Roger Clemens Congressional Hearing Report Card: Brian McNamee

The Clemens hearing is over now, and the assorted parties have retreated. The Clemens Hearing Report Card will assess the key players' performances in a way that has about as much to do with baseball as the hearing itself. Next up: Brian McNamee!

Before the hearing began, one had to figure that Brian McNamee was going to take some abuse. He is a steroids dealer, after all, and any criminal's character is inherently assailable. But if you predicted that Brian McNamee would face the sort of raging contempt he got from the committee today, you probably also predicted the Giants to win the Super Bowl. (Congratulations. You are no doubt reading this from atop a pile of money.)

Really, though: It's as if a few members of Congress were so hell-bent on protecting Roger Clemens' reputation they'd stoop to any low to destroy McNamee's. These are national politicians; you'd think they'd show a little restraint. Instead, a few (Dan Burton and Darrell Issa, to name just two) attacked McNamee ruthlessly.For his part, McNamee handled himself with aplomb. His opening statement was contrite and apologetic; he laid out his reasoning and methods for ratting on Clemens succinctly; and he resisted the urge to scream back at the preening douches all around him. He also had a pretty terrific New Yorkersey accent that sort of came out of nowhere; his explaining to a congressional "It is what it is" means "I'm telling the truth" in New York made me hope he would call Roger Clemens "a real ball-buster. Oh!" Alas, he didn't.

McNamee's only problem was that parts of his story are questionable, and he didn't do a terrific job of explaining why. And that's a big problem. Still, it's hard not to like a guy that Dan Burton hates.

Brian McNamee: B+

More Clemens Coverage:
Roger Clemens Hearing Live Blog Part 1 | Part 2
The More Talk About Andy Pettitte, the Worse It Gets for Roger Clemens
Clemens, McNamee Each Have Their Fans in Congressional Hearings