has a history of heart conditions. My brother had a heart attack in his late 40’s, my step-dad died of a heart attack. I mean it would be suicidal for me to think about even taking any of these dangerous drugs."

He might as well be his step father's brother's, nephew's, cousin's, former room mate.

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Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet?

Jeff Pearlman on the Rocket’s Mike & Mike Interview

If you’re a sports fan, by now if you didn’t actually hear it, you’ve heard of Roger Clemens’ well-hyped interview with ESPN’s Mike & Mike this morning. Clemens, who claims he’s been unmuzzled by his new legal team, felt the need to address the allegations in the release of a team of New York Daily News journalists, American Icon.

Having read Jeff Pearlman’s Clemens’ biography, The Rocket That Fell to Earth, my first and second reactions were: “This guy’s so full of it,” followed by “I wonder what Pearlman thinks.”

So I decided to find out.

Read the interview here:

BwB Panelist/Clemens Biographer Jeff Pearlman on the Rocket’s Mike & Mike Interview

Thanks to Jeff for his honest and open insight. For more information on the author/columnist and his work, visit JeffPearlman.com.

He will also be one of our several great panelists at June 13th's Blogs With Balls sports blogs & new media summit in NYC.

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Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet?

Giambi on A-Rod, the Yankee Years and the Rocket's Red Balls

Photo: GQ

After an weekend that featured an embarrassing 22-4 loss at the hands of the Cleveland Indians and saw one-time $40 million disappointing pinstriper Carl Pavano pitch 6 innings of 4 hit, 1-run ball before his bullpen gave up a controversial instant replayed homerun to Jorge Posada, another former one-time, high-priced Yank returns to the Bronx tonight.

While few, save Kevin Brown, can match the disappointment that Pavano brought to the Yankees, the December 2001 7-year, $120 million NY signing of Jason Giambi marked the end of the Yankee dynasty lead by workmanlike players such as Paul O'Neil, Bernie Williams and Scott Brosius in favor of exorbitant free agent additions which altered clubhouse chemistry and failed to produce championships while bloating the team's payroll.

That's not to say Giambi failed to produce as a Bomber, as much as to say his career there will be more notably recognized for wearing a slump-busting gold thong and his non-admittance admittance to using performing enhancing drugs, as opposed to furthering the Yankee tradition of excellence.

In a retrospective piece, Oakland's prodigal son spoke with GQ's Nate Penn, author of a 2005 profile on Giambi's steroid revelations, The Cleanup Man, just before the start of this season to talk about, among other things, Torre's book, his Yankee years (including his PED acknowledgment), his return to the A's, A-Rod, and, of course, Roger Clemens' pre-game lubing rituals:

Verducci and Torre also report that a trainer used to apply hot liniment to Roger Clemens’s testicles. Did you ever witness that?
I’ve seen some of it drip onto his balls. He lubes. I’ve never seen a guy wear more hot shit on the planet. The guy’s basically in a jock and a pair of socks and like head to toe in hot shit. That’s no bullshit.

Have you tried it yourself?
No, I would fucking cry. The stuff that he used to put on his body—even his hot tanks were like molten lava. He would get in the hot tank before the games, and it was like a cauldron. One time I put my foot in there, my skin almost fell off my foot, it was so hot.

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Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet?

The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Q&A with Author Jeff Pearlman

This month, our good friend (and Blogs With Balls panelist) Jeff Pearlman added to his impressive collection of biographies of with the release of The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality.

Like in his best sellers The Bad Guys Won and Boys Will Be Boys, Pearlman digs into the persona of a once beloved sports figure and examines Clemens' enigmatic personality and upbringing in relation to his public career.

As the Rocket battles to redefine his legacy in the court of public opinion in light of recent allegations, truth be told, he's spent his career doing that very thing: defining himself as he wants to define himself, truth or reality be damned.

We were fortunate to once again catch up with the author to discuss his latest work and talk about some of those truths, as well as misconceptions.

HuggingHaroldReynolds: I've mentioned this in our last conversation, but you really have a penchant for controversial sports figures and topics, don't you? When can we expect the Uggie Urbina story?

Jeff Pearlman: Actually, I was thinking recently that Urbina would make an excellent magazine profile for somebody.

Truth is, I'm not looking for controversial figures/teams, so much as people who are either mysterious/guarded or just really, really weird/quirky. Clemens isn't weird or quirky, but he spent most of his career creating his own narrative, which makes him very mysterious. I mean, we all knew he's a guy from Texas—not so. He's from Butler Township, Ohio. We all knew he's always been a great athlete—not so. He was a fat, soft-tossing nobody through much of his childhood. His father left when he was 2, his step father died of a heart attack before his eyes when he was 9, his brother/hero battled drug addiction and his sister in law was murdered by drug dealers. He's had, in many ways, a very sad, tragic life. But also a fascinating one.

