Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 12, 2009 
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Joba Chamberlain went through a tough time this winter and he thinks A-Rod will get through his difficulties. This story also has word on some roster additions.
Tyler Kepner of the Times pointed out on his blog last night that A-Rod has added yet another set of advisors. He signed up with Outside Eyes, a crisis-management firm run by a former Republican political operative.
The company, interestingly enough, also employs Bonnie Bernstein. I wonder if she helped him prep for that ESPN interview? According to their web site, here is what they’ll do for a client in a crisis:
Assemble a team and build a War Room to coordinate and manage the people, process, and media in real time. Host a strategy session with your team to define objectives, expectations, success metrics, and confirm the pertinent facts and timelines.
Wow, a capital W and R in War Room. Impressive. What are success metrics? Confirming the pertinent facts could be tough.
So at last count, here is who Alex has for advisors:
· Scott Boras, super agent.
· Richard Rubenstein, the son of famed George Steinbrenner spokesman Howard Rubenstein.
· Guy Oseary, a Hollywood agent who guided Madonna to the top.
· The William Morris Agency, the noted talent firm.
· Outside Eyes.
· Yankees Media Relations director Jason Zillo.
They’re going to need their own clubhouse. In all seriousness, somebody along the way should be able to give the guy some good advice and hopefully he takes it. Whenever he does show up, it should be interesting.
It’s a crisis situation. Can’t blame him for having a crisis management team. If they are the group who crafted the answers Arod gave in the Gammons interview, they did their job. I didn’t believe half of what he said, but he did say something and did so without saying anything that could get him in real trouble. That’s a job well done.
Crazy how someone can be so athletically comfortable, but such a social cripple…at some point you have to understand it aint fraud,,its him..
a rod is a clown and will NEVER win a championship
i wonder if his “keepers” could get a clutch hit for him
When you have a lot of people in the media attacking you all day for days at a time you need an army to combat it.
I think its sad that our society has helped to bring this about.
I’m always Impressed by Capital Letters in the middle of a Sentence for No reason.
Yes. blame the media.
I mean, The Media.
BRILLIANT!
http://www.sportingnews.com/yo.....p?t=516893
If Bud tries this, the Union will strike.. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.
Pete
You keep telling your readers to stop talking about ARod and Roberts. Then you keep going back to posting about ARod. Well, what is it? Are you gonna stop talking about him yourself? Seems like you media people are all the same. Stop your Single White Female obsession with ARod and get on with reporting about the game.
I didn’t click on the link that Vader posted in the prior thread as I’m much happier ignoring what the media has to say. He’s got to be kidding about CC, AJ and Tex. Emotionally scarred? That has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read. They will support their teammate (Tex already has) and that will be that. I’m sure the Yankeees will s/w Alex about orchestrating a one time only Q & A session. The media will take their shots and that will be that. ST is starting soon – these clowns better start covering real baseball instead of constantly pontificating on Alex. I do think that, once the season starts, every HR hits or big game he has will be ripe for analysis by these mediots. Again, I’m going to do what I’ve advised Alex – ignore them.
Don’t forget his Life Coach.
But hey, when you’ve got a quarter billion dollar contract, it is to be expected.
He should have one of us, a Yankees fan, on his crisis management team.
There’s no way they can suspend arod…..if he tries, expect major problems for Bud Seligs image (not that he still has a positive one anyways)
Betsy -
Holy cow! How could he even suggest he’d do that? ARod failed a drug test that was supposed to carry no consequences other than to have a testing program instituted in MLB. And if he does that, and the other 103 guys get NO punishment, then, I don’t — I’m speechless.
I think you’re right. The union would have to take some kind of action there. That would be in violation of an agreement.
This entire situation has been handled poorly from the get-go. You don’t make it better by dealing with things drop by drop. I supposed Selig is concerned because ARod’s going to be around for 9 more years, at least, while most of the others are gone or will be going (Pettitte, Giambi, for example) shortly.
Ahhhhhh!
Betsy -
It would be easier to ignore if the guys who cover the Yankees were at least semi-neutral in their coverage of this and their disdain for Rodriguez. But they’re not. I fear Michael Kay is going to bring this up more than anyone else – and he has the opportunity every at-bat of every game he covers. It’s going to be unbearable.
I’m referring to on-air coverage during games, that is. It’s easy to ignore the sports talk radio shows and even newspaper stories. But if you’re watching the game (or listening on radio), it’s going to be difficult to avoid. I don’t know how Suzie & Sterling will handle it.
So do they serve as Independent Sources, too?
