The media circus arrived in Tampa on Tuesday, and the star attraction under the big top was Alex Rodriguez elaborating about his steroid usage. The talking heads on the evil four-letter network, ESPN, inundated us with up-to-the-minute updates on what to expect from Rodriguez’s press conference and showed countless sound bites from his contemporaries in baseball expressing their disappointment with his actions; SportsCenter became A-RodCenter.

Then, after a 32-minute press conference, the commentators returned to voice their displeasure of A-Rod’s handling of the media’s questions. They screamed for more details on his merry trek through Latin America with his cousin Yuri in search of the banned substance “boli� (Primobolan). Their analysis of the latest chapter in baseball’s steroid scandal had feel of a good old-fashioned witchhunt.

My reaction to the coverage: you are all hypocrites!

Alex Rodriguez’s claim about stopping the use of steroids after 2003 is already being shot full of holes.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, A-Rod has had a long relationship with a man named Angel Presinal, a trainer who has been banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark for being linked to steroids. Apparently Presinal roomed with A-Rod’s now famous cousin, Yuri Sucart, at every hotel Rodriguez went to in 2007. The report also states that Presinal wasn’t around A-Rod in 2008, although Sucart “remained a constant presence.�

In his press conference on Monday, A-Rod claimed that he and Sucart injected each other with steroids in the Dominican Republic from 2001 to 2003. While that might have been the case, the question now becomes: Where did Rodriguez and Sucart get the steroids? And if A-Rod claims he’s been off performance-enhancers since 2003, why would he continue a relationship with Presinal up until 2007? (Assuming the report is true, of course.)

I’m naïve to how athletes go about things when they travel in-season, but I’d have to imagine that not even the best of friends are staying with players at every single hotel like Presinal did in 2007. Again, why did Rodriguez remain close with Presinal after his claimed use of steroids from 2001 to 2003? It’s hard to imagine that a steroid-linked trainer was staying at the same hotel as A-Rod just to fluff his pillows and make sure he had enough clean towels in the bathroom.

Before making it to the big leagues as a star player for the Mariners, Rangers and Yankees, Alex Rodriguez showcased his raw talents for scouts in this pre-steroid training tape for Atom.com. The footage is shocking.

A-Rod Pre-Steroid Training Tapes

And people say that steroids don’t help baseball players that much. This footage should put an end to that debate.

Johnny Damon talked about the Alex Rodriguez steroid situation at a recent press conference and what came out of his mouth was, well, less than intelligent.

Johnny Damon speaks to the media today in Tampa following A-Rod’s presser: “Yeah he did some bad things. He took a steroid. Definitely do not condone that, at all, but there could be a lot worse things he could have been doing out there. He hasn’t done a crime. So there’s worse things that he could have done but you know I’ve known Alex since he was 15 and he’s always been super nice to me and so I’m going to support him and try help him through this time. (Reporter: Johnny, what would have been worse?) Murdering someone… There’s plenty of things that could be worse than what he did. (Reporter: In your mind, is what he did cheating?) For part time in his career, perhaps, but you know what, the pitchers that were facing him too at the time were doing it.â€�

In essence, Damon is right – murdering someone is worse than taking steroids. But saying, “you know what, the pitchers that were facing him too at the same time were doing it� is a juvenile argument. Too bad one of the reporters didn’t follow up with, “Well, if Roy Halladay jumped off a bridge, would A-Rod have done it, too?�

At a press conference on Tuesday, Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez said in a prepared statement that from 2001 to 2003, he and a cousin used a substance available over the counter in the Dominican Republic and that it was known as “boli.�

“I didn’t think they were steroids,” he said. “That’s again part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter. It was pretty simple.”

“All these years I never thought I did anything wrong.”

He said he wasn’t sure how the drug use helped him, but admitted he had more energy.
Rodriguez said he has not used human growth hormone or any other banned drug since then. He refused to identify his cousin.

The three-time AL MVP and baseball’s highest-paid player spoke at the Yankees’ spring training camp 10 days after Sports Illustrated reported that he tested positive in 2003 for a pair of steroids during baseball’s anonymous survey in 2003. Two days after the story broke, Major League Baseball’s highest-paid player acknowledged that fact in an interview with ESPN.

For years, Rodriguez denied using performance-enhancing drugs. But SI reported he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive during baseball’s 2003 survey. SI identified the drugs causing the positive test as Primobolan and testosterone.

“We consulted no one and had no good reason to base that decision,” he said. “It was pretty evident that we didn’t know what we’re doing.”

Hey, A-Rod’s human – he makes mistakes just like everyone else. But I have a hard time fathoming that he injected something into his body that he believed was just an energy booster.