Yesterday it seemed like many Yankees fans were pleased with A-Rod's press conference. It's understandable where those feelings came from. Most fans, including myself, just want this story to go away.
But not the media.
As you can see below there were not many rave reviews coming from around the web this morning.
- The New York Times says there are too many inconsistencies in A-Rod's story.
- Jon Heyman also thinks A-Rod needs to get his story straight.
- Joel Sherman isn't buying it either.
- Neither can a lot of doctors and sports drug/medicine experts according to Brian Costello.
- Richard Sandomir thought it was painful to watch.
- Mark Feinsand of the Daily News thinks the press conference was a joke.
- Bob Raismann thinks people will see through A-Rod's performance.
- Apparently body language experts think the whole thing was a staged act.
- Jayson Stark thinks A-Rod opened the door to more questions with his answers.
- Hal Bodley agrees and thinks many questions were left unanswered.
- George King also believes A-Rod's responses lead to more questions.
- Sweeny Murti can't buy A-Rod's pleas of ignorance.
- Mike Vaccaro says A-Rod must think we're all fools.
- Bob Klapisch thinks A-Rod is afraid of the truth.
The list above is why I had a problem with the lack of follow up questions, his talk about his cousin, and his claim that he didn't know if it worked but still used it for three years. You had to know this was what it was going to lead to.
You don't have to read all this stuff, a lot of them are saying the same things anyway. But just be warned, the media is not going to let this story die anytime soon.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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9 Comments:
Disgusting reaction by the media. The media need to get lives. A-Rod should refuse to answer any more questions regarding the subject. He had his press conference. It's over.
funny thing - my fiance made me watch american idol last night and there was a girl from PR on it. she was with her "cousins" but they were not really her cousins, she said that that was just what they call friends that were not really family. I know DR and PR are different places but there are many similarities. who cares. PLAY BALL!
What exactly did people expect from A-Rod....unrehearsed answers....we thought he was gonna go into the interviews blind....A-Rod is fighting for his life and admitting as much as he has is a big step in the right direction...I feel bad for A-Rod sure he fu*ked up but he didn't kill anyone he didn't hurt anyone's family and he didn't steal people's life savings, people hate him b/c he is a freakish athlete who they are jealous of....I might sound like I love A-Rod here and that's far from the truth, but I don't hate him for the mistakes he's made I hate him cuz he hits a buck fifty in the playoffs.....
Honestly, my initial reaction at end of press conference was, "already?". I thought Alex should have said, "no, no, please, there are a lot more questions that I am willing to answer; I'll stay here as long as the questions keep coming."
Given that A-Rod is damned if he talks, damned if he doesn't (admittedly, largely b/c of himself, but also b/c of the bloodlust of the mob portion of the fan base and the media), I must admit that I am now inclined to agree with the afterthought advice of Joel Sherman (even though he is also one of those persisitent nit-pickers):
In retrospect - again, 20-20 hindsight - Rodriguez probably just should have stepped to a microphone and said something like:
"Everyone knows what I did now. Everyone has a good idea of when I did it. It occurred during a time in baseball that was the Wild West when it came to steroids, there were ambiguous laws, hardly any sheriffs and a rampant belief that crime paid. That is not an excuse. It is an explanation. Because I am guilty. I knew it was the wrong thing to do and I did it anyway. And now I am paying a huge price for being guilty and I should pay a huge price. Nothing I have accomplished in my career before today or after today will ever be looked at the same. And I am someone who wanted to be looked at as the greatest player ever and break the all-time homer record with no strings attached. That is gone now because of the foolish, illegal things I did. That shame will haunt me forever and I feel that penalty is steep enough. So I am not going to let myself become a piñata for every lingering question about a mistake I am admitting. I know myself well enough that I will create more questions than answers. I also know that I every time I open my mouth I not only hurt myself, but cause a distraction to my team and the only completely pure thing I can do now in my career is win championships moving forward. So I am going to shut my mouth for at least the rest of this year. I will not talk about steroids or home runs or the upcoming series in Kansas City to anybody from a blogger in Des Moines to Katie Couric. I will just try to play great and try even harder not to be a detriment to winning. So this is it for any comments in 2009. I took steroids. My life is soiled forever for that stupidity. I am going to try like heck for the rest of my career and life to do better."
He then should have taken no questions and walked away from the podium. He would have gotten beat up in a lot of media circles for that. But I believe he also would have been praised in many places for the combination of admitting the mistakes plus standing up for his rights not to participate in his own public flogging. More important, he would have avoided being A-Rod: Which is to say listening to that horrible p.r. man in his head and making matters worse with just about every unsatisfactory answer given.
And then when media types don't leave him alone, Alex could stick a long finger up in their face. He might actually win some respect that way.
Oh, and it is probably worth noting that some thought Alex did alright yesterday, including Buster Olney.
Should of let New York while you had your chance. The New York media will never let it go soon.
Wow,I've been saying a lot of bad stuff of A-rod lately.
It's very interesting gauging the stark contrast in reaction to A-Rod's press conference between the New York media and the fans. The media feel cheated, and rightly so, because (a) A-Rod failed to answer most of their questions and (b) they weren't allowed to press him further through follow-up questions. Yankees fans can see what should be one of the most exciting seasons for many a year being marred by the whole A-Roid issue. What A-Rod really needs is another big story to break to knock him off the front/back pages. Anyone know another big-name player on that list of 104?
release the list, its only fair, and then there will be stories. Who is the leak? Why doesn't that person come forward?
Arod's life story- you can build a thousand walls but if you suck one cock you're a cocksucker
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