Major League pitcher Roger Clemens invested more than four hours of his time before a Congressional Committee denying the use of performance enhancing drugs.  About a week later, his former teammate and friend Andy Pettitte spent less than an hour talking to the media about his admitted use of Human Growth Hormone (HGH).   When you do the math, Pettitte got a much better return on his investment of time and effort. 

Both Pettitte and Clemens were among the 89 current and former Major League baseball players named in the Mitchell Report as users of steroids and HGH.  Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell took 20 months to investigate the use of illegal drugs in America’s pastime.  For the most part, players like Clemens and Pettitte did not meet with Mitchell or answer questions for the report.  In the case of Clemens and Pettitte, their former trainer Brian McNamee was the source for much of the reports very damning information that the two elite pitchers, one a sure Hall of Famer, had used performance enhancing drugs. 

In the court of public opinion you are judged by your deeds (or alleged deeds).  This is balanced by something else that is often difficult to measure: your bank of good will.  Using the controversy surrounding the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports is a very good way to explain this concept.  Let’s start with Barry Bonds.   (more…)