Glad we agree, H, there really isn’t much to see, other than sadly desperate sportswriters trying to make a story out of the thinnest of air. Since the Galea story ‘broke’, neither you or I or they have gained even one iota of new and pertinent information, but the articles keep coming. This isn’t even the worst of it. Example, Mike Lupica has stated that A-Rod has ‘damned’ himself by keeping quiet. I would feel sorry for them, and the slowly-but-surely creeping uselessness of their profession, but they have only themselves to blame.
Well, it actually looks like there may be some fire at the base of that plume of smoke.
1) If there were nothing to it, A-Rod wouldn’t have to issue carefully-parsed answers; he could just say, “Yeah, he treated me, but it was routine and aboveboard. End of story.” Instead, he’s saying “I can’t talk about this now.”
2) There does seem to be a genuine news story lurking in the coverage, beyond the question of “did A-Rod not learn his lesson last year?” Namely, his apparent denial to the Yankees that he had any contact with this doctor, which most news outlets seem to think he did. Again, if such contact were innocent, why deny it to your own team?
1) Not really. It’s a federal investigation of Galea. As is standard practice, A-Rod likely isn’t even allowed to say anything. (Sidebar: amazing double-standard. When A-Rod says stuff, he gets slammed. When A-Rod keeps his mouth shut, he gets slammed. A very good indicator that his detractors don’t really have too much ground to stand on)
2.) What news story? What facts? All we have is hearsay, and hearsay of hearsay. All this is, is irresponsible yellow journalism. (I also find it amazing that A-Rod needs to have ‘learned a lesson’, like he is a schoolchild, or a dog. I want to know whether journalists have to learn lessons too, being that many of them are 100 times more hypocritical and wrong-headed than even the worst of athletes)
The only reason this is even a hint of a story is because of the dual facts that Alex is one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and that he took steroids at least at some point during his career. Yes, taking steroids is Alex’s fault and no one else’s, and if he is found to continue to have taken illegal substances he deserves worse treatment than those who are first-timers, but it is no excuse to use only hearsay and imagination and turn it into a non-factual sensationalist story.
Here’s what the facts look like:
Galea works closely with a Dr. Lindsey, whom Dr. Phillipon used to help with Alex’s rehab. Galea maybe have prescribed Alex some oral, legal medication, which is perfectly fine.
That’s where the facts end. Every other thing is completely hearsay, rumor, or otherwise false. And Alex is absolutely doing the right thing in not speaking to reporters about it, since it’s a FEDERAL INVESTIGATION. You can’t even confirm or deny facts when you’re involved in those. That’s not subversion or admission of guilt, it’s following procedure. Amazing that when Alex does it correctly he gets slammed. The lack of intellectual integrity in the journalist business somehow continues to amaze me.
In other, actually relevant news, Yankees VP of Player Development Mark Newman was arrested for DUI. http://tinyurl.com/yho9gkc
He should probably simply get fired, but that won’t happen. There’s no excuse for DUI, especially if you’re rich and can just pay someone to bring you home and pay someone to pick up your car the next day.
Hudson, funny how you are willing to convict A-Rod in a story where there is essentially no evidence of wrong doing but a little less than a year ago you were taking everyone to task for insinuating that Manny took steroids while on the Red Sox after he was actually suspended for wrong doing. Check out the comments on this thread: http://www.yfsf.org/2009/05/manny-suspended-50-games.htm
I’ve stopped paying attention to Hudson when the subject of PEDs comes up. He’s lost all credibility. It’s his lone comment in this thread which tells me all I need to know about his supposed moral outrage about player’s alleged use: http://www.yfsf.org/2009/07/first-comment-from-papi.html
At this point, really, I just don’t give a shit. If A-Rod, or anyone else did anything illegal, who cares anymore?
At this point, all the substance on most of these rumors are based on finger pointing and hope.
If A-Rod risked what he has left of a reputation to get back to the field and play baseball and help his team, in full knowledge of the consequences, then I kind of see that as admirable. Stupid, but admirable. After awhile, the punches to the face have less and less impact on me. I just don’t care what A-Rod, or anyone else does to themselves at this point.
