In a previous post, I predicted that Congressman Lacy Clay would try to "un-name" the Mark McGwire highway that runs through his district in north St. Louis. I can't say why I thought this would happen, other than it seemed like he made a point of bringing up the fact that McGwire was so honored during his questioning of the reluctant witness at last week's "Steroid Spectacular" in Washington.
Since the hearing, Clay has indeed suggested that the highway should revert to simply Interstate 70. Apparently people at the state level must sign off on such a change and at this point are unwilling and unlikely to do so.
McGwire seems to be in a position now where he will have to try some kind of public relations maneuver to re-claim his reputation. Even though he didn't admit anything at the hearings, his reluctance to claim innocence...in any form...labeled him forever. Unless he makes an effort now to do some "damage control"...he likely won't be a first-ballot entrant into the Hall of Fame. He most certainly would have been before Thursday.
I will venture another prediction. (Let's see if this one pans out).
McGwire...through his attorneys, or agents...will in a few months let it be known that he's available for interviews. He will accept invitations to appear on talk shows...(Leno, Letterman, Today, all the usual places)...where he will answer THE QUESTION. He will say that he never used steroids and that his silence at the hearings was an effort to protect others which backfired.
He will say that his attorneys told him that in order to not name names of past acquaintances who used 'roids, he would have to avoid saying anything about his own past...and he took it to an unflattering and self-damning extreme.
In these talk show settings...(where his shy, self-effacing personality will come through better...and he's not under oath)...he will be able to re-claim some of his lost face. People will see him state his case with some ease. They will also see him shed tears once again when he talks about the work he does...and has always done... for underpriveleged and abused kids. They will also find that he is the same "big kid" that they fell in love with in 1998. For his own sake...and the sake of any legacy he may yet leave behind....I expect he will do this. If his attorneys....or some of his close friends like Tony LaRussa (who is an attorney)...haven't suggested this to him yet...they are doing him a disservice.
The only thing potentially wrong with this prediction---He IS so shy and seemingly uncaring about his public personna, that he may just go into seclusion for the rest of his life and stay there. He could be trying to buy a tropical island with a 9-hole golf course right now.
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