A-Rod Admission: Gammons Takes Heat For Going Easy On Rodriguez

Gammons' (l) Relationship With A-Rod Helps Him Land Monday's Interview

Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras chose ESPN's Peter Gammons to conduct yesterday's interview in which Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from '01-03 because Rodriguez "has known Gammons for much of his career and felt comfortable with him in a way he would not with reporters who have specialties in steroids and the law," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Rodriguez' reps "did not reach out to ESPN reporters like T.J. Quinn or Mark Fainaru-Wada, veterans of the steroids beat, or its legal reporter, Lester Munson." Still, a "candid Rodriguez gave Gammons plenty -- the admission to using steroids and the often-repeated self flagellation that he was stupid and naïve" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/10). ESPN reached out to Boras soon after the story broke on Saturday to get an interview with Rodriguez. ESPN Senior VP & Dir of News Vince Doria said the net heard back from a Boras rep later Saturday that Rodriguez was willing to sit down for an interview with Gammons. Doria: "It seemed that they wanted to do it fairly quickly." Doria said it is "not unusual" for interview subjects to request specific interviewers, and Rodriguez did not place any conditions on the interview. "They didn't request any, and we wouldn't have accepted any," Doria said. "If you saw the interview, you would see that there were none" (John Ourand, THE DAILY).

TOUGH ASSIGNMENT: The N.Y. TIMES' Sandomir writes Gammons got Rodriguez to "admit to plenty of regrets and numerous rationales about how his career should be judged and how he will be assessed by Hall of Fame voters." But Gammons "did not ask a crucial question: 'Alex, how often did you take Primobolan or any other banned substances?'" Sandomir notes it is a "rare journalist who walks away from a big interview satisfied that every possible question had been asked in such a set period of time," but this was a "big omission" by Gammons. Gammons' politeness "seemed to have prevented him from being overly skeptical or a bit rude to Rodriguez." Sandomir: "Maybe he wanted to give Rodriguez lots of rope to perform self-therapy. But even in confessing, Rodriguez was evasive" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/10). On Long Island, Neil Best writes it "certainly was a productive 45 minutes, thanks mostly" to Rodriguez. But Gammons was "in a tough spot," and there were "flaws, such as not further pressing A-Rod on what drugs he took and where he got them -- or to question the believability of the notion he simply didn't know." But Gammons' "biggest omission, though, was not following up on A-Rod's charges of unethical and/or illegal behavior" by SI's Selena Roberts, who co-authored the original report (NEWSDAY, 2/10).

GAMMONS PICKED FOR A REASON? In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes Rodriguez "took the path of least resistance, so to speak," and "the road is named Peter Gammons." Gammons "needed to press A-Rod, get him to clarify what the heck he was saying." But Gammons, "clearly handpicked by Rodriguez, Scott Boras or both, didn't even try." He "never even came close to trying to probe in an effort to get one straight answer," and the "way it was conducted was a disgrace." Still, the interview was a "huge coup" for ESPN (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/10). On Long Island, Wallace Matthews: “For his 'confession,' A-Rod chose his inquisitor, a known softballer, and deftly controlled his venue, a notoriously athlete-friendly network" (NEWSDAY, 2/10). N.Y. Daily News reporter John Harper said of Rodriguez, "He sort of orchestrated this through Gammons, who can be a sympathetic interviewer" ("Daily News Live," SportsNet N.Y., 2/9). The AP's Tim Dahlberg wrote Gammons "played along with a gentle line of questioning" (AP, 2/9). CSN Chicago’s Mike North: “I do love the way that Peter Gammons interviewed Alex Rodriguez, but there’s no question in my mind, having been an interviewer for 17 years, that Peter Gammons knew exactly what A-Rod was going to say before the interview. Because Peter Gammons showed no surprise, didn’t lean forward in his chair, was matter-of-fact” (“Monsters in the Morning,” CSN Chicago, 2/10). Gammons said of the interview, “I thought the interview was going to be basically about not really knowing the test in 2003 and that it was related to a back injury he suffered in Spring Training ... and had prepared myself for such” (“Mike & Mike” ESPN2, 2/10). But USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes for "anybody in crisis mode looking to put together an instant PR counterpunch," the Rodriguez-Gammons interview yesterday was "textbook." Gammons, "predictably, did a solid job" (USA TODAY, 2/10).

