After being threatened with contempt if they did not appear, five current or former Major League Baseball superstars sat in front of Congress on Thursday.
The House Government Reform Committee had called on them to come clean about the use of steroids in baseball. It was nationally televised on ESPN and highly promoted by the media. Was this going to be the day that the big bomb fell on MLB and busted all those records from the "Steroid Era?"
In a packed hearing room, with cameras shoved in their faces, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmero and Curt Schilling looked straight ahead and said, well, nothing new.
No names were named, and no player admitted to having ever used steroids except for Canseco, who has done so previously on a number of occasions.
Congress was hoping to shed some light on the issue of steroids, and what it got was a handful of baseball's brightest stars from the past two decades zipping their lips.
This should have all been expected though.
The hearing took place in front of a very critical public eye, and Congress offered no immunity to any of the players.
Admitting to using steroids in this setting, under these circumstances left players with nothing to gain and everything to lose.
As McGwire, who refused to answer a number of times whether he had used steroids, said, ''If a player answers, 'No,' he simply will not be believed. If he answers, 'Yes,' he risks public scorn and endless government investigations.''
With that in mind, it would be ridiculous for Congress to believe that these five players, three of whom are still active, could possibly be candid on such a sensitive issue.
Any steroid mess in baseball, which would not be surprising, needs to be cleaned up, one way or another. But Congress needs to realize that using intimidation and pressure are probably not the most effective tactics in this situation.
If Congress pushes on in this manner, it will fail to go deep into the issue and continue to strike out.
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