Althouse: "It was such a loosey-goosey era. I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions."

February 10, 2009

"It was such a loosey-goosey era. I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions."

"And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."

For the annals of slithery confessions.

52 comments:

Ron said...: Ah, what was not loosey-goosey were the checks he was cashing...and the how is irrelevant?; 2/10/09, 10:05 AM
traditionalguy said...: Translation please: I figured I would get away with it, and if not I just tell them I am a boy playing a boy's game, and...I"M NOT A LAWYER! I still keep the $$$ of course, but my wife(s) and my Madonnas will get what the IRS leaves behind, so what me worry. Forgiveness happens!; 2/10/09, 10:10 AM
Joaquin said...: But supposedly he's been tested numerous times since then and has been clean. It doesn't sound like he's a 'user'; 2/10/09, 10:13 AM
chuck b. said...: Chemists at Balko and the like chemically modified the steroid cores to avoid the chemical signatures left by known substances. It's very likely true that he didn't know "exactly" what he was taking.

Like you don't know exactly what you're drinking in your friend's secret recipe for Long Island Iced Tea.; 2/10/09, 10:20 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: But looking back on the whole thing, and considering the times, the thing I feel most guilty about now is leaving off those two dots in the word naïve.

Better living through science.; 2/10/09, 10:21 AM
Bissage said...: I feel very much personally vindicated as I have long suspected that Mr. Rodriguez has withered testicles.; 2/10/09, 10:25 AM
Icepick said...: This was actually pretty good. He stepped up and admitted he was a user once he was caught. This puts him miles ahead of just about everyone else in baseball who used 'roids & HGH.

Also, it's quite possible he DIDN'T know exactly what he was taking. Was it stanozolol/Winstrol, or dianabol, or anadrol, or testosterone, or Primabolan, or Nandrolone, or some custom drug with a name like "the clear" or "the cream". That part of it actually sounds believable.; 2/10/09, 10:29 AM
vet66 said...: Bissage;

Where do you suppose those baseBALLS he swings at come from?

The pitcher winds up...Here comes the pitch, a hanging curve ball at the knees...

A-Rod swings, THOCK...

He got all of that one, it is going going gone...

Hey A-Rod, one of the fans has your ball, do you want to autograph it???; 2/10/09, 10:33 AM
Psota said...: I liked the blue sweater that A-Rod was wearing in the interview. sweater + steroids = sexxy!; 2/10/09, 10:40 AM
Ron said...: OK, I admit I take steroids to comment here on Althouse -- the in-game pressure is intense!; 2/10/09, 10:51 AM
Ron said...: Maybe Titus isn't a troll -- it's just "roid rage."; 2/10/09, 10:51 AM
Ron said...: If Althouse implements random piss testing, that's it, I'm outtie!

I'm still not over that whole 'turn your head and cough -- and stare into the fisheye lens' incident...

Oh, wait, was I not supposed to say?; 2/10/09, 10:56 AM
Trooper York said...: I just hope he doesn't give up Laura Bush.; 2/10/09, 11:01 AM
AllenS said...: "And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."

"You see, there were these pills just sitting on my countertop, every morning when I awoke, and I was just eating them to get rid of them, but they just kept showing up, and I just kept eating them to get rid of them, and I just couldn't resist eating them, because they were so delicious looking. So it's not my fault, because I'm naive, and kinda negligent."; 2/10/09, 11:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Is he ever gonna admit the drugs he used to get himself capable of having sex with Madonna?

Cause I sure can't think of any.; 2/10/09, 11:09 AM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: So he's not exactly sure what substance he put into his body.

When the writer of Ecclesiastes said the race isn't to the swooft, he wasn't kidding.; 2/10/09, 11:17 AM
Henry said...: As Icepick said -- not so slithery. It's not like he claims that someone slipped the drugs into his bottled water when his back was turned.

And he is right, it was a loosey-goosey era. Thanks to baseball owners and the union, nothing Rodriguez did was punishable.; 2/10/09, 11:31 AM
Rebecca said...: It's a shame but certainly not the first or last incident...just sayin'...plus maybe an eyesore because many look to heros in sports or hollywood....looking for heroics in all the wrong places. They are people.; 2/10/09, 11:36 AM
David said...: Of course it's slithery.

Negligent? Naive? That's what he wants us to think (poor little unsophisticated lamb.)

