I'm a Yankee fan and I think he's full of crap. I don't know why he didn't just admit it from the beginning like Petitte and Giambi and move on. Petitte was testifying during spring training and is already set to go for opening day.

I have often wondered the same thing.  We have such a forgiving culture, I bet if Bonds and Clemens had just fessed up when this whole thing started ("I made a mistake, I used a few times and I'm sorry") that this whole thing would have blown over by now.  Although, part of the issue with Bonds is the home run record, so maybe not.  Either way, now they are in some real trouble if they get caught for perjury.  Way worse than anything baseball could have done to them.

It seems like such a silly risk to take.  Sure, we'd have lost a little respect for them, but as it turns out, everyone else was using roids anyways, so are their accomplishments really that diminished?  Heck, has anyone ever actually studied the effects of steroids on ballplayers?  Stars have used them, yes, but some nameless minor leaguers have been using too, and it hasn't helped them that much.....

Well, you have to have talent to begin with, but they definitely give you an advantage over someone who isn't using. The benefit (or lack) is different for each person. In the case of Bonds, I don't know why he started using, but the effect was to change him from a hard hitter who could also steal bases into a strictly power hitter. Maybe he thought he was losing some speed so he wanted to focus more on power. Instead of hitting 350-foot outs, the extra bulk lets you hit 400-foot home runs. Now if you can only hit it 200 feet, or if you can't even make contact, steroids won't do a d--n thing for you.

In the case of Clemens, he was getting old. The steroids helped him recover from injury and general soreness faster, and let him keep the velocity on his fastball. The difference between just 85 and 90 mph is huge for a pitcher, and steroids can give you that much of an edge. See, with a pitcher it's a different effect. If you can't throw 90 to begin with, steroids won't make you able to. What the steroids do is let you throw as if you are on full strength, your full strength, whatever that might be. I think they're kind of like super-Vicodins. You can play through the pain more easily. That's why Pedro Martinez is so proud of excelling in a steroids era without having used himself (if that's even true). If he came through the injuries he had without the benefit of steroids, that is something to be proud of, because it's a remarkable achievement for a guy his age.

I don't really care if athletes use or not, but it has to be fair. Either let them all use or make sure no one uses.

I don't think that we want to encourage our athletes to use such drugs, because they have serious long term consequences for the health of the users.  If anyone were allowed to take them, then it would be a virtual requirement for everyone to take them.  That would simply not be fair to career athletes.