Comments on: I Confess

By: SteveAmerica

SteveAmerica — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:16:55 +0000

Also for everyone who gets on the apologizers for being vague, consider this:

Alex: I’m gonna do the right thing Scott, I’m going on with that assbag Gammons and I’m gonna admit it.

Boras: Ok, good call, but just one thing, you have to be vague about what you specifically took, and what your intent was. If you are too specific you open yourself up to civil or criminal litigation. Don’t give anyone the shovel to dig your grave. Be vague about you intent and the specifics of what you knew. Got it champ.

Alex: Cool.

By: SteveAmerica

SteveAmerica — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:12:57 +0000

[53] What lies?

By: SteveAmerica

SteveAmerica — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:12:26 +0000

Like half the pitchers weren’t on something too? who cares. let them all juice.

By: rbj

rbj — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:15:53 +0000

Just a hunch, but I don’t think Selena Roberts should wait for a valentine from A-Rod.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:11:58 +0000

After watching the interview, I’m ready to re-trust him for now. He was all over the place, very A Rodian, but somehow I ended up feeling all right about it. Fish gotta swim, etc. He is, gloriously even, what he is. And maybe now that being the “greatest player ever”(*) is a highly questionable pursuit for him, A Rod’s karma will transform him into the ultimate clutch player and champion. Make it so!

By: rbj

rbj — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:16:27 +0000

8 – 10 tests over the last five years. Twice a year doesn’t sound like a lot to me.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:06:39 +0000

I’m younger now than Alex was then. Young and naive doesn’t really cut it for me.

By: Simone

Simone — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:02:10 +0000

Wow, I’m surprised that Kornheiser and Wilbon didn’t buy Alex’s crap about being young and naive. After listening to stupidity of the” Around the Horn” panel, it was great to hear two quality reporters refuse to believe his lies.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:48:27 +0000

I’m not at all a fan of this stupid “I didn’t know what i was putting in my body!” BS, but actually admitting the intent to cheat puts him a step above Andy Pettitte’s pack of lies.

By: Bama Yankee

Bama Yankee — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:43:08 +0000

[50] Sorry, that’s the best I could do… I have been reading all this stuff and it doesn’t really matter too much to me. I don’t care if every player in the league admits to using steriods. If they broke a law, then arrest them. If they broke a baseball rule, then penalize them. I realize that it is a complicated issue and baseball probably felt it would be difficlut to clean it up quickly. They made some mistakes along the way, the players made some mistakes along the way. However, now there are rules and testing in place. I prefer to move on.

As for the stats, does anyone really think that the stats from different eras are that comparable anyway? I mean, the equipment has changed, the rules have changed, the players have changed (even without the roids), the diversity of the game has changed, the length of seasons have changed and expansion has diluted the talent. Heck, even the baseball itself has changed… remember 1987 when the ball was supposedly juiced? So, comparing stats over different time frames has always been somewhat problematic to me…and this is no different.

Maybe I’m being too simplistic. But what I like about baseball has not been tarnished by any of this stuff. I just can’t wait to smell the green grass and hear the pop of the ball in the mit. Spring means baseball and baseball means spring…time for things to start to grow again, time for a new start. Play ball.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:11:21 +0000

[46] You had to come back in with that? (Well, at least you responded… >;)

By: Shaun P.

Shaun P. — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:10:10 +0000

Not really on topic, but tonight is the first time in 3 years I will watch SportsCenter without it being the Giants having won the Super Bowl or someone (Scooter, among others) dying.

I look forward to seeing the whole interview, and not analyzing a bit of it.

By: Jeterian Swing

Jeterian Swing — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:04:24 +0000

Honestly the quote is so vague that I can’t figure out what he means:

“It was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things. I’m guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions,” Rodriguez said. “And to be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

Does he not know what drug he was FOUND guilty of using? (FYI, Alex, it was two drugs: testosterone and primobolan. Happy to help!) Or does he not know what drugs he was using?

And how does either explanation seem plausible?

By: Simone

Simone — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:57:59 +0000

[32] Speak for yourself. I read that book and believed Canseco. Anyone who didn’t wanted to stick their heads in the sands.

By: Bama Yankee

Bama Yankee — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:53:55 +0000

[41] Maybe they could just televise all this steriod stuff on FOX during the same time slot as the World Series or with the same Saturday blackout rules… that way the 10 year olds would never even hear about it.

[39] Since we’re talking about baseball players wouldn’t it be “Harry Caray”? (making them wear those big glasses and signing at Cubs games might actually be a good punishment)…

By: Jeterian Swing

Jeterian Swing — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:53:02 +0000

[42] Actually, according to William, it wasn’t so much that he didn’t know what he took but what he tested positive for, which are two different things, but I’m not sure I find either one entirely plausible. And I DEFINITELY don’t believe that A-Rod, for three years after signing the biggest contract in baseball history, was simply injecting whatever drug the clubhouse pusher was offering.

FWIW, I take no moral issue with the use of PEDs because it’s far too complex and multilayered for my notions of morality. I’m just saying he comes off like a liar in his explanation, which is so frustratingly typical of A-Rod.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:47:21 +0000

Can we get an Alex Rodriguez/Christian Bale variety hour, stat? Call it “Honey and Vinegar”. I am ready NOW.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:45:16 +0000

[41] Obviously it’s not since no-one had mentioned it … Nah you’re right. Fuck ‘em! It’s their parents’ fault anyway, teaching them values and whatnot. Why the hell is A Rod apologizing anyway? He’s got nothing to apologize for. He didn’t know what he was doing, everyone was doing it and whatever it was, it didn’t do anything anyway. The game isn’t adversely affected, his health isn’t adversely affected, baseball fans – no matter how young – don’t care, and neither should they! There was no ethical lapse, there was no weakness of character, he’s a target, people are self-righteous, confidential information was leaked, the reporter is a bitch, he played for a Bush-owned team, he had a lot of pressure, and … and he’s “the best player in the game”. Damn this is much ado about nothing!

By: Horace Clarke Era

Horace Clarke Era — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:43:35 +0000

From where I sit, William is hitting it out of the park on this, pretty much. Of COURSE I can believe that an athlete doesn’t know or remember the chemical or trade name of a product he takes … we see it too often. It is a PED, end of his questioning. Maybe ‘will it give me breasts?’ There’s a guy in the clubhouse ‘helping’ a few teammates, Rodriguez signs up. But, as William says, why does it matter if he knows the name? Put another way, why would he LIE about that, when the names are out there? The smart thing to do, if you are playing games, is memorize the damned name and say it in the interview, even if you DIDN’T know back then.

And, for the high horse brigade, try being smoothly media perfect at a time like this knowing the baseball planet is all over it. Frankly, if he WAS media perfect, he’d get indicted for THAT. He only confessed when caught. Right. Any of the other 103 giving interviews this week?

I’m saddened by all this, as Alex clearly was, and part of it was a naive (that word) hope that a clean player would help the sport recover by breaking records in NY. We’ll all have to move on from that one …

By: williamnyy23

williamnyy23 — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:37:20 +0000

[36] Yep…10 year olds are just crushed I’m sure. Like Amy Carter, I am sure that after they cry on their pillows about steroids, they’ll hide under the beds in fear of nuclear war.

I forgot…it’s always about the kids.