THE SCORES REPORT tosses us the happy news that Bud Selig will be steering the MLB ship for another five years.

Although no details of the new deal have been announced, Bud reportedly brought in $14 million in home pay last season. Since taking over as acting commissioner in 1992, Selig has overseen many monumental moments during his reign - the 1994 players’ strike & World Series cancellation, threats of franchise contraction (i.e the Minnesota Twins), and the pumped-up release of the Mitchell Report.

But people are still coming out to the park - 79 million of them went through the turnstiles last year. And revenues have risen to $6 billion - mostly from the Yankees’ luxury tax.

Congrats, Bud! Maybe you can use some of that $14 mil on some Polident.

Richard Justice of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE writes today that baseball commissioner “Bud Selig seems ready to suspend San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan and general manager Brian Sabean for looking the other way while a certain slugger bulked up and hit a bunch of home runs.”

Selig’s motivation would be, as noted by the Georgie Mitchell, Sabean’s repeated unwillingness to remove Barry Bonds’ (alleged) steroid supplier, Greg Anderson, from the Giants’ clubhouse. In the same report, Magowan told George Mitchell “that Barry Bonds admitted using steroids, Mitchell’s report on steroid use in baseball says. Magowan later attempted to withdraw the disclosure.“

We’re still dubious about Selig going through with a suspension. But he may well have to do something to keep up appearances with Congress.

More interesting was the discovery made Tuesday about the drug baseball players have been using as a replacement for amphetamines.

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Chuck Knoblauch finally spoke out about being mentioned in the Mitchell Report. But it appears he doesn’t have much to say.

The NEW YORK TIMES gets the first public reactions from the ex-Yankee about former trainer Brian McNamee supplying him with HGH. And it turns out he more or less declined comment about the issue:

“I have nothing to defend. I have nothing to hide at the same time.”

Knoblauch is requested to appear at a congressional hearing next month, along with former teammates Roger Clemens & Andy Pettitte. But Chuck claims he hasn’t been contacted by Capitol Hill:

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Roger Clemens finally admitted he got injected. But not with steroids:

Brian Costello of the NEW YORK POST learns that the Rocket had said he was shot up by former trainer Brian McNamee, but only with vitamins and painkillers.

Clemens told Mike Wallace during their “60 Minutes” interview that he received injections of Vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine, but nothing illegal. He calls claims to the contrary “ridiculous.”

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Roger Clemens has finally made a statement about the Mitchell Report findings, telling all through the magic of YouTube:

In his video vexing, Clemens comes right out and makes an impassioned pre-recorded statement about his alleged steroid use: “Let me be clear, the answer is no. I did not use steroids, human growth hormone, and I have never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee any drugs to inject into my body.”

Clemens also makes mention of a Los Angeles Times story in 2006 that accused the hurler of doping up: “I faced this last year when the L.A. Times reported that i use steroids. I said it was not true then, and now the the whole world knows it’s not true.”

The Rocket didn’t finish his filmed fuming without making a plug for his appearance on 60 Minutes. Clemens mentioned that the interview with Mike Wallace will be shown after Christmas.

Overall, Roger doesn’t take too kindly to the accusations, saying, “I’m almost numb to some of these suggestions that I would even use steroids.”

About as numb as an ass cheek that’s taken repeated needlings.

LO DUCA AVOIDS CAR CRASH DURING REPORT DISCUSSION: On the eve of the Mitchell Report announcement, Paul Lo Duca almost got out of any questioning - by almost getting into an auto accident:

DC SPORTS BOG listens in on a WFAN radio interview with the ex-Mets star. When asked if players were nervous about what the report was going to announce, Lo Duca got nervous on the road:”You know, to be honest, I probably should stay away from it, so I’ll have no comment, but to me I don’t think it’s really an issue. You know, all this stuff that’s been going on for the last three years, the probing [of] guys, doing this and that, it’s the kind of thing — Ooh, whoa! I’m driving, I almost got hit by a car!”

