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January 3, 2008

Clemens and the media

I have a friend who’s an assistant baseball coach for a college team. He doesn’t trust the media.
Imagine that.
He believes the Mitchell Report coverage on performance-enhancing drugs has all been overblown, that blowhard columnists use such news to prop themselves up and spout foolishness. My friend knows I’m in the media, which makes his criticism all in good fun. (At least I hope he en-joys it as much as I do.)
There are times, though, when he has a point.
Like when the Los Angeles Times made an inaccurate report linking Roger Clemens’ name to the sworn federal statement in the Jason Grimsley steroids case.
I’m sure my pal will be watching when it all hits the fan Sunday night in Clemens’ “60 Minutes” interview. And the truth is that Clemens won’t be the only one who is held to judgment Sunday.
Also under the microscope?
Clemens’ pal, Mike Wallace, a Yankees fan.
Wallace didn’t make a name for himself on “60 Minutes” pitching softballs, but he’s likely to do that in Sunday’s interview. We have al-ready learned that after Clemens said he has never used steroids or HGH, Wallace said “swear?” Clemens, naturally, said “swear.”
Talk about tension.
As a journalist, I hope Wallace put his friendship aside and asked questions we all want to hear. Like why was the Mitchell Report appar-ently truthful in its implication of Andy Pettitte — he has admitted he did indeed use HGH — but inaccurate when it came to Clemens? After all, they were associated with the same trainer, Brian McNamee, who was Mitchell’s source.
Wallace had the chance to prove he can still deliver a little fire. Let’s hope he came through.

Posted by Dave on 9:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack