Peter Gammons’ interview of Alex Rodriguez was one of the most compelling and important sit-downs we’ve seen in a long time and was packed to the gills with interesting talking points. Since everyone on the internets is jumping on this story like a 2-0 fastball in the fat part of the plate, let’s try and take this in a different direction.
During the course of the talk, Rodriguez took some pretty healthy cuts at Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts, who co-wrote the bombshell piece with David Epstein.
What makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me, he [Rodriguez] told ESPN’s Peter Gammons. Rodriguez went on to say that Roberts was tossed from his New York City apartment building, that she had to be escorted off of the University Miami campus by police when she sought out Rodriguez at the campus gym on Thursday and that she tried to break into his Miami home where his children were sleeping. There are some really respectable journalists that are following this lady off a cliff, he said.
Sports Illustrated publised a Q & A with Roberts, in which the reporter talks about the process of breaking the story and her efforts to speak with Rodriguez.
She also calls the slugger’s claims “absurd” in an interview with MLB Network.
I’ve never set foot in the lobby of Alex’s New York apartment. I’ve never set foot on his property. It’s pure fabrication, said Roberts, who did say she drove by Rodriguez’s house after receiving permission from Miami Beach police to drive on public property near A-Rod’s house. The Miami Beach police have a miscellaneous incident report of that conversation, but Roberts was not cited for anything. Roberts also asked for and received permission from security at the University of Miami to enter the school’s workout facilities and talk to Rodriguez on Thursday. I think it’s a diversion, a shoot-the-messenger type of thing, Roberts said.
There’s sure to be more on both the positive test and the news-gathering methods employed by Roberts coming to light in the near future, but for now: What does your gut say about they way Roberts handled this, and does any part of you feel for Rodriguez?
It seems to be wildly unfair that if 104 players tested positive in a test that was supposed to be kept out of the papers that Rodriguez is the only name that has come out. You can’t close Pandora’s Box now that it’s open, so it only seems fair the rest of the players’ names should be released to the court of public opinion.
Obviously, this would be fought tooth and nail by the players.
It’s also interesting that Rodriguez said he only found out for sure he had failed a test when Roberts confronted him. That means there’s a lot of nervous baseball players out there praying they aren’t named next.
So, you want to see the full list, right? Any chance that will happen?
