Lil Bit Special Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spken0211,0,1254595.column Sure, Alex Rodriguez's big confession could have gone considerably more smoothly, but really, he made life easy for his Yankees superiors and teammates. All everyone in pinstripes has to do is steal from the talking points that the Yankees weaved into a statement late Monday night: "Drugs bad. A-Rod human. We're a family. Glad he admitted it. We support him. Onward and upward!" He didn't leave everyone hanging for a few days, as did Andy Pettitte, or a few years, as did Jason Giambi. The Yankees, who had set the bar low for the perpetually awkward A-Rod, came away generally pleased with how the interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons turned out. So what did the team captain do, on the first full day of the Yankees' Operation Full Acceptance? "I'm not addressing Alex's situation until everybody's here," Derek Jeter told a small pack of reporters at the team's minor-league complex. "I'll do it the first day over there [steinbrenner Field, where position players begin workouts]." This isn't something over which to make a federal case. But really, Jeter needs to understand that now, more than ever, his frenemy A-Rod needs the entire Yankees village to help him through this. And by golly, if that means that the well-compensated, ultra-popular Jeter has to say, "Alex made a mistake, but we support him" 5,000 times, that doesn't sound too harrowing. It should be stressed that Jeter was not contentious at all with reporters who greeted him in Tampa. If you watch the video shot by Newsday's Anthony Rieber, you'll see Jeter sporting his championship-winning grin. His plea, instead, appeared born of convenience: He wants to wait for all of the media to arrive in town before addressing the hot topic. And he wants to answer all of the questions just once, and then move on. Which sounds reasonable, in a vacuum. Except that anything involving both Jeter and A-Rod becomes, naturally, a reflection upon their highly scrutinized relationship. You think, therefore, about the inconsistencies here. How Jeter repeatedly spoke up on behalf of Pettitte, Giambi, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, and didn't set a deadline or a limit on any of those subjects. And you think about the consistencies here. How Jeter often goes through more effort, or so it seems, to not do entirely right for A-Rod. How he refused to ask Yankees fans to stop booing the slumping A-Rod in 2006, citing a lack of precedent, even though in 2005 he requested that they stop getting on Giambi. A-Rod has made too many stupid comments to tally over the years, and he memorably added to that count Monday night. What was up with that nonsense about buying stuff at GNC? And not really lying to Katie Couric in 2007, because he was lying to himself? The attacks on Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts were just plain laughable. Yet those gaffes rank as A-Rod's headaches, rather than the Yankees', and they'd lurk regardless. It wouldn't have mattered if Rodriguez had said he once accidentally sat down on one of Rafael Palmeiro's syringes, or if he had owned up to working in the BALCO lab with Victor Conte to create new, test-eluding steroids. Either way, his legacy was toast, his chances of Hall of Fame enshrinement all but finished. No, the Yankees won't have to answer questions about whether one can be young, stupid and na Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharrow Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Jeter doesn't give two ****s about him, what else is new? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeebers Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Jeter doesn't give two ****s about him, what else is new? At least Jeter can now say, "I knew i was better" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adb280z Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 At least Jeter can now say, "I knew i was better" He can say it, doesn't mean it was ever true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorGato Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 He can say it, doesn't mean it was ever true. +1 There is not one point in ARods entire baseball life, even before pro, where he was not considered a highly elite talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbro22 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Only in NY do you get papers that **** all over its own teams. Yeah he's captain Copout cause he knows the press will twist any details he gives and blows it out of proportion. That title is a compliment to him, "your so good at handling us(the media) we're gonna flip it on you cause its the only thing we have left." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Troll Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 At least Jeter can now say, "I knew i was better" Better at what? Intangibles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadwayJoe12 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Can you imagine a NY paper back in the 40's-60's writing something like this about Joe D or the Mick?? It's absolutely disgraceful that this person is allowed to cover the New York Yankees and drum up a negative article on Jeter, who is class personified. I, like most of you, have seen the interview. How can anyone find something negative in the way he handled it?? It's days before training camp even begins, he's there early getting extra work in and just says that he would rather wait to answer the questions when everyone else gets there instead of answer the same thing 10 different times. Maybe he's gotten tired with the bonds questions or the other arod questions etc. He said he'd be glad to answer any baseball related questions, but I mean god forbid a SPORTS journalist ask a damn SPORTS related questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neckdemon Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Only in NY do you get papers that **** all over its own teams. i agree.....the media is given too much clout in ny. but we're to blame as well......we feed into their crap. by me i don't necessarily mean you or me, but just the population in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 i agree.....the media is given too much clout in ny. but we're to blame as well......we feed into their crap. by me i don't necessarily mean you or me, but just the population in general. Be like ARod and accept the blame. Its ok... we'll still love you,then boo you when you suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Can you imagine a NY paper back in the 40's-60's writing something like this about Joe D or the Mick?? It's absolutely disgraceful that this person is allowed to cover the New York Yankees and drum up a negative article on Jeter, who is class