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Public Confession Was The Proper Tactic For A-Rod

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

Gentlemen, start your T-shirts.

It's official: He's A-Roid.

Alex Rodriguez got religion Monday, admitted his lies and announced that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03.

It was monumentally juicy truth-telling from the greatest performer of a sport rounding third and headed for pro wrestling. It was the right thing to do. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are bobbing in the toilet with Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. Alex Rodriguez came clean, or as clean as he can be after all this time. Really, what choice did he have?

Pitchers and catchers and users report this week. Can they get the Super Bowl blimp back to Tampa for Yankees camp? It'll be a circus. A-Rod will be shot out of a syringe. It still beats Bonds and Clemens, who are clearly working without a net.

Two days after Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003, he admitted it to ESPN, worldwide leader in steroids confessions, saying he was "very sorry and deeply regretful." The dollars, not the devil, made him do it after he signed with Texas for $252 million.

"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," Rodriguez said.

Oh, that crushing weight.

Rodriguez loses all sympathy votes. And he might be one of only 104 players who tested positive in 2003. You know, Jose Canseco's belly laugh must be on steroids this morning.

Gone is Rodriguez rescuing the home run crown from Bonds, the evil flaxseed oil baron now awaiting perjury trial. Rodriguez won't face that. No, not even for lying to Katie Couric in a 2007 interview - our Katie!

At least A-Rod didn't hesitate once the anabolic cat was out of the bag. He didn't cut his own throat with more lies, like Bonds and Clemens. He didn't waggle a finger at Congress like Palmeiro. A-Rod followed Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi, who told the truth about their usage, though Giambi sure took the long way home.

Come to think of it, so did A-Rod. Come to think of it, forget Katie - A-Rod lied to me, too! It was last spring training during an exclusive dugout interview. Well, maybe not exclusive. I think I was behind the Japanese film crew and German magazine guy.

"I think right now the game is in a very non-trusting situation with our public, with our fans," Alex Rodriguez said while denying steroid use. "Some of the things I've accomplished, and potentially some of the things people think I can accomplish, my name has come up and probably will come up in the future."

Ain't it the truth?

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