RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling how 'bout them yankees 2009 (cuz no other team matters!)

I don't understand why all these cheats are allowed in baseball and yet the greatest player to have played the game is banned for life and never has been shown to have cheated.

Telling the truth can be liberating, or so Alex Rodriguez would like us to believe.

With his confessional on national television now behind him, he can sleep easily at night without worrying about his darkest secrets being exposed. There will be no more twinges of conscience when he cashes his million-dollar paychecks, no lingering doubts when he visits his trophy room.

Best of all, he won't have to lie to Katie Couric anymore.

"The more honest we can all be, the quicker we can get baseball (back) to where it needs to be,'' Rodriguez said.

Never mind that Rodriguez was only being honest because he had no other choice. Sports Illustrated took care of that when it reported A-Rod was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Backed into a corner, he confessed. Sort of.

He admitted doing steroids, but said he didn't know what kind they were. He knew he was juiced, but claims he didn't know he tested positive.

He said he had no excuses, then offered them up by the fistful.

He was young. He was stupid. He was naive. Two hundred and fifty-million dollars creates a lot of pressure. It was a loosey-goosey era. They sell a lot of funny stuff at the nutritional store. It was really hot in Texas.

And what about that lady from Sports Illustrated? A stalker at best, and maybe a burglar, too.

"The truth will set you free,'' Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons. "I'm just proud I'm here sharing my story.''

And to think, Rodriguez almost didn't get the chance. If not for SI's Selena Roberts and her colleagues, he would still be on vacation, unable to unload his tortured thoughts to baseball fans everywhere.

He must have been ecstatic when they nailed him because the truth really can set you free.

Sure, A-Rod's admission that he did steroids for three seasons beginning in 2001 was more than we've ever gotten from Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens or even Jason Giambi. He deserves credit for coming clean about using steroids during a time he hit 156 home runs and had 395 RBI.

But remember that he lied about it in the past and never would have admitted using anything stronger than coffee if SI hadn't come looking. His only options then were to deny everything - a strategy that hasn't worked well for Bonds and Clemens - or throw himself on the mercy of fans who want desperately to forget.

Rodriguez chose to play the sympathy card, and he's likely to get some. He used the words "sorry,'' "stupid'' and "naive'' so many times some fans might actually be moved enough to overlook his arrogance and his big, fat paycheck.

Indeed, Gammons played along with a gentle line of questioning that included this blockbuster: "Can baseball ever be as much fun for you as when you were 22 or 23?''

But how about answering some questions that might come in high and inside?

Tell us who introduced you to steroids and how you got them. Explain exactly what they were and how much you took. Give us the date you started and the date you stopped. Tell us how many of your teammates did them, and whether you all shot up together in the clubhouse.

Explain why we should believe that you weren't juiced in Seattle if you were in Texas. Better yet, make us really believe the story of you laying on your bed and suddenly deciding to quit just as you were going to the Yankees.

While you're at it, give Rangers owner Tom Hicks the apology he deserves for giving $250 million to one big A-Fraud.

"I feel personally betrayed,'' Hicks said. "I feel deceived by Alex.''

Millions of other baseball fans do, too. They're the ones who counted on A-Rod restoring some legitimacy to the home run marks set by a juiced generation of sluggers. They're the ones who always assumed he was clean, and believed him when he assured Couric and baseball writers everywhere that he was.

The confession was a start, but there's a lot more to talk about. There are even some things to do.

Show us you're serious about the whole redemption thing by taking the lead in the steroid debate. Go out on road trips to schools and speak to kids about the dangers of all drugs.

Then take the $6 million bonus you get for reaching the home run marks of Willie Mays, Babe Ruth and others ($30 million in all) and donate half of it to steroid programs and the other half to building new ball fields for kids. You did, after all, sign for the money under false pretenses.

Spend the remaining nine years of your contract doing the type of things a role model should do.

Perhaps then we can start talking about the Hall of Fame.

see, i think this type of article ignores the problem. not that the author is wrong; there are some great points in there. namely; arod is a douche that used enhancement drugs. enhancing drugs not only damage the game, but also can lead to making you think madonna is currently a catch.

but all that aside, this article is wrong in that its puts all the focus on arod. "ah ha! here's our guy, trying to get away, but we wont let'em! we got'em!" meanwhile, this isn't the guy to "get". the author is actually doing what he says arod is: belittling the bigger issue.

the time for thinking that this is a 1, 5, or 10 person ordeal is waaay over. this is an issue that has directly affected or involved dozens or hundreds of the game's biggest names. singling out one or two is in many ways worse than pretending it didn't happen at all.

MLB is a fucking joke, top to bottom.

I'm still running the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league this year, though!

You were too loosey-goosey last year, never showing up and all!

So are you saying that the names of the other 103 players who tested positive should be revealed?

MLB is a fucking joke, top to bottom.

I'm still running the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league this year, though!

everyone should have been revealed or no one at all. But quite honestly what difference does it make now.....they should let this die asap.

I concur, though I think, once those names are revealed, that the next step is to investigate the owners'/union's complicity in steroid/HGH/PED use. Why should the players be forced to take the fall when everyone knows that the owners and union (at best) turned a willfully blind eye and (at worst) encouraged their use after 1994 to keep the fans they could've lost thanks to the strike.

also i disagree with you on who the guilty party is, these are adults not kids. ultimately the one who decided to inject it into their system t get an advantage is guilty. others may have created an environment of acceptance but as my grandma used to say just because all of your friends say its okay to jump off a bridge doesn't mean you should...

i'm just saying it's silly to think they're the only ones who are guilty.

but they are the only ones who are guilty in the sense of having their name tarnished. many players apparently did not take steroids, the ones who did should be named. especially if they are in the record books. they shouldn't be held to the same esteem as those who didn't.

I disagree that MLB is a joke. The NFL probably has about 95% steroid usage and is not even suspected by sports fans....now that is laughable.

Make it a head-to-head league an' I'm there!

I never took steroids for fantasy baseball, period!

If you have proof someone cheated it should be released. your position is if all the cheaters cant be caught dont name any. thats absurd. by your logic no one should ever be named in a crime as long as some people get away with it.

the crime analogy is silly, since criminals receive penalties when they break the law. that is not the case here, and that is the problem. the "law" is weak at best, with little-to-no enforcement, and the penalties are essentially non-existent. ignoring that is sticking your head in the sand, happy that giambi is the only cheat in the sport.

i am not advocating a free pass be given to the players who used drug enhancements. what i am saying is that the problem is larger than a handful of players, and it is absurd to think you can contain the issue to just them and be oblivious to the rest. that does nothing to address the problem with the era, or with the future.

the only definitive "proof" of drug use is from those who have volunteered to come forward and admit to doing it, themselves. that is a tiny subcategory of those who have been suspected, which is a tiny subcategory of those who have been named, which is a tiny subcategory of those involved in the problem in the first place.

barry bonds can go to trial and (easily?) win his case. there's no proof for mark mcgwire, none for sammy sosa, none (so far) for bonds or clemens. there's no proof for the hundreds of players who had statistically amazing years from the mid 90s to a few years back, no proof for the dozens of 35-40+ year-olds having unparalleled success, etc.

we got giambi. great.

the crime analogy is silly, since criminals receive penalties when they break the law. that is not the case here

actually there is proof, thats how a-rod got caught. have you followed this story at all? his admission came after he was named.