What a day. Squawker Jon has done a great job of going through the Alex Rodriguez-Peter Gammons interview and analyzing the details. Our friends at Big League Stew have a complete transcript with photos and hilarious commentary. And I have a few other thoughts after watching A-Rodapalooza:
* My standard of whether an athlete is kind of a big deal is when my mother has heard of him. A-Rod is such a big deal that President Obama talked about him in a press conference! Now that’s famous.
* Nice choice on Peter Gammons to do the interview. Peter, who was literally in the running to be president of Red Sox Nation last year, has slammed Alex hard in the past for, among other things, opting out during the World Series. It makes A-Rod look like he was willing to do a tough interview, even if Gammons wasn’t exactly fierce with the followups.
* I notice that the interview background looks all homey, with the flowers and the piano. A-Rod was trying for a cozy look with the sweater. He should have worn a Snuggie.
* Speaking of which, I give a thumbs-up to my new Snuggie. As a matter of fact, I am squawking while Snuggie-ing! What, do you think I could get my hands out of one of those complicated blankets in order to type? Please.
* What was the phrase back in Watergate? The modified limited hangout? That’s what A-Rod’s confession was. He volunteered more details than we would have expected, and more than any steroid user other than Jose Canseco did, but he still left a lot out. Shocker.
* The timeframe that A-Rod claimed to have take steroids is a bit self-serving – it doesn’t cover the Yankee years, of course, or the Seattle numbers he rang up in order to get that $252 million contract. He did pass all steroid tests since 2003, but why?
* Nor do I believe that a control freak like Alex, who literally plans out his meals days in advance, didn’t know exactly what performance-enhancing drugs he was putting into his body. C’mon, now. What is he going to say next – that he didn’t know that the hairdresser was coloring his hair when he went for a haircut?
* And was he really suggesting that Texas being a hundred degrees a day caused him to take steroids? Drinking frozen margaritas, maybe, but steroids? Maybe all that heat did something to his brain.
* A-Rod really, really doesn’t like Selena Roberts, or as he calls her, “the lady from Sports Illustrated.” I guess her writing that he was a slumlord last year didn’t exactly endear herself to him!
* Can somebody please tell A-Rod that the phrase is “couldn’t care less,” not “could care less.” He’s been getting it wrong for years now. Thank you.
* And, as Squawker Jon pointed out to me on the phone last night, if A-Rod wants to show how clean he played for most of his years, he probably shouldn’t keep on talking about finishing second in the MVP race to Juan Gonzalez. Just sayin’.
* On another note, I’m feeling bad for author (and friend of the Squawkers) Jane Heller. First Joe Torre’s “The Yankee Years” was released the same day as “Confessions of a She-Fan,” her non-fiction book about her love of the Yanks. Then she had a nifty New York Times piece about seeing a tarot card expert to predict the 2009 season, only to have the article come out the same weekend as the A-Rod steroid report. Not to mention that I still haven’t written my rave review of her book, thanks to my squawking time being consumed by first Torre, and now A-Rod. Sorry, Jane. To use an A-Rodism, I was too loosey-goosey on my writing schedule. I blame the Squawker culture.
What do you think about A-Rod? Leave us a comment!
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