personified. I, like most of you, have seen the interview. How can anyone find something negative in the way he handled it?? It's days before training camp even begins, he's there early getting extra work in and just says that he would rather wait to answer the questions when everyone else gets there instead of answer the same thing 10 different times. Maybe he's gotten tired with the bonds questions or the other arod questions etc. He said he'd be glad to answer any baseball related questions, but I mean god forbid a SPORTS journalist ask a damn SPORTS related questions. I agree. This story broke over the weekend and they want immediate gratification with a sound bite and snippet so they can make wild stories about what he says. He's just another dooshie writer trying to draw attention to him and rile people up. This is why you need enforcers in baseball... to punch writers in the mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECURB Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Better at what? Intangibles? SO he wins the Pennington award... fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 BTW... here's a snippet from the article from Newsday talking about Jeter's refusal to talk right now: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spjeter0211,0,5436325.story TAMPA, Fla. - Yankees captain Derek Jeter refused to answer questions Tuesday about Alex Rodriguez's steroid-use admission, saying he wants to wait until spring training officially opens. "I'm not addressing Alex's situation until everybody's here," Jeter said. "I'll do it the first day over there." Jeter made his statement to a small group of reporters at the Yankees' minor-league complex. By "over there," he was referring to Steinbrenner Field, where the major-league team will officially open camp with its first full-squad workout on Feb. 18. "If you've got baseball questions, I'll do that," Jeter said. "I don't want to talk to you guys today and tomorrow three more people. It's better to get everyone together." Yeah... this guy's a real d!ck. Captain Copout.... sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbro22 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 i agree.....the media is given too much clout in ny. but we're to blame as well......we feed into their crap. by me i don't necessarily mean you or me, but just the population in general. Oh I agree there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyHector Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Can you imagine a NY paper back in the 40's-60's writing something like this about Joe D or the Mick?? It's absolutely disgraceful that this person is allowed to cover the New York Yankees and drum up a negative article on Jeter, who is class personified. Mantle actually took a lot of crap from the NY papers earlier in his career for not being as good as DiMaggio, because they didn't want him to break Ruth's record (in '56), etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbro22 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Mantle actually took a lot of crap from the NY papers earlier in his career for not being as good as DiMaggio, because they didn't want him to break Ruth's record (in '56), etc. Didn't the papers give Maris a hard time because he never opened up to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyHector Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Didn't the papers give Maris a hard time because he never opened up to them. They hated Maris for the same reasons they gave Mantle a hard time at first - he was a country boy challenging Ruth's record, and he wasn't Mantle (who was had taken on the Joe D. role). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Jeter doesn't owe the douchebags at Newsday, or any other douchebags, anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otter Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I don't blame Jeter for not wanting to talk to the media. He'll speak out next week when all the reporters are at spring training. Why should he have to answer questions everyday about ARod? It's better for him and the team to answer all these questions on day one of camp and get it all over with. ARod has been nothing but a distraction since he came to the Yankees. The media is partially to blame for this. However, ARod knows that he is a target for writers and papparazzi and he continues to do stupid things anyway (Madonna, steroids, opting out of contract the day the Sox win the World Series). Jeter and rest of the team are probably tired of being asked about ARod's performance at the plate or in the field or who he's banging. I can't stand ARod, but when he puts that uniform on next week I'll be rooting for him. I just wish there was a way to get him off the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeShelter Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 BTW... here's a snippet from the article from Newsday talking about Jeter's refusal to talk right now: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spjeter0211,0,5436325.story TAMPA, Fla. - Yankees captain Derek Jeter refused to answer questions Tuesday about Alex Rodriguez's steroid-use admission, saying he wants to wait until spring training officially opens. "I'm not addressing Alex's situation until everybody's here," Jeter said. "I'll do it the first day over there." Jeter made his statement to a small group of reporters at the Yankees' minor-league complex. By "over there," he was referring to Steinbrenner Field, where the major-league team will officially open camp with its first full-squad workout on Feb. 18. "If you've got baseball questions, I'll do that," Jeter said. "I don't want to talk to you guys today and tomorrow three more people. It's better to get everyone together." Yeah... this guy's a real d!ck. Captain Copout.... sure. I agree with Jeter only wanting to addres it once. He likely won't say anything anyway that will stir the pot either way on the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeShelter Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Didn't the papers give Maris a hard time because he never opened up to them. The fans were just as bad if you are to believe the movie account of 61 along with a few interviews of Yankee old timers on the FAN. The problem back in those days with much smaller media was if you were misquoted or typecast the wrong way by a paper there was no outlet to challenge it thus the fans bought into it comepletely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadLover Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I don't disagree that it would be easier to wait but why not pu tout a statement then saying that Alex has his support? Bottom line is Jeter is loving this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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