ESPN's conflict of interest

The worldwide leader in sports, ESPN, was not the network that aired Mark McGwire’s first interview. When Mark McGwire came clean (or as clean as he was willing to go) on television, he did so on the MLB Network with Bob Costas.

When Alex Rodriguez admitted to cheating, he was interviewed on ESPN by Peter Gammons. The interview and Gammons were mostly panned by critics since Gammons did not ask probing questions or follow up when necessary.

McGwire and his PR firm, the same firm that represents the reprehensible Bowl Championship Series, learned from A-Rod’s mistakes in admitting PED use. McGwire conducted a full court press with interviews to the AP, multiple newspapers, ESPN (via phone) and concluding with the television interview.

ESPN missed the boat on the steroid era. Their reporters never did any investigative reporting as to how these athletes were achieving these herculean results. Viewers were told countless times that these athletes are not cheating, rather it was an improved nutrition and workout program. The pundits always went back to the line of PEDs “don’t help you hit a fastball.”

No one ever doubted that. If I were to inject beef roids, I wouldn’t suddenly be able to launch moon shots in Yankee Stadium. If you believe that, I might need to confiscate your driver’s license. Where PEDs help baseball players is turning warning track power into home run power. Apparently, Mark McGwire didn’t get that memo by claiming he would have been able too hit all those home runs without the PEDs.

Did ESPN miss the story on purpose? It’s possible. After all, they are both a news gathering organization and partners with many sports when they produce and televise various events. Is it possible to do both and maintain one’s integrity?

It’s doubtful. ESPN’s fortunes were tied to the popularity of baseball. Why put a dark cloud on the sport by reporting that what the public was seeing was a sham? It would ultimately hurt ESPN financially if it was reported that were roids were rampant. Like the ad went, “chicks dig the long ball.” Apparently, everyone dug the long ball and there was no need to find out what caused the long ball.

Why A-rod will never be Sportsman of the Year

Derek Jeter was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated earlier this week. That’s not all that surprising given Jeter being a class act. He’s the captain of his team, been with the same team since he started his career and comes through in the clutch.


The same cannot be said for his teammate, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod admitted before the season that he used PED’s earlier in his career. After returning from an injury, A-Rod performed at a high level. It appeared that admitting his drug use, freed him from his performance anxiety he suffered from earlier in his Yankee tenure.

Jeter does things the right way while A-Rod is more concerned with how his behavior will be perceived by the media. During an All-Star Game, Jeter cheered on his teammates until the end of the game while A-Rod checked out early to host a party. Further proof that A-Rod will never be a Sportsman of the Year, but A-Rod thinks the media is out to get him.

Reports of jealousy between A-Rod and Jeter have been circulating for years. A-Rod must deal with the perception, real or imagined that for all his missteps, Jeter handled himself with class and dignity. There could have been an infomercial on when certain situations arise; this is how not to behave (A-Rod) contrasted with the appropriate behavior (Jeter).

Sports Illustrated should be commended for making the right choice in honoring Derek Jeter with the award. Meanwhile, it’s just another stab that will upset A-Rod. He might be the highest paid player in baseball, but he has a lot to learn from the captain of his team.

New York area loves their cheater

Last night Alex Rodriguez delivered in the postseason for the New York Yankees, tying Game 2 of the American League Division Series with the Minnesota Twins in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run home run. The crowd at Yankee Stadium went nuts. The crowd at the Connecticut sports bar I saw the game also went nuts. Chants of “Let’s go Yankees!” ensued as A-Rod rounded the bases.


What differences several months makes and for that matter, a couple of years. Time really does heal all wounds. In February it was revealed that A-Rod used PEDs while with the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez confirmed this report. During his tenure as a Yankee in the postseason, he has not come through in the clutch. While he has won MVP awards and delivered the team to the postseason, he never truly delivered in the postseason until now.

Could his newfound production in the postseason be a result that he has “come clean” with the public and admitted that he cheated previously? If what he admitted was true, only using PEDs while with the Rangers, could he have doubted his ability to perform in the clutch without the benefit of PEDs?

What last night’s reaction proves, both at the stadium and the bar, is the public will tolerate cheaters…as long as they are our cheaters.

Karma at the All-Star Game

This year's All-Star Game was actually exciting and watchable...a rare combination indeed. What I found most telling was how it ended with Miguel Tejada making the last out for the National League.

