Unable to punish Alex Rodriguez for flunking a drug test that was supposed to be anonymous, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig could only chastise him.
“What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation,” the commissioner said on Thursday, three days after the Yankees slugger admitted using banned substances from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers.
“While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances, and those who use them have shamed the game,” he said.
PHOTO: AP
BOOTING BONDS
Selig also told USA Today that Hank Aaron could be reinstated over Barry Bonds as the all-time North American home run king.
He said he was considering returning Aaron to the top of the list with one of the greatest sports milestones in US history ahead of Bonds, who faces a trial next month on perjury charges.
“This is breaking my heart, I don’t mind telling you that,” Selig said.
Bonds, the former San Francisco Giants slugger, has been dogged for years by doping allegations. His former trainer was among those convicted in the BALCO steroid scandal.
Bonds is set to go on trial on March 2 in San Francisco for lying to a federal grand jury when he said that he did not use performance-enhancing substances.
Aaron, who turned 75 last week, hit 755 homers in his career but Bonds, 44, surpassed the mark in 2007 and finished with 762 homers.
PRICE OF ADMISSION
Rodriguez’s admission followed a Sports Illustrated report that he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended only to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball.
The results were seized by the government in 2004 and remain under seal. Because it was an anonymous test and because Rodriguez’s confession involved the years before an MLB drug agreement took effect, there is little Selig can do to punish him.
“It is important to remember that these recent revelations relate to pre-program activity,” Selig said. “Under our current drug program, if you are caught using steroids and/or amphetamines, you will be punished. Since 2005, every player who has tested positive for steroids has been suspended for as much as 50 games.”
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
RSS