Sports Illustrated Reports AROD Tested Positive for Steroids

[logan82]

I am tired of the marathon steroid coverage. A simple report would have been enough, but to make every minute of every hour coverage of steroids is just insane. I think it is just lazy programming. There isn't enough to do more than a few minutes on it. The worst part is all they talk about is the past.

 

I. Don't. Care.

 

Move on. Work on making things better in the future.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

It's refreshing to hear Michael Phelps and now A-Rod to take the blame for stupid decisions.

Big difference in my mind. Pot is not performance enhancing... and it won't harm his legacy, really, in any way...

 

A-Rod, however, is now a liar and a cheat...

[endaround]

It's refreshing to hear Michael Phelps and now A-Rod to take the blame for stupid decisions.

Big difference in my mind. Pot is not performance enhancing... and it won't harm his legacy, really, in any way...

 

A-Rod, however, is now a liar and a cheat...

 

Damn! I heard he was so counting on getting Saint Hood in 2113!

[craigharmann]

It's refreshing to hear Michael Phelps and now A-Rod to take the blame for stupid decisions.

Big difference in my mind. Pot is not performance enhancing... and it won't harm his legacy, really, in any way...

 

A-Rod, however, is now a liar and a cheat...

True, pot is not performance enhancing....still a stupid decision. That's my point. You do something stupid, stand up for it. So far with the "major" names thrown out there regarding steroids, we've gotten finger waving denials (oops Raffy), "I'm not here to talk about the past", and other denials. I'm not excusing A-Rod by any stretch. He's wrong, a cheat, and all of my thoughts regarding him have been affirmed. However, my point was that it's refreshing to hear, in a world where blame is quickly passed on to someone or something else,

someone stand up and take the blame for what they've done.

[RU Rah Rah]

I am not arguing the pro or con of A-Rod in the HOF, but how can he get in when McGwire is getting only 20-ish percent of the vote now? By the time A-Rod is eligible (let's say, I dunno, 2015), McGwire will have been rejected a bunch of times. There will be strong perceived precedent for rejecting these guys. I'm having a hard time imagining some sportwriter saying, "Well, I didn't vote for McGwire for the last 10 years, but now I am going to turn around and vote for A-Rod."

 

(Again, making the point purely on voter logic, not the inherent merits, either way.)

[endaround]

Except Bonds will be in by then. The thing with Bonds is we know when Bonds started using almost to the day and he was in the hall already.

[Patrick425]

I am not arguing the pro or con of A-Rod in the HOF, but how can he get in when McGwire is getting only 20-ish percent of the vote now? By the time A-Rod is eligible (let's say, I dunno, 2015), McGwire will have been rejected a bunch of times. There will be strong perceived precedent for rejecting these guys. I'm having a hard time imagining some sportwriter saying, "Well, I didn't vote for McGwire for the last 10 years, but now I am going to turn around and vote for A-Rod."

 

(Again, making the point purely on voter logic, not the inherent merits, either way.)

 

Do you think it makes any difference (or should make any difference) that he came right out and confessed? I always thought of Pete Rose had come out and just owned up to his gambling and apologized right away that his relationship with Giamatti and Selig would have been much differnent. He may have had the ban lifted. Not sure if it would have been enough to get him in the HOF, but he would have at least had a chance.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

I agree with you CH, but if we want to get technical, he only owned up to it when he got caught.

 

He made a pretty emphatic denial on 60 minutes a couple of years back. Raffy-style. And even added ego to it by basically saying "I'm so good I don't need that stuff". What a tool that guy is...

 

And Endaround - while your sarcasm is appreciated, forgive me if I actually like a little character and honesty in my baseball stars. I'm sick and tired of people shrugging their shoulders and saying it's really not a big deal - it's a cop out. It's a cop out because people just figure it's easier to take that stance than be disappointed. Meanwhile, hardworking, clean guys were denied a shot, were denied bigger salaries, and were denied accolades because these losers were cheating.

 

Three years or not, I'll see as much integrity in whatever records A-Rod sets as those Barry set. None.