When Tejada first came to the plate, he crushed a fly ball that actually elicited an emotional response from Joe Buck, but alas, the power was not there and the ball landed in the outfielder's glove.

Miguel Tejada earlier this year was sentenced to one year of probation for misleading Congressional investigators during the 2005 steroid investigation. Tejada was also mentioned in the Mitchell Report being linked to two purchases of PEDs. When he came to his last at bat, Buck mentioned his AL MVP award in 2002 and was the MVP of the 2005 All-Star Game, yet failed to mention his ties with PEDs or his recent sentencing.

I thought it was another strikeout on the part of MLB to award a player with "All-Star" recognition who lied to investigators and has been linked to PEDs. Neither of the two biggest stars to be linked to PEDs this year, Alex Rodriguez or Manny Ramirez, were selected by their respective managers to be a reserve on the team like Tejada.

Perhaps Tejada not coming through in the clutch and Buck failing to address the elephant in the room, still illustrates that baseball does not have the foresight to make smart business decisions to promote their game. Karma is real.

Heyman's Vote on Roiders

Jon Heyman, Hall of Fame (HOF) voter and columnist for SI.com, recently wrote how he would vote for the HOF for several current and former MLB'ers suspected of roiding up and cheating the game.

In his article, he stresses how difficult voting for the HOF is. Do voters simply go by the statistics of a player or by the impact that player had on the team? If one was to go by statistics alone, how does one judge the current crop of players who played during the steroid era? Heyman writes, "These calls won't only be about numbers. There are value judgments to be made about cheating, and possibly about how much the cheating helped particular players."

Heyman admits that some voters will simply eliminate all the cheaters from their ballots while others will take it on a case by case basis. He is the first writer that I have encountered to admit his own culpability in being slow to uncover the widespread use of PED's in baseball. A majority of writers need to own this. It's part of the inherent conflict of interest in being a sportswriter. You need to be "friendly" and close to the players and organizations and do not violate that trust by exposing the sport you cover or writing about it in a negative light. Heyman hypothesizes that some writers might feel tempted to block a majority of these players from the HOF since the writers were slow to cover the truth about their PED use. Voting them into the HOF would be continuing the trend of looking the other way, wink-wink, and implicitly endorsing cheating by using these substances.

Now to analyze Heyman's ballot:

• Mark McGwire: Didn't vote for him because of suspected PED use led to HOF numbers.
• Barry Bonds: Yes, he believes he was a HOF'er before he took any PED's.
• Roger Clemens: Yes, like Bonds, he was a HOF'er before he roided up.
• Sammy Sosa: No, productivity and expanded size suggest PED use.
• Rafael Palmeiro: No, failed drug test (Stanozolol) after protesting innocence before Congress.
• Gary Sheffield: No, ties to BALCO and admitting to intentionally throwing balls away hurt.
• Mike Piazza: Yes, numbers wise he's there, but increasing suspicions raise some doubts, but Heyman needs more proof.
• Ivan Rodriguez: Yes, never been caught even though he shrunk dramatically.
• A-Rod: Yes, Heyman needs more proof of add'l doping even though admitted to PED use.
• Manny Ramirez: Yes, he was great since the start and never got "big"

Interesting takes on these players by Heyman. In some instances he needs more proof (Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez and A-Rod) while others his visual proof was enough (Sammy Sosa). Yet, visual proof of a shrinking Ivan Rodriguez was not enough for him to pass on voting him in the HOF. Of the three players (Palmerio, Ramirez and A-Rod) that failed a drug test in MLB testing, he has two going to the Hall of Fame (any coincidence that both are current players, possibly his reasoning is self-motivated by generating goodwill down the road when he needs a story).

Unfortunately, the rules for election to the HOF do not specify "character" attributes. Aren't you supposed to be rewarded for doing the right thing and not cheating? Is that the proper message you want displayed in Cooperstown?

It's up to the baseball writers to decide.

Why All the Hate for Selena Roberts?

With yesterday’s release of Selena Roberts’ book on Alex Rodriguez, "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez", the reaction has been fierce and for the most part, one-sided: backlash towards Roberts from the media and others in baseball.

New York Yankee manager Joe Girardi questioned why the book was even written in the first place this past Sunday. Girardi said, “From the excerpts I have read, I have heard that there are other negative things about his lifestyle. I’m a firm believer that what we do off the field is our personal life.”