Doreen, yep. I can ignore the columnists……it’s going to be hard to avoid Michael Kay and Kim Jones. Kay supposedly liked A-Rod – he should be properly annoyed, angry, whatever – but ripping his apology to pieces on the air? Then his rant about Jeter? Jeter’s taking his hits in the media for this (but at least he doesn’t care, lol)…….It’s been WAY too much. Kim Jones asked Damon if he would worry that Alex is taking steroids when he goes to the bathroom. That’s a disgraceful comment. I refuse to listen to her anymore.
As to the suspension, Alex has already had some players come out in support of him. Bud won’t get away with this – he just mentioned that to placate angry media and fans. What a stooge.
Pete is reporting the news, it’s his job. He has said before that he hates these kinds of stories-as do I. However, this is going to be THE STORY for a little while longer, so I guess we are stuck with it.
Okay I think this is the last thing I will say on this topic.
I love how all these talking heads are screaming that Alex has lied, he could have said to Katie yeah I took roids last year. And that he only confessed because he was caught. Well name me a current player that has come forward and admitted it without being caught? There isn’t one! Now name me players that were caught and still denied, you can go on. Now name the two players that were caught and admitted it. Andy and Alex. TWO! Yet the media is killing him for not saying enough! Some bozo asked Selig if he would suspend Alex, he said yeah he’d think about it. WHAT?? You are going to think about suspending someone for something that happened 6 years ago when there were NO penalties in place!
I wonder if the backlash from Jones and Kay (and perhaps others) is the feeling that they were duped and look stupid for championing a guy who ended up being a liar on a more grand scale than anyone had imagined. I mean, ARod’s been caught in a few white lies, and he certainly puts his foot in his mouth more than most, but this is different.
Not excusing Jones, Kay, et al., for sure. They’re behaving like spoiled little kids here. I think they feel they’ve taken a hit to their own credibility that they didn’t see this coming. So now they’re venting. And venting. And venting… But they end up sounding irrational.
Betsy- I started to gain some respect for her, I thought she was doing a great job on the radio. But she lost it. Damon commented that he was offered roids when he was 13 and declined, than later in the interview he mentioned that he knew Alex when he was 16. Than she started to ask well has he been doing them since he was 16. The bathroom thing was disgusting too. Johnny handed it well, said “I’d never go in a stall with another man”!! Love ya Johnny.
Now, ESPN is reporting through a “source” that, 8 of the guys on the list of 104 players failed their drug tests from “over the counter supplements”.
In other words, ESPN has the list.
I guess EVERYBODY now has their hands on a confidential list.
How in the world can they not have an investigation as to who leaked the list?
The entire drug program has been compromised by this leak. Now, we will have “drip by drip” coverage of the media leaking the names on the list when they feel like doing it.
The whole thing stinks. There are no heroes in this story.
Ownership, all levels of baseball leadership, the players and the media are all equally at fault.
What a shame.
In the spirt of Lincoln (happy birthday), I’m going to take a page out of his Second Inaugural Address and approach this mess “With malice toward none”.
It’s funny, with all those people you’d think they’d manage to make him look sincere, and avoid throwing insubstantial dirt at reporters. Not sure if he’s spending money wisely.
Anyway, I’m still A-Bored. Roll on Spring Training…
I expect another big name to be “leaked” week by week. This week Alex, next week “stay tuned to see who else has been caught cheating”.
SI got their “scoop”. Now It’s ESPN’s turn…
Hmm… you know… with all this, there’s been a whole bunch of new posters on the Yankees boards supporting A-Rod — absolutely flooded it. And the same to some degree here.
I wonder if, perhaps, there’s some employees of one of these agencies spinning the message for him by posting on the boards.
“Now, ESPN is reporting through a “source” that, 8 of the guys on the list of 104 players failed their drug tests from “over the counter supplements”.”
Now, let me guess, those 8 are all Red Sox.
“In other words, ESPN has the list.”
Which means all Red Sox heroes are being erased as we speak. There will be a leak of 95 more names.
Tom- They won’t release a new name (unless it is another Yankee) until the Arod story grows stale.
And
on the red soxs not using banned substances.
Off-topic:
Has anyone ever tried to fight a traffic ticket in municipal court? Were you successful? (Improper passing local road 4 points)
That is pretty hilarious how much representation A-rod has. He must be spending a fortune on these people. I guess with the kind of money he brings in it doesn’t matter. A-rod is more like a celebrity who happens to be a great baseball player. I think that’s one of the reasons a lot of people dislike him. He really doesn’t act like a “baseball guy”.
To be honest though, if I had his money I would probably be extremely vain as well.
Selena Roberts has more dirt on ARod, more than he admitted to? This woman just needs to go away.
“Selena Roberts has more dirt on ARod, more than he admitted to?”
