Truth is, we hold these guys to naively high standards, then expect not to be let down. The same guys ripping Ortiz, A-Rod, Clemens etc, etc. are the ones gulping the Cialis and getting Lasik. Personally, I don’t care anymore if David Ortiz has Dianabol in his Pez dispenser. I just want him to Man Up.
By now, the Five Stages of Denial are familiar: (1) Shock; (2) Denial (3) Indignance; (4) Slandering The Accuser and (5) Silence: “You must be joking. I didn’t do it. I can’t believe anyone would accuse me, after all I’ve done for the game. My accuser beats his wife and puts ketchup on his eggs. Under the advice of my attorney, I will have no further comment.”
Chronic sports liars, if they stay focused and follow the game plan, can find themselves in a weird parallel universe, in which the truth is whatever they’ve claimed it to be.
-- Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty, not buying what Papi was selling.
Like I said on Friday, I’m not sure why Papi even bothered with the statement he gave. Part of that is because, like Daugherty notes, we can’t really expect anything genuine from such an exercise. Another part of that, however, is that no matter what these guys say, they’re never going to satisfy the Paul Daughertys of the world.
Daugherty said that he would have been satisfied if Ortiz had said “Damn right I did it” or words to that effect. I have no doubt that he would have been happy to hear such a thing -- having a truly unapologetic steroid user would be great for columnists’ “juicers are evil” pieces -- but I am quite dubious that he would be satisfied.