Monday morning in a promo for the book, Roberts appeared on the Today show and was interviewed by Matt Lauer. Rather than discuss the book’s findings, Lauer attacked Roberts for her reliance on anonymous sources. During the Mitchell investigation into PED’s in baseball only one active player cooperated with the investigation. Given this history and that there really is a “code” in the locker room, it’s not at all surprising that there are many anonymous sources in the book. When she uncovers information and goes to verify that information, people respect and understand the “code” and do not want to “rat” out a former teammate so they go off the record.
Let's be honest with the uproar over Selena Roberts book. It's because it's written by an outsider, a woman and someone who is not a favored reporter by the sport. Would Tom Verducci be getting roasted like Selena Roberts? No. Would Jayson Stark or Buster Olney get any heat - no because they wouldn’t write an investigative book like this and violate the "code." Those two ESPN “personalities” sat by and said all the performances we saw during the roid era were natural. Why? One reason is that they work for an outlet that televises the sport and can't cause any controversy that would possibly hurt their employer's ratings.

So now the sport and the hard liners are doing what they do best: unifying a front and supporting a liar and a cheater while questioning a reporter and her methods. Kill the messenger and ignore the message.

Eventually the tide will turn. Fans will wake up and realize that a fraud and a liar is the highest earner in the sport and will stop going to the games, buying jerseys and ultimately, the owners will have no choice but to lower wages, hurting all the players who remained silent during this era.

A-Rod Visual Evidence: Man Boobs

According to The New York Daily News, the visual evidence that led Yankee teammates to suspect A-Rod was still using PED's were his large breasts, aka "man boobs". Males develop large breasts as a result of steroid use when the body increases production of female hormones to offset the increase in testosterone. This medical condition is called gynecomastia.

A-Rod was not the only Yankee great who suffered from the condition. Roger Clemens did also. The Daily News investigative team writing a book on Clemens, American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime, write that Clemens must have been embarrassed by his condition based on his grooming patterns.

Roger Clemens had man boobs, and he must have been embarrassed because he was often the first Yankee out of the shower and the first to get dressed after the game.

The article points to A-Rod's visual evidence when he went to the park as the shirtless park tanner that the general public picked up on.  If this condition is prevalent in the locker room than perhaps George Costanza's father was on to something when he was designing the "bro" and the "manissiere".

More A-Rod Roid Allegations

According to The New York Daily News, Selena Roberts’ upcoming book, A-Rod, will add to the speculation surrounding Alex Rodriguez and his suspected use of PED’s. Besides being characterized as a needy personality and having his ego stroked constantly, characterizations that were confirmed in Joe Torre’s book, The Yankee Years, Roberts reports that A-Rod was using back in high school and with the Yankees. Previously, A-Rod has admitted to using PED’s, but only prior to joining the Yankees.

The high school allegation comes from a former teammate. The teammate also said that the coach knew A-Rod was using. The coach denied the allegation. So much for the “baseball code:” what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. This former teammate might have an ax to grind or might simply be jealous…or he could be telling the truth. We’ll need to wait until the book comes out to form an objective opinion on the validity of this information.

The Yankee allegation is a bombshell since his pr people determined that it’s best to make it appear that his NY legacy and tenure has been clean when he apologized in February. Allegedly, that is not the case. The Yankee information, like the high school allegation, also comes from unnamed sources. Two unnamed teammates based their opinions based on visual side effects. The report does not say what those side effects were.  Also according to the report, another unnamed major leaguer says he saw A-Rod and former Yankee pitcher Kevin Brown with HGH back in 2004.

Now I’m intrigued; anyone suffering from back acne will now accused of using PED’s. Previously, reporters didn’t ask athletes what might have caused that skin condition or other visual side effects. Now, there might be a legitimate reason to start and be objective rather than be the athlete’s friend.

Why Athletes Roid Up

Why do people decide to use PED's?

Baseball players so far have never given a straightforward answer. Most recently, A-Rod claimed naivete. After the release of the Mitchell Report and names were named, typical responses were "I didn't know what I was taking" or "I wanted to get back on the field faster and help my team." We never got an honest answer such as "I was lacking self confidence and didn't think my natural abilities alone would take me to the MLB level and land me that fat contract."

