Apologies all Around from Giambi

Jason Giambi made his first public statements since grand jury testimony of his steroid use was leaked late last year. While Giambi said he was sorry that he let everyone down, there was no mention from him of steroids at all. There was no denial and no admission from Giambi with his statements, "I feel I let down the fans, I feel I let down the media, I feel I let down the Yankees, and not only the Yankees, but my teammates. I accept full responsibility for that, and I'm sorry." Giambi, on the advice of his lawyers and the warning of the United States attorney, did not talk about the BALCO case at all.

In his press conference, Giambi promised that he would work to rebuild his image and what he lost when the news broke, "The biggest thing is I understand how everybody feels - Little Leaguers to fans to everybody. I hope the message that the parents or even the kids understand is that, hey, this is a guy who's facing his problems, he's not running from them, and he's trying to overcome. And he's not quitting. I think that's what makes you a man." Perhaps not taking the steroids in the first place would have made him more of a man to begin with despite the big contract and notoriety.

The question is, will fans tell him to "stuff his sorry's in a sack" or will they love him again like they once did. We're sure many people will say no now, but what if he plays well? Does a sense of forgiveness start to creep into the picture?

Image by AP/Bill Kostroun via Newsday

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By tien mao on February 11, 2005 9:08 AM

Comments [rss]

Max

Naive? Cynical? Seems like everyone is doing the po-mo rationalization shuffle today.

It is not naivette to say "jee that guys looks freaking huge" and then be slammed by one and all as a cynic or what not, with excuses of "the balls are faster and harder", "year round conditioning", etc etc. OK, so you give the guy/team/sport the benefit of the doubt (which is not naivette). So when someone finally gets caught with his hands in the provebial cookie jar, you say we cannot freak out? Seems Bushian logic to me. I say raise hi hell and clean up the game. I enjoy the game, and like many do not consider myself a monster whose only interests are my own enjoyment or entertainment. These guys are harming themselves, their sport, their families, etc.

Sure everyboy does it, just like every government tortures people- shuffle shuffle shuffle....

toyochin

I think it's less naive than it is self serving. People are happy when they're breaking home run records and they have to know something's up, but they want to stay in denial.

It's not cheating fans care about. Where do you draw the line between steroids and supplements anyway? And very few people raised a stink when McGwire admitted he was using Andro when he broke the HR record.

It's not the players' health either. Fans don't care if players are shooting up cortisone to numb pain, even if it results in severe damage to the body, like Alonzo Mourning and his kidney. They don't care if football players are popping pain killers and getting hooked on them.

To me, that's cynical, not naive. Fans are saying "Entertain us, even if it kills you. Just don't tell me how you do it because we're happy in our illusions."

tien

sure, there is some naiveté involved, but you never want to hear that a pro athlete, someone who is revered by people, is using the juice or anything else.

MT

Does anyone really care if he did steroids? Doesn't this all seem a little over the top? The whole thing strikes me as extremely naive on teh part of the public.