McGwire's Steroid Admission Was Carefully Executed, Planned

McGwire Reaches Out To Newspapers On Top Of MLB Net Interview As Part Of PR Push

The strategy that Mark McGwire employed yesterday to "lay out his admission to using steroids demonstrated that lessons were learned from other baseball stars who preceded him in making mea culpa about their drug use," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. McGwire "did it all in one afternoon, starting with a statement that was distributed widely to the news media" at about 3:00pm ET. The AP "followed quickly with a story that featured an interview with McGwire, who subsequently spoke" to other news media outlets -- USA Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ESPN, St. Louis' KTRS-AM and the N.Y. Times. McGwire gave his first sit-down televised interview to MLB Network's Bob Costas at 7:00pm last night. The one-day plan was "coordinated over the past month" by Ari Fleischer and the Cardinals, who recently hired McGwire as their batting coach. Sandomir notes McGwire and his handlers "surely knew his credibility would be enhanced if he confessed before spring training and made himself widely available" both yesterday and today. McGwire is scheduled to give an interview to ESPN today, but "because it's not exclusive, its thunder will be muted" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12).

HITTING IT OUT OF THE PARK: Perhaps the biggest single moment in the short 12-month history of MLB Network started to come together a few days ago when McGwire consented to the channel's year-long request to conduct an on-camera interview. Though they could not be certain, MLB Net execs had a pretty good idea McGwire would use the interview to finally address rumors of his past steroid use. MLB Net President & CEO Tony Petitti said, "We saw the official release the same time you did. In the last couple of days, we knew we'd have the interview. But we didn't know what the content of it would be." Petitti solely credits Costas for landing the interview on the network. "This doesn't happen without Bob," Petitti said. "Bob gives us access to these types of interviews." Costas, a St. Louis resident, has gained McGwire's trust over the past several years. When MLB Net hired him last February, Costas put McGwire near the top of a wish-list of interviews he wanted to conduct, along with HOFers like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax. When the Cardinals hired McGwire in October, network execs believed he would have to speak out before taking over. Petitti said the interview was not so much a watershed moment for MLB Net as it was a continuation of a network philosophy to talk about hard hitting baseball issues. "We need to consistently prove that if it's important to baseball, we're going to be there" (John Ourand, THE DAILY). DAILY VARIETY’s Jon Weisman wrote Costas is an “example of the heavyweight power that MLB Network has quickly come to employ” (VARIETY.com, 1/11).

STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE: The N.Y. TIMES' Sandomir writes the McGwire interview was a "coup for the year-old MLB Network and justifies what the channel is paying Costas." MLB Net has a "little more than half the subscribers ESPN has," but the league-owned channel "had an edge in Costas if, indeed, McGwire wanted to be interviewed at length by a smart interrogator." Costas said, "They decided this was the place for Mark to tell the story, but not because it was the place where they’d get the easiest ride" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12). YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Kaduk wrote McGwire "finally did what most of us wanted him to do," and give him a "lot of credit for doing the interview live with no restrictions and for sitting in Costas' firing line for almost an entire hour" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/11). Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz notes McGwire called him for an interview yesterday as part of his initial media blitz, and "there were no ground rules." Miklasz: "You could ask him anything. And he answered everything" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/12). In L.A., Bill Dwyre writes if McGwire is "smart, he will give a few more interviews on the subject to confirm the sincerity of his apology." He probably even should "do one of those spring training sit-downs, at a long table with 15 microphones, three dozen tape recorders and a roomful of reporters staring him in the face" (L.A. TIMES, 1/12). 

Bob Costas Receives Mixed Reviews For Monday's Interview With McGwire

SWING & A MISS? In N.Y., Bob Raissman recaps the MLB Net interview under the header, "Mark McGwire's Steroid Admission, TV Interview A Cryin' Shame As Bob Costas Whiffs On Follow-Ups." Costas has a "well-deserved reputation of being a fair and pointed interviewer." However, in this case, his "alliance with the MLB Network and the fact he did not ask specific details concerning the particulars of McGwire's drug use leave a bad perception." Costas during the interview read a clip from Jose Canseco's '05 book "Juiced" that claimed Canseco and McGwire "would load up a syringe and go into a bathroom stall 'to shoot up steroids' right after batting practice or before a game." McGwire last night said, "There's no truth to that." Raissman notes at that "very point we expected Costas to fire off a series of rather pertinent questions," including where McGwire got the steroids from and who administered the injections. But these "basic facts, essential in the story of McGwire's steroids abuse, ... were ignored in Costas' line of questioning." That does not mean the interview was a "Twinkie Munch," but Costas' interview still "left the impression there were boundaries" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/12). NEWSDAY's Neil Best wrote Costas "did his usual solid job over an hour, though he admittedly jumped around from subject to subject and back again at times. The only significant quibble I had was that he did not press for a couple of clarifications" (NEWSDAY.com, 1/11).