How about illegal, corrupt and dishonest?; 2/10/09, 11:42 AM
rhhardin said...: George Carlin favored steroids in baseball as making the game more interesting.

real audio, December 14, 2007.; 2/10/09, 11:46 AM
Cedarford said...: Baseball is a billion-dollar business. Bud Selig and the rest of it's owners and moneymen were making big bucks as steroidally bloated "supermen" were thrilling fans. So were agents and coaches and sportswriters who all saw the obvious changes in hundreds of payers, inc. in the non-superstars who might have stayed in the minors, but miraculously "discovered" their true speed and power and helped bring those agents and coaches and writers from college or the minors with them to "The Show".

We had fans openly debating this a decade ago with most saying they didn't care if it was rigged bats, souped up baseballs, or washed up old pitchers suddenly throwing in the high 90s and good for 30 starts a season or 3 innings in relief every other day. Just, as those tens of millions of fans rationalized - that records were broken or their Team won!

Other businesses have gone on with illegal drug use adding wealth to many and with connivance all through the business. Not just baseball, not just sports. Little Timmy and Juwan also have their dreams being realized, for the applicable price, by coked-out Hollywood producers and writers. Their music idols from jazz onwards rife with "worshipped in the White House and on down" - heavy drug users from heroin addicts like Ray Charles to todays lifestyle dopers.

For decades, long haul trucking and methamphetamine usage was synonymous. Many military fighters use performance-enhancing drugs.

The basic point is that with all the crushing real problems America and the world suddenly face - going after the Phelps and Rodriguez and Clemens baseball types is just a distraction. One area Congress and the media can be all self-righteous and authoritative about while everything else far more important that they don't have a clue how to fix goes in the toilet.

During the Depression, of course, the avoidant behavior locked on the pressing urgency of making comic books less salacious...and positivity learning which Hollywood starlet or leading man (rampant homosexuality and drug use covered up, of course) - was sleeping with whom..; 2/10/09, 11:55 AM
Darcy said...: Hee hee, Trooper.; 2/10/09, 12:00 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Why not just admit they all do steroids and get on with the game?

It's an open secret. Who cares?; 2/10/09, 12:02 PM
Icepick said...: vet66 wrote: [a lot of stuff about swings, curves and balls]

Titus would have done this much better. Which is why Ron's comment that

Maybe Titus isn't a troll -- it's just "roid rage."

is just silly. Titus isn't a troll, he's a commenting performance artist. And he's brilliant at it.; 2/10/09, 12:04 PM
Icepick said...: Cedarford wrote: We had fans openly debating this a decade ago with most saying they didn't care if it was rigged bats, souped up baseballs, or washed up old pitchers suddenly throwing in the high 90s and good for 30 starts a season or 3 innings in relief every other day.

It was clear twenty years ago that some of the guys were 'roided all to Hell and gone. Looking at the A's line up with Canseco and McGuire was frightening. They were bigger than football players, and the football guys had 'roided up in the late 60s and into the 70s. They were damn near bigger than professional wrestlers! Un-freakin'-real, they were.; 2/10/09, 12:10 PM
Henry said...: David, how about this quote:

"And I did take a banned substance and, you know, for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then and Major League Baseball overall was very - I just feel that - You know, I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time. I'm sorry to fans. I'm sorry for my fans in Texas."; 2/10/09, 12:12 PM
Icepick said...: Is he ever gonna admit the drugs he used to get himself capable of having sex with Madonna?

Cause I sure can't think of any.

Dude, you've got that wrong. The question should be, "What did Madonna put into her body to look like a tranny so that she could attract A-Rod?" (He's known for liking manish-looking 'roided-up women. As opposed to a Manish-looking woman, or a Manxwoman.); 2/10/09, 12:15 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: As the best payed player in baseball anybody could have poisoned me?

Alex.. Vallase pal carajo!; 2/10/09, 12:26 PM
OSweet said...: Now reporters need to ask him, "Would you do it again, if guaranteed you could do so undetected?"

And then we get to hear another avalanche of bullshit.; 2/10/09, 12:30 PM
Peter Hoh said...: shorter A-Rod: I'm guilty of being a victim.; 2/10/09, 12:40 PM
Icepick said...: He didn't claim he was a victim. He admitted to drug use. He just said he didn't know exactly what he took. No wonder no one apologizes for anything these days - people will just say you didn't apologize anyway. A-Rod, next time, just burn the tapes!; 2/10/09, 12:50 PM
Sissy Willis said...: Oh. I had thought from the headline quotation that the speaker was referring to why he had voted for Barack Obama.; 2/10/09, 1:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: A-rod's penalty should be to be pitched to by the pitchers that he homered off, of with no batting helmet on, after these pitchers have taken a 6 month regimen of loosey-goosey pills.; 2/10/09, 1:23 PM
Tibore said...: "And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."

I'm sorry, officer, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly how fast I was going...

I'm sorry, officer, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance were in the cocktails I was guilty of imbibing...

