As theater, Wednesday's square-off in Congress between Roger Clemens and his accuser, Brian McNamee, was riveting — in the way that a close, brutal boxing match is riveting. The contestants fought to a draw that left both battered and bloodied. Not quite as bloodied, though, as Major League Baseball, which was again exposed as the enabler of players who cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens, of course, is the Hall of Fame-bound pitcher whose credentials are now stained by McNamee's allegations that he injected Clemens with illegal steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) — an accusation Clemens denies.

The hearing left no doubt that one of them was "lying in spectacular fashion," as Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., aptly put it. But which one?

Clemens' story is, at best, fragile. There were inconsistencies as he tried to parry previous testimony by a friend and former teammate, Andy Pettitte, who told congressional investigators that in 1999 or 2000, Clemens admitted using HGH. There were questions about why an innocent Clemens would continue to employ McNamee as his trainer even after discovering that McNamee had injected Clemens' wife with HGH. And there was the nagging fact that McNamee has accused two other players of using steroids and that both have said he was correct.

The best thing Clemens had going for him was that if he is a suspected liar, McNamee is a proven one. He conceded Wednesday that he had lied repeatedly to the media and to federal investigators.

Hearings in Congress are seldom the best forums for seeking the truth, what with political grandstanding, and the Clemens-McNamee show will now move to other venues. The Justice Department might weigh perjury charges, while baseball will try to figure out what to do next.

Some might argue that it should all go away, that whether a player used steroids a decade ago is a trivial matter. But there are two larger issues. The first is that athletes' steroid use has been mimicked all the way down to middle school. The resulting health threat is a legitimate national concern. The second is that while use of illegal substances might be a relatively minor offense, lying under oath is not. It should be prosecuted.

Beyond that, Major League Baseball needs to ensure — through a fully independent drug testing program — that its stars are drug-free and that their riveting appearances are on the field, not before investigating committees in Congress.