After watching Christopher Bell's documentary film, Bigger, Stronger, Faster*: Is It Still Cheating if Everyone's Doing It?, some plausible answers emerge and more questions arise. People use PED's because they see it's the only way to get ahead and be more like their "heroes." In one scene, a mother asks her son, why he had to use PED's; what was wrong with his body as it was naturally. Other questions that emerge from the film, a scene where members of an orchestra are using attention deficit drugs to maintain their focus during a performance. This is deemed "normal," but not in sports. Why the discrepancy?

One pro athlete to chime in on the A-Rod debate put the question of why athletes roid up in proper perspective. Pro wrestler (whether pro wrestling is a sport is a post for another day) Rob Van Dam said on his radio show in February, "You have to sacrifice everything to make your dreams come true. You got a chance to enhance your odds, (expletive) yeah. If you don't go for it, you're just not dedicated."

This quote is telling. If that is truly the mindset of the modern athlete then more people are using PED's and will continue to use PED's and look for every conceivable shortcut...because if you aren't roiding, your competition is and will beat you out of your contract, endorsements and fame.

Clemens Allegedly Injected at Yankee Stadium

In the latest episode of the Roger Clemens - Brian McNamee saga, McNamee was quoted in detail to the Web site sportsimproper.com explaining how he injected Clemens and where.

McNamee was quoted in an item posted Wednesday, "One of the needles I gave the government was used to inject Clemens with steroids in either July or August of 2001. The place was his high-rise apartment, which is located off the corner of 90th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan. ... "

"That day, he laid out the drugs, dropped his trousers and I did as he asked, that is, inject him with steroids. Afterwards, he told me to get rid of the needle. I went into the kitchen and found an empty Miller Lite can in a wastebasket under the sink. I put the used needle into the can because it was actually hazardous material at that point and I didn't want anyone to get hurt by sticking themselves. He told me to throw it away but I kept it instead."

In addition, he told the Web site: "Sometimes it was in the Jacuzzi at Yankee Stadium."

During the Mitchell investigation, McNamee described injecting Clemens at the pitcher's apartment. The new details to emerge this week are that some injections took place at the stadium and that the Rocket drinks Miller Lite.

Brian McNamee, by laying out more details of the case to less well known media outlet, has put more of his chips in the center of the table. The Rocket and his legal team have matched his call by going with the "duh" blast when it was reported that PED's were found on the materials McNamee provided.

Again, Brian McNamee has no motive to lie. It's been understood that all of his previous information provided to investigators has been truthful. Why lie now? Taint evidence and keep needles for 8 years? This theory makes absolutely no sense. The Rocket on the other hand might be tempted to portray his accomplishments and legacy as one that was done the "proper" way and that he didn't "cheat to win, a similar tact A-Rod took until he was called out.

It will be interesting to see how this drama plays out in the upcoming months.

2 Weeks of Baseball Roid Issues

I've been away for a couple of weeks and was passing through San Francisco on Tuesday looking forward to get the latest blow by blow details of the Barry Bonds trial, but when I picked up my copy of the San Francisco Chronicle, not one mention of the trial; an appeal delayed the start of the trial until the summer.

In other roid related developments during my break, the A-Rod alibi unraveled further. Memo to all: tell the truth the first around. You'll feel much better and not come off as such a dimwit.

His cousin, Yuri Sucart, who allegedly supplied the banned substances was identified. The explanation did not hold water since A-Rod said the substances were purchased over the counter in the Dominican Republic, yet during that time period, 2001 - 2003, one could not obtain the substances he reportedly tested positive for over the counter in the DR back then. It was also revealed that A-Rod was associated with the trainer Angel Presinal. If one wants to be associated with roids, work out and hang out with Presinal. He has been accused of distributing steroids to major league players and has been barred from major league clubhouses since 2001. He was also mentioned in the Mitchell Report. That checkered past didn't appear to bother A-Rod since he trained with him as recently as 2007.

Derek Jeter stepped up to the plate and came to the defense of his teammate while at the same time professing his innocence at the beginning of spring training. Jeter said, “One thing that’s irritating and really upsets me a lot is when you hear people say that everybody did it. Everybody wasn’t doing it.”

Unfortunately for DJ, his calls of "playing the right way" are falling on deaf ears. Why? Because his teammates have said similar things in the past such as A-Rod, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi only to have their assertions either be false or seriously questioned. DJ can tell me all about how not everyone was cheating and that your father was a drug counselor, but all the lies from your teammates who have uttered the same exact thing have made all players guilty until proven innocent.