HHR: As much as a biography, Rocket is a case study on the human psyche and one's warped sense of truth and reality. You portray Rocket as both someone willing to stand up for teammates on the field and want nothing to do with them off of it. Someone ready to fight, yet often breaking down in tears. In a snap shot, what traits should a fan believe best describes the real Roger Clemens?

JP: I'll avoid basic adjectives here and say that, what defines much of Clemens' life, is his unparalleled, unhealthy need to win at all costs. Clemens doesn't lose—ever, anywhere. He doesn't admit wrong, doesn't back down, doesn't retreat. He was that way as a kid, he was that way as a Major Leaguer, he was that way before Congress, giving his ludicrous testimony. People ask if he believes everything he's saying, and I don't know the answer to that. But he clearly believes there's a way to win and a way to lose—and losing isn't an option, whether it be sports or dancing or Congressional hearings.


The other thing that struck me about Clemens is that everything in his life is viewed through a baseball spectrum. When his mother died, he buried her in a necklace with 21 diamonds—his uniform number. He has four kids, all named with the letter K—for strikeout. When it came to giving gifts to teammates or coaches, it would almost always be an autographed photo of himself. I guess that's the result of being praised, praised, praised nonstop, but it strikes me as very warped.

HHR: Is it fair to say that Clemens' many character flaws are simply a product of his upbringing - losing two fathers, the insatiable rearing of an older brother he idolized, the stigma and perception of being a dumpy underdog - and a struggle for him to prove his ability met his confidence? Nurture over nature?

JP: I would say so. His step father, Woody, wasn't a win-at-all-costs type of guy, but he died when Roger was 9, and his brother Randy took over. Randy was a gifted athlete who went on to play college basketball, but he had a very unhealthy way of viewing sports, and he passed it on to his brother. There was no such thing as failure—it wasn't allowed to exist. So when you see Clemens pitching, and he's throwing at guys' heads, losing his cool, cursing out umpires—that's his brother's gift.

HHR: The steroids issue aside, while people are now critical of Clemens, in a way was his 'baseball-first, nothing-even-close-second' attitude actually reflective of the expectations fans put on their sports heroes?

JP: Of course. We set these guys up by giving them nonstop adulation, unparalleled fame, high salaries, free everything—and in exchange, we want 100% devotion to baseball. Then, when the person can't deal with real-world issues in a competent way, we pounce. Why should athletes know how to, say, pay a phone bill? They've had people slaving over them for years and years and years.


HHR: What, if anything, most surprised you over the course of your research about your subject?

JP: Two things. First, how liked he was. Everyone assumes Clemens was hated because of the position he's now in. But if you go back to Boston, to Toronto, to New York—there were many teammates who embraced the guy and thought he was good people. Not always around, occasionally indifferent ... but not a bad guy. Second would be the sad saga of his brother and his sister-in-law. It's weird that the story never made the papers. When she died, there would be a sentence in Houston Chronicle pieces saying, "She was Roger Clemens' former sister in law ..." but that was it. Nobody ever really put 2 and 2 together.

HHR: You cast him in the same light as McGuire, Sosa and Bonds as well as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. Do the latter two really deserve to be a part of that group?

JP: I think so, in that they all disgraced the game, all disgraced themselves. Pete Rose, like Clemens, spent years and years trying to dig out of an impossible hole; tried to convince people he was telling the truth when, factually, he wasn't. Clemens fits right in there.


HHR: You make it very clear that Clemens' Hall of Fame future in serious doubt. For all his transgressions, does Clemens deserve the nod?

JP: No. There's a very clear good-of-the-game clause in Hall voting. Roger was a brilliant pitcher—one of the best ever. But , to me, all the good that he accomplished is wiped out by these last few years; by cheating.

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Sports' Deepest Throats

Late last week, W. Mark Felt, better known as Watergate snitch "Deep Throat," died at the age of 95. Felt was responsible for Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's biggest leads in taking down President Nixon.

In his honor, and in honor of whistleblowers everywhere, we present sports' top ten historical snitches.

Dis-Honorable Mention

Brett Favre: Rumor has it he used his Packer-issued cell phone to call Vikes coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell while on his way out of Green Bay. Of course, he denied any inappropriateness and Favre is a man to take at his word.

10. J.P. Hayes

You know you are a real rat when you can't even help but out yourself, even at the expense of your own livilhood.

