Roger Clemens' Uphill Battle

We really haven't learned anything new about Roger Clemens this week. We might have some specifics about what everyone's been whispering about for years, but it's no shocker. And we also were reminded that Roger Clemens, more than anything else, chokes in the clutch.

There's no logical reason Clemens would take five days to respond to the Mitchell Report, which he finally did yesterday, other than Clemens' own arrogance. And if you take a look at his actual statement, it's so carefully worded that it's not much of a denial at all.

But the real question: How hard will Clemens fight this? In an empirical sense, the evidence against him, were it ever to go to court, is kind of flimsy; it's the word of a con against his. But this is not a battle, if fought in the courts, that Clemens can win. All he can do is just remind us, every day, of the allegations. Say what you will about Andy Pettitte and his "oh, I just HAPPENED to use HGH that ONE TIME the report talks about," but he knew how to get ahead of the story. Clemens is way behind. The question is how badly he wants to catch up, and whether it's worth it.

Roger Clemens, Master Of Semantics [Shake Down Sports]