Tuesday, February 10, 2009

PICASNER AND A-ROD

Okay, first of all, Picasner admits he admires A-Rod's abilities. Socially, he certainly seems to be inept. For a man who is described as overly concerned with his image, he does some pretty strange things. If you're A-Rod and you're cheating on your wife, for example, why would you appear in public and let your picture be taken with her? On the ball field, however, he can do it all, his playoff stats notwithstanding.

Now he is faced with his biggest problem: steroids. There are so many levels to this situation, that it's difficult to keep your focus. Picasner will try to separate his points and just touch briefly on each. This isn't the space for a detailed analysis.

***GAMMONS***
Let's be realistic: of course, A-Rod would choose someone who would be prone to sympathy. If you were on trial, would you choose a 'hanging judge'? Peter asked the right questions, he just didn't push hard enough (I think) for answers, and there were follow up questions that weren't asked. I think other reporters will follow up, so we will get more information. The interview accomplished what A-Rod wanted: to get his story out there.

***SHOULD WE BELIEVE THAT HE IS NOT NOW ON PEDS?***
Picasner says yes. He is being tested constantly and will be tested even more in the future. As far as his time in Seattle, who knows? His stats would indicate that he wasn't juiced. The reasons and explanations he gave, were logical, if not completely truthful.

***THE SPORTS REPORTERS***
Picasner will limit this discussion to the NY writers since those were the only ones he has had time to read.
None of them can come out and back him 100% for fear of being called naive by the other writers. Most give him credit for stepping up even if they question his sincerity. Most were reasonable but some were not, in fact, one comment bordered on insanity. Bill Madden, normally an insightful columnist, wrote that the Yanks should release A-Rod outright. He even went on to say that he didn't think any team would pick him up even though he would be paid by the Yanks! When he announced that on the air to a panel of writers, even they looked at each other as though they were wondering where Madden gets his Peyote.

***THE BEST FOR LAST***
On Sunday, one prominent reporter commented that A-Rod must step up IMMEDIATELY and admit his guilt and offer some kind of explanation. If he denies it or blames others, he would be the same pariah that Bonds, Clemens, etc. are. Well, A-Rod did just that and what did this distinguished columnist do? He claimed A-Rod lied, waffled and avoided giving us any 'real' information. Didn't A-Rod do just what you asked? The reporter: Mike Lupica. According to Lupica, Pettitte told the truth, A-Rod didn't. Glad you were here to straighten that out for us, Mike.

***ONE MORE STORY TO CLEAR UP***
Accusations were made and denials were aired about the reporter who broke the story. A-Rod claimed she stalked him and was, in effect, too vigorous in pursuit of her story. The reporter, Selena Roberts, denied all of it. Mike Lupica said that A-Rod "...made her out to be some kind of sick, twisted stalker instead of a reporter doing her job." The assumption here is that she was right and honest and A-Rod was falsely attacking her. Mike, why don't you get off your knees and wait until one of them is vindicated before paying homage to her? Picasner would certainly like to know more about this.

***FINALLY***
Picasner feels that we got as good an answer as we could expect. Ignoring the self-serving spin you would expect him to put on it, we at least got an admission and some kind of explanation: a little more direct than Giambi, a little less believable than Pettitte, but an admission. Perhaps Bonds, Clements, McGuire, etc. should take notice. Hopefully, there will be a little more substance, a little more truth and a little more forgiveness in our future.

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