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Alex Rodriguez stepped to the microphone and offered apologies and a somewhat uneven admission as he tried to put his past use of steroids behind him. While A-Rod admitted that he was injected with a substance two times a month for three years, he claims that he did not know that it was a steroid at the time.
"I didn't think they were steroids. That's part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter. It was pretty basic. It was amateur hour.... It was two guys doing a very amateur thing ... All these years I never thought I did something wrong."He said he “knew he wasn’t taking tic tacs’” but also that he didn’t know what the affects of his usage would be. He said his cousin was the one who suggested using it and got it for him, but he refused to name his cousin. Here's his statement:
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Alex was clearer about a number of other things. He denied that he has ever used HGH and reiterated that his steroid use was only from 2001-2003 a period where he describes himself as “young and stupid”. He also recognized that he “screwed up big time”, but asked everyone to judge him from this day forward. And with that he left the stage after about 30 minutes of questions.
Will any of this help A-Rod’s reputation? His claims of being young and stupid and his laments that he didn’t know any better ring hollow, but perhaps it is the truth. He mentioned that he will work with the Taylor Hooten Foundation and they have issued a strong statement in support of him. Perhaps he has turned the corner, but he shouldn’t expect the questions to die down anytime soon. Especially since Selena Roberts, the reporter who co-wrote the story, has a book coming out on A-Rod in April.
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Hooton with an O.
MoveOn
Also.. Rodriguez is spelled wrong
Everyone in baseball has been on the juice for a decade, and they've been finding ways to cheat since the 1800s. So the playing field's just as level as it's ever been.
I can't stand A-Rod, but I don't give a shit that he did steroids, and he's still the best statistical player of his generation.
I disagree.
What evidence is there that Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron cheated?
The notion that baseball is a game of individual statistics makes ARod's numbers all the more tainted by his steriod use.
There's reams of evidence that pitchers have doctored balls for over a hundred years, that there was massive amphetamine use in the 60s and 70s amongst major leaguers, and that in general pro athletes have always looked for any way to get an edge over the competition.
That said: I did say A-Rod was the best player "of his era" ... not ever. There are guys who played "the right way" who deserve recognition for it. But I personally really don't care that A-Rod took steroids because EVERYONE was taking steroids.
You can't compare different eras that easily. If you put a guy like A-Rod, even without the juice, up against the pitchers Babe Ruth was facing, A-Rod would launch 100+ homers a year. Just modern equipment and modern training methods would see to that, let alone anything shady.
err ... that comment was intended to reply to the people who were replying to me. Dunno what happened there.
So again Alex tells the world that he was a naive 25 year old that didn't know that steriods were illegal or that they would help his performance (despite the fact that he continued to use them).
I can't wait for the NY tabloids to dig up Alex' "cousin."
I'll agree with stupid, but being the 28-year-old $300 million man makes you neither young nor stupid. It does, however make you an asshole for expecting anyone to believe you.
Yeah, I don't buy the young stuff, BUT I do think people make bad decisions when they have a lot of money and lots of people in their orbit. So, being a 25-year-old with multimillions, an entourage, expectations, etc. sounds like a perfect storm of opportunity to make stupid decisions.
If arod did it for a few months I would buy what he said.
If something is not working you stop taking it. If the doctor gave you medicine and if it wasn't helping with your problem you try something else or stop taking it.
Arod wanted an extra boast in his performance and it probably did help him get some home runs. He should have just admitted he cheated.
But Alex isn't the stereotypical kid from the ghetto that makes it big overnight. At a young age, his agent introduced him to a team of finanical planners (even Warren Buffet), public relations firms, etc. Think of him as an athletic Jonas Brother.
I think of the Jonas Brothers as musical Alex Rodriguezes. On anti-growth hormones.
Does arod really think the public will buy he injected himself for 3 years without knowing what it was and if it worked!? The conference was a joke. It was just another chapter in the arod story.
Starting a press conference out by stating one question and NO follow ups stacked the deck in this joke of a press conference. You better believe that he will be asked about it all day tomorrow. I also couldn't figure out why they mysterious "cousin" was not identified?? Does A-Rod and the Yankee brass think this wouldn't begin an immediate man or woman hunt for their identity?
the yankees are dead to me. Giambi, pettit, clemens, Sheffield, and now A-rod. C'mon now! Just cling on to the 96-2000 yankees memories cause there is no way I'm supporting these roided up douchebags. Any person who supports the yankees now probably loves being cuckolded too.
I've been a baseball fan since I was 6. Am I supposed to stop watching the game now?
