Do you believe Clemens now?

It really is a sad story how the Roger Clemens story is playing out. We've watched the greatest pitcher of a generation deal with steroids allegations the wrong way, fight back the wrong way, and now watch him as he has to squirm through tawdry allegations of infidelity, including a long affair with a country singer who was 15 years old when Clemens met her.

In a series by the New York Daily News this week, the wheels have come off his credibility. Clemens denied an improper relationship with a teenaged Mindy McCready - the worst allegation that's come out so far - but some think this all sounds a lot like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. McCready acknowledged the affair to the Daily News.

It makes you wonder if Clemens had taken a more subdued tactic off the bat. How different would life for Clemens be if he had simply offered a no-comment, or even a quick denial, when the Mitchell Report came out? It would have been bad for the media, but probably very different for Clemens.

He then probably wouldn't have been called before a Congressional committee to testify against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, or at least he would have declined testifying. He then wouldn't have been under investigation for perjury. And he wouldn't have filed a defamation suit against McNamee. And then the other details of his personal life wouldn't have become an issue in court.

Clemens made his own bed in all of this, and it's a huge blow to his defamation case.

"I know that many people want to know what I have to say about the recent articles in the media. Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry," Clemens said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. "I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans," Clemens said. "Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right."

For years, and in the past few months, too.

Background: Clemens vs. McNamee.