…And I emerge from the mist…
I’m jumping on the bandwagon. For the majority of its time as a hot topic, I’ve been fairly neutral on the whole steroid controversy. Obviously I disapprove of the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but as far as the anger and discussion goes, I’ve mostly stayed out of it. I mostly accept that steroids were involved, most likely heavily, in baseball and I recognize there are now asterisks on certain records. This as an absolute shame, but nothing that fired me up.
That is, until I watched Alex Rodriguez’s press conference on Tuesday. I didn’t even mean to see it. I was at the gym, and the television was tuned to CNN, which broadcast the circus. As I watched A-Rod “apologize” and answer questions, my blood pressure began to rise, and it had nothing to do with the treadmill I was on. I didn’t even know that talk of steroids could elicit the emotions that I felt on this day.
What a joke. There are a few things Rodriguez could have said that would have allowed me to continue in my blissful ability to avoid getting caught up i the ‘roid hype. Unfortunately, he said none of those things. Instead he took all of us for fools and insulted our intelligence. I previously had no extreme opinion of A-Rod. He was a superbly talented ballplayer with a knack for disappearing in the postseason. Everybody knew that. However, he has now revealed himself as a coward and a cheater, regardless of his steroid use.
First there was the statement that had to be written down for him to be able to read. Then there was a pathetic apology to his teammates, who, like most of us, were not fooled as they blankly stared at Rodriguez. Then there were the plain lies. Nobody with a body worth millions of dollars doesn’t know what he’s putting in his body. And everybody knows there are no performance enahncers that you can take a couple times a month. Steroids, much like any medication or drug, are administered multiple times every day. I don’t want to hear stories meant to humanize – how you wish you had gone to college to grow up and would advise your own children to do that, how you were a quarterback on your high school football team. Instead, start answering all the questions that you dodged by simply repeating the phrase “young and naive.” I’m 26. Am I as informed or wise as I will be 10, or even five, years from now? Of course not. But to tell me that a couple years ago – at the same age Rodriguez allegedly used the drugs – I was too young and dumb to realize what I was doing if I were taking steroids? Give me a break.
I find it humorous that A-Rod needed a posse of PR artists and personal managers to coach him into the farce that he executed on Tuesday. The answer to his problems should have been simple. The questions and the jeers and the public humiliation were going to stick no matter what he said. However, it all could have been minimized with about 30 seconds of words: “I’m sorry. I took performance-enahncing drugs and it was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it. I cheated myself, the fans and the game.” Instead he gave a flat apology, avoided certain questions and refused to say “I cheated.” Now he has villified himself beyond the realm of Bonds and Clemens, McGwire and Palmiero. Or at least joined them.
So the questions from the media and fans continue. But really, I think we’re all missing the boat. The question we really should be asking A-Rod is, “Alex, have you fooled yourself? Because you aren’t fooling any of us.”