Clemens, Pettit, Jose Canseco, Jason Grimsley, and even Darryl Strawberry... all were on the team during those "glory years." Is their steroid, HGH, and drug use just forgiven during those years because they won a few championships?
It's not forgiven, but every team had players that were using performance enhancing drugs. (I'm not sure why you mention Strawberry here; he did coke in the 80s and had other problems after his career but he's not tied to steriod abusers).
The point was just that it's not the case that the Yankees of 1996-2000 were clean-cut schoolboys in comparison to today's team. I mentioned Strawberry just because he is famously not "clean," and made a distinction by inserting "even" before his name and mentioning the more general term "drug use." Not performance enhancing, but he was no All-American Boy.
Babyhitler listed five players and drew a comparison between the current team and those teams of "memories." Only two of those players are Yankees currently, and two of them were on the team during those years. So... what's the difference?
You're absolutely Right. Fuck the Yankees in general. Fuck 96-00. I'll take it for what it was when it was but I won't look back on it fondly anymore but I'll look back in anger. the sentiment that was attached to it has become grotesquely perverted. I never thought Simon And Garfunkel would be so right. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.
Joe was hopped on up sex from Marilyn Monroe. I'm not sure he could be considered clean.
"Fuck the Yankees in general"
You may as well go with "fuck baseball in general," because this really has nothing to do with the Yankees. Those five players you mentioned collectively have played for the A's, Astros, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Padres, Mariners, Dodgers, Braves, Tigers, Mariners, and Rangers. Twelve teams right there. And 104 players were on the list that Alex Rodriguez' name was on. Anyone who doesn't believe that this is about absolutely every team in baseball has their head in the sand.
The Yankees weren't, and aren't, immune to it but also are no more responsible for it or symptomatic of it than any other club.
that's right. FUCK BASEBALL IN GENERAL! It begins at the top. The MLB and bud selig allowed this to happen. Since the Knicks are dead to me also, I guess the only guy I've got to root for left is Roger Federer.
Fuck Roger Federer.
The whole thing was a farce. Saying you are sorry doesn't erase what you did. Allowing some relative to stick a needle in you for years is not being naive. It is premeditated. I am sure Aroid had a cluster of advisors who he could have easily asked if what he was doing was okay. There are trainers on each team who could have easily said sure the stuff is fine or no I can get you better shit. Saying you didn't go to college is hardly an excuse. George W. Bush went to college and we all know what an idiot he is.
I don't know how A-Rod can say that he was young and stupid and that he didn't know what he was taking, but at the time he took it, drug use was just the culture in baseball (as he did in the ESPN interview).
you people are taking this way too seriously..
waiting for the "zomg what about the children!!!"
I'm glad this kind of stuff never happened in pro football or other sports. It would be a big let down for the fans.
Have you heard of Lyle Alzado? He was a star for the Broncos and Raiders in the 70s-80s who toured schools throughout the country to discuss his steriod abuse after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Also, HGH is not tested in the NFL (or baseball). If the league did test, it's reasonable to think that many players would be caught.
I really don't care if he injects himself with moondust, as long as he can maybe DO SOMETHING in the post-season.
A-Roid joins a long list of people in the news lately that no integrity. It seems like owning up to the truth like an adult might be a better option. Personally I think he should be banned from the game for a year and all players should be forced to piss in a cup several times a season. This has disgraced the Yankees and will leave a mark for years if someone doesn't act on A-roid's conduct.
"It seems like owning up to the truth like an adult might be a better option"
How many of the 103 other players who failed the survey test -- and the unknown number who didn't fail that test in spite of using some kind of PED -- do you expect to do that before their names come out?
" This has disgraced the Yankees and will leave a mark for years if someone doesn't act on A-roid's conduct."
He wasn't a Yankee when he tested positive to this supposedly confidential and anonymous test, and at the time under the Collective Bargaining Agreement there was no penalty in place for using steroids. The Agreement, in fact, was modified before the testing to specifically state that there would be no sanctions. So, he can't be punished by the league and the Yankees can't be assigned the blame.
Does any of this make him any less of an overpaid dick? Nope not one bit... The Yankees took this pariah on and then resigned him after he opted out... The Yankees and Arod are meant for each other.
Any word on the trash heap of a team the Mets are putting together?
I wonder what would happen if A-Rod was caught taking bong hits???
NEW. ROLE. MODEL.
Does A-Rod's cousin know Andy Pettitte's dad?
Just move the Baseball Hall Of Fame to Vegas next door to the Elvis Wax Museum.