Phew! That was a close one. After his near collision, Lo Duca was then asked if he would be surprised by any of the names listed in the report:

“No, I’m not going to be, I don’t think you’re gonna be really surprised about who’s on the list. So I think it’s the kind of thing where a lot of the stuff was five, six, seven years ago and you know something? It’s over with. Get over with it, you know? You know what I mean?”

We bet Paul’s hoping his new employers can get over it, too.

• Ken Rosenthal of FOX SPORTS writes that Roger Clemens should just come clean, before the hole he’s digging for himself gets any deeper:

• THE SMOKING GUN pulls over ex-NBA star Charles Oakley for a lane violation.

• AWFUL ANNOUNCING lays down the Lambeau beats, as these Packer Backers know how to party like rock stars:

• WITH LEATHER on Dickie V’s vocal cord surgery: “I hope it’s cancer“:

• BUGS & CRANKS pumps up the volume, as they sit back and enjoy “The Mitchell Report’s Greatest Hits”

• Mike Seate of the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW on the differences between the NFL players & their audience: “I watched a mostly black Steelers team play before a crowd that was whiter than Christmas dinner at Ann Coulter’s crib.”

ESPN ANALYST FINALLY GIVEN CHANCE TO DISCUSS HGH: When the Mitchell Report came out last Thursday, one of the names named was Fernando Vina, former player and current baseball analyst for ESPN. However, on the day the report was released, the Worldwide Leader neglected to quiz their employee about his role.

Now a few days later, the boys in Bristol finally sat down with Fernando to get his side of the story:

In his chat with Bob Ley on Monday, Vina admitted to using HGH, but denied he ever took steroids.Fernando said he took HGH during his injury-filled 2003 season, hoping the drugs would speed up his healing process. He said the substances didn’t help, and Vina was out of baseball by 2004.

Fernando came clean about his past use, and isn’t proud of it: “It’s something I regret. I’m embarrassed, and I’m just trying to go forward from here.”

Does this mean going forward to ESPN’s accounting dept. to pick up his severance package?

CLEMENS OUT AS SPEAKER FOR TX HI-SCHOOL CONVENTION The HOUSTON CHRONICLE today has the *strange* news that the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association has dumped Roger Clemens as the keynote speaker at its January convention.

The title of Clemens’ speech: “The topic of his speech to the THSBCA was “My vigorous workout, how I played so long (in professional baseball).“The association’s officers decided that in the wake of the Mitchell Report, which alleges that Clemens took steroids, he “was an inappropriate influencer to baseball coaches and students alike.”

We actually think the ban may be more related to the threat of Clemens showing up in those jeans.

BRISTOL BURIES ESPN ANALYST OUTED IN MITCH REPORT: We broadcasted some of Fernando Vina’s first minor league games what seems like centuries ago in Columbia, SC., so we were probably more interested in his reax on ESPN yesterday to being named in the Mitchell Report than most. Sadly though, thanks to the Bristol suits, he was brushed off the stage and not allowed to comment (or was he hiding?).

In case you don’t know, Vina is now a baseball analyst for ESPN, and the Mitchell report notes that Kirk Radomski, the now-infamous Mets clubhouse attendant, “sold anabolic steroids or human growth hormone” to Vina a half-dozen or so times from 2000-05.ESPN’s day-long, wall-to-wall “SportsCenter Special Report” did identify Vina’s alleged wrongdoing, but to no one’s surprise, did not have him on camera to address the Mitchell mention.

Bob Raissman of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS on the ESPN baseball guy now dying on the Vina: “The faculty at Bristol Clown Community College should have sent its new investigative team - T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada - into the streets to track down Mr. Viña.

“Then the always-reliable Bob Ley could have asked him this question: Fernando, is this allegation true? And if it is, how could you sit here during the season, during numerous discussions on steroids, and lie?”