What a day. Squawker Jon has done a great job of going through the Alex Rodriguez-Peter Gammons interview and analyzing the details. Our friends at Big League Stew have a complete transcript with photos and hilarious commentary. And I have a few other thoughts after watching A-Rodapalooza:
* My standard of whether an athlete is kind of a big deal is when my mother has heard of him. A-Rod is such a big deal that President Obama talked about him in a press conference! Now that's famous.
* Nice choice on Peter Gammons to do the interview. Peter, who was literally in the running to be president of Red Sox Nation last year, has slammed Alex hard in the past for, among other things, opting out during the World Series. It makes A-Rod look like he was willing to do a tough interview, even if Gammons wasn't exactly fierce with the followups.
* I notice that the interview background looks all homey, with the flowers and the piano. A-Rod was trying for a cozy look with the sweater. He should have worn a Snuggie.
* Speaking of which, I give a thumbs-up to my new Snuggie. As a matter of fact, I am squawking while Snuggie-ing! What, do you think I could get my hands out of one of those complicated blankets in order to type? Please.
* What was the phrase back in Watergate? The modified limited hangout? That's what A-Rod's confession was. He volunteered more details than we would have expected, and more than any steroid user other than Jose Canseco did, but he still left a lot out. Shocker.
* The timeframe that A-Rod claimed to have take steroids is a bit self-serving - it doesn't cover the Yankee years, of course, or the Seattle numbers he rang up in order to get that $252 million contract. He did pass all steroid tests since 2003, but why?
* Nor do I believe that a control freak like Alex, who literally plans out his meals days in advance, didn't know exactly what performance-enhancing drugs he was putting into his body. C'mon, now. What is he going to say next - that he didn't know that the hairdresser was coloring his hair when he went for a haircut?
* And was he really suggesting that Texas being a hundred degrees a day caused him to take steroids? Drinking frozen margaritas, maybe, but steroids? Maybe all that heat did something to his brain.
* A-Rod really, really doesn't like Selena Roberts, or as he calls her, "the lady from Sports Illustrated." I guess her writing that he was a slumlord last year didn't exactly endear herself to him!
* Can somebody please tell A-Rod that the phrase is "couldn't care less," not "could care less." He's been getting it wrong for years now. Thank you.
* And, as Squawker Jon pointed out to me on the phone last night, if A-Rod wants to show how clean he played for most of his years, he probably shouldn't keep on talking about finishing second in the MVP race to Juan Gonzalez. Just sayin'.
* On another note, I'm feeling bad for author (and friend of the Squawkers) Jane Heller. First Joe Torre's "The Yankee Years" was released the same day as "Confessions of a She-Fan," her non-fiction book about her love of the Yanks. Then she had a nifty New York Times piece about seeing a tarot card expert to predict the 2009 season, only to have the article come out the same weekend as the A-Rod steroid report. Not to mention that I still haven't written my rave review of her book, thanks to my squawking time being consumed by first Torre, and now A-Rod. Sorry, Jane. To use an A-Rodism, I was too loosey-goosey on my writing schedule. I blame the Squawker culture.
What do you think about A-Rod? Leave us a comment!
11 comments:
Don't like A-Rod; have nothing nice to say about A-Rod; however, he should not be singled out. What's good for him is good for the other 103 players who tested positive. I can't wait until we can talk about baseball games.
"Can somebody please tell A-Rod that the phrase is "couldn't care less," not "could care less." He's been getting it wrong for years now. Thank you."
While someone is at it, can you tell EVERYONE? Because few people seem to get it.
On another note: Why does the media continue to perpetuate this myth that this generation of baseball players should be the ones to carry the burden of steroids? Players from as far back the 60s have admitted to taking not only greenies, but HGH. Was Tom House lying when he said he and others did it in the 1960s?
And another note, remember Cindy Adams' article with Cynthia when they first split:
" They also know that, as they put it: "When you're married to a person that's real and this reality falls by the wayside, it ends up being really tough. One day he'll wake up . . . and he'll crash . . . but Cynthia will be there for him."
She does admit to trusted friends she'll be there for him the day he cracks up because she knows it's going to be - the words used are - "an ugly thing."
Thank you, Symphony. My thoughts EXACTLY.
And the thing with Pud Galvin and the monkey testosterone in the 1880s--is that true? Or was it not really considered a PED that helped?
I'm with NAM, I think the biggest mistake the Yankees have made in recent years was to take him back after he did his opt-out cop out.
That being said, it is not fair for A-Fraud to be singled out in this 'roid controversy. The 104 should all be anonymous, or NONE of them should be.
MLB, the cat's out of the bag; we now deserve to know who the other 103 are. Come on, Bud - it's time for you to step up and show some integrity by leveling with the fans !!
I'm with NAM, I think the biggest mistake the Yankees have made in recent years was to take him back after he did his opt-out cop out.
That being said, it is not fair for A-Fraud to be singled out in this 'roid controversy. The 104 should all be anonymous, or NONE of them should be.
MLB, the cat's out of the bag; we now deserve to know who the other 103 are. Come on, Bud - it's time for you to step up and show some integrity by leveling with the fans !!
I saw this elsewhere, but can't remember where so apologies to the person who put forth this idea: until the day MLB goes to an Olympic-style testing program where there are no tip-offs and testing is totally random and unannounced, the stain remains on the game. And that's on Bud Selig and the owners. I hope they release the names of the remaining 103 players because, I agree, it's unfair on ARod.
All that being said, I am happy that deal fell through in late 2003. I would root for ARod if he were on my team, but I am so glad I don't have to root for him.
Cindy R.
Hey, can somebody get the crew from "Lie to Me" to watch that interview?
http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=3897394
For what its worth
Lisa: The phrase "I could care less" is a big pet peeve in my family, from Yankee Fan me to my late Dodger-turned-Met fan grandmother from Queens. She HATED that phrase.
She also hated "at this point in time," which drove her husband, my Yankee Fan grandfather from The Bronx, totally up the wall as well. That was a "Watergate phrase."
Another "Watergate phrase" was "That statement is inoperative." (Translation: We were was lying.) A-Roid has now basically said that his Couric interview statement.
Maybe it's Katie: Her last two big interviews, with Sarah Palin and A-Rod, both helped torpedo their subjects.
Symphony: Remember Jim Bouton's "Ball Four"? "How fabulous are greenies? The answer is very. Greenies are pep pills... and some ballplayers couldn't function without them... Greenies probably improved my performance about five percent. Unfortunately, in my case, that wasn't enough."
Of course, baseball's biggest drug problem to that point was alcohol, which ruined the careers of Hugh Casey, Rex Barney, Ellis Kinder, Sam McDowell and Dick Allen (and that's just the ones I can think of at the moment), and while it didn't ruin Mickey Mantle's career, it didn't help, and it did eventually kill him. (Kinder also died young, Casey killed himself shortly after retiring, and the others eventually beat their addictions. McDowell became a substance-abuse counselor, particularly to ballplayers.)
As for Pud Galvin, I've never heard that story, but a lot of players were serious boozers back then, and Galvin was one of them. A few caught V.D., and I think at least one Hall of Fame pitcher from that era (might have been Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourne) died early from what is now believed to be syphilis. And, since there were no antibiotics in the 19th Century, and quack cures were being sold all over the place to the desperate and the gullible for all kinds of ailments, Galvin may just have done what you've suggested.
That should have read as follows:
Another "Watergate phrase" was "That statement is inoperative." (Translation: We were lying.) A-Roid has now basically said that his Couric interview statement is inoperative.
Sorry for the poor editing on my part.
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