Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003

[Brett Favre 0]

And your point is...

 

Like I said, no one comes out with the "truth" until you've been caught. He's no different from anyone else who's been caught.

[naiwf 0]

The bigger question at that point is, why bother? We already know you're dirty, and unless I'm a fan of your team I'm not going to believe you just took HGH those 3 times, or 1 tainted B-12 shot you got from Miguel Tejada.

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

For the record, I am glad that he admitted to using PEDs, but I don't buy for a second that he didn't know what it was nor do I believe that he was only using from 2001-2003. Premier athletes stay ahead of the curve at all times when it comes to performance enhnacers. We all know how calculating A-Rod is, who's to say he hasn't stayed one step ahead this time?

 

Also, he felt pressure being the man in Texas, but didn't in Seattle or New York? Why is that? You're telling me he didn't look for that extra spark in 2007 when he was facing free agency? Lots of gaps in logic with that confession despite what appeared to be remorse on his part.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

ARod accused Selena Roberts of stalking him on espn. Fatal Attraction, lol.

[fairtoflair7 0]

First get Selena Roberts off my T.V. There's a reason why she in the print media and not on T.V.

 

You know who's the most honest guy in all this nonsense, Jose Canseco. You could make the argument that he was the initial whistle-blower for the whole steroid era. Heck, Francesca today even said you could put him in the Hall of Fame for that and his stats. You might think that the guy's an ass but you know what, he's been 100% true when nobody, not even major league baseball or Bud Selig had the balls to come clean.

[Brett Favre 0]

The bigger question at that point is, why bother? We already know you're dirty, and unless I'm a fan of your team I'm not going to believe you just took HGH those 3 times, or 1 tainted B-12 shot you got from Miguel Tejada.

 

What do you want him to do? What would you do?

 

Lets say you took steriods for a certain period of time. Don't answer "Uh, I wouldn't have taken them in the first place, duh." Lets say you did take them, and now you're in A-Rod's situation. How do you try to rebuild your legacy?

 

For the record, I am glad that he admitted to using PEDs, but I don't buy for a second that he didn't know what it was nor do I believe that he was only using from 2001-2003. Premier athletes stay ahead of the curve at all times when it comes to performance enhnacers. We all know how calculating A-Rod is, who's to say he hasn't stayed one step ahead this time?

 

Also, he felt pressure being the man in Texas, but didn't in Seattle or New York? Why is that? You're telling me he didn't look for that extra spark in 2007 when he was facing free agency? Lots of gaps in logic with that confession despite what appeared to be remorse on his part.

 

He said something about how he was in a bed sometime in 2003 and had some spinal injury that made him re think about doing that stuff.

 

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

ARod called Canseco a liar during the interview.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

First get Selena Roberts off my T.V. There's a reason why she in the print media and not on T.V.

 

You know who's the most honest guy in all this nonsense, Jose Canseco. You could make the argument that he was the initial whistle-blower for the whole steroid era. Heck, Francesca today even said you could put him in the Hall of Fame for that and his stats. You might think that the guy's an ass but you know what, he's been 100% true when nobody, not even major league baseball or Bud Selig had the balls to come clean.

 

Jose Canseco is starting to become a martyr...

[Brett Favre 0]

If Jose Canseco wasn't broke, we probably wouldn't hear any of this.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If Jose Canseco wasn't broke, we probably wouldn't hear any of this.

You mean those boxing matches with Danny Bonaduce aren't raking in the dough? I'm shocked.

[naiwf 0]

The bigger question at that point is, why bother? We already know you're dirty, and unless I'm a fan of your team I'm not going to believe you just took HGH those 3 times, or 1 tainted B-12 shot you got from Miguel Tejada.

 

What do you want him to do? What would you do?

 

Admit it the first time. The years of lying is what aggravates me most. Then everyone falls back to the "I only did it once" mentality which is even more annoying. It would be better to say nothing and have people speculate how long you used as opposed to insulting everyone's intelligence like so many athletes have done. "Uh, I was taking a supplement from GNC and had no idea anything was wrong when my arms grew 6 inches that year. My coach said it was flaxseed oil, so I believed him." Spare me the BS.

[Brett Favre 0]

Where did he say that he only did it once? In fact, he added years. No one knew he did it in 2001, and 2002 before the interview.

 

If I'm in his position, I'd probably tell everyone just when I did it to at least give people some timeframe instead of having them "guess" that I've done it my whole career.

[Dandy 0]

And how exactly do we know that Griffey isn't on the list? Because he doesn't look like he takes steroids? This is the exact same thing people said about A-Rod.

 

That is not to say that I suspect Griffey used but right now we still have no idea who did and didn't over the last few decades. And I say decades because it is naive to believe that steroids suddenly became popular in the late 90's and early 2000's. Tom House who was a pitcher during the 70's admitted a few years back that he used steroids during the decade. I'd say it highly plausible that there are players already inducted in the HOF who used steroids at some point in their career.