SOLID, BUT SEVERAL WHIFFS: In S.F., Gwen Knapp in a front-page piece writes Costas, "one of the most respected in the business, whiffed on several points." He seemed "more concerned with the validity of McGwire's statistics and his viability for the Hall of Fame than about the risks associated with pumping artificial hormones into one's body." Costas "failed to ask whether McGwire had any long-term health problems." Costas did ask whether McGwire thought that "using steroids had ever contributed to, more than healed, some of his baseball injuries" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/12). YAHOO SPORTS' Kaduk wrote Costas did a "mostly solid job and asked many of the questions we wanted him to, but in retrospect we both should've thought to ask about any ongoing health problems that may have been caused by his steroid use" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/11).

THE BEST OF THE BEST: FANHOUSE.com’s Milton Kent wrote if there was “ever a doubt that Costas is the preeminent sports television figure of this era, it was dispelled in his searing conversation with McGwire.” Costas “alternated deftly in the roles of persistent inquisitor, confessor and compassionate listener.” Costas “continually framed his questions in polite, but persistent tones, using the full hour wisely to dissect McGwire in baseball terms, then backing off in the final segment to let” McGwire “be human.” The interview was “sports television at its very best, and could only have been achieved by a master of the form, as Costas is" (FANHOUSE.com, 1/11). DEADSPIN.com’s Dashiell Bennett writes under the header, “Last Night’s Winner: Bob Costas.” Costas gets “credit for asking direct and pointed questions, but perhaps could have done a slightly better job hiding his contempt for the answers” (DEADSPIN.com, 1/12).

McGwire's MLB Network Interview Is A Hot Topic On Twitter

TWITTER REACTION: Sirius XM Radio’s Brent Gambill: “Mark McGwire looks like he's in pain. Like he's screaming inside right now. Bob Costas proves what we already knew. He's as good as it gets.” N.Y. Times’ Tyler Kepner: “Fantastic job by Bob Costas.” SI’s Joe Lemire: “Costas is not holding back on McGwire. A tour de force interview, particularly compared to Gammons' treatment of A-Rod.” MLB.com’s Matthew Leach: “I am not always a Costas fan, but I am genuinely impressed by how he is conducting this interview.” Newsday’s Neil Best: “Costas in fine form during epic sitdown w/McGwire. But still wondering what exactly Mark regrets if he only was taking 'roids for injuries.”

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE: MLB Net's Peter Gammons last year while he was with ESPN conducted the interview with Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez in which Rodriguez admitted for the first time he has used steroids, and he discussed Costas' interview this morning on "The Dan Patrick Show." Gammons said Costas "asked the question about six times about the home runs. When I was interviewing Alex Rodriguez, I thought this interview isn't going any further if I repeat the question past twice. I think Bob did a remarkable job coming back, and I believe he asked the question about, 'Do you really believe there's no connection between steroids and the home run totals?' I think he asked it six times" ("The Dan Patrick Show," 1/12).

MEDIA MONITOR: Last night's edition of NBC's "Nightly News" led with a three-minute, 15-second report on McGwire's steroid admission that featured commentary from SI.com Senior Editor Stephen Cannella. CBS' "Evening News" first reported on McGwire 6:45 into the broadcast, with 1:57 of total coverage including commentary from SI's Tom Verducci. ABC's "World News Tonight" first reported on McGwire at 21:23, with 1:37 of total coverage that included ESPN.com's Buster Olney. All three major broadcast morning shows hit on the McGwire story within the first 15 minutes of the telecast. ABC's "GMA" aired a 5:17 report that included a live interview via satellite with ESPN's Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg. CBS' "The Early Show" aired a 2:27 report, while NBC's "Today" featured McGwire in the initial news cycle with a short report approximately five minutes into the broadcast (THE DAILY).