Hayes inadvertently played a non-conforming golf ball - one not on the list approved for competition by the United States Golf Association - for one hole of a second-stage qualifier in McKinney, Texas.

The 43-year-old Appleton native disqualified himself from the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament last week. The first DQ of his career was especially harsh because it left him ineligible to play fulltime on the PGA Tour in 2009.

9. Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea

Over the years we have seen Hulk Hogan's reputation, family life and ego more and more reflect the world of professional wrestling in which he made his bones. If not for the vison of Vincent K. McMahon, Hogan's career may very well have gone the way of, say, a Barry Horowitz.

In the 90's, years after Hollywood made his millions, he was the star witness against his boss, first scratching the All-American surface of the self-serving egomaniac that we know today:

In 1993, he was indicted after a steroid controversy engulfed the promotion. McMahon was put on trial in 1994, accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers. As a legal move, his wife Linda was made CEO of the WWF during the trial. He was acquitted of all charges though he admitted to taking steroids himself in the 1980s. The prosecution made Hulk Hogan its star witness, and his testimony in the trial severely damaged the two's friendship, even though Hogan's testimony defended McMahon. After Hogan's testimony, McMahon went before the media declaring that he wished that Hogan had not lied about him on the witness stand.

8. Billy Wagner

Not a snitch, per se, but in the words of World Champion Pat Burrell, a "rat."

A club house cancer if there ever was one, Wagner, a perennial over-paid underachiever who crumbles in big moments, has never had any qualms calling out teammates in the media.

7. Paul LoDuca

Speaking of outspoken Mets hell-bent on destroying team chemistry...if not for Paul LoDuca, we'd have never known that New York's Latin ballplayers spoke a lick of English:

“I’ll do this, but you need to start talking to other players. It’s the same three or four people every day. Nobody else wants to talk...Some of these guys have got to start talking. They speak English, believe me.”

6. Kobe Bryant

Leave it to an adulterous, accused rapist to bring down those around him.

In his now-famous freestyle, Shaquille O'Neal explaned: "I'm a horse, Kobe ratted me out, that's why I'm getting divorced," in reference to Kobe's comment to Colorado police during his 2003 rape trial: "Shaq would pay his women not to say anything."

5. Anonymous 911 Caller

A woman police around 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 6 "to report some men had gotten out of a vehicle and urinated in her yard."

The caller told the dispatcher, "There was a big shuttle bus limousine that pulled up alongside of my house, and there was like seven black men who got out and stopped and peed all over my yard. There was like six or seven. There was a whole busload of them. But the bus driver stopped right alongside my house, and there was six or seven black men that got out, probably, I'd maybe say 19, 18, 19, maybe even 20."

The organizer, Viking Fred Smoot, put on quite a party for his Minnesota teammates.

Police described the Vikings sex boat incident as: "Masturbation, oral sex, woman on man, woman on woman, toys, middle of the floor, middle of the couches, middle of the room...Members of the entourage that were on both boats took enormously detailed photographs of a variety of sexual acts."

4. Jim Haslett

In 2005 the NFL player-turned coach outed one of the NFL's premier franchises (Steelers), coaches (Noll) and ownerships (Rooney) by saying that the "team's use of steroids during its Super Bowl championship seasons in the 1970s popularized the drug in the NFL."

Haslett later clarified: "It wasn't against the rules in those days, it wasn't illegal...I have a lot of respect for this league, but it's naive to think people weren't using enhancing drugs before they were illegal. The difference is that the NFL recognized that steroids would hurt the league and took steps to stop their use. That's what I was trying to show."

3. Brian McNamee

McNamee's ceremonious throwing of his former boss and baseball legend Roger Clemens under the bus in the heat of the Mitchell hearings was the ultimate sign of ungratefulness. Whether or not the Rocket was guilty of the accusations McNamee presented is besides the point. He ultimately betrayed his meal ticket and apparent friend and confidant, and continues to be a thorn in the would be Hall of Famer's side.

2. Jim Bouton

I wrote last year about Bouton's Ball Four, his "masterpiece that got his ass blacklisted from pro ball": Ball Four is a raw, unadulterated and no-holds barred piece written in a diary format by a witty, honest intellectual amongst his more physically focused contemporaries.

His references to player-team labor relations, "beaver shooting," amphetamine use and Mickey Mantle's skirt chasing were unprecedented at the time when sportswriters still held athletes on a pedestal for idol-worshiping fans to, well...worship.

1. Jose Canseco


What can be said about the Bash Brother-turned-reality star-turned author that hasn't already been said.