Lastly, it was being reported that many players are reporting to spring training much smaller. George Vecsey labeled this phenomenon, The Incredible Shrinking Baseball Player, reporting that players are now turning to yoga, athletic video games, nutritionists, getting more sleep and giving up beer and or soda to be more nimble and athletic. Sceptics would say it's the polar opposite of five years ago when players were showing up bulked up claiming that they were cranking the weights.

Don't be shocked when home run totals dip this year at least the players will be more nimble and athletic stretching singles into doubles.

No Surprise: Straw Would've Roided Up

In an admission that shocked absolutely no one, Darryl Strawberry told the news media in Florida this week that if he was presented with roids during his playing days, he would have taken them. His comments came about when the topic of A-Rod was discussed.

Straw elaborated his position on the issue by saying, “I’m not saying that was the right thing to do, but somebody asked me, if I’d faced it, what would I have done? If that was going on in the ’80s, it definitely would have been in my system, too.”

“I was stupid, too, when I was 24, 25,” he added, referring to Rodriguez’s comments that he was stupid during the time he used steroids. “I’ve done a lot of stupid things.”

Darryl Strawberry saying he's done a lot of stupid things is in the running for understatement of the year. but that's why the public will be clamoring for his tell-all book about 80's excess in the NY Mets' clubhouse.

Apology Fallout: S-Rob v. A-Rod

In his Monday interview with ESPN, Alex Rodriguez claimed that the Sports Illustrated reporter, Selena Roberts, was stalking him and tried to break into his home while his daughters were asleep.

"What makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me," Rodriguez told Gammons. "This lady has been thrown out of my apartment in New York City. This lady has five days ago just been thrown out of the University of Miami police for trespassing. And four days ago she tried to break into my house where my girls are up there sleeping, and got cited by the Miami Beach police. I have the paper here."

Shocking accusations for sure during his confessional, if only they were true. According to the New York Daily News, there is no record of Roberts' alleged crimes. This latest development further diminishes A-Rod's credibility for being completely honest during that interview. Only used PED's during a three year period? About as likely as a reporter "breaking into" your house.

Per the Daily News, "I haven't been able to find anything to corroborate that she has tried to break into his home," Detective Juan Sanchez of the Miami Beach police said. "I haven't been able to find anything that corroborates the statement Alex Rodriguez made to ESPN.".

Regarding the trespassing at the University of Miami, police Sgt. Janette Frevola added that none of the recent trespassing reports from the university matched the description provided by A-Rod. All UM incidents are recorded and then passed to the Coral Gables police. She added that it was possible that the reporter was asked to leave, but the incident didn't warrant filing a report.

Scoreboard reads Roberts: 1, A-Rod: 0.

The A-Rod Apology

Give A-Rod credit, yesterday, Alex Rodriguez did the right thing and admitted to using PED's from 2001 - 2003 in an interview with ESPN. However, he did not go far enough and all his admission did was lead to more questions.

In admitting his use, he framed it this way:

"When I arrived at Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed 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 naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance, and for that I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”

First and foremost, per SI, he tested positive for two banned substances (primobolan and testosterone) not one raising doubts on this confession. He also took a page straight from the juciers manual stating he didn't know what the substance was (one of the PED's was primobolan aka methenolone, a more expensive steroid that was able to leave your system faster than the more commonly used roids of the preceding years). The highest paid player in baseball not knowing what he's putting in his body? Doesn't quite pass the sniff test. What also doesn't pass that test is if he thought the pressure in Arlington, Texas was intense, what about New York freaking City? He felt less pressure moving to the Big Apple playing alongside Derek Jeter, switching positions and ultimately getting even a bigger contract? Tough pill to swallow A-Rod.

A-Rod decided to stop using PED's in 2003 after suffering a neck injury in spring training , he explained:

“I realized, ‘What am I doing? Not only am I going to hurt my baseball career, I’m going to hurt my post-career.’ It was time to grow up, stop being selfish, stop being stupid and take control of whatever you’re ingesting. And for that I couldn't feel more regret and feel more sorry, because I have so much respect for this game and the people that follow us. And I have millions of fans out there who won’t ever look at me the same.”