By dirt, what are we talking about, Russell? Are there indications she has knowledge of PED use beyond the 2001-03 seasons that Arod has admitted too? That could be a real problem.
If the dirt is something like he’s a skirt chaser or he shoplifted Chuckles from a 7-11, he’ll be fine.
Isn’t it ironic how the same people who keep complaining about the media going on and on with the story are the same ones who find the time to read and complain about the stories every day?
At least Pete has a reason for bringing up this story constantly. He’s the YANKEES beat reporter. These stories are a part of the Yankees beat. It is his JOB to report on all things Yankees. What’s the rest of you all’s excuse?
Asking Pete not to do his job is very silly. If you do not like what’s being reported then just ignore it instead of rambling on and on about how much you HATE the media.
Every day it’s the same drivel about why A-Rod is being targeted. He only happens to be one of the if not the biggest star in baseball. Everyone assumed he was clean and it turns out he wasn’t. If you do not think the media is going to milk this for all it’s worth you are seriously delusional. It’s Pete’s job to help his paper sell newspapers therefore he’s going to try to report on the most relevant Yankee topics, at the moment that happens to be the Alex Rodriguez story and it will be for a VERY long time.
Don’t hate on Pete and the rest of the media who are looking for sales, ratings, advertising. They would be fools not to write about the biggest player in baseball being a drug cheat.
By the way if stopped reading and commenting on these stories the media would likely stop reporting them.
Bud Selig is off his rocker
A possible solution to the ‘roids scandals is to offer amnesty to the 104 players that tested positive back in 2003.
For those that still remain in the game, they must submit to a test randomly sometime during every series played during the entire season.
All other players must submit to a random test weekly for the duration of their careers during the regular season, postseason and the offseason.
“By dirt, what are we talking about, Russell? Are there indications she has knowledge of PED use beyond the 2001-03 seasons that Arod has admitted too? That could be a real problem.
If the dirt is something like he’s a skirt chaser or he shoplifted Chuckles from a 7-11, he’ll be fine.”
Hah, yea. I’ll go ahead and assume the worst though since this all appears to be a Yankee witch hunt. I’d say she has more sources he started earlier.
I firmly believe though that ARod did not do steroids after 2003 though because of testing and the realization that baseball is no longer “loosy-goosy”
*Paranoia will destroya* Aroid is going to be a head case,I hope I’m wrong.
Question: How do people on here view Bonds now? More sympathetically? Same as ARod? Worse?
And if ARod hits 770 career HR, should he be credited with having more HR than Aaron, when he admitting to cheating for (at least) 3 of those years, hitting somewhere around 150 of his HR total while on steroids.
Radomski suggests Piazza is on steroids but has no proof? Oh man SOMEONE PLEASE PROVE THAT. Then my girlfriends mom will shush up about ARod.
Russel, I know it’s not proof, but I used to play softball with a guy who grew up in or near the same town as Piazza. He also played some minor league ball. This was around 2002 and he claimed Piazza was on ‘riods….
“Has anyone ever tried to fight a traffic ticket in municipal court? Were you successful? (Improper passing local road 4 points)”
———————–
Doreen, I’ve tried fighting them several times.
Technically, I lost. But I did get some satisfaction by having the officers show up to court. They were upset by that. It only cost $5 extra in PA to appeal it, so why not give it a shot.
Plus, there’s always the chance they won’t show up and you can get a lesser charge. I’d say that may be the only chance at a half-win though…
“Russel, I know it’s not proof, but I used to play softball with a guy who grew up in or near the same town as Piazza. He also played some minor league ball. This was around 2002 and he claimed Piazza was on ‘riods….”
I’ll take anything I can get. I’m thinking about getting the Radomski book and bringing it over her house tomorrow night…
I need to rack up another $10 so I can qualify for free super saver shipping on Amazon with the Torre book. I hear it’s good.
forgot to mention (but maybe you assumed) they played in high school around the same time…
he said he was a fat kid until he started using…
All these advisors and he still can’t come off better than he did on Monday in the ESPN interview??? ARod could have given me 1/100th the money he is giving those guys and I would have told him to say this:
“I took PED’s from 2001-2003. It was a mistake and I’m sorry I did it. I have been clean since then. I have no other comments on this matter.”
Alex, if you’re reading, I’m available.
Alex should hire Jeter’s PR Advisor and let everybody else go.
I don’t understand why the Fed’s are not investigating ESPN for having sealed documents.
Also – the only way Yankee #13 finds personal happiness is to drop the whole A-Rod personal…the guy’s in his 30′s…keeping it simple and just be Alex for once…whoever that really is…just keep it simple baseball is open…personal life is closed.
You forgot Warren Buffet