NEW YORK – Roger Clemens tried the silent treatment for more than a year and saw where that got him.
With many fans believing allegations that the seven-time Cy Young Award winner used performance-enhancing drugs, he’s now attempting a different strategy. Clemens hired a firm that guides high-profile figures through public relations crises, and Tuesday he broke his silence with a radio appearance.
Clemens again denied that former personal trainer Brian McNamee injected him with performance-enhancing drugs in a phone interview on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning.”
“He’s never injected me with HGH or steroids,” Clemens said of McNamee’s assertions to baseball investigator George Mitchell.
About three weeks ago, Clemens met in Houston with Washington-based Levick Strategic Communications. He chose to speak out Tuesday because it was the release date of a book about his alleged drug use.
Clemens appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in January 2008, then held a news conference the next day. But he had stayed quiet since testifying before Congress the following month.
While “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” was officially released Tuesday, its revelations were not new to the public. The book, by four New York Daily News reporters, recaps previous reports in the newspaper.
Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington that is trying to determine whether he lied when he told a congressional committee that he had not used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens said he had not been summoned to testify before the grand jury.
He also has sued McNamee for defamation. While not mentioning McNamee by name, Clemens said Tuesday that “you’ve got somebody that’s out there that is really just crawling up your back to make a buck.”
“This, in my view, is going to backfire, because he’s publicly now poking a stick in Congress’ eye,” McNamee’s lead lawyer, Richard Emery, said. “And, to me, all that’s going to do is vitalize the prosecutors going forward. Nobody, for a minute, thinks he’s not a liar just because he’s talking.”
Clemens said he gave a DNA sample to federal investigators but that syringes provided by McNamee would not link him to performance-enhancing drug use “because he’s never given me any,” Clemens said.
His radio appearance returns him to the spotlight as other stars had replaced him as the most visible reminders of baseball’s drug scandal. Alex Rodriguez admitted before the season he had used steroids, and Manny Ramirez was suspended last week for violating MLB’s drug policy.
Clemens said it would have been “suicidal” for him to use steroids because of a history of heart problems in his family.
Apology I
DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has apologized to the mother of Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin.
Cuban made a crack after a Mavs loss in Dallas on Saturday in their NBA playoff series. According to Cuban, a fan called the Nuggets “thugs.” Cuban looked at Martin’s mother, Lydia Moore of Dallas, and said, “That includes your son.” Martin’s agent told the Denver Post that Cuban said to Martin’s mother that her son is a “punk.”
In a Tuesday post on Cuban’s blog titled “An Apology to Kenyon Martin’s Mom,” Cuban wrote that he shouldn’t have said anything. He added that this matter has gotten out of hand.
The Mavs trail the series 3-1 after winning Monday 119-117. Game 5 is Wednesday at Denver.
The Associated Press
Apology II
WALTHAM, Mass. – Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis apologized Tuesday for bumping a 12-year-old boy while celebrating his game-winning shot against the Orlando Magic.
Davis said he got emotional and didn’t see the boy as he turned and ran to the Celtics bench following a 21-foot jumper that gave the Celtics a 95-94 win Sunday, tying the series at 2.
“If I’ve hurt anybody or if I’ve done any harm to anybody, please forgive me because my intentions were just harmless,” he said.
Video of the play shows the 6-foot-9, 289-pound Davis ducking behind a referee and stepping out of bounds before appearing to place a hand in the small of the boy’s back. The boy took a step back and his hat fell off.
The boy’s father, Ernest Provetti, wrote the NBA office demanding an apology, saying Davis had “no regard for fans’ personal safety.”
The Associated Press
NFL may deploy more
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After seeing fans jam London’s Wembley Stadium to watch the NFL the past two years, the league may add a second regular-season game overseas for 2010.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the second game could also be played in London or another location in the United Kingdom. The issue will be discussed at next week’s league meetings, and could be included in a larger plan to add up to two regular-season games to the NFL schedule.
The NFL first staged a regular-season game in London in 2007, when the New York Giants beat Miami 13-10. Last year, New Orleans beat San Diego 37-32.
Both games were sellouts, and fans gobbled up tickets for this year’s game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 25.
“The fan reaction we’ve had in London has been extraordinary. We would like to feed that passion,” Goodell said.
But some players have been critical because of the extensive travel involved in the middle of the season. One team also loses a home game, a potential competitive disadvantage.
The Associated Press
Delaware may get sports betting
DOVER, Del. – The state Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would authorize Delaware to become the only state east of the Mississippi River to offer sports betting, sending it to Gov. Jack Markell for a promised signature.
The Senate passed the bill 17-2.
Because of a brief unsuccessful experiment with a sports lottery in the 1970s, Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, exempted from a 1992 federal law banning sports gambling.
The Associated Press
Utah hoops coach gets raise
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah has rewarded basketball coach Jim Boylen with a raise and new contract after only two years.
Utah announced Tuesday that Boylen has signed a five-year deal that will pay him $850,000 annually with potential for $1 million with incentives.
Boylen, who had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Arizona job, had three years remaining on his original contract, which paid him $575,000 a year. Boylen has gone 42-25 in two seasons at Utah.
The Associated Press
———
SPORTS SOUND-OFF
Preseason picks always wrong?
Re: Anthony Gimino’s sneak peek at college football season
• The only thing certain about preseason prognostication is it is always wrong. It would not surprise me if this is the year Arizona comes out of almost nowhere to make it to our first Rose Bowl. Of course, it also wouldn’t surprise me if we lost by 14 to Central Michigan in the season opener. AZCATFAN85
• I’m looking forward to a challenging year for the Cats. Our wide open offense should be more polished now. I think our quarterbacks will come through for us. If Matt Scott can throw accurately, he should be exciting to watch. DSTOWE
Bring shooting guard to Arizona
Re: UA hoops signee Parrom, prospect Stephenson shine in tourney
• Lance Stephenson would make Jerryd Bayless look like a slow/poor shooter. YES, Stephenson is that good as a shooting guard. . . . He’s played with Parrom and knows UA assistant coach “Book” Richardson. Even if he’s a “one and doner,” I’d vote a big fat yes to bring him to Arizona. John Wall (Raleigh, N.C.) is the other Top 5 recruit that hasn’t committed yet. He’s a natural point guard. New Memphis coach Josh Pastner has him on speed dial! CACTUS PETE
———
BY THE NUMBERS
29
Points separating the leader and second place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings:
Driver Points
1. Jeff Gordon 1,601
2. Tony Stewart 1,572
3. Kurt Busch 1,546
4. Jimmie Johnson 1,465
5. Denny Hamlin 1,445
6. Jeff Burton 1,384
7. Kyle Busch 1,380
8. Ryan Newman 1,363
9. Greg Biffle 1,345
10. Matt Kenseth 1,326
———
ON THIS DATE
1952: In an Appalachian League game, Ron Necciai of the Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters while pitching a 7-0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners.
1958: Stan Musial gets his 3,000th hit with a pinch-double off Chicago’s Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field in a 5-3 win.
1976: The New York Nets overcome a 22-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-106 to win the ABA title 4-2.
2005: Tiger Woods misses a 15-foot par putt at the Byron Nelson Championship, ending his record of 142 straight cuts made over the last seven years on the PGA Tour.