Really? REALLY???

Snippet of my imaginary interview: (Actual A-Rod answers)

January 9, 2009

Ghost of Jack Buck (GJB): "So, Alex, let's go back. It's 2001. It has been 3 years since Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record. Barry (Bonds) breaks that record a year later, and ever since then, the media has been all over the steroid issue. Allegations swirling in the media that steroid use is rampant in Major League Baseball. A new testing program is being discussed by the players and owners. And it is during this time that you tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED's)?"

A-Rod: "I was young, I was stupid, I was naive."

GJB: "Really?"

A-Rod: "I did take a banned substance. For that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful."

GJB: "Really?"

A-Rod: "I had just signed this enormous contract I felt like I needed something, a push, without over-investigating what I was taking, to get me to the next level."

GJB: "Really? So, you sign the largest contract in MLB history. 10 years, $252 million dollars, $25.2 million a year... and you decide you need steroids?"

A-Rod: "Overall, I felt a tremendous pressure to play, and play really well"

GJB: "Really? Really?? OK, so what substances did you start using?"

A-Rod: "To be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using"

GJB: "REALLY??? REALLY??? You were making $25 million dollars a year... OVER $155,000 a game... and you don't know what substance you were injecting into your body??? REALLY???

Forgive me for saying this out loud, but that in itself, the fact that you were injecting a banned substance into your body, and you have no idea what it was... all the while you are making an obscene amount of money for playing a game! Well, Sir, that is just about the dumbest thing I have heard in all my life!!! REALLY???"