Surprise: Clemens a hypocrite

Let's be real clear about this. The fact that Roger Clemens might have had a sexual affair, or many sexual affairs, is no one's business.

The sexual affairs aren't the issue -- they are between him and his wife and his conscience. The age most definitely is the issue. I'm talking about the age of country singer Mindy McCready, who was 15 when she and Clemens met. Their relationship may have been sexual when she was 15 and that's statutory rape. And that's very serious business.

A byproduct of the latest Clemens flap is that he comes off as a hypocrite -- what a surprise. He portrayed himself to a congressional committee and to America as a devoted family man, loyal husband and father, and now he seems like a phony. It is his business if he's a phony, but it reminds me of the greatest truth about famous athletes -- about famous people, actually. We don't know the first thing about them. We know nothing.

Think about it. Sports teams portray their stars as terrific people. The stars often set up charities and read books to little kids in elementary schools and pose for team photos with their wives and children. And you think, "Gosh, I know that guy and he's just wonderful. He's a great role model."

That thought is the big lie. It's the baloney the sports machine feeds us. Please don't be a sucker. Please don't fall for it.

Repeat this 100 times. We know nothing about what famous athletes are really like.

I'll give you a few examples. Once, there was a professional football player everyone admired. He was a hell of a running back and because he ran well, people thought -- naturally assumed -- he also was a good guy with a sterling character. And sportswriters loved him. Sportswriters are supposed to be cynical and suspicious, but this guy they thought was the tops. He always had time for writers, even if they wrote for some Podunk paper, and his smile could light up a continent and he spoke well -- he was the epitome of Quote City, and he just about wrote the writers' stories for them.

And his name is O.J. Simpson. Murderer.

So, I ask you. What did America know about O.J. Simpson?

There was another guy who played in the majors for a team in the East -- his name I won't give you. Again, all the writers loved him. One even said he'd like his daughter to marry a guy just like this ballplayer. Turns out Mr. Wonderful had wives in lots of major-league cities. I guess he was a homebody. He also was a bigamist.

So, what did the sportswriters know about this man?

I think of athletes the way I think of those facades on movie sets. We see only the outside. We see what they want us to see. We see the fantasy.

People always ask me what athletes are like? Fans are fascinated by this topic. They want to hear athletes are the greatest people in the world.

"What is Steve Young really like?"

I used to hear that all the time. It's because Young was a great quarterback and he's so personable and he projects a boyish gosh-oh-gee innocence and he seems like the common man even though he's multi-millionaire and is, in his way, cunning. I like Steve Young. He always was nice to me. I don't pretend to know Steve Young. He may be a fabulous guy all around. And then again he may not. He is unknown to me, and if he's unknown to me, he's sure unknown to you.

I like Baron Davis. He is charming and he has a lovely smile, and as you may know, he produced a worthwhile film about gang life in L.A. He seems like a model citizen. Is he? He may be, but I don't have the slightest idea. I know he was not ready to play in the Warriors' most important game this season, that disaster in Phoenix. Don Nelson finally had to bench him. Why was Davis not ready? Was it just one of those things? Or was something else involved? I don't pretend to know. And that's the point. I don't know the real reality about Davis. And neither do you.

I could go on. Remember, I'm not saying these are bad people -- well O.J. is a very bad person -- I'm saying the garden-variety famous athlete (movie star, politician, etc.) is unknowable unless you spend private time with him/her -- lots of private time -- and see him/her under personal stress, see him/her demonstrate his true character.

So the next time you hear that, say, Stephen Jackson "got his act together," found his "maturity," is a "solid citizen," tell yourself you don't know if these statements are true. You really don't. Don't give great athletes more credit than they deserve. The credit they deserve is simple and limited. They are great athletes. Period.

You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.