Crisis of confidence occurs when MLB institutes drug testing, yet allegedly you were tipped off by the union of an upcoming test in 2004? Why would the union need to tip you off if you weren't using? Too much respect for the game and the fans...then why roid up in the first place? I, for one, am not buying.

As for lying on "60 Minutes": "And in my mind, as I did my interview with CBS last year, I felt I haven’t failed a test, I haven’t done a steroid. And that was my belief. Whether I wanted to convince myself of that, that’s just where my mind was.”

That response was well crafted, but again, he doesn't fully admit to his mistake. He lied on national television: admit to it and move on. Earlier he says he used a banned substance and then later goes with the dopers credo of "since I didn't fail a test, I haven't doped". Are you kidding? You can't have it both ways, my man. Marion Jones thinks that line of reasoning is played.

Finally where the admission fails is in the timeline: it's as if there is a small chapter in his life that has been examined and his professionals have crunched the numbers, saw the spikes and said this is the period that we want you to address and only this period. No need to address Jose Canseco's allegations or when you were first exposed to PED's. Being evasive of how he was introduced to roids and how he obtained the PED's in the interview did not bolster his credibility or the strength of his apology. Come spring training, when reporters have additional questions, he'll fall back on this interview as being the only time he'll address this subject.

Total transparency is always the best policy, just ask Marion.

A-Rod is Truly A-Fraud...Allegedly

Apparently, Jose Canseco was right again. This time, it was Alex Rodriquez and using PED's.

According to SI.com, Rodriquez tested positive for 'roids (primobolan aka methenolone and testosterone) in 2003 when the tests were supposedly anonymous and there were no penalties for a positive test. MLB issued a statement in response to the SI story stating that it could not comment on the accuracy of the report since it was an anonymous test, but did raise the concern of union officials tipping off players of upcoming tests back in 2004.

During the survey testing in 2003, 104 samples were positive. For reasons not yet known, the samples were not destroyed to ensure confidentiality. In 2004, all 104 samples were seized by the government relating to the BALCO investigation.

Initially the government requested just the 10 samples relating to the players who testified during the BALCO investigation including Barry Bonds; the players union refused and the government secured search warrants for the 10 samples and then gathered the samples for all positive tests from two different labs.

A-Rod can't catch a break. The tests were anonymous and should never have been made public. A serious breach of trust, but at the same time, if A-Rod was using, he lied when he appeared on "60 Minutes" and said he never used PED's and didn't need to. He needs to admit to his mistake and move on.

The timing is horrendous for Alex since it's a week after being called "A-Fraud" by his former manager, Joe Torre, in his new book, "The Yankee Years", co-written by Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci. Now A-Rod has to maneuver through both firestorms as spring training approaches. Were the players calling him A-Fraud because they knew or suspected he was on PED's? Is there a Sports Illustrated conspiracy against A-Rod? Let the suspicion begin.

Barry Bonds perjury trial begins March 2nd. When evidence was unsealed earlier this week, Bonds was tied to four positive tests among other damning pieces of evidence. Roger Clemens' DNA has been linked to the syringes provided by former trainer Brian McNamee. Joe Torre has now had an epiphany by seeing the Clemens 2000 World Series bat throwing incident at Mike Piazza in a new light, speculating that the incident could have been roid rage. In his book, "The Yankee Years", Torre does not openly suspect any players of using PED's.

And now A-Rod...Down goes another mythic hero.

Jeff Novitzky Changes Teams; Jose Canseco Gets Grilled for 3 Hours

Another great day to be a fan of beef roids. You have Jose Canseco ratting out guys to the feds and Jeff Novitzky moving over from the IRS to the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations. The only next logical step in Mr. Novitzky's career path would be the ultimate culmination in tracking down 'roiders with a stint at the DEA.

Regarding Canseco, I have not read his latest book, Vindicated, but apparently he vowed that his source "Max" would have his back regarding the juiciest accusations he levied. The allegation on A-Rod, or as Jose would like us to believe, A-Roid.

"Max", in the real world, is known as Joseph Dion and did not have Jose's back regarding the claims against the alleged A-Roid. "A-Rod, at the time I trained him," Dion said, "was 100 percent against steroids."

Jose, the feds are up in the count 0-2. Now is not the time to try and crush one out the park. Make sure everything you tell the feds is the truth or you will be fighting for who gets the pillow when you join Marion Jones in the hole.