Alex Rod: A day later
Now, watching the press conference so I could live blog it, I saw someone who was really upset. So upset he almost started crying. (Just as a point of reference, I was never a big A-Rod guy. That's no secret. He was always saying stupid things and couldn't hit in the playoffs. I say this because it's important you know I'm not an A-Rod shill.) So he starts crying as he mentions his teammates. A-Rod, who has been accused of being a down right awful teammate, now almost cries while apologizing to them. Something is wrong here. I started thinking about a podcast I did with Shannon a few months back. We were talking about Britney Spears. We were talking about her recent comeback and her failed comeback a year ago. I said the only reason she made that comeback was because the media allowed her to do it. I think the same applies to this scenario.
Why do I think this? Very simple. After the Peter Gammons interview, people asked three simple questions. 1) Did you inject it. 2) Where did you get it? 3) Who got it for you / Did it with? All three of those questions were answered completely. So A-Rod doesn't want to give up his cousin. He flat out said, put the blame on my shoulders. Now, the Post is going to stalk all of A-Rods cousins because he juiced up with him? Come on. And you will read the article, cheering on the reporter as you smoke a joint and eat your coco pebbles.
Just know this has nothing to do with steroids. In my mind, what people did before the testing was in place was there problem and they will live with the consequences. Like when their kidneys and liver shut down. This is important for you to understand. EVERYONE was doing it. EVERYONE. It doesn't make it right, but it also doesn't make it right for us to single people out for public lynchings when the whole damn league was doing it. I would defend David Ortiz, David Wright, and Kenny Rogers the same way. Where I don't defend Kenny Rogers is when two times in the 2005 playoffs he got caught with pine tar on his hand and he was obviously loading the ball. No great out cry from the media, no word from MLB. That to me, is an even bigger joke then this spectacle.
I believe no matter what A-Rod said, follow up questions or not, the media wouldn't have allowed A-Rod to be off the hook. Their two pounds of flesh aren't enough. The story is too new, it's too sexy, it's too fun. Why drop it now? Keep going after him. That will sell papers and get internet hits. The only way this goes away, at least a little bit, is when Baseball starts. God, please let Baseball start.
I have said for years that A-rod gets way too much credit for how smart and articulate he is. I never saw it. I always thought he was slow and didn't realize half the things he was saying. However, in this situation, it was brilliance. I don't know if he intended this or not, but good luck finding his cousin. The Spanish community is a lot like the Italian community several decades ago. Do you know how many cousins A-Rod has? Probably close to 100. Have fun!
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