Any time there is a court case it has been said that there are three sides to every story: your side, my side and the truth.

That last one is the one that usually gets shoved aside as much as possible because it directly hampers the other two arguments.

Such is the case with steroids and Major League Baseball.

Coming under the radar last week were motions filed by the lawyers of former pitcher Roger Clemens and outfielder Barry Bonds.

Clemens holds the record with six Cy Young awards, one for each of his four sons and one for each butt cheek where the human growth hormones were allegedly injected.

The motion filed on Friday by Clemens’ attorneys argues the indictment was vague and contains too many separate accusations of lying in one count. The motion is concerned that jurors who don’t unanimously agree to still convict Clemens in violation of his constitutional rights.

See, the motion says some jurors might believe Clemens lied about using HGH but not steroids while others might vote guilty on the reverse belief.

That reminds me of the child who cried to his mother that his brother hit him. When the mother questioned the boy if he hit his younger brother, he answered, “No, I didn’t hit him.” Then under his breath he says, “I kicked him.”

Bonds’ attorneys argued that the players who were former teammates should be excluded from testifying because of their ties to Bonds.

That makes sense. The last thing you want in a trial are facts and testimony from people involved.

Well, it makes sense for the defense.

Bonds and Clemens both had a spike in their career statistics after the age of 34 or 35, contrary to a normal athlete who sees a decline in their productivity.

Fortunately the judge ruled the players will be allowed to testify.

Bonds claims he never knowingly took steroids. He assumed the substances supplied to him by former trainer Greg Anderson were all legal supplements.

At no point when he bulked up by 30 or 40 pounds of muscle over a few months and his head swelled to the point only novelty hats fit his head did he ever suspect anything was wrong.

Of course, Bonds and Clemens aren’t the only former or current players scrutinized regarding their “I didn’t know what it was” stories i.e. Rafael Palmeiro, or the “Ah shucks, I was just a stupid young kid who didn’t know what I was doing” like Alex Rodriguez.

They all knew what they were doing. If they didn’t think it was wrong, why did they try to hide it and then lie when they were caught?

Regardless of what the courts rule, the public will have an opinion of what is really the truth.

And they might even use facts when making up their minds.

—— Sinatra ——

Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.