Bouton's book was viewed as getting him blacklisted, Canseco's was in essence a response to his perceived impression that he was already blacklisted. Consequently, it did little to help his cause. Bouton shed light on things we didn't know, Canseco's shed light on things we already assumed.

VOTE!



At a game and need something to stick deep in your gullet? Check out FanFoodie.

Clemens Always Loved Him Some Underage Cowgirls

A new regular feature on HHR from the lunatics over at Some Comic Relief. They are going to be posting a sports comic a week.

To see more of their childish comic chicanery, check out Some Comic Relief.

Rocket's Underage Love Interest Headed Back to Jail

According to People.com, Roger Clemens lolita Mindy McCready, after entering rehab earlier this year, was arrested for "violating her probation for prescription drug fraud in June."

According to her rep, McCready will voluntarily surrender to authorities Tuesday to serve 60 days in a Tennessee jail.

Clemens: Zestfully Clean of PEDs

Jim Baumbach at Newsday's The Final Score pulled out this doozy of everyone's favorite alleged teenage skirt-chasing PED abuser...

Newsday: Rocket Had Affair with Underage Country Star

Breaking this morning from Newsday:

According to published reports, former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens had a 10-year affair with country music star Mindy McCready, which allegedly started when she was 15 years old.

The singer, described by Rusty Harden as a close family friend and who allegedly traveled with Clemens on his private jet, "was singing at a karaoke bar and The Rocket, then 28, noticed her."

Clemens Named 2008 Unsexiest Man

Adding to his long and distinguished career of achievement, Roger Clemens was named The (Boston) Phoenix's 2008 Unsexiest Man on the Planet, thwarting valiant attempts by several sports-figures up for the recognition. This only proves how bitter Beantowners remain at Clemens' post-Sox success, despite their own recent domination.

ROGER CLEMENS
'ROID-RAGING ROCKET

Considering Roger Clemens moth-eaten congressional testimony, this year’s Unsexiest champ is a quadruple threat: baseball and legal talking heads say that he’s a cheater, a liar/perjurer, a substance-abuser, and a world-class scumbag. The latter charge, mind you, reflects the fact that he threw under the bus not just his trainer pal Brian McNamee (who said he’d be willing to go to jail for Clemens) and trusted teammate Andy Pettite (whom he claimed “misremembers” testimony), but even his wife. His sexy status is further jeopardized by his Cro-Magnon mug (never have a player’s looks been so betrayed by the removal of his ball cap) and, worse, the litany of grotesque anatomical details we’ve been forced to hear. As the Mitchell Report noted, “McNamee injected Clemens approximately four times in the buttocks over a several-week period.” Responded Clemens: “If he’s doing that to me, I should have a third ear coming out of my forehead.” Oh, is that what that is?

Here are the other sports-related figures that cracked the top 100:

100 TOM BRADY (??)
96 TONY KORNHEISER
88 LARRY BIRD
81 BRUCE JENNER
79 ARLEN SPECTER
74 CHUCK KLOSTERMAN


73 MERCURY MORRIS
72 SYLVESTER STALLONE
71 BIG SHOW
67 TIM DONAGHY
53 MICHAEL VICK
47 BRIAN McNAMEE
46 BRODY JENNER
39 CHUCK NORRIS
38 HULK HOGAN
32 ERIC MANGINI
27 ELI MANNING
23 ISIAH THOMAS
16 PACMAN JONES
11 BILL BELICHICK

Congress/DoJ to go after Clemens on Perjury?

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

The New York Times is reporting that "A Congressional committee has taken the first steps toward asking the Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into whether Roger Clemens committed perjury during testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to three lawyers familiar with the matter."

At this time, "A draft letter referring Clemens, but not his accuser, Brian McNamee, had been drawn up by staff members for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by the end of last week, according to two of the lawyers," though it noted that "McNamee could also be included in the referral by the time it is sent to the Justice Department."

See the full post here: Congress May Single Out Clemens.

Lone Star Shuffling with Roger & Lance

I can't honestly say that I am what you'd call a fan of Selena Roberts. I usually find her commentary on the Sports Reporters, for the lack of better terms, "underwhelming."

That said, I applaud her effort in this week's Point After in Sports Illustrated.

While the media and fans alike continually vilify the likes of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and now, to an extent, Bill Belichick, inspirational hero and champion Lance Armstrong is conversely deified for his humanitarianism and courage.

Finally, in the wake of Congressional hearings and debate over the legitimacy of our sports' respective record books and championships, Roberts steps forward and calls a spade a spade - noting that Armstrong's demeanor and actions are no different than his fellow Texan Roger Clemens'.

