McCready Admits to Being Clemens' Mistress

Yesterday's news about Roger Clemens' alleged affair with musician Mindy McCready (I never heard of her before yesterday, so I refuse to call her a "star") was so far out of left field that absolutely nobody could have expected it. Was it too strange to be true? Was a Cy Young pitcher really lovestruck by a 15-year-old girl he met in a karaoke bar?

Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin came out swinging with a strong denial, telling the Houston Chronicle:

"There's no question in my mind that this is a really filthy smear campaign orchestrated by [Brian] McNamee's lawyers clearly intended to do anything they can to ruin Roger's reputation. ... I'll let Roger speak for himself on the matter, but it is clear that the Daily News throughout this entire episode has been the house mouthpiece for McNamee's lawyers, and this is just one more example."

Um, Rusty, perhaps you should have talked to your client. While Clemens has yet to officially address the issue, McCready did, admitting it was all true.

From the New York Daily News:

"I cannot refute anything in the story," a tearful but resolute McCready told the Daily News, which broke the story at midnight Sunday.

[...] "Yes, I have known Roger Clemens for a long time," McCready said, reading from a prepared statement. "He's a kind and caring man. He's also a legendary athlete. The central topic in the debate, however, regards his professional life, not his personal life.

"There are legal matters working their way through the system that have nothing to do with me. From my point of view, that is where the focus should remain."

Everyone has latched onto the idea that Clemens was shacking up with a 15-year-old, but the Daily News' sources indicate that the relationship didn't turn intimate until after she moved to Nashville; according to Wikipedia, McCready moved when he was 18. This is obviously a pretty important point to get across; it's the difference between a married Clemens committing adultery versus statutory rape. While Hardin tried to describe McCready as a close family friend, the Daily News reports that McCready never actually met Debbie Clemens.

If Clemens didn't break any laws, why is any of this relevant? Because Clemens is suing Brian McNamee for defamation, claiming that McNamee's allegations of steroids have harmed his otherwise sterling reputation. Richard Emery, McNamee's lawyer, claims he didn't have anything to do with Monday's article, but admitted that the news may help his client since it may help prove that Clemens' isn't the shiny clean family man that he's claimed, to be.

Either way, Clemens brought this upon himself by suing McNamee.

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