[kramnoj]

How far have we come from a few years ago when Jason Giambi apologized for whatever it was he did that he wouldn't specifically say, while everyone knew what he was apologizing for and now, Mr. Perception, A-Rod ADMITS taking steroids?

 

I don't think it shows that anything has changed. I think it is more to do with the time frame involved and federal laws. Alex is admitting to things that took place 6 years ago. I believe that the statute of limitations for this is 5 years. That is why McGwire wouldn't talk about anything when he was in front of Congress. There is a report that he went to the comittee and would have talked more if he had been given immunity, but they wouldn't do that for him.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

He did lie about it. He did not come clean:

 

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

And, while I'm ranting about it - A-Rod is trying to shift the blame in his admission by talking about how it was a "loose culture" back then, etc., etc.

 

I don't care what the culture was like. I don't care what the pressure was. You know that you're putting something in your body that may or may not give you an unfair advantage. That is cheating.

[RU Rah Rah]

I am not arguing the pro or con of A-Rod in the HOF, but how can he get in when McGwire is getting only 20-ish percent of the vote now? By the time A-Rod is eligible (let's say, I dunno, 2015), McGwire will have been rejected a bunch of times. There will be strong perceived precedent for rejecting these guys. I'm having a hard time imagining some sportwriter saying, "Well, I didn't vote for McGwire for the last 10 years, but now I am going to turn around and vote for A-Rod."

 

(Again, making the point purely on voter logic, not the inherent merits, either way.)

 

Do you think it makes any difference (or should make any difference) that he came right out and confessed? I always thought of Pete Rose had come out and just owned up to his gambling and apologized right away that his relationship with Giamatti and Selig would have been much differnent. He may have had the ban lifted. Not sure if it would have been enough to get him in the HOF, but he would have at least had a chance.

That will be the argument, I think -- the he is coming clean and not continuing to lie about it. Of course, he has only done this after being exposed, and after he has repeatedly lied about it.

 

I also wonder about how he's going to play from now on. He doesn't have the sturdiest psyche, and this could really mess him up. (Or he could go nuts trying to prove everyone wrong. You just don't know.)

[MJLiverock]

I think we are quickly finding out it wasn't really much of an advantage to be using steroids since everyone in the leauge was doing it. I just don't care anymore when a guy gets named simply because it was so prevelant that the argument that a few guys ruined baseball is just going to be proven wrong.

 

I liked Buck Showalter's comments this morning on ESPN radio when asked if he ever noticed players and thought they were juicing. Showalter said he thought about it in pitchers first, specifically relief pitchers. He said he noticed guys still had their best and nasty stuff even after working 3 straight days.

 

Everyone gets so caught up in HR hitters but forgets that pitchers have been the most likely benefactors of steroids and HGH. As a percentage of players the pitchers have had the highest rate of suspension for banned substances. It made me wonder about how pitching staffs will be affected going forwad since the rise of the specialty reliever coincided with the 80's and 90's when steroids really started to take off. How many of these guys are really going to be able to work effectively for 3 straight days, have a day off, and work 3 straight days again all through the season without the juice?

[Fatter than Joey]

I am not arguing the pro or con of A-Rod in the HOF, but how can he get in when McGwire is getting only 20-ish percent of the vote now?

 

I don't think McGwire is the slam-dunk HOF candidate that AROD is.

 

Also, I think that the reason that a lot of voters are not voting for McGwire right now, is that they are waiting to get a bigger picture of "the steroid era". McGwire was on the front end of all the drama -- Knowing that you cannot remove a player from the HOF, I'd probably err on the side of caution with any player of this era, and see how the big picture develops.

 

I bet that in 3-5 years, as more and more players get "discovered", the voters will soften their stance.

[RU Rah Rah]

I bet that in 3-5 years, as more and more players get "discovered", the voters will soften their stance.

Certainly could happen, right? A lot could change, in terms of perception.

 

A couple of other things:

 

1.) How about that "Guitar Hero" commercial with A-Rod and Michael Phelps?