Purely speculation on my part, but Griffey was built the same from high school on, and was notorious for never working out. The guy didn't start lifting weights until the injuries started to mount in Cincinnati and it was suggested that he needed to get stronger. That's not to say that he didn't take steroids, but it just wouldn't add up.

 

Also speculation on my part: Reggie Jackson was one of the pioneers of steroids in baseball.

[naiwf 0]

Where did he say that he only did it once? In fact, he added years. No one knew he did it in 2001, and 2002 before the interview.

 

If I'm in his position, I'd probably tell everyone just when I did it to at least give people some timeframe instead of having them "guess" that I've done it my whole career.

 

So if someone lies to you a lot, and then says "hey buddy, trust me I'm telling you the truth NOW!" am I to assume you'd believe them? If so, that's where we differ. I don't believe Pettitte only did HGH 2 or 3 times, I don't believe that Marion Jones didn't know that she was taking something illegal when her coach told her to put it under her tongue and not tell anyone she took it, or that she didn't realize she could run faster after she took this secret pill than she could before it. I don't believe Bonds got to be the size of an NFL linebacker/DE on flaxseed oil. I don't believe Clemens suddenly picked up his lost velocity at the age of ~35 because he "worked real hard". I don't believe Pudge Rodriguez decided to lose about 30 pounds right at the time testing became public by accident. I don't believe Palmeiro and his tainted B-12 shot theory. I don't believe Giambi was sorry he did some stuff he can't tell you about, I DO however believe he was sorry that he got caught. THAT is the only thing I believe about any of these cheaters. I hope you see where I'm going with this.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Just look at how the media has treated Pettitte, Giambi etc. compared to Bonds and Clemens. That's why Rodriguez came out and admitted limited usage. It's the proper PR move.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

And did Rodriguez ever lie? I don't recall him being asked the question, though I could be wrong.

 

And no, he's not going to flat out admit something he hasn't been caught for. How many of you have walked into your local police station and confessed to speeding?

[Brett Favre 0]

Where did he say that he only did it once? In fact, he added years. No one knew he did it in 2001, and 2002 before the interview.

 

If I'm in his position, I'd probably tell everyone just when I did it to at least give people some timeframe instead of having them "guess" that I've done it my whole career.

 

So if someone lies to you a lot, and then says "hey buddy, trust me I'm telling you the truth NOW!" am I to assume you'd believe them? If so, that's where we differ. I don't believe Pettitte only did HGH 2 or 3 times, I don't believe that Marion Jones didn't know that she was taking something illegal when her coach told her to put it under her tongue and not tell anyone she took it, or that she didn't realize she could run faster after she took this secret pill than she could before it. I don't believe Bonds got to be the size of an NFL linebacker/DE on flaxseed oil. I don't believe Clemens suddenly picked up his lost velocity at the age of ~35 because he "worked real hard". I don't believe Pudge Rodriguez decided to lose about 30 pounds right at the time testing became public by accident. I don't believe Palmeiro and his tainted B-12 shot theory. I don't believe Giambi was sorry he did some stuff he can't tell you about, I DO however believe he was sorry that he got caught. THAT is the only thing I believe about any of these cheaters. I hope you see where I'm going with this.

 

So lets say A-Rod came out last year and said he used it for 3 years, would you believe him then? It's your problem if you don't believe shit.

 

And unless I'm forgetting someone, I'm pretty sure Rodriguez is the only one to admit his use of PEDs WHILE still playing in the MLB, and not dancing around it. Which is different than what Giambi and Pettitte did (unless Pettitte did say it, I don't remember it).

[naiwf 0]

And did Rodriguez ever lie? I don't recall him being asked the question, though I could be wrong.

 

And no, he's not going to flat out admit something he hasn't been caught for. How many of you have walked into your local police station and confessed to speeding?

 

Someone posted a link to the Katie Couric interview, but here's the text.

 

"For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance?" Couric asked.

 

"No," Rodriguez replied.

 

Asked if he had ever been tempted to use any of those things, Rodriguez told Couric, "No."

 

"You never felt like, 'This guy's doing it, maybe I should look into this, too? He's getting better numbers, playing better ball,'" Couric asked.

 

"I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I've always been a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level. So, no," he replied.

 

But the Mitchell Report named names, including at least 16 current and former Yankees, like superstars Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens.

 

What's Rodriguez's reaction to this investigation?

 

"Katie, you're putting me in a tough spot. I mean, these are guys that I play with. They're my teammates. If anything comes of this, I will be extremely disappointed. And it will be a huge black eye on the game of baseball," he told Couric.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

You forgot about Big Mac. He didn't want to talk about the past and it got him blackballed from the Hall of Fame, streets that were named after him were changed and his statutes were taken down.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You forgot about Big Mac. He didn't want to talk about the past and it got him blackballed from the Hall of Fame, streets that were named after him were changed and his statutes were taken down.

