Still Waiting For A-Rod To Come Clean
So . . . how did Alex Rodriguez’s mea culpa impress our nation’s sports pundits?
Read for yourself:
Tim Keown, ESPN.com: “Rodriguez clearly is a packaged product, maybe the most packaged product we’ve seen in professional team sports. His performance during Tuesday’s news conference was classic A-Rod: equal parts commendable candor and mystifying contradictions. If you truly believe he didn’t know exactly what he was taking or what it might do, and if you truly believe he and his nameless cousin just cooked up this plan like a couple of desperate, broke guys plotting a robbery, then good luck to you as you await your fortune from a Nigerian bank account.”
Jon Heyman, SI.com: “As noted steroid expert Dr. Gary Wadler will tell you, the devil is in the details. And in the case of A-Rod, the details aren’t great. Frankly, neither is his whole story. While (Andy) Pettitte could say he only dabbled a time or two with HGH, and only for medicinal purposes, Rodriguez had no such excuse. ‘I was young,’ he said many times. ‘I was stupid,” he said almost as often. The problem, of course, is that he wasn’t that young. And that he isn’t that stupid.”
Richard Sandomir, New York Times: “Every time Alex Rodriguez defaulted Tuesday to saying he was stupid, naïve or ignorant for taking steroids, I thought of Dean Wormer’s words to the flunking frat boy Flounder in ‘Animal House:’ ‘Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.’”
Joel Sherman, New York Post: “Rodriguez wants us to believe that a person who treats his body like a temple allowed: 1) a cousin - not a trained professional - to inject drugs described only as ‘boli’ into his body. 2) The drugs came from the Dominican and, thus, have dubious oversight. 3) He was not sure that the drugs were being administered correctly or at the right intervals or if they were having any positive results. 4) Yet, he continued to take them twice a month, for six months for three years.”
Scott Miller, CBSSports.com: “In his first public appearance as a New York Yankee since being saddled with the inconvenient truth of testing positive for steroids, he advanced the story a wee bit by offering ‘boli’ (apparently, short for primobolan or dimeabol) as the substance with which he injected himself between 2001 and ‘03. He says he was young and stupid. Said he and a cousin played amateur pharmacists with stuff brought in from the Dominican Republic. Conveniently, he declined to give up the cousin’s name. The guess here is because there is no cousin. Only another clumsy, albeit folksy, tale attempting to mask the darker, deeper truths.”
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering how commissioner Bud Selig can continue holding himself blameless for the steroid crisis in his industry:
- Since Selig is getting paid $18 million to lead, shouldn’t he actually lead?
- It’s great to read positive reports about Chris Carpenter, but won’t such good news mean more in July and July?
- Now that the Brewers have re-signed Eric Gagne, should we concede them the division crown and start thinking wild card?
- Would Texas Tech really fire miracle-working coach Mike Leach for not agreeing to a contract extension? Is there another football coach in America capable of winning more games in Lubbock?
ATTENTION JOHN MOZELIAK
Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd believes he can still pitch in the majors, as he told the Boston Globe:
“I have nothing to lose, and all a major league team has to lose is 15 minutes. Give me 15 minutes and I’ll show I can still pitch. That’s all I want.
“After surgery in ‘87, it took me 10 years to feel good. I wasn’t on the field, started gaining weight. All of a sudden, my arm has healed. The arm strength is there and it’s there consistently. The more I throw, the better it feels.”
WHERE IS DANICA’S TATOO?
That is what the intrepid fellas at Deadspin want to know.
Check out the video evidence for yourself, if your workplace is cool with bikinis.
TIM FLOYD NEEDS TO EXPRESS HIMSELF
USC coach Tim Floyd was just a bit perturbed with the officials working his team’s lost to Arizona State.
He would love to discuss it further, but, as he noted, “We don’t have freedom of speech coaches . . . maybe Obama will change that rule . . . and he can talk.”
We’re sure President will get all over that, once he fixes our economy.
MEGAPHONE
“I’ve worked hard for the organization, I’ve been great in the community, I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do. I’ve never gotten in trouble. You’ve never heard about any DUI’s or any trouble at all since I’ve been in the league. I’m 100 percent professional and charismatic, and made sure my character stood as such. To hear these trade rumors, that they want to trade me for pretty much nothing, I don’t get it
Suns star Amare Stoudemire, after hearing trade rumors involving his name.
Poor Bud got his feelings hurt yesterday. Well whether you like it or not Mr. Commissioner, you are the ringleader of this circus and yes, you are partially to blame. It’s real simple; adapt the same drug policy as the U.S. Olympic Committee (i.e. independent testing, 2 year ban for positive tests, etc.) and people will finally start to take you seriously. If the players won’t agree to it then you lock them out until they do. Short term pain for long term gain to clean up the sport and restore the confidence of the fans.
A-Rod looks to be dumber than anyone ever thought. If there is more to this story that he is not currently discussing and it comes out later he might as well take his ball and go home to Madonna. What rational person is going to believe that a professional athlete on any level doesn’t know what they are ingesting? Or that an athlete is going to take something that isn’t going to help them? Then why take it? Think about all the help he had on those Texas teams: Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Pudge, and Palmeiro – a murders row of cheaters.
Who could have guessed that the return date for Glaus would be “hazy”? He will be lucky to be back by the all-star game if at all.
Selig has been a flop:
-All Star game ending in a tie.
-Fox forcing World Series games to be played in rainstorms.
-Rampant drug use.
Most workplaces in America fire employees for drug use but not MLB. MLB players have the strongest union on the planet (still no salary cap). How is Marvin Miller not in the Hall of Fame?
So A-Rod claims that he was young, stupid, and that he was on “amatuer hour” as a Ranger. It’s one thing to say that if your 16-20, but after 7 seasons as a Mariners prodigy with a near triple crown in 1996, a 40/40 season in 1998, and leading your team to it’s only three playoff berths, it doesn’t ring true.
Those seven seasons made his body worth $252 million, but he allowed foreign substances he didn’t know about into it, as well as “not knowing any better” as late as age 28?
Can’t possibly be true.
I am reminded of something one of the early commissioners of baseball said (I forget the exact words, and the exact commissioner [Landis? Chandler?]):
When I left, there was a vacancy in the office of commissioner. I see they have decided to continue with it.
Faye Vincent could say the same thing.
You guys pretty much hit the nail on the head today. That Danica Patrick video was pretty damn nice by the way.
So the Brewers re-signed Eric Gagne? Ok Cardinals, now it’s officially time to sign me back up!
Still Waiting For Albert To Come Clean.
A-Rod should of stood up and told the truth, just like Roger Clemens. Uh-huh… He could even of thrown Madonna under the bus, just like the Docket, I mean the Rocket, did with his wife. Some real stand up guys these millionaire baseball guys are. Between the steroids, Shemp Selig, and Manny Ramirez turning down $25 million for one season, I have lost ALL interest in baseball. What a disgrace.
Great take on Pinero. I am not pitching for the US Team but I am not heartbroken nor feel disrespected. I don’t think anybody cares if I felt disrespected same as nobody cares what he thinks. Hey Joel, you are not one of the three best pitchers from Puerto Rico. Quit your whinning and try to justify you inflated bucks from your sugar daddy here. If not, see you in Double AA.
A-Rod is a clown. Check out what he was doing when the world learned he’s a cheater. http://www.hahahasports.com