Fast Break

Baseball

Clemens denies using steroids

Roger Clemens spoke under oath for about five hours to congressional lawyers Tuesday, then said he told them he did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

“I just want to thank the committee, the staff that I just met with. They were very courteous,” Clemens said after emerging from the offices of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“It was great to be able to tell them what I’ve been saying all along – that I’ve never used steroids or growth hormone,” the seven-time Cy Young Award winner said.

Clemens’ closed-door, sworn testimony on Capitol Hill came one day after his New York Yankees teammate and workout partner, Andy Pettitte, gave a deposition to committee staff for 2 1/2 hours.

Both players’ interviews are part of preparation for a Feb. 13 hearing, a public session expected to focus on allegations made in the Mitchell Report by trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with human growth hormone and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

Golf

Golf show tickets available

The 10th annual Spokane Golf Show will be held Feb. 16-17 in the Spokane Convention Center.

Tickets, available at TicketWest outlets, at the door or at the show’s Web site – SpokaneGolfShow.com – cost $10, with free admission for children 12 and younger. Hours are 10 a.m-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

This year’s show will feature instructional seminars by Seattle-based teaching professional Ron Hanson, contests and clearance prices on clothing and equipment from more than a dozen area golf courses and two regional retailers. In addition, the first 1,000 children under 12 will receive a free golf club from the PGA’s Clubs for Kids program.

Football

Former Bills QB battles cancer

Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson is battling cancer again, two years after being treated for Burkitt’s lymphoma.

The 57-year-old Ferguson, who played for the Bills from 1973 to 1984, has been hospitalized for about a week.