McGwire's a separate category. Given the question, you can either admit, deny, or plead the fifth. Pleading the fifth is like denying, except then the government can't spend $50 million plus to put you in jail for three months because of it.

[Bored 0]

One thing to add to the "why did he wait until he got caught?" nonsense, is there still hasn't been a single active player to confess to using steroids prior to either testing positive or having evidence/accusations of steroid use being brought against them. Until that first active player confesses before being caught, it's rather silly to get self-righteous about A-Rod waiting to confess until today.

[NYU 0]

You know what else is the kicker about A-Rod coming out today and saying that he used only in 2001, 2002, and 2003? We're supposed to believe that coincidentally, he decided to stop using steroids in the offseason after '03 when he was traded to the Yankees. So it was when he was making the biggest move in his life into the sports media capital of the world that he suddenly decided to stop taking the performance enhancers that had previously given him MVP numbers on a last place team? It makes no sense. No way do I believe he suddenly stopped using once the Rangers traded him, and it seems to me to be a clear-cut case of damage control more so for the Yankee organization than himself.

 

And besides, as naiwf has pointed out, we're supposed to take him at his word now that these are the only years he used? Really? When he previously lied on national television before about whether he used? Has he even addressed the fact that he lied about it? As far as I'm concerned, his credibility as far as anything is completely shot.

[Brett Favre 0]

Well, 2003 is when he got caught, so I'd figure he'd stop.

[Guest]

Another plausible explanation is that he stopped because he was just given a humongous contract.

[NYU 0]

One thing to add to the "why did he wait until he got caught?" nonsense, is there still hasn't been a single active player to confess to using steroids prior to either testing positive or having evidence/accusations of steroid use being brought against them. Until that first active player confesses before being caught, it's rather silly to get self-righteous about A-Rod waiting to confess until today.

 

No, it's not about that. It's about that he had previously been asked the question and he knowingly lied about it. Agreed, there hasn't been an active player to come out and do that yet, but that doesn't change the fact that A-Rod has absolutely ruined his credibility by tackling this issue with Katie Couric the way he did. Once you take that stand and deny you took steroids, whether it's before or after the accusation has been hurled at you, you better be prepared for the consequences. Rafael Palmeiro learned it when he took that big, dramatic stand before Congress and we later learned he was a liar. Roger Clemens learned it when he decided to sue McNamee for defamation only to realize oops, he's not really that innocent after all. And A-Rod is learning it now. I don't see it as being self-righteous but just being annoyed that in this case, A-Rod would have been perfectly fine coasting to the home run record knowing this blemish existed in the background and knowing that he lied on national television in order to prevent anyone from finding out. Especially because, at this point, he has made a career of making bush-league moves both on the field and off.

[Brett Favre 0]

I still don't understand where you and naiwf are getting at. No one is calling A-Rod a saint. He did steriods, got caught, admitted it, now what? AARGH A-ROD FOREVER! Is that what's hot in the streets now? Please.

[naiwf 0]

Well, 2003 is when he got caught, so I'd figure he'd stop.

 

But he said that he didn't even know what drug he got caught for. You'd think if you failed a piss test, you'd know why.

 

I'm just tired of Yankees fans wanting to declare their admitted juicers good guys because they admitted they juiced after they got caught. What other option is there? I don't give a shit if a cheater feels remorse when their reputation is damaged. The only thing that's more annoying than the damage control, is the people who want to act like it's OK because they looked really sad when reading a script from their PR person.

[Brett Favre 0]

Obviously he was using more than one substance.

[NYU 0]

Another plausible explanation is that he stopped because he was just given a humongous contract.

 

Doubt it. For someone who worries about public opinion as much as he does, it's counterproductive for him to stop taking steroids immediately after being given such a huge contract and being traded to the biggest team in baseball.

 

Well, 2003 is when he got caught, so I'd figure he'd stop.

 

These results were never supposed to come out. He tested positive without so much as a slap on the wrist, and the penalties for steroid use weren't increased until the beginning of 2005. There were so many holes in the testing policy in 2004 that A-Rod could have easily found his way around it for that year if he wanted to. Obviously, I don't believe he's using performance enhancers anymore or has since the harsher testing started. But I also don't believe for a second that he essentially stopped using for the entire '04 year on little more than he just wanted to be honest.

[NYU 0]

I still don't understand where you and naiwf are getting at. No one is calling A-Rod a saint. He did steriods, got caught, admitted it, now what? AARGH A-ROD FOREVER! Is that what's hot in the streets now? Please.

 

Now what? His records are tainted. He used performance enhancing drugs. And he lied about it. So now, his credibility is shot both professionally and personally. Case closed. That's my point in a nutshell.

 

Zoo, just for my own interest, do you have this same attitude about everybody in the steroid era? I don't just mean the Yankees. I mean McGwire and Bonds and Palmeiro. Is this just something that should be brushed aside and forgotten about for ALL players that have been accused of steroids, denied it or pleaded the fifth, and then been found lying later on?