Before we talk about A-Rod, I wanted to talk briefly about another cheater, Lance Armstrong, who has met his own reckoning this week. The last time we talked about Lance, he was letting his girlfriend take the fall for his hit and run. Lance just pled guilty to careless driving and paid a nominal fine. But! We’re seeing results in his doping scandal, finally, for which he has been unrepentant. Lance has been ordered to pay $10 million to the sports insurance industry that funded his Tour de France bonuses. I doubt they’ll ever see their money.
Another doper, Alex Rodriguez, is preparing to make a comeback after a season suspension from the New York Yankees. A-Rod took performance enhancing drugs from (at least) 2010-12. He apologized yesterday in a letter released to ESPN:
“I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season. I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. To Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you, the fans, I can only say I’m sorry. I accept the fact that many of you will not believe my apology or anything that I say at this point. I understand why and that’s on me. It was gracious of the Yankees to offer me the use of Yankee Stadium for this apology but I decided the next time I am in Yankee Stadium, I should be in pinstripes doing my job.”
[From ESPN]
That’s a decent, PR-written apology. Maybe he’s owning up to his mistakes and regrets his actions? Suckers. ESPN magazine just published an in-depth interview with A-Rod, who made several off-the-cuff statements about his PED use. Among them, A-Rod believes he didn’t really dope because whatever he took didn’t make his game better. He thinks he was supplied with a placebo. Really! “Only me. Only a dope like me would do that stuff and have the two worst statistical seasons of my career.” Yeah, he’s not really taking responsibility.
Page Six is calling bullsh*t on A-Rod’s mea culpa letter. They point out that Alex wants to be recognized for apologizing but he also wants to be seen as an innocent. What a douche. Even if (and that’s a big IF) A-Rod only took a placebo, he fully intended to cheat his way to a better baseball performance.
There’s a special place in Xenu’s volcano for pro athletes who dope. It’s a widespread problem, and the news keeps on coming. The female winner of last year’s Boston Marathon, Rita Jeptoo, was caught doping too. I guess these athletes are tempted by the money rewards, but it bugs. Real competitors were knocked down by Lance, A-Rod, Rita, and their needles.
Photos courtesy of WENN
Geez, what a d*ck. S’okay to cheat if you don’t win. Gotta remember that one.
A-Roid is not only a cheater, he’s a sore loser. the only thing he’s sorry about is that he got caught and had to be out for a year. even most Yankee fans I know LOATHE him and would like to see him gone.
this is a guy who tried to knock a ball out of someone’s glove as he ran by, he called “I got it!” when the other team had two players navigating a pop-up, hoping they’d both think the OTHER guy said it and back off…and he has lied repeatedly about his cheating. he’s a smug jerk.
Its a dumb move, and he doesn’t seem like a nice guy. But Armstrong is still the worst, he didn’t just cheat he tried to destroy the lives of anyone who might expose him.
His apology does indeed sound PR written. Bummer that he’s coming back to the Yankees and baseball, he’s a blight on the game. I hope he’s prepared to be booed every time he’s at bat.
Everybody does it, it seems. Really turns me off professional sports and athletes.
I feel the same way. I haven’t kept up with or cared much about pro sports in a while.
Dear Alex, remember the 2004 ALCS? Remember Game 6? Remember the 8th inning when you hit the ball and started down the first baseline? Remember Bronson Arroyo caught the ball and came to tag you out? Remember what you did, Alex? Do you remember how you slapped Bronson, knocked the ball out of his glove and you and Jeter kept running? Do you remember how you got called for “INTERFERENCE” and the referee ruled you out? You cheated then, Alex. You are a cheater. You always cheat.
mentioned that incident above. he’s such dirty player.
Yup. He is the WORST of the worst.
And he slapped MY Bronson Arroyo!
Missed a whole season, but still will get 10s of millions more than most people could dream of. Hope he gets lots of boos in this season.
Exactly, it’s ridiculous.
Are we sure it wasn’t just a joke about the placebo? Like, yeah, I took illegal substances but I got punished by sucking?
He seemed like such a sweetheart when he was playing for Seattle. It still surprises me how little time it took him to become a lying jerk once he started playing for the Yankees (no shade intended to Yankee fans-I think that it is just what being in the big time does to some people).
You know… I’m not big on the Yankees overall, but A-Rod was far from sweet when he left Seattle behind for the (then) biggest contract in baseball to play for a Rangers. He’s money focused, always has been, always will be. This cannot be associated for me with the Yankees organization or the big time – this guy has ALWAYS been a POS.
No? But looks like it sucked up and shrunk your brain!
“It’s OK that I stabbed this guy cos he didn’t actually die”
Actions are what count, with or without their intended consequences. Own up, kiddo.
Love the wording: “mistakes” makes it sound like a temporary lapse, not an ongoing willful disregard for the rules of the game.
He should have stopped at “I regret my actions.” And, honey, you’re lucky to be saying that you “decided” anything about the future of you showing your face in Yankee stadium. Oh, I think this was crafted word-for-word by his PR people. How on earth are my children going to learn to play by the rules when they see examples like this all around them?