02/09: Liveblog: ESPN's Peter Gammons Interviews Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) on SI.com's Steroids Report
Posted by: Patrick
I have decided to go ahead and liveblog Peter Gammon's interview with Alex Rodriguez, that will be starting within the hour. When it starts, I'll start writing. For more on the SI.com story, see our earlier post.
2:14 PM: They just broke in to say that A-Rod has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. They are now saying we'll get a "portion" of their exclusive interview.
2:18 PM: T.J. Quinn says that he apologized for using it and he only used it during a period from 2001-2003 [corrected at 2:22 PM]. He felt a ton of pressure, after receiving his contract from Texas. He called it a "loose culture," that he was stupid and naive.
2:20 PM: Wow, nice slip of the tongue by Quinn. "caught cheating, [cough] excuse me, tested positive."
2:21 PM: Quinn says that A-Rod says that Gene Orza called him in 2004 and said there is a list of positives and said that you, A-Rod, may or may not be on the list.
2:22 PM: To correct what I had above, he said that he used them from a period of 2001-2003. Not just 2003. From this point on, Alex said, it has been him and his talent. The interview is still going on, but we haven't seen it, yet.
2:28 PM: Here we go. I am going to quote A-Rod, exactly:
"When I arrived in 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 everyday. Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, and being one of the greatest players of all-time."
"I did take a banned substance and for that, I am sorry, and deeply regretful. And, although, it was a culture back then and in Major League Baseball overall was very... [pause] I just feel that, you know, I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time. I'm sorry to my fans. I'm sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind. And, since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that.
When asked if the time period was 2001, 2002 and 2003, he said, "That's pretty accurate, yes." When asked what substances he took, he said:
"Peter, that's the thing. Again, it was such a loosey goosey era. I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions. And, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."
That's all they gave us. They now say that you can watch the whole interview tonight at 6 PM. ESPN, you tease. That's all, for now.
2:14 PM: They just broke in to say that A-Rod has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. They are now saying we'll get a "portion" of their exclusive interview.
2:18 PM: T.J. Quinn says that he apologized for using it and he only used it during a period from 2001-2003 [corrected at 2:22 PM]. He felt a ton of pressure, after receiving his contract from Texas. He called it a "loose culture," that he was stupid and naive.
2:20 PM: Wow, nice slip of the tongue by Quinn. "caught cheating, [cough] excuse me, tested positive."
2:21 PM: Quinn says that A-Rod says that Gene Orza called him in 2004 and said there is a list of positives and said that you, A-Rod, may or may not be on the list.
2:22 PM: To correct what I had above, he said that he used them from a period of 2001-2003. Not just 2003. From this point on, Alex said, it has been him and his talent. The interview is still going on, but we haven't seen it, yet.
2:28 PM: Here we go. I am going to quote A-Rod, exactly:
"When I arrived in 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 everyday. Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, and being one of the greatest players of all-time."
"I did take a banned substance and for that, I am sorry, and deeply regretful. And, although, it was a culture back then and in Major League Baseball overall was very... [pause] I just feel that, you know, I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time. I'm sorry to my fans. I'm sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind. And, since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that.
When asked if the time period was 2001, 2002 and 2003, he said, "That's pretty accurate, yes." When asked what substances he took, he said:
"Peter, that's the thing. Again, it was such a loosey goosey era. I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions. And, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."
That's all they gave us. They now say that you can watch the whole interview tonight at 6 PM. ESPN, you tease. That's all, for now.
Dave wrote:
So what? Did Gammons take him out for lunch at the Rainbow Room after the interview?