In today's Boston Globe, Tom Massarotti wrote a column about how long it has taken Ortiz to address his failed drug test. Based on what I've read in the Globe since the revelation of Ortiz's PED use, the Boston media is genuinely pissed at Ortiz, as though they felt that Ortiz had duped them all this time with his affable personality. Understandable. But the trauma of Ortiz's outing as a PED user has led to the following senselessness from Massarotti in today's column:
"All we can hope for, at this stage, is that Ortiz does not adopt Rodriguez’s approach when it came time to answer questions and fill in the blanks. We don’t need to know merely what Ortiz tested positive for and when he used it. We need to know what else he has taken, if anything, and we need to know why.
"We have yet to hear a single player stand up and tell us the complete truth, that the game was out of control, that players felt the need to keep up, that things became twisted and out of control. That the line between right and wrong did not grow fuzzy - it disappeared entirely - and the game became one muddied mass."
Ummm, didn't A-Rod in his interview with Gammons and at his press conference not only say what he tested positive for, when he took it, that he did it because he felt pressure to live up to his contract, and that he also used to consume an energy drink during his Seattle days that is now banned? Didn't A-Rod tell us that back then more or less anything went (loosey-goosey = game out of control), that he was trying to keep up? Neither A-Rod nor Ortiz can speak for the whole game, they don't know what other player's motivations were. They can only speak to why they did what they did.
This passage by Massarotti not only misrepresents what Alex said regarding his PED use, it seems utterly confused. If anything, that first line should read, "All we can hope for, at this stage, is that Ortiz adopts Rodriguez’s approach when it came time to answer questions and fill in the blanks."
I'm going to forgive Massarotti on this one. I'm sure he's still in shock. But when Alex came out and admitted to three years of PED use, how he got the drugs, how he used them, all the media could do was say "he's hiding something." Get over it guys. He gave you the dirt. I understand being cynical, but at some point you're just being unfair to A-Rod. It's okay to be upset that Ortiz hasn't talked about this issue yet (it certainly didn't take A-Rod this long), but don't take it out on A-Rod. This is about your guy, Boston media, not ours.
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7 comments:
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
Here I am!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU - "Fair and Balanced" RJG!!!!!!!! I saw this on my Google Alerts and was so freakin' p%#@ed off!! Why I get so mad anymore I don't know, but yeah, I was. I was ready to post everything I was mad at, but you said it all! The only thing I disagree with you about is I DON'T forgive this guy nor do I give him a pass because Ortiz is his guy. He's HAD time to absorb his shock over Ortiz. Plus, he also had time to mentally prepare since:
1. ARod's name leaked (surely he had to suspect Ortiz on the same list at that point - if ARod was a juicer as the picture of health, certainly Big Papi was.)
2. Manny getting suspended (tandem hitters/self-proclaimed BFFs for years)
3. A few more names leaking (it was just a matter of time... and the whispers were getting louder and louder as we got into the summer months.)
4. Also, I'm sure as a member of the Boston media or any media for that matter, he's been privy to much more inside information than me, some schmo living in bumpkinville outside of Cincinnati, Ohio!
Furthermore, how DARE he say NO player has come forward and said who, what, when, where, how, and why (paraphrasing here...) The first ACTIVE player to do so was Alex. Gimmie a break! Bloggers are one thing - they can spew their opinions all day, but journalists and news people should be taken to task for printing such blatant bull and cr@p-@$$ information! I know Alex makes a lot of money, blah blah blah, etc, etc, etc, but how much of a whipping boy is he supposed to be for everybody else??? UGG!!!
There is a real obsession with Alex. Part of it is, I suspect, he sells papers. But trying to make Ortiz's positive test about Alex is going to far. I understand if you want to ask Alex for a quote as a guy who was outed himself on that list, but to focus this on what Alex has or hasn't done since Roberts's revelations is irresponsible and frankly lazy journalism. And as a blogger, I know a lot about lazy journalism.
It's Tony Massarotti, not Tom.
Jon Roberts said...
I like how he quickly pointed out that "we" who are on the outside bear no responsibility then names those who do. "Don't look at us, we're sports reporters not journalists". How the hell do some of these people get jobs as sport writers. Many don't write particularly well, they aren't entertaining, they add little substance to the discussion, and often show a disturbing lack of knowledge about the sports they are covering (I'm looking at you, ESPN). To top it all off when things turn negative they run from responsibility and refuse to accept any blame for the mess they profited from while attendance boomed. I can get as much value from a box score as I can from some the clowns who get paid to write about it.
I wouldn't mind seeing some papers just running a real score card the next day. It would tell you a lot more than some of the stories do. They could save money too.
I guess I was too busy trying not to misspell Massarotti that I neglected to double check his first name. He's an @$$hole so who cares.
Yeah, the sanctimony of the media throughout this whole steroid controversy has bothered me for some time.
Steroid usage was obvious to anyone who ever bothered to watch a home run arc as of April 1998, but the game needed the comeback and we all turned a blind eye. Now these guys act like we've been betrayed. If that's the case, only by ourselves.
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