I just realized I said “at this point” way too much for one comment. hahaha.
It’s funny to hear YFs moan and grandstand about “credibility”–because that’s exactly how their star third baseman got himself in another pickle. He lost his credibility a long time ago. Some additional points:
A. While YFs may want to call this “yellow journalism,” they then have to write off *all* of the New York City major media as yellow: The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, and all the rest. I guess your city doesn’t have a single responsible newspaper, then? And in fact, it does not appear to be disputed that A-Rod saw Galea without the Yankees’ knowledge. That alone is extremely fishy.
B. A-Rod lost the benefit of the doubt by his mishandling of the previous round. In that situation, he was shown to not only be a user, but to have lied about it. Others accused for the first time deserve more of an assumption of innocence. It’s like a convicted thief testifying in court: his history is relevant to the believability of his testimony.
C. If one needs anti-inflammatory drugs, you don’t have to go to a Canadian doctor to get them. And anyway, a professional would want to be in contact with his other (Yankee) doctors if prescribing additional medication.
D. Moreover, unless there is a secret gag order from a court we don’t know about (unlikely on both counts), I don’t believe the Feds have a right to order either the Yankees or A-Rod to clam up. Those under investigation maintain their right to free speech.
E. The whole thing stinks of people trying to get their stories straight before the embarrassing truth comes out.
See you at the tearfully repentent press conference.
And for those claiming there are no facts on the table, I’ll add just three key ones:
FACT #1: Galea admits he treated A-Rod (but says it wasn’t with HGH).
FACT #2: The Yankees say the organization and its authorized medical staff weren’t aware of the treatments.
FACT #3: The Feds say they want to talk with A-Rod.
Those three facts alone form a legitimate news story. (Most sports news stories of this type don’t even have that many facts established, for better or worse.)
Unless you think that anti-flammatories are hard to get in the U.S., that the Yankee doctors don’t care what outside treatment their zillion-dollar player gets for an injury, or that the Feds just like hanging out with Alex Rodriguez for fun.
Hudson you are a piece of work. I will not feed the troll.
Who’s grandstanding? Is not caring grandstanding? I’ll treat this with the exact reaction most Sox fans treated the David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez revelation…WHO CARES. As the days go by I realize more and more that the players we watch so religiously on the diamond will do anything to get an edge. This is not a Yankee-centric issue, this is a baseball issue, basketball issue, football issue, RUGBY issue and so on and so on. This reminds me of the way my wife always yells at my older son. Two boys, one room, mother is in the kitchen, youngest one cries and she yells “Older Boy, what did you do!” The Yankees are my older boy and always will be.
You know what else would be a legitimate news story?
The fact that HGH has never been proven to actually help athletes in any tangible way — nor for that matter have steroids.
The fact that steroids provide an unknown piece of the higher-offense pie that includes these likely more important elements: the standardization of baseball manufacturing to the tighter end of the allowed spectrum, weight training, smaller ballparks and changes in the manufacture and use of bats.
The fact that pitchers seem just as likely as hitters to have used PEDs, thereby canceling out any presumed benefit the hitters may have gained from their use.
The fact that PED use in baseball is as old as the live-ball era, and that even Hank Aaron has admitted to using PEDs on one occasion.
Of course, that would significantly undercut the ability of most of the baseball writers — and the fans of various teams’ rivals — to engage in this ridiculous show of outrage over every potential revelation.
But without the above context, reporting on these stories is bound to be tremendously flawed and misleading. Not surprisingly, stories about steroids and HGH do not contain this context, and they are indeed flawed and misleading.
Hudson, this is the definition of speculative “connect the dots”. So it’s just noise. Until there are any actual additional facts out there we might as well speculate about Jason Varitek’s Jessica Simpson magazine clipping collection, about which we have as much information as we do about A-Rod and any illicit substances provided by Galea. That is, none.
When more information comes out, we can then discuss with more substance.
so far you’ve proved only 2 things arod’s done wrong this time hudson:
1. he’s arod
2. he’s a yankee
come up with something substantive and i’ll start listening again…
16 replies on “The Metaphor?”
