Posted on 03/17/2005 12:17:34 PM PST by Cagey
WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired slugger Mark McGwire Thursday told a congressional panel investigating drugs in baseball that he would not "participate in naming names" of players who used steroids. McGwire did not say in his opening statement to the House Government Reform Committee whether he used steroids.
Two current players, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, said they never used steroids. That duo and McGwire were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs by Jose Canseco in a best-selling book that helped prompt the hearing.
In a tense scene, Canseco sat at the same table as the other players as he told the lawmakers that he could not fully answer their questions because of concerns his testimony could be used against him.
Choking back tears, his voice cracking, McGwire said he knows that steroid use can be dangerous and will do whatever he can to discourage young athletes from using them.
"What I will not do, however, is participate in naming names and implicating my friends and teammates," said McGwire, who ranks sixth in major league history with 583 homers.
Now say Jose walked over to that table, who would puch him first? Sammy? Shilling
"I don't buy the "pretty much admitted" arguments, because a lot of people are inferring things that might not be there."
Keep your blinders on, you wouldn't want to see the truth.
He pleaded the 5th when asked if he used steroids. Why not tell the nation that he has never or will never use steroids?...
Why because he can not lie, he is a user/was a user!
Jail him. Contempt of Congress. No asterisks, expunge his records from the record book.
I know he has, I saw him hit it.
I was thinking about that.. who the heck votes for him.
So they'll head to their local bar, whorehouse or girlfriend/mistress' house.
Grandstanding at it's finest...where are the NFL players, NBA players, Hockey players, etc.
Where is Bonds?
What a waste of our tax money.
McGwire has always been a crybaby.
Supreme Court basing their decisions on laws of other nations the judicial confirmation process is bogged down in un-constitutional activities by the democrats but steroid use by baseball players has congressional hearings. I guess this is a moderate issue both parties can work on.
And doesn't FoxNews have anything better to broadcast?! If they preempt Brit I'll be very angry!
What a joke. Steroids are illegal. If they have evidence that people used them, arrest them. If you want to make the laws stricter, go ahead. But embarassing these guys just because you can is an abuse of power. They ought to be ashamed.
I can't believe congressmen are asking whether records should count! That's not up to congress, and ultimately, it's not up to the players or to the owners. What matters is whether people believe they should count or not.
I'd love to see oversight of Congress. Call these guys before a committee, ask them to explain their depraved lives, their affairs, their corruption and ask them to rat on their colleagues, too. Let's see how they like it.
Yeah, but the juice is the only one of those things that is illegal in the USA.
This is pathetic. The only more inane, meaningless waste of taxpayer money and waste of congressional time I can recall is when Michael J. Fox testified before Congress about those horrible paparazzi.
He's still very popular in St Louis.
But everyone did not know it, that is why I wrote that to Cagey
As someone who used to love baseball when I was a kid, I don't really follow it anymore and not because of steroid use. I just think professional sports in general is infected with greedy owners and greedy players.
As far as Jose goes, I watched him on several interviews and I think he had a vendetta to 'get' everyone. As far as Congress having any urgent responsibility to investigate baseball, I say B.S.! How about spending some time on something that really matters like reforming the tax code and fixing Social Security. How about spending a day looking into the abuses by Congress in how the money we sucker taxpayers send them is spent! I bet they could find a lot of embarassing stories there. While the baseball players are hopped up on steroids the Congress is hopped up on PORK! Gee, maybe there should be a special tribunal held to get them all to 'fess up! Hey Mark McGuire - you don't owe them anything! You will be judged by your peers and your fans. Take the Fifth, this is a witch hunt.
Maybe in your country people have no rights, but in my country, you are innocent until proven guilty and you have a 5th amendment right that according to the Supreme Court in my country, can be invoked without the assumption of guilt. We obviously live in two different countries, yours allows lynch mobs and mine doesn't.
He pleaded the 5th when asked if he used steroids. Why not tell the nation that he has never or will never use steroids?...
Why because he can not lie, he is a user/was a user!
Keep looking for those witches.
If I was being questioned in a witch hunt, I wouldn't cooperate either even if I was clean. This idea that Congress can grandstand and "give the players a chance to clear their names" might be your idea of integrity, but it isn't mine.
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