2.) I am not buying A-Rod's "geez, I don't really know what I took" explanation. He knew.

[craigharmann]

I bet that in 3-5 years, as more and more players get "discovered", the voters will soften their stance.

I sure hope that's far from the case. These players cheated to gain an advantage and better themselves. Without steroids, does Bonds break Hank's record? They cheated, plain and simple. It's not as easy as saying, well, these other guys did it, and this guy was better. Cheating is cheating.

[MessiahRp]

I bet that in 3-5 years, as more and more players get "discovered", the voters will soften their stance.

Certainly could happen, right? A lot could change, in terms of perception.

 

A couple of other things:

 

1.) How about that "Guitar Hero" commercial with A-Rod and Michael Phelps?

2.) I am not buying A-Rod's "geez, I don't really know what I took" explanation. He knew.

I'm not either. I'm also not buying he only did PEDs from 2001-2003 and I'm also not buying that he, like many others, just didn't switch to HGH which they knew they'd never be tested for. The guy lied straight to Katie Couric's face on national TV. What is to say he's telling the truth now?

 

Rp

[RU Rah Rah]

I'm not either. I'm also not buying he only did PEDs from 2001-2003 and I'm also not buying that he, like many others, just didn't switch to HGH which they knew they'd never be tested for. The guy lied straight to Katie Couric's face on national TV. What is to say he's telling the truth now?

It's what I find so absurd about the coverage that this is getting on TV. Nearly everyone is saying, "Well, at least it's good that he's coming clean and telling the truth." How in the world do we know that's even remotely true? Doesn't he have a colossal credibility problem?

[iluvlamp]

RayGrill-

 

" I don't care what the culture was like. I don't care what the pressure was. You know that you're putting something in your body that may or may not give you an unfair advantage. That is cheating."

 

Wouldn't there be MORE pressure going to the Yankees? I think he's full of it.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

exactly

[TooLiveBrew]

Doesn't he have a colossal credibility problem?

 

You don't choose the nickname "A-Fraud". It chooses you!

[JJHardy7]

I know I'll be in the minority here, but oh well...here goes. I do not think what A-Rod did is right. I do think MLB needs to take some of the blame. Making money took over and IMO MLB turned away from it. Teams were making money, players were making money, and baseball was making money. Again, I'm not saying A-Rod did the right thing, but I have to imagine that if I was in that position I might try it. Knowing what we know from the outside, I wouldn't do it now, but at the time I might have been willing to try and match what everyone else was doing.

 

I wish the steroid era never happened, but I would be very interested to see the impact of a player on steroids vs. off steroids. Steroids aren't going to make you an all-star, MVP, or even keep you in the league. It's sad that the top players (A-Rod, Bonds, Mac) used the juice. IMO A-Rod and Bonds had natural talent to begin with...it's not like they were scrubs (Brady Anderson).

[giffted1]

I guess admitting his use puts him a step above the creeps who still vehemently deny using PEDs, but he's still a creep. He lied about his use in the past on national TV and I wouldn't be surprised if he's just switched to a substance that can't be tested or isn't tested.

[brewtank34]

whatever Arod....you would have never said anything about this if the story never came out. How sorry can you really be?

[JJHardy7]

whatever Arod....you would have never said anything about this if the story never came out. How sorry can you really be?

 

As this list grows (the other 103 will come out IMO), you'll have 103 more players who never said anything and probably have lied about in some shape or form.

 

Why would A-Rod tell the truth about in 2007? From a fan's view, this sucks and I guess I understand why some here feel the way they do. From a player's perspective, I really don't have a huge problem with what he did. He pretty much got screwed with his name being the only one that came out and the union will take a lot of heat about this before it's all said and done. As a player, you could do something to recover quicker and your opponents are doing it too. I don't think A-Rod 'didn't know' what he was taking. He knew what it was, but he knew his competition was doing it also. Based on the numbers, there were probably 3 Brewers on that list from 2003. Why didn't they come forward and tell the truth? Has any current baseball player came forward before it got to the press?