"I didn't do it!" We've all heard that before.
RYAN BRAUN: "I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body at any point." (Via Fox Sports)
And that is sometimes followed by this:
"Braun posted his nearly 1,000-word missive to the Milwaukee Brewers official website, saying 'I have no one to blame but myself.' ... The Milwaukee Brewers outfielder blamed his decision to dope on a, quote, 'nagging injury.'" (Via ABC)
Enter Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
A-Rod is currently facing a 211-game ban from Major League Baseball for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs from the Miami-based Biogenesis clinic. (Via Flickr / Keith Allison)
The ban would strip A-Rod of tens of millions of dollars remaining on his contract and push him to the brink of retirement. (Via WNBC)
Tuesday, A-Rod became so fed up with the way the arbitration process was going and the fact MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn't be required to testify that he walked out of the meeting and into the studio of WFAN radio.
MIKE FRANCESA: "Were you guilty of any of these charges?"
RODRIGUEZ: "No. And I shouldn't serve one inning."
FRANCESA: "Did you do anything wrong?"
RODRIGUEZ: "No."
FRANCESA: "Did you do any PEDs?"
RODRIGUEZ: "No."
FRANCESA: "Did you obstruct justice, anybody, any witnesses, anything they've accused you of doing?"
RODRIGUEZ: "No."
FRANCESA: "Nothing?"
RODRIGUEZ: "Nothing." (Via YES Network)
But we've heard it before.
MARION JONES: "I never have, I never will. ... And I don't feel the need to take any performance-enhancing drugs." (Via NBC)
JONES: "It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust." (Via CNN)
"In addition to andro, which was legal at the time that you used it, what other supplements did you use?"
MARK MCGWIRE: "I'm not here to talk about the past." (Via C-SPAN)
MCGWIRE: "I apologize to everybody at Major League Baseball … my family … " (Via Fox Sports)
LANCE ARMSTRONG: "How could it have taken place when I've never taken performance-enhancing drugs? How could that have happened?"
ANCHOR: "That was my point. It's not just simply you don't recall, it's … "
ARMSTRONG: "How many times do I have to say it?" (Via SNTV)
OPRAH WINFREY: "In all seven of your Tour de France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?"
ARMSTRONG: "Yes." (Via OWN TV)
There's no word yet on whether A-Rod and his legal team will continue the arbitration hearings or go to court.