Nothing to see at this link, just move along…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/sports/baseball/02arod.html
Glad we agree, H, there really isn’t much to see, other than sadly desperate sportswriters trying to make a story out of the thinnest of air. Since the Galea story ‘broke’, neither you or I or they have gained even one iota of new and pertinent information, but the articles keep coming. This isn’t even the worst of it. Example, Mike Lupica has stated that A-Rod has ‘damned’ himself by keeping quiet. I would feel sorry for them, and the slowly-but-surely creeping uselessness of their profession, but they have only themselves to blame.
Well, it actually looks like there may be some fire at the base of that plume of smoke.
1) If there were nothing to it, A-Rod wouldn’t have to issue carefully-parsed answers; he could just say, “Yeah, he treated me, but it was routine and aboveboard. End of story.” Instead, he’s saying “I can’t talk about this now.”
2) There does seem to be a genuine news story lurking in the coverage, beyond the question of “did A-Rod not learn his lesson last year?” Namely, his apparent denial to the Yankees that he had any contact with this doctor, which most news outlets seem to think he did. Again, if such contact were innocent, why deny it to your own team?
1) Not really. It’s a federal investigation of Galea. As is standard practice, A-Rod likely isn’t even allowed to say anything. (Sidebar: amazing double-standard. When A-Rod says stuff, he gets slammed. When A-Rod keeps his mouth shut, he gets slammed. A very good indicator that his detractors don’t really have too much ground to stand on)
2.) What news story? What facts? All we have is hearsay, and hearsay of hearsay. All this is, is irresponsible yellow journalism. (I also find it amazing that A-Rod needs to have ‘learned a lesson’, like he is a schoolchild, or a dog. I want to know whether journalists have to learn lessons too, being that many of them are 100 times more hypocritical and wrong-headed than even the worst of athletes)
The only reason this is even a hint of a story is because of the dual facts that Alex is one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and that he took steroids at least at some point during his career. Yes, taking steroids is Alex’s fault and no one else’s, and if he is found to continue to have taken illegal substances he deserves worse treatment than those who are first-timers, but it is no excuse to use only hearsay and imagination and turn it into a non-factual sensationalist story.
Here’s what the facts look like:
Galea works closely with a Dr. Lindsey, whom Dr. Phillipon used to help with Alex’s rehab. Galea maybe have prescribed Alex some oral, legal medication, which is perfectly fine.
That’s where the facts end. Every other thing is completely hearsay, rumor, or otherwise false. And Alex is absolutely doing the right thing in not speaking to reporters about it, since it’s a FEDERAL INVESTIGATION. You can’t even confirm or deny facts when you’re involved in those. That’s not subversion or admission of guilt, it’s following procedure. Amazing that when Alex does it correctly he gets slammed. The lack of intellectual integrity in the journalist business somehow continues to amaze me.
In other, actually relevant news, Yankees VP of Player Development Mark Newman was arrested for DUI.
http://tinyurl.com/yho9gkc
He should probably simply get fired, but that won’t happen. There’s no excuse for DUI, especially if you’re rich and can just pay someone to bring you home and pay someone to pick up your car the next day.
Hudson, funny how you are willing to convict A-Rod in a story where there is essentially no evidence of wrong doing but a little less than a year ago you were taking everyone to task for insinuating that Manny took steroids while on the Red Sox after he was actually suspended for wrong doing. Check out the comments on this thread:
http://www.yfsf.org/2009/05/manny-suspended-50-games.htm
I’ve stopped paying attention to Hudson when the subject of PEDs comes up. He’s lost all credibility. It’s his lone comment in this thread which tells me all I need to know about his supposed moral outrage about player’s alleged use:
http://www.yfsf.org/2009/07/first-comment-from-papi.html
At this point, really, I just don’t give a shit. If A-Rod, or anyone else did anything illegal, who cares anymore?
At this point, all the substance on most of these rumors are based on finger pointing and hope.
If A-Rod risked what he has left of a reputation to get back to the field and play baseball and help his team, in full knowledge of the consequences, then I kind of see that as admirable. Stupid, but admirable. After awhile, the punches to the face have less and less impact on me. I just don’t care what A-Rod, or anyone else does to themselves at this point.
