Jump to content

How do you feel about Jason Giambi


millbank

Recommended Posts

This is unbelievable. There are HUNDREDS of players using steroids. To chastise one who admitted to it is ludicrous. People have been cheating in sports since the dawn of time and I for one applaud him for apologizing and wanting to move on. If you think there are only a few using then you are fools. Do you think there aren't football players getting away with using roids? Then you are an even bigger fool. There are always ways around any and all testing. Get real...

235021[/snapback]

 

Sammy Sosa out-does them all. Juicing and corking at the same time. Brilliant!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sammy Sosa out-does them all.  Juicing and corking at the same time.  Brilliant!

235191[/snapback]

 

I remember when I pointed out that Marcellus Wiley's 75 lb weight gain (of sheer muscle mass) in college was about as remarkable as they come and people freaked on me.... I guess it was the Wheaties... <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sammy Sosa out-does them all.  Juicing and corking at the same time.  Brilliant!

235191[/snapback]

As a Yanks fan I will never fear the Orioles as long as Angelos owns them. He loves to piss away money. $18 million this year for that steroid injecting, bat corking cheater. Oh year Jerry Hairston Jr is a far superior player to Sammy and will be a great leadoff hitter for the Cubs- plus his teammates wont despise him like they hated Sammy. Keep up the good work Peter Angelos!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Steroids are not illegal like coke or weed"

 

What's the highest grade you completed in school? I doubt it was any higher than second grade.

 

It is 100% illegal to possess steroids in the USA.

 

From http://www.steroidtruth.com/steroid_law.htm

 

"Steroids are in the same legal class as barbituates, LSD and illegally obtained prescription narcotics like Vicodin. Simple possession is a federal offense punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Possession with intent to sell or distribute will get you up to 5 years in a federal prison or up to 7 years in a New York State prison"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any player caught cheating in the past- by using vaseline, sandpaper or any other illegal substance on the ball or by corking a bat- has been suspended. Anyone that was caught gambling on baseball or fixing games was banned for life. Using steroids while illegal as far as the law goes was not specifically called cheating or resulted in suspensions by MLB until last year. So, I guess that makes it OK to have shot up before 2003 but now it's not? I don't think so. Steroids are a bit different than corking a bat or throwing a spitball. How in the hell did MLB not make it a suspendable offense until 2003?

 

The players are not sorry that they used steroids, they are sorry that they got caught, especially Giambi. He apologized and then was asked what he was apologizing for and he said he couldn't say why. He told the truth in court and is getting roasted for it while Bonds conveniently has knee surgery and gets to sit out Spring Training and doesn't have to answer any questions. Giambi was truthful, Bonds keeps his mouth shut and Giambi is the bad guy. They both are. If one takes the fall, they all should. I still haven't changed my mind about Giambi. Ban him for life and take all his money back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is something interesting written in the New York Times by Murray Chass, talking about how the words steriods was omitted from his guaranteed contact. The Yankees knew what they were doing, before all you anti Yankee fans go off, Im sure this happenes everywhere. But the Yankees deserve to be ripped for this, they turned the other way just to get the guy they wanted.

 

ON BASEBALL

Contract Omission Says It All

By MURRAY CHASS

 

Published: February 11, 2005

 

GIAMBI did not fall on his sword yesterday. He did not say in crisp, clear tones, "Yes, I used steroids." But he didn't have to. He said enough to acknowledge that, yes, he used steroids.

 

That came as no surprise to the Yankees. Not that they will acknowledge it. General Manager Brian Cashman, in fact, said several times yesterday that the subject never came up three years ago when the Yankees were pursuing Giambi, a free-agent first baseman. But they had a strong clue that steroids played a part in Giambi's life.

 

A person with knowledge of the contract said that before they signed off on Giambi's seven-year, $120 million deal, the Yankees acquiesced to his request and removed all references to steroids from the guarantee language routinely included in contracts.

The Yankees were not innocents in this matter. They didn't say to themselves: Delete references to steroid use? Well, all right if you insist, but why would you want us to do that?

 

They wanted Giambi badly enough that they relinquished the right to suspend him or stop payment on the contract or terminate the contract or convert it into a nonguaranteed contract if he was found to use steroids. No other words were deleted from that paragraph of the contract, the person said.

 

That act alone made it difficult for the Yankees to try to void the contract after The San Francisco Chronicle reported Giambi's leaked testimony before a federal grand jury on Dec. 11, 2003. A hearing into a Giambi grievance over the termination would have produced some tantalizing testimony.

 

Union lawyer: Mr. Steinbrenner, before you approved a $120 million commitment to Mr. Giambi, did you have any idea or any suspicion that he used steroids?

 

George Steinbrenner: Umm. ...

 

Giambi was asked at a news conference yesterday at Yankee Stadium if he misrepresented himself when he signed the contract. Arn Tellem, his agent, answered for him.

 

"Absolutely, unequivocally no," Tellem said. He didn't spell it out, but he didn't have to. The Yankees' action three years ago spoke eloquently enough. Their willingness to delete steroids demonstrated that they clearly understood Giambi's representation.

 

The Yankees signed Giambi on Dec. 13, 2001. The Chronicle reported that he had told the grand jury that he used steroids during the 2001 season. He made sure his continued use of performance-enhancing drugs would not jeopardize his contract.

 

Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's chief labor executive, declined to comment yesterday on the guarantee language in Giambi's contract.

 

"Whatever I know about that is privileged," Manfred said, referring to attorney-client privilege.

 

Lonn Trost, the Yankees' chief operating officer, who handles the guarantee language in player contracts, declined to discuss Giambi's contract. But speaking generally, he said: "We have probably the most extensive guarantee language in professional sports; it contains many, many things. There's nothing in that agreement that isn't redundant. It's dealt with to make sure we're protected. Even if it was modified, you can be sure it was covered elsewhere."

 

But if steroid use is covered elsewhere in the contract, the Yankees would have jumped at the chance to use the prohibition to terminate Giambi's contract and save themselves the $82 million they owe him over the next four years. They have had meetings with the commissioner's office, but no one has come up with a way out.

 

Giambi and Tellem were careful yesterday not to give the Yankees help, just in case they're still looking. Giambi did not admit to having used steroids, and he did not confirm The Chronicle report of his grand jury testimony.

 

But he did say he had testified truthfully. And although he criticized Jose Canseco for the assertions he reportedly made in his forthcoming book, Giambi did not question The Chronicle report. He said he hadn't read the article, but he knows what it contained. Otherwise, what did he apologize for?

 

For those who wanted Giambi to fall on his sword and were disappointed that he didn't, Tellem, a Los Angeles lawyer, spelled it out. "He's doing the best he can and going as far as he can," he said. "He said he told the truth to the grand jury, nothing but the truth. He said he did things that he regretted and he's sorry for."

 

Look at what Giambi said, Tellem concluded, and you'll find out that he said what some people wanted him to say. "He basically did say that," Tellem said.

 

But Giambi didn't say anything that would hurt his legal position. A lawyer who works in baseball said the Yankees would have a difficult case if they tried to terminate the contract.

 

For one thing, the lawyer said, steroids weren't illegal in baseball when Giambi used them. For another, the only evidence the Yankees have is a newspaper article, which would never make it into evidence before an arbitrator.

 

The Yankees may revisit the matter later, especially if Giambi is hitting .210 with a handful of home runs in May.

 

For now, though, the Yankees appear satisfied with Giambi's position. They feel he has been sincere and contrite in his discussions with them, and they only hope he can become the productive player he used to be, steroids or no.

 

"Jason is a member of this family," Cashman said, "and we will do everything we possibly can together to help him try to get through it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...