By Lloyd Carroll

      You can’t help but wonder how Roger Clemens became a stand-in for President Bush. Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee were quick to rebuke Clemens for denying use of steroids and other illegal substances while giving full credence to his former trainer, Breezy Point native, Archbishop Molloy High School, and St. John’s University native Brian McNamee. Republicans, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to discredit McNamee and comfort “The Rocket.”
When Clemens’ name first surfaced in the Mitchell Report that he had tried steroids and/or growth hormones, I was willing to take an “innocent until proven guilty” approach to Clemens as well as anyone else named by the former Maine senator. Since that time, Clemens’ former teammates and fellow Houstonians, Chuck Knoblauch and Andy Pettitte, have corroborated the findings in the report. It must have been particularly painful for Pettitte, who is known for a squeaky clean image, to admit that he experimented with human growth hormone (HGH) and simultaneously incriminate a very close friend and longtime colleague. It is hard not be swayed by the confessions of both Knoblauch and particularly Pettitte.

I have a strong suspicion that Clemens has convinced himself that he has never used steroids or other performance-enhancing substances. It wouldn’t surprise me that if he ever appeared on that popular Wednesday night Fox TV lie detector reality show “The Moment Of Truth,” he would fool the polygraph. Based on the sampling of public opinion following Clemens’ testimony however, few believed him. Even WFAN’s Mike Francesa, as huge a Yankees fan as there is, was not buying into Clemens’ denials.

Mets fans may have cause to worry about Johan Santana in light of the fact that he was on the cover of the February 25 issue of Sports Illustrated. There are few jinxes more renown in sports than that which befalls athletes as soon as they appear on an SI cover. If it is of any comfort to fans of the Amazin’s, Santana also appeared that same week on the cover of USA Today Sports Weekly, and as far as anyone knows athletes continue to perform well after their moment of glory there.
If you are looking for offbeat angles to the Mets’ spring training, follow the fortunes of three veterans who will be fighting to make the team as non-roster invitees. Jose Valentin, who was terrific in 2006 but suffered through an injury-plagued 2007, is hoping to make the team as a bench player, as is veteran outfielder Brady Clark. Nelson Figueroa, who grew up in Brooklyn and went on to Brandeis University, is back in the Mets organization after stints in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Arizona, and Milwaukee. Figueroa doesn’t have blazing speed, but his curveball moves and he has good control.
In retrospect, the New Jersey Nets should have traded Jason Kidd sooner than they did, but you can’t fault Rod Thorn for moving him at the NBA trade deadline. At age 36, Kidd’s best days are behind him, and he made it clear that he did not want to be playing at the Izod Center any longer. If Devin Harris proves to be a serviceable point guard who can score on occasion – and if center DaSagana Diop can grab a few rebounds – then the deal will work. The Nets also received some first round draft choices from the Dallas Mavericks, who had better win now or head coach Avery Johnson will be toast.

Build it and perhaps they won’t come. That would seem to explain what is going on at the Prudential Center in Newark, where the New Jersey Devils have played recently to crowds of 12,000. It is shame, because the Devils are an elite NHL team and the Pru Center is a marvelous gem located within blocks of Newark’s Penn Station, home to PATH trains and New Jersey Transit. Granted, hockey in Newark is a tougher sell than basketball but the fault, in my opinion, rests with the Devils organization.

Former Lehman Brothers principal Jeffrey Vanderbeek bought the Devils a few years ago for $150 million. Vanderbeek is a gung-ho owner who wants to fill his arena every night with fans and media, but the problem is that his general manager and team president, Lou Lamoriello, is not on the same page with him business-wise. Vanderbeek had to buy out Lamoriello’s minority equity interest in the team and that made Lou a wealthy man even after paying capital gains taxes. He also agreed to keep him on as the team’s president and GM because Lou knows his hockey. The issue of contention however is that Lamoriello has a reputation as a control freak (as evidenced by the number of head coaches with winning records he has fired) and only cares about wins or losses for his legacy.

Attendance and revenue mean little to him, and that is reflected in the Devils’ strange attitude towards the media. Even though the Devils receive less coverage than any pro team in the tri-state area (most of the New York dailies don’t even bother to send a reporter to their home games, let alone road contests), the team does not exactly roll out a red carpet for those select few who are willing to cover them. This is not exactly a Harvard Business School model of how to run a franchise. I feel for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who badly wants to see his sport’s popularity increase, but is stuck with a dinosaur like Lamoriello. Sadly, he is not the only fossil in the NHL club executive ranks.

Sal Marchiano has been a New York sports anchor in our area for more than 45 years, even though he still looks incredibly youthful. He has written a must-read memoir, In My Rear View Mirror (Xlibirs Books), that is a recollection of not only Marchiano’s career and considerable sports memories, but it is a look back at the New York nightlife of the late 160s and early 1970s when athletes such as Joe Namath, Phil Linz, and Tucker Fredrickson would rub shoulders with male sports fans and attractive single women at the Manhattan bars Maxwell Plum’s, Mr. Laff’s (co-owned by Linz), and Bachelors III (co-owned for a brief time by Joe Namath until he was ordered by the late NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to sell his interest). The book’s title, incidentally, comes from a line Marchiano uttered when he left ESPN in the mid-1980s. “Happiness is Bristol in your rear view mirror,” Sal said in his swan song broadcast. ESPN execs were not amused.
Irrepressible TNT Network personality Charles Barkley is the subject of Playboy Magazine’s “20 Questions” segment this month. Sir Charles advises Stephon Marbury to stop being a pain in the ass and concedes that he has given up golf because he sucks at it ... Penthouse Magazine pays tribute this month to the 60th anniversary of the Harlem Globetrotters’ shocking victory over the Minneapolis Lakers, who were led by star center George Mikan. That win helped integrate professional basketball in its infancy.
The trendy New York glossy Gotham Magazine celebrated its eighth anniversary with a bash at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. Among those who attended was Bethenny Frankel, who stars in Bravo’s upcoming “The Real Housewives of New York City.” Bethenny is the daughter of Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer Bobby Frankel.
Whoever thought there would ever be such a demand for bottled water? Vitamin Water is popular among athletes for their hydration needs thanks to endorsements by David Wright and Donovan McNabb. A new upstart, Balance Water, is trying to promote itself as a water that helps you rest and sleep, qualities crucial to athletic success.
Indian Wells, just south of Palm Springs in the beautiful Coachella Valley, is quietly becoming a sports Mecca. This month, the Pacific Life Tennis Tournament, arguably the most prestigious tennis event held in this country outside of the US Open, will be held there. The NBA recently announced that the Phoenix Suns will play an outdoor preseason game there on October 11.