Of all the discussions about steroids in baseball and reaction to the Mitchell Report, the most interesting has come from Curt Schilling.

Not because the Boston Red Sox's pitcher breaks new ground or offers a solution.

What Schilling presents in a long entry on his online blog, www.38pitches.com, is remarkable for another reason.

He is refreshingly straightforward and outspoken in his opinions, something we have not seen much from baseball players outside of admitted steroids user Jose Canseco, whose message is the polar opposite of Schilling's and came after his playing days.

Schilling has the guts to take a strong stand on the issue.

Not everyone will agree with Schilling's condemnation of players who are named in the recent report, which was based on an investigation and interviews overseen by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.

In fact, a strong argument could be made that Schilling goes overboard in a guilty-until-proven-innocent vein.

Still, Schilling's manifesto stands out.

It reads as a stream of consciousness, yet it is impressive in its organization, its comprehensiveness and the passion that emanates from every paragraph.

Schilling is angry and disgusted and disappointed.

At least one big name in pro sports feels something about the steroids issue and is not afraid to convey it.

The most-publicized portion of Schilling's blog entry relates to pitcher Roger Clemens, who is among those named in the Mitchell Report as allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs. Schilling seems willing to believe the allegations, which stem from a former assistant trainer, Brian McNamee, who, according to the report, said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone after 1997.

Schilling reasons that the allegations are believable unless Clemens can "find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared." He's not swayed by any "crafted statement" denying guilt.

Short of that, Schilling writes, Clemens' 192 wins and three Cy Young Awards before 1997 are where his statistics should end, with his four subsequent Cy Youngs going to "the rightful winners."

Powerful stuff.

Clemens has denied the findings of the report pertaining to him.

In a subsequent post, Schilling makes it clear he is not accusing Clemens of using banned substances but wants the fellow pitcher to make him believe he did not use them.

That raises the question of who we trust more -- Clemens, or the former clubhouse hand.

Schilling believes Mitchell is a credible source, and he tends to believe the whistle-blowers in the report such as McNamee, who were granted some immunity, but only if they told the truth, so they had "every reason in the world to not lie."

Boiled down, it's word against word.

Legal challenges are not that simple for high-paid public figures, many of whom might not be as bright as Schilling and whose agents and lawyers would understandably be cautious, even if the Mitchell Report allegations were false. Taking legal action could lead to interrogations under oath, which could put players in the position of being asked to name more names.

We already have seen something like that and likely will again. The United States House committee that held hearings in March 2005 looking into steroids is scheduled to hold more hearings Jan. 15.

Schilling, who appeared at the 2005 hearings, won't name names if called. He says he has "played, roomed and lived with some of these guys [in the report], and competed [with] and gotten to know others" but has never seen anyone inject steroids or human growth hormone and so, in front of Congress, to mention any names "would amount to defamation of character of people I was guessing may have used."

He also says steroids use in baseball is "significantly lower" than it used to be, but it would be interesting to know why he thinks that considering he's unaware of who uses or has used them.

Still, Schilling's candor is commendable.

He writes of Clemens and the daddy of all accused steroids users, slugger Barry Bonds, "If ... both of these men end up being caught, what does that say about this game, us as athletes and the future of the sport and our place in it? The greatest pitcher and greatest hitter of all time are currently both being implicated, one [Bonds] is being prosecuted, for events surrounding and involving the use of performance-enhancing drugs. That [stinks]."

Nothing wishy-washy about Schilling's opinion there.