Alex Rodriguez Apologies for Using Steroids
Little Leaguers, high-school players, and hometown fans alike were disappointed to see yet another of their baseball heroes, Alex Rodriguez, added to the list of players who admitted to using performance enhancing substances. Parents and coaches who have used idolized players like Rodriguez as examples of those who get ahead by playing healthy have to be shaking their heads, wondering what news will break next.
On Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez had tested positive for two anabolic steroids (testosterone and Primobolan) in 2003. In an interview with ESPN, A-Rod admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-2003. Here’s what Rodriguez said:
“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform and perform at a high level every day. Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naive and I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a banned substance. For that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then in major league baseball overall … it was very … I just feel that … I’m just sorry. I’m sorry for that time, I’m sorry to my fans, I’m sorry to my fans in Texas. It wasn’t until then that I thought about substance of any kind, and since then I’ve proved to myself and to everyone that I don’t need any of that.”
As parents and caregivers, what do you think of his statement?
P.S. Want to learn more about performance enhancing substances so you can be informed when you to talk to your teen? The Partnership recently launched a website to provide parents and teens information on the heath risks from steroids, stimulants and HGH.
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Athletes are just not good role models anymore - not in the age of the tell all book, cellphone cameras, and the internet. We eventually find out what we didn’t want to know or believe. While I think A-rod’s apology was somewhat sincere, I also think he’d still be using if MLB wasn’t testing (like the good old days). I say it is somewhat sincere because I think he knows what he did was wrong. He cheated, but he didn’t think so back in the “loosey-goosey” days in Texas..
The problem is not that players caved in, looked for a shortcut, and cheated, it’s that the culture in MLB was that of don’t ask don’t tell, look the other way, and then ultimately denial. The press looked the other way, ownership looked the other way, the union looked the other way, and while many players spoke about steroids to their sources (sketchy trainers and gym groupies) they largely kept to themselves about it - why tell your teammate when tomorrow he could be your opponent? As fans, we joked about it in the stands, we suspected, but we hardly knew how big this really was. But sure we share the blame too.
But this is the part that absolutely kills me. Jose Canseco, the bozo that he is, was right. Jose Canseco, man! The injustice he was calling out, however, was not the juicing, but the hypocrisy of MLB singling him out when he was the first one to be honest about what he did. And what’s most telling in all of this is that Canseco admits that he is STILL using steroids, as he is training right now for a boxing match against little Danny Bonaduche who also brags about his steroid use! The Partridge Family kid is juicing too. To Canseco, roids are still fine, but lying is wrong. Think about how ugly this whole thing had to get for Jose Canseco to almost come out looking good.
So there are 103 more names on that list. Everything gets out. That’s a lot of posters about to get torn off bedroom walls.
So as a fan what’s left? Repeat after me and say, please not Jeter please not Jeter.
As a parent? Don’t look the other way. Problems don’t solve themselves.
It’s always sad to see someone that so many look up to admit to using drugs. What’s even worse is the fact that he lied about it in front of so many before later admitting to it, which sets a doubly bad example to young people everywhere. Drug use is never the answer.
Sports are unpredictable sometimes. But that is what it makes them fun to watch for. However, not just the game that is interesting about sports but also the controversies behind these athletes. Just like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez seems to have controversy follow him wherever he goes. He angered and alienated fans in Boston (despite helping them to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007) and was traded in 2008 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Well, now he’ll be sitting out for a third of a season, as he has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, netting a 50 game suspension. He won’t need payday loans, but he’s the latest addition to a list of big names in Major League Baseball to take steroids. Oddly enough, the kind he took is used to treat female infertility. His agent had no comment, but many would get out credit cards to see Manny Ramirez suspended indefinitely.