Nut 'n Honey

The latest sordid or tawdry l'affaire Clemens pretty much boggles the mind. I suppose that nobody except for Roger Clemens and Mindy McCready know exactly what happened. Is this another tale of smoke without fire and sizzle without steak? You gotta think this ones got legs.

Coming into today, we 'knew' two things about Roger Clemens:

• His professional pitching resume' marked him for virtually unanimous first ballot Hall of Fame status (nobody actually gets unanimous induction, for what it's worth)
• Among professional athletes, Roger was considered among the ultimate 'family' guys

Before today, the steroid cloud hanging over Clemens challenged the former.

After today, and lacking more than hearsay, we have to wonder about the latter.

If testosterone-charged (if not supplemented) athletes were disqualified from their collective Halls of Fame because of their sexual escapades, we could probably relocate them to a White House closet. Well, maybe that's not a good example.

Under the absolute best of circumstances, we have to wonder about any shreds of judgment available to the well-traveled right-hander. How would you feel about a twenty year-old man hanging around with your fifteen year old daughter? How would you feel about your twenty-eight year old husband consorting with a fifteen year old girl? What's going on? "Nut 'n Honey." Whether they were playing tiddly winks, Barbie and Ken, or 'House' it sure doesn't pass the sniff test.

What's this got to do with baseball? After all, are professional athletes role models? Well, while we like to look upon public figures as heroes, often they struggle with the dark side that exists in all humankind. When it reveals itself, perhaps we over-indulge ourselves in schadenfreude.