from the first fanpost about this way down the main page:

From what I read in the AP about the confession, I think it was pretty gracious. I actually think he may get some sympathy from this confession. His whole "To be honest, I didn’t know what I was taking and testing positive for" is a pretty strong comment on the prevailing culture at the time.

Now, what does this do to his all-time numbers? He admitted a three-year period of use, and we know he obviously isn’t using any testable substances anymore (there was a discussion earlier about new substances that can’t even be detected – I’m not making a judgment about whether or not he’s doing thi, either way).

For what it’s worth, A-Rod won’t ever be as tainted as McGwire or Bonds since he came out and swiftly apologized (how long after the Mitchell Report broke did Petite apologize) and ALMOST seems like he could have fallen prey to the prevailing culture (this is not an exuse, but I think it’s instructive).

Bonds and McGwire have adamantly maintained their innocence or have refused to discuss the allegations. In Bonds’ case, it doesn’t help that he’s a giant douche bag (no pun intended). McGwire just got busted at the wrong time and took some bad advice that has caused him to completely sequester himself from the world.

Better for it to occur off-season, than during the season. He was pretty humble and gracious in his admission, and I think he stands a good chance to get back into the good graces of baseball fans.

But all in all, it boils down to one thing: in professional sports, anyone can be forgiven by producing. Ray Lewis “allegedly” kills a guy? No problem, win a Super Bowl. Kobe Bryant “allegedly” rapes a girl? Score 81 points, and everyone forgets! Even Michael Vick will get a chance to make people forget about his heinous crimes towards man’s best friend if he inevitably takes the Raiders to the playoffs.

Rodriguez just needs to come out and hit 62 homers or go into the Derby and hit 30 homers in a round. It sort of worked for Josh Hamilton.

His confession is fine by me. I think most people would agree that he is still one of the better players of all time. I don’t see his numbers being dramatically different without the drug use, although we’ll never know. He did the right thing by admitting use and apologizing for it. Seems like an open and shut case to me, although I’m sure the sports media will milk it for weeks.

but it does seem like a truly gracious apology and – the right thing to do.
He’s sorta lucked out on the timing of the whole thing, it was part of the game back then but right now seems to be safe(er) time to fess up. If he is lying, it’s through omission. He aaawl-most dropped mlb in it, big time!

and we will forgive him. Canseco was trashed for being the only to tell the truth – even if it was only to sell books. However, this has all led to the greatest headline ever -

no one else would ever talk about hair with this story….well done.

that whatever he uses to make his lips that pink is bad for the environment.

I heard his hair is actually computer-generated.

Man, you forget A-Rod was just a teenager when he first came up with Seattle…until you listen to him talk.

“I’m extremely sorry to my millions of fans?” Give me a break.

If he wasn’t asking questions from his doctors, trainers, and nutritionists from 2001-2003, who knows what he may have been in-taking prior to that.

In his defense, the rules were different then, so he gets a free pass from a legal standpoint I think. Still, it’s never fun confirming what everyone already knows. Just makes him look even more A-Fraudish.

A-Rod could have been naive enough at the time, though one would think he had the best in all health-related fields, even back then, giving him the best advice. Guess you can’t assume these things….

There still seems to be too much confusion as to what is legal and not legal for use. I don’t know how many players have gotten popped since the crackdown, but it does seem like there have been a lot of lower-tier (and thus, less resource-rich) players who are not getting the master list or any help navigating the GNC store.