What did we learn from the Mitchell Report?

I suppose the question should be: do we care about the Mitchell Report? Aside from the non-stunner regarding Roger Clemens, I get the sense that the general public does not give a damn. In the last few years, the sporting media bombarded the average sports fan with one doping allegation after another. The BALCO scandal stripped marion Jones of several Olympic golds. The Tour de France stripped victory from Floyd Landis. Not a month goes by where a doping scandal somewhere in the world does not make headlines on ESPN. The minor fact that the greatest pitcher of our generation used 'roids really comes as a footnote to the overall problem.

What did we expect? This is an industry where salary and endorsement deals routinely run into the hundreds of millions. Our youthful athletes to get bigger, stronger and faster in order to get their hands on just a small piece of all that cash. If you come from an empovershed background or culture rife with corruption would you honostly even hesitate to dope if it meant seven figures for your family? I wouldn't.

What about Roger Clemens? My only advice: come clean. Yes, I know it's hard. You have this huge thing called an ego. If your smart, you'll acknowledge that you used a small amount of stuff for a limited time (if that's all you did). You also acknowledge that you were a Hall of Fame pitcher long before you stuck a needle in your bicep. You should make some act of contrition and recommend that all your post 'roid accomplished should be wiped from the annals of baseball history. After all, you were a Hall of Famer before the doping, you should be a Hall of Famer after as well. It might be the type of approach that could have saved Barry years ago.

Unfortunately I don't think Roger Clemens is all that smart.