I just realized I said “at this point” way too much for one comment. hahaha.
It’s funny to hear YFs moan and grandstand about “credibility”–because that’s exactly how their star third baseman got himself in another pickle. He lost his credibility a long time ago. Some additional points:
A. While YFs may want to call this “yellow journalism,” they then have to write off *all* of the New York City major media as yellow: The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, and all the rest. I guess your city doesn’t have a single responsible newspaper, then? And in fact, it does not appear to be disputed that A-Rod saw Galea without the Yankees’ knowledge. That alone is extremely fishy.
B. A-Rod lost the benefit of the doubt by his mishandling of the previous round. In that situation, he was shown to not only be a user, but to have lied about it. Others accused for the first time deserve more of an assumption of innocence. It’s like a convicted thief testifying in court: his history is relevant to the believability of his testimony.
C. If one needs anti-inflammatory drugs, you don’t have to go to a Canadian doctor to get them. And anyway, a professional would want to be in contact with his other (Yankee) doctors if prescribing additional medication.
D. Moreover, unless there is a secret gag order from a court we don’t know about (unlikely on both counts), I don’t believe the Feds have a right to order either the Yankees or A-Rod to clam up. Those under investigation maintain their right to free speech.
E. The whole thing stinks of people trying to get their stories straight before the embarrassing truth comes out.
See you at the tearfully repentent press conference.
And for those claiming there are no facts on the table, I’ll add just three key ones:
FACT #1: Galea admits he treated A-Rod (but says it wasn’t with HGH).
FACT #2: The Yankees say the organization and its authorized medical staff weren’t aware of the treatments.
FACT #3: The Feds say they want to talk with A-Rod.
Those three facts alone form a legitimate news story. (Most sports news stories of this type don’t even have that many facts established, for better or worse.)
Unless you think that anti-flammatories are hard to get in the U.S., that the Yankee doctors don’t care what outside treatment their zillion-dollar player gets for an injury, or that the Feds just like hanging out with Alex Rodriguez for fun.
Hudson you are a piece of work. I will not feed the troll.
Who’s grandstanding? Is not caring grandstanding? I’ll treat this with the exact reaction most Sox fans treated the David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez revelation…WHO CARES. As the days go by I realize more and more that the players we watch so religiously on the diamond will do anything to get an edge. This is not a Yankee-centric issue, this is a baseball issue, basketball issue, football issue, RUGBY issue and so on and so on. This reminds me of the way my wife always yells at my older son. Two boys, one room, mother is in the kitchen, youngest one cries and she yells “Older Boy, what did you do!” The Yankees are my older boy and always will be.
You know what else would be a legitimate news story?
The fact that HGH has never been proven to actually help athletes in any tangible way — nor for that matter have steroids.
The fact that steroids provide an unknown piece of the higher-offense pie that includes these likely more important elements: the standardization of baseball manufacturing to the tighter end of the allowed spectrum, weight training, smaller ballparks and changes in the manufacture and use of bats.
The fact that pitchers seem just as likely as hitters to have used PEDs, thereby canceling out any presumed benefit the hitters may have gained from their use.
The fact that PED use in baseball is as old as the live-ball era, and that even Hank Aaron has admitted to using PEDs on one occasion.
Of course, that would significantly undercut the ability of most of the baseball writers — and the fans of various teams’ rivals — to engage in this ridiculous show of outrage over every potential revelation.
But without the above context, reporting on these stories is bound to be tremendously flawed and misleading. Not surprisingly, stories about steroids and HGH do not contain this context, and they are indeed flawed and misleading.
Hudson, this is the definition of speculative “connect the dots”. So it’s just noise. Until there are any actual additional facts out there we might as well speculate about Jason Varitek’s Jessica Simpson magazine clipping collection, about which we have as much information as we do about A-Rod and any illicit substances provided by Galea. That is, none.
When more information comes out, we can then discuss with more substance.
so far you’ve proved only 2 things arod’s done wrong this time hudson:
1. he’s arod
2. he’s a yankee
come up with something substantive and i’ll start listening again…