Roger Clemens' High Stakes Poker Game

As I often say on Sports Business Radio, there are two courts that judge us - the court of law and the court of public opinion. While some marquee athletes have not been convicted in the court of law, they have been in the court of public opinion (see Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger).

Roger Clemens pleaded not guilty today to a 6-count indictment including perjury charges today in Washington D.C. Then he reportedly flew to South Carolina to play golf.

Clemens is either going to point fingers at those of us who have presumed he is guilty (see the Duke lacrosse case) or he is going to pay one of the stiffest penalties any athlete has ever paid for lying and covering up his misdeeds.

Everyone deserves his/her day in court, but the evidence certainly seems to be stacked against Clemens. 

While Barry Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson has protected Bonds to the point that he has served jail time on multiple occasions for not speaking with the feds about Bonds, McNamee, a former cop, provided feds with compelling evidence that Clemens used PED's.

Clemens, a 7-time Cy Young award winner had been considered by many to be one of the top 5 pitchers of all-time before PED suspicions arose. Clemens has vehemently denied ever using PED's.

But the feds don't indict you unless they are very confident they can prosecute you.

Clemens' place in baseball lore, his Hall of Fame candidacy and his freedom will all be determined in a game of poker where the stakes have never been higher.

Do you think Clemens and his legal team are playing their hand the right way so far? Comment below.

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