Daily Roundup- Wednesday, February 11th

On the heels of one Dominican born baseball player/former MVP admitting to steroid use, his fellow countryman is going to follow suit and plead guilty to lying to Congress about steroids. Miguel Tejada is set to be in court Wednesday in Congress at 11 AM to plea bargain which would either carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison but most probably will lead to probation.

What I find most interesting about this is what Roger Cossack, the ESPN Legal analyst said, had to say is more troubling for Tejada. Tejada is a Dominican national who comes to the US on a work VISA. With all the changes to immigration coming this year, a guilty plea might get him out of prison time but might lead to further problems even playing in this country. One interesting note, since 1996, this makes 18 of 62 possible MVPs and CY Young winners that are now linked to steroids. That’s a whole lot of questionable shakes!

Like a dog to a fire hydrant I’m once again drawn into the A-Rod mess. This time going to Miami, his hometown. Linda Robertson does a tear jerking piece about the jerk that’s bringing tears to kids that once idolized the slugger.

The best part of this piece is in the fifth paragraph which talks about the Boys and Girls Club on Southwest on 32nd Avenue in Miami where he spent hours building up his body to one day destroy it with steroids. Just kidding folks. But the best part is how it has a picture of him and oh by the way Michael Phelps hanging there. And you wonder why kids in Miami have a tough time finding role models? You couldn’t make this stuff up!


That story inevitably leads back to the steroid discussion which rages on. Now Donald Fehr is intent on protecting the other 103 players that were on that list.

The premise that the people on that list have rights is a complete diss to Alex Rodriguez who has probably championed Donald Fehr’s Union more than anyone else by accepting more top dollars than anyone in any sport. But after a report which linked A-Rod was released, knowing full well that the report also said that his was one name on a list of 104, is criminal to Alex Rodriguez, the actual clean players in baseball who are now being covered by this cloud of judgement because fans don’t know what to think, and also to the fans of baseball who now are waiting for these names to be released.
Unfortunately, legally A-Rod’s name never should have been released and if Alex Rodriguez feels it necessary, could force Selena Roberts to give up the name of the person who tipped her off about Rodriguez’s name in the report which if she has any journalistic credibility or wants to hold on to it she won’t give up which leads to her spending a few months in jail. But the big thing is that now that one name has been released only a moral duty would compel Donald Fehr and company from releasing that list and well, we all know they are very much lacking in that department.

Meanwhile, Yankee brass is saying that there are no plans to trade A-Rod or release him like some of the moronic sportswriters were writing. Derek Jeter was in no mood to talk to the press about something that he will constantly have to talk about and so told the three reporters that were already there to wait till every single member of the New York media and every other media that will surely cover the Yankees spring training facility, so he can answer questions.

Its amazing to me how fickle New York sports writers are. I know it’s a reputation that these guys wear like badges of courage but seriously, enough already. I read in one column that the Yankees should just let the guy walk and eat the rest of his contract. YOU WANT THE YANKEES TO EAT 250 million dollars in this economy? Are you friggin kidding me? Makes me upset that no one will return my calls to replace one of these bozos.
As for Jeter, I continue to be impressed the way in which he goes about his business. In a profession where most people come in and are immediately outclassed, Jeter has stayed ahead of the curve and continually can make even the New York press eat out of his hands. Four world series rings will bring that kind of credibility. Smart move to wait till everyone is here so he can answer questions about how he’s feeling about the A-Rod mess because answering them everyday for the Yankee captain will get frustrating. Its amazing that Jeter can be himself and be this cool yet Alex Rodriguez needs a whole team of professionals to make him look like a complete douche.

Gene Orza is probably going to lose his job if this allegation is true. The fact that he tipped off players before they were going to be tested and especially tipped off A-Rod in 2004 which would of course mean he was lying about the time table he gave Peter Gammons.


Again, the important thing to remember here is that this is all based on if the report is true, but if it is, I don’t see how Gene Orza keeps his job. It is a basic violation if he tipped off any player about steroid abuse and that would mean that he is subject to termination of employment but that’s all depending on if this report is true. Further more, if A-Rod is not completely honest about being steroid free after 2003, you can forget about him having any kind of credibility ever again or being capable of building it back up. Fans in New York and elsewhere don’t soon forget an egregious error of this magnitude.

Finally in Newsday, Selena Roberts responds to the A-Rod ESPN interview.

This goes further into why I believe there’s a lot of baloney that Alex Rodriguez was trying to feed us. I don’t know Selena Roberts from one of the hairs on my head, but I can certainly tell you that the thought of this woman scaling roofs and balconies to uncover something she had already seems a bit preposterous.