I'm sorry, officer, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what caliber of bullet I was shooting...

I'm sorry your honor, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what I pulled out of that cash register in the convenience store I was guilty of robbing...; 2/10/09, 1:29 PM
William said...: Does anyone know the risks associated with steroids? Is it like one chance in 10,000 of permanent damage or is it higher or lower? When you stop taking them does all the risk disappear?....I can see why professional ball players take the risk. In just about every play in football and in many plays in baseball, the player puts his career on the line. I read somewhere that a huge percentage of football linemen end up with permanently disabling injuries. Beanballs and hard slides are also hazardous to your health.....I suppose steroids are cheating, but if everyone does it, is it really cheating? I would not take steroids in order to have bigger biceps. However, if such drugs gave me a shot at winning the MVP I'm there. Competitors compete. I feel morally superior to any man who is attracted to Madonna, but it's hard to muster much indignation about this.; 2/10/09, 2:20 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: Steroids probably are the reason for Arnold Swartzenegger having to have heart surgery not too long ago.

I remember more than 20 years ago hearing about a high school athlete in Mississippi who dropped dead of a heart attack. It turned out that the coach was giving the kids steroids, not telling them what it was. He was prosecuted, IIRC. How often is there heart damage? Don't know. A quick check of the CDC website reveals no stats.; 2/10/09, 2:26 PM
William T. Sherman said...: If anybody really thinks Alex Rodriguez has now come clean I gotta bridge they might be interested in. Jose Canseco claims Arod was into PEDs way before he signed with the Rangers, and while Canseco's clearly a scumbag he's also been proven right every step of the way.

And why was the Union warning Rodriguez about upcoming drug tests in 2004, if he'd stopped using steroids in 2003?

I'd still bet on 40% of MLB (and 98% of the NFL) being juiced right now. They're just using stuff that's not currently detectable through testing.; 2/10/09, 4:09 PM
Trooper York said...: Drugs and baseball go together like ham and eggs. Ty Cobb loved cocaine and it was a big reason he was one of the first big investors in that new fangled soda pop Coca Cola that make good old Tyrus the richest ball player who ever lived.; 2/10/09, 4:57 PM
Trooper York said...: Heine Manusch invented Preperation H to deal with his hemerroids. That's where the name came from.

"Heine's Preparation to cure what ail's your Heine."; 2/10/09, 4:59 PM
Trooper York said...: Lou Gerhig invented the once every day vitamin.

Then that low life Cal Ripkin stole the patent.; 2/10/09, 5:01 PM
Trooper York said...: Babe Ruth invested a lot of money in Pfizer when he was involved in the first clinical tests of penicillin for reasons we won’t go into here.; 2/10/09, 5:11 PM
Trooper York said...: Yogi Berra used to mainline YooHoo.; 2/10/09, 5:13 PM
Trooper York said...: Ted Williams invented Nyquil because he was always getting head colds.

Ironic isn't it?; 2/10/09, 5:14 PM
Trooper York said...: Bucky Dent was also frozen in an ice flow with Steve Rodgers until he was accidentally freed by Prince Namor the Submariner. The special drugs the Army had injected into them during WWII allowed him to survive and ultimately be instrumental in defeating the two worst scourges of humanity we have ever seen: The Nazi's and the Boston Red Sox.; 2/10/09, 5:22 PM
Trooper York said...: Doc Gooden wasn't a real doctor but he once used the chocolate thermometer on David Cone's girlfriend during spring training.; 2/10/09, 5:24 PM
Trooper York said...: Mark The Bird Fidyrch once dropped acid and then went out and took a shit on a pigeon.

He should be in the Hall of Fame for that alone.; 2/10/09, 5:56 PM
Trooper York said...: Mickey Lolich was generally considered the fattest ballplayer in the Major Leagues. So when retired he opened a bakery.

For that alone he should be in the Hall of Fame.; 2/10/09, 5:58 PM
Trooper York said...: Celerino Sanchez was the first Mexican Player to play for the Yankees. They were worried about immigration so instead of coming in from the dugout the used to sneak him on the field in the trunk of the bull pen Datsun and hoped nobody would notice. It worked for a whole season.; 2/10/09, 6:01 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I would so do him. He is so fucking hot. He has amazing tits that need to be chizzed on.; 2/10/09, 6:21 PM
Icepick said...: Yogi Berra used to mainline YooHoo.

I heard he still does.; 2/10/09, 7:02 PM
Trooper York said...: Nah, he's old now. He's a Nestle's Quick maintenance program. It's like methadone.; 2/10/09, 7:03 PM
Icepick said...: It's like methadone.

LOL; 2/10/09, 10:30 PM