MLB Network Commended For Its Coverage Of A-Rod Situation

PULLING NO PUNCHES: In L.A., Diane Pucin writes the "most compelling coverage of the A-Rod steroid scandal has been in the most unexpected place:" MLB Network. The league-owned net "has not ducked the story, even though it tarnishes the sport and its best player," as it has "offered considerable coverage by a host of contributors," including hosts Bob Costas and Matt Vasgersian, analyst Harold Reynolds and reporter Tom Verducci. Since the story broke Saturday, MLB Net has offered three days of "fair coverage with unrelenting interviews, nuanced discussions and an aggressive, head-on, touch-all-the-bases approach." Costas "injected that credibility immediately by interviewing" Roberts on Saturday, and Vasgersian, Reynolds and Verducci "continued to follow the story Monday, especially after Rodriguez, during his apology on ESPN, attacked the reporting methods of Roberts." Costas: "In a way it's a sad story, but for the baseball network to have this happen so soon and then do such a good job, it showed the network is willing to tackle an important issue straight up." Pucin notes Rodriguez in the interview with Gammons "tried to turn the reporting of the story into 'he said, she said.'" And while Gammons "failed to push back on any of this or when Rodriguez referred to Roberts dismissively as 'that lady,' MLB Network quickly put 'that lady' back on the air," and she "disputed each allegation" Pucin: "It should be a blueprint for other sports-sponsored networks" (L.A. TIMES, 2/10).

HE SAID, SHE SAID: Roberts last night on MLB Network said Rodriguez' allegations against her are "absurd." Roberts: "I’ve never set foot in the lobby of Alex’s New York apartment. I’ve never spoken to the University of Miami police, being on their campus. I’ve never set foot on his home property or been cited by the Miami police for doing so. It’s pure fabrication on his part." Rodriguez during his interview with Gammons mentioned Roberts was "stalking" him and had tried to break into his apartment. Roberts responded, "That is a pure fabrication on his part. I can only guess that this is part of a diversion strategy of some sort. There is nothing of any validity or any truth of what he’s saying. ... Maybe it’s a diversion or a ‘shoot the messenger’ kind of thing. He can’t quibble with the reporting" ("Hot Stove," MLB Network, 2/9). SI in a statement yesterday said the publication "stands by the story and the professional manner in which it was reported." The statement: "Selena Roberts is a distinguished journalist and her reporting in this case led to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs." Meanwhile, MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reported Roberts, in addition to her duties at SI, is "researching an unauthorized biography, 'Hit and Run: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,' which will be released on May 19 by HarperCollins" (MLB.com, 2/9).

CBS' "The Early Show" Leads Off With Discussion About A-Rod

TV MONITOR: Last night’s edition of ABC’s “World News” led with Rodriguez' admission with 3:45 of total coverage. Following the taped report, Gammons appeared live via satellite to discuss the interview. NBC’s “Nightly News” first reported on Rodriguez at 5:52, with 2:24 of total coverage. CBS’ “Evening News” first reported on Rodriguez at 6:28, with 2:20 of total coverage. This morning’s edition of NBC’s “Today” first reported on Rodriguez at 15:00, with of 0:46 total coverage. Only the first two hours of the broadcast were monitored. CBS’ “The Early Show” led with a 0:28 discussion on Rodriguez between the co-hosts, with 4:10 of total coverage. Sirius XM Radio's Chris Russo appeared in-studio to discuss the situation with CBS’ Harry Smith. ABC’s “GMA” first reported on Rodriguez at 13:17, with 1:18 of total coverage (THE DAILY).

WORLDWIDE LEADER: The N.Y. TIMES' Sandomir notes after SI published the original Rodriguez report Saturday morning, ESPN "deployed ESPNews to react for hours ... and generated 1.5 million page views of A-Rod content on ESPN.com, one of the best weekend days ever." And ESPN.com yesterday "posted video excerpts from the Rodriguez interview in advance" of airing it on "SportsCenter" at 6:00pm ET (N.Y. TIMES, 2/10).