First of all, why Katie Couric? There are plenty of KNOWLEDGEABLE SPORTS PEOPLE at CBS that could have done that interview.
COURIC: For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance?
A-ROD: No.
Now, did Couric think she was going to get a 'yes' answer here? He was not going to say "Yup, I did...Mitch missed me." I like how "A" just gave a flat "no" without elaborating.
I would have liked her to ask "A" about the statements made by Jose Canseco. Canseco said about Rodriguez: "All I can say is the Mitchell report is incomplete. I could not believe that his name was not in the report." Maybe a more informed reporter would have asked that question.
COURIC: What is your reaction to this investigation?
A-ROD: Katie, you're putting me in a tough spot. I mean, these are guys that I play with. They're my teammates. If anything comes of this, I will be extremely disappointed. And it will be a huge black eye on the game of baseball.
Not a bad answer, but I assume this is not the answer Don Fehr wanted to hear. I believe Don would have liked to hear the words "hearsay" and "circumstantial" thrown in there somewhere.
COURIC: It sounds like this is rampant. According to the Mitchell Report, every single club has a player using banned substances. Did you ever witness or hear about or even suspect this was going on?
Rampant? According to the report there is not proof of anything except for the people who admitted it. I guess Katie's reader missed that part, so she wasn't briefed properly. Show me undisputed proof that 'every single club has a player using banned substances'. If you can't, call Dan Rather to make it up.
COURIC: Given this controversy, Alex, who do you think has the real homerun record? Barry Bonds at 762 or Hank Aaron 755?
A-ROD: Well, I think Barry Bonds. He has 762.
Good answer "A". The question from a KNOWLEDGEABLE BASEBALL REPORTER would be " do you think Barry Bonds' record should be upheld if Bonds is ever CONVICTED?
COURIC: But, he has an asterisk next to his name?
A-ROD: Does he? Not yet.
Good answer "A"! I would have preferred that he would have not included the "not yet" in there, but Couric was exposed as not knowing what she is talking about. However, this is CBS news, we shouldn't expect FACTS to find their way into a story.
COURIC: In the minds of many, he does.
In the minds of many, Katie, you're an idiot. Should we put an asterisk next to your so called 'news' stories along with the disclaimer from the old Wild Kingdom show, "some scene's have been re-created..."
A-ROD: The federal government is going to make its decision on that. Barry's been a phenomenal player. And I've really enjoyed watching him play. But, he's innocent 'til proven guilty.
Not at CBS "A"! Katie has already given him an asterisk. It seems that "A" is more familiar with due process than Katie is.
COURIC: Your new contract is worth $300 million-plus. Are you worth it? Is any player worth that kind of salary?
Are YOU worth it Katie? $15 million per year to read the news on TV?
Let me explain the difference. Alex Rodriguez MAKES MONEY for the Yankees. You on the other hand, drove the lowest rated network newscast to its lowest point since 1987!
Couric is a MONEY LOSER for CBS. Network sources say that Couric is an expensive, unfixable mistake. So unfixable that Couric may leave "CBS Evening News," probably after the 2008 presidential elections. [source]
We can easily defend why Rodriguez makes more than his counterparts, one cannot say that about Couric.
On the now famous opt-out announcement during the World Series:
COURIC: Can you understand why so many people found that so incredibly offensive?
A-ROD: Absolutely. A hundred percent. If I was a sports writer, if I was a fan, I would have been very, very upset. I was angry and upset. Shocked -- disbelief. I mean, I'm sitting in my living room.
COURIC: You were watching the game?
A-ROD: Yes. And that was very, very difficult. I was under the impression that it would come out a day or two after the World Series concluded. And I would never do anything to harm the game … to the Red Sox and the Rockies, my deepest apologies, and to all of Major League Baseball.
Then why haven't you spoke out about this until now "A"? Unless I am mistaken, this is the first apology from "A" that I am aware of.
VOICE OVER: The whole debacle started, he says, when his agent, Scott Boras, told him the Yankees didn’t want him anymore.
COURIC: But they were trying to reach out to you. It's kind of hard to believe that you were taking Scott Boras' word as gospel when you had all these other signs coming from Yankee management.
Give credit where credit is due, good point by Couric.
A-ROD: You're right. Why wouldn't I trust my attorney.
Dude...its was in the papers that the Yankees wanted you back! They just wanted to keep the Texas money coming in. There was an 8 year extension on the table and Boras wouldn't let you near it.
A-ROD: When I realized things were going haywire, at that point, I said, 'Wait a minute! I got to be accountable for my own life…this is not going the way I wanted to go and I got behind the wheel,' and I called Hank.
Good idea. You are not the only one to go around Boras, ask Bernie Williams.
VOICE OVER: Scott Boras, who told 60 Minutes he couldn't talk about his clients, was not welcome at the table, but he still stands to make about $15 million on the deal. A-Rod says he will pay him, and will keep him.
Why? He made you look incredibly bad. You now have a 10 year contract. Do you really need him? You need a public relations firm to get you some endorsements.
COURIC: Some people say you overplayed your hand. That there wasn't that much interest in you among other teams.
A-ROD: I beg to differ. I thought there was a lot of interest out there.
COURIC: You thought or you knew?
A-ROD: I knew.
Who then? And why did you run back to the Yankees with your tail between your legs? I'm sure there was interest, but not at the numbers Boras was throwing out there.
A-ROD: These are the two MVP awards. And this right here is the Babe Ruth Award-
for most home runs in Major League Baseball. But I would like to yank all three of 'em and put World Championship there. That's my goal. That's my ultimate goal.
Every Yankees fan is glad to hear that from you, "A".
A-ROD: I feel comfortable my team can expect me to be in the line up every day and at the end of the day, I get paid to be a Major League Baseball player, not anything else, and I do that pretty well.
Well he does play every day, and he is pretty good.
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