If you have not been hiding in a cave on a secluded island somewhere for the last few years, you probably know – or at least have heard about – the prevalence of steroid use in Major League Baseball (MLB). For a quick recap for those hermits out there, over a decade ago government officials caught wind of steroid use in professional baseball. The response by baseball was slow to develop and was initially ineffective, but it gained momentum after the adoption of a mandatory random drug testing program in 2002. Appointed to head the government investigation was United States Senator George J. Mitchell, who was appointed after several members of the U.S. Congress made negative comments about the effectiveness and honesty of MLB’s drug policies. Mitchell began a 20-month investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in MLB. When Mitchell released his findings in December 2007, numerous players and potential hall of famers were named in the report as having taking banned substances. One of the most well-known and biggest stars named was Roger Clemens, seven-time Cy Young Award winner, with his long-time trainer, Brian McNamee, pointing the finger at him. The report states Brian McNamee injected Roger Clemens with steroids and HGH at least 16 times from 1998 through 2001, when Mr. Clemens pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Whoooo. I am winded, and this isn’t even a quarter of the story. Dallas Morning News gives a good timeline of the events since the release of the Mitchell report.

The point to my ramblings is this – reputation is everything. Do not believe me? Check out this article from Forbes.com. Roger Clemens is arguably one of the best pitchers to ever play the game of baseball, yet his reputation will be forever tarnished. “The Rocket,” as he is so often called, was a shoe-in for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and maybe still is, but with all of the controversy surrounding him, doubts have began to circulate. Even with his sworn testimony at Wednesday’s 4 ½ hour grilling by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in congress, where he vehemently denied all allegations that he ever used steroids or HGH, Clemens will always have it attached to his legacy. Whether he took steroids or not (I am not sure if this can ever be proven one way or another), the American people have voted – Roger Clemens cheated.

We all go through life, at every stage, from high school, to college, to our careers, trying to build up our reputations just like Clemens has done. But we must always remember, with every slipup or misstep, our reputation and legacy can come toppling down. That is why it is important to surround yourself with good people – people who are honest, hard working and who have a sincere interest in your well being. At times this might not always be easy, as is the case with MLB, where a large percent of players use performance enhancing drugs, but even then, players need to choose to stay above that. I truly feel bad for Roger. As a former baseball player myself, he has always been someone I admired. It is too bad that all of his hard work and dedication to the sport may be forever tarnished and in question.

So go out…take on the world. Just be cautious of your actions and the people with whom you surround yourself. Are they people who want to see you succeed through any of the tough times or would they sell you out as soon as the heat is on? We all have to worry about our reputations, especially here in the PR industry. Can you think of some reputation disasters such as this?

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