“The more interesting story to me as a journalist is, who leaked A-rod’s name and who are the other 103?”

Agreed, and I have a feeling we’ll be finding those names out in due time. There are a lot of ball players losing sleep…

A great analysis of Alex Rodriguez trying to be humble in his admission — but sounding egotistical in that he wanted to make sure he was sorry to his fans and that he wanted to continue being the great player he is.

It was obvious that he was up all night practicing his lines. And yet, he really blew it by throwing Celina Roberts under the bus and meandering on too long. The more he tried to be sorry and deny any hard feelings about the union, the less believable he was.

But in A-rod’s defense: Given the environment, knowing you could recover from injuries quicker and perhaps get the edge over a roid enraged fast ball pitcher, I would have done it. And so would anyone who wanted to remain competitive in his field.

Yes, A-rod should get into the Hall of Fame — as should others of that era as long as there is an explanation about the steroid-use at that time.

The more interesting story to me as a journalist is, who leaked A-rod’s name and who are the other 103?

Alex Rodriguez is the best player in baseball today and has been for the last decade, and whenever he’s up to the plate, you better believe I’m watching every pitch delivered in his direction.

I think if we step back and try to take our emotions out of the equation, I think we begin to realize that there isn’t much of a way for ARod to escape the critism, the comments, and the boos heading in his direction for the remainder of his career…unless he comes fully clean.

Am I happy he admitted to using steroids? Yes, ecstatic.

Do I sympathize that he took steroids under a lot of pressure? Certainly. But isn’t that the same argument given as to why someone would hold up a bank? Or financially fraud investors? They were just under monetary pressures from family, work, and the culture they lived in to produce (in this case obtaining money for everyday needs; in Alex’s case obtaining performance for reputation needs).

Rodriguez isn’t going to get out of the questioning by sidestepping answers forever if he wants to maintain his reputation (see Mark McGwire). The way that I envision him getting past this mess is to attempt to right the wrong. Truly give back to the kids and community by spreading steroid awareness, whether its through financial means or with his time. Beyond that prove that he’s clean from here on out by giving an unprecedented amount of transparency with his testing results and try to foster a culture of honesty among Major League Baseball’s athletes by having them buy into a similar program.

Would it cost money? Certainly.

Would it improve the game of baseball? Yes.

Would people forgive ARod if he gave an honest effort to clean the game up? I think so and every fan would appreciate the effort.

He took a good first step, but he has to be open because one way or another the lawyers and the reporters are going to continuously question and even unfairly stalk him until whatever information he is trying to hide inevitably leaks and his reputation takes a permanent hit.

You make some excellent points in your comments. I don’t doubt for one second that the environment and the time were a major reason why ARod ended up taking steroids. I just think he should have focused a little less on counting out his excuses and more on his apology. And as I said in the post, I give him credit for facing the music, and I realize there are probably legal reasons for him not saying more. I just felt, and this was simply my own personal gut reaction while watching, that he was trying to claim he was being totally honest without actually being totally honest.

There is a time and a place to discuss the allegations he made about Selena Roberts, but I don’t think his initial apology on the matter is the right time. And it makes no sense for him to say that he is happy the truth is out there, and then diss Roberts, when the only reason he is coming out now is because he was backed into a corner. He is being inconsistent. He deserves some credit for speaking out, but only because the bar has been set so low by guys like McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens, etc, who have either lied endlessly or just stayed quiet.

I just don’t really see where he has a leg to stand on to blame anybody here. We all know that everyone in baseball was doing it, but it does not make it right. Personally speaking, I would have been much more apt to make ARod’s excuses for him had he simply accepted blame and not tried to subtlely divert attention elsewhere.

And let’s face reality here, these “journalists” are practically stalkers in these times, that’s how they make their money. Almost all of them. You really believe every denial she’s made? She’s a sports journalist, she makes a living stabbing people in the back. They’re borderline paparazzi.

I am no A-Rod apologist by any means, but some of you guys are ridiculous. You really expect him to just bend over and take it all? Of course he’s been coached up and going to try to deflect some of the heat. After all, he’s going to be in the public spotlight for another decade or so. Use some common sense here.

You’re extremely naive if you don’t attribute some of it to the times, or don’t expect him to do so. Friends of mine who’ve been around college baseball tell me how rampant it was… which is far more prevalent than any of you realize.

Anyhow, I am pleased he admitted to using something, even if he didn’t go into detail. He was still far more open than Giambi and didn’t try to candy coat it like Pettitte did, yet no one talks about either of them much anymore.

How do we know he’s being honest now? We don’t, but how the hell do we know Albert Pujols isn’t on ‘roids or HGH? Because he hasn’t gotten caught, yet. So while you all label guys like Ryan Howard and Mr. Pujols “clean players” and say A-Fraud is merely sorry for getting caught, just remember, you’re only riding the others and giving them the benefit of the doubt because they haven’t been caught. As of now.

So take a look in the mirror, you’re judging this guy more than every other person, because of whatever reason. Maybe you don’t like him, maybe you envy him, hell… maybe the Madonna thing freaks you out (it sure freaks me out), but he’s no worse than anyone else in this era. He played on the same, level (albeit juiced) playing field as the others, and he was still better than everyone else.

yeah, to be perfectly honest I just felt like he was being pretty disingenuous with all the stuff he was saying about “helping the kids” and all that. I’m sure there is a part of him that believes that, but I also heard an interview with Dick Vitale yesterday morning in which he said he was so disappointed that ARod had changed over the last few years and was not the same person, nor as involved with things like youth programs as he had been. We all know that Dickie V is prone to hyperbole and dramatics, but the point is noted. The thing is, ARod’s actions moving forward will prove the truth. If he refuses to answer questions or talk openly about his PED use moving forward, then yesterday’s interview was about trying to save face and do damage control, and nothing more.

If he is genuine, then he will use his situation to shine a light on steroids in baseball that has never been available before — to help clean up any lingering problems, and to set an example for kids.

We’ll see. It’s too soon judge him on this, but I think you’re right about the booing. He’s already sensitive and can go into mental slumps. His talent will probably allow him to overcome it and put up the #’s, but I doubt he can ever be part of a championship team in New York. Too much pressure, and he won’t be able to escape this story for a long time, if ever.

After watching it again, you really wish he would have answered the questions fully rather than merely re-reading the script he came up with before the interview. It’s great that he admitted taking something, but it was by no means a full admission. If he’s honest about cleaning up the sport, he’s got to come clean and transparent about everything and he certainly didn’t. He knows who he got the stuff from and he has at least some idea of what he took. That will not be the last time he hears those questions anytime soon, I’m sure he’ll have a date with Katie Couric at some point soon.

The boo’s are going to knock him out of the sport well before he goes out on his own terms.

He’s got a long way to go if wants to help out himself, those who look up to him, and the sport of baseball.