While she chalks it up to Texas bravado, it's more like pompousness. "In recent months Clemens has been in near lockstep with Armstrong's don't-mess-with-Texas methodology: Deny defiantly, sue aggressively."

The difference between Roger and Lance, she concedes, is that the Rocket overstayed his welcome, whereas Armstorng "had the savy to exit before a raft of elite racers from his era surfaced in scandals that have savaged cycling."

On Roger, "As a serial retiree he could have departed as planned in 2003. Removed from baseball, in a different state of mind, he might have spoken to former senator George Mitchell if asked. He might have saved himself with righteousness." Instead, "Roger has no moral cover. He can't borrow Lance's halo."

It is up to us, then, as fans, to hold everyone, or no one, accountable. Roberts deserves credit for pointing out the double standards we in society have. A good PR campaign can far outweigh facts and alters perceptions, which if you think about it is exactly what they are intended to do. It is up to us to see through it.

Let Debbie Clemens Enlighten Your Mind, Body & Spirit

After some post-Congressional hearing offline downtime, the Boston Herald's Inside Track reports that DebbieClemens.com, "Mrs. Rocket’s Health and Fitness Web site, wherein she advocates diet, exercise and really ugly bejeweled denim," is back up and running.

And thank God.

I was worried I would no longer be able to snag this lovely denim jacket in time for Ariel's birthday.

So sit back (preferably in this Rocket Rocker), take a load off and peruse the site. Turn your speakers on for some soothing zen-like tunes.

Castro's Wife "Debbie" in Mitchell Report?

TOP TEN REASONS FIDEL CASTRO IS RETIRING

10. He has accepted the role of Dr. Ramon Vazquez on "General Hospital."
9. Achieved his goal of getting Cuba's unemployment rate under 83%.
8. Wants to spend more time interrogating his family.
7. Just got Season One of "Gilmore Girls."
6. Caught injecting human growth hormone into his wife, Debbie Castro.
5. Too many tacos.
4. He was adopted by Angelina Jolie -- honestly, how crazy would that be?
3. Always promised himself he'd quit torturing when it stopped being fun.
2. Jane Fonda alled him a blank.
1. 49 years at the same job? Who am I, Letterman?

Bottom Feeders

ON Monday, Fat Willard pointed out "MSM has an uncomfortable infatuation with Clemens' ass."

Reader PRing points out, that the Washington Post has joined the likes of Fox Sports & The Trentonian with their clever, derriere-related headline today:


A few of the first paragraphs are priceless:

At the invitation of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the Rocket, a seven-time Cy Young winner, had come to Washington to testify about his role in baseball's steroids scandal. And lawmakers hit him where the sun doesn't shine.

"Just for the record, as I understand it, there was an injury on Mr. Clemens's buttocks," said Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), and "the injury was related to an injection."

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) wanted to know more about "the palpable mass on his buttocks."

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), recalling that Clemens suffered "soreness," asked the witness: "Do you recall any bleeding through your pants in 2001?"

This one is a double-doosey.

Note the picture's caption: "Several House Republicans on the panel, such as Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), didn't appear to think Roger Clemens was a bum."

So Many Amendments to Choose From

Roger is getting hammered by Waxman and close to going down in flames.

If only he had plead the 1, 2, 3, 4...Fiiiizzzif.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Separated at Birth: Dedicating The Sports Hernia Wing

One of our favorite features on this site is our Separated at Birth library.

We pride ourselves on keen, observational humor.

Today we want to dedicate a wing of our library to The Sports Hernia, which first made its appearance with the SaB of regional sideshow Joe Beningo.

To officially kick things off, we induct Hernia's Tony Siragusa & Roger "The Beaver" Clemens.

The Goose is loose! (And he still looks better than Kenny "Corky" Albert).

Speaking of Beningo, something just isn't right with him.

Separated at Birth: Saving DNA

As inspired by a comment by Kimberly Jones (with Chris Carlin standing in for Carton & Boomer) on WFAN's morning show this AM, Brian McNamee and Monica Lewinsky.

Who saves this stuff? I mean, honestly.

The Needle & The Damage Done

It's no Dust in the Wind, but it'll have to do. The Boston Globe reports the allegations against Roger get physical.

Click HERE for the big-head version

McNamee lied in 2001 rape investigation

From the Sporting News....

Brian McNamee lied to police in 2001 rape investigation

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Detectives believed the former New York Yankees trainer who says he injected Roger Clemens with steroids lied to them during the 2001 investigation of a possible rape, according to documents released Tuesday by police.

Police said Brian McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman in a hotel pool, even though security guards and other witnesses said they saw him.

Don't bother shutting that open window. McNamee's credibility flew out years ago.