Feb 10, 2009 01:47 AM
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New York, 4:37 AM
Wed Feb 10
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Alex Rodriguez just admitted using steroids, but the Yankees third baseman doesn't want anyone to lose sight of another outrage: Sports Illustrated is supposedly stalking him.
Rodriguez has reason to trump up charges against SI, which broke news of his steroid use Saturday, forcing the slugger's public admission of (some) guilt, and his apology. And the writer he complained about, Selena Roberts, strongly denied his accusation.
Accused stalker Roberts did have a reputation years ago of getting "carried away" — but only when it came to her writing. When Roberts was at the New York Times, prior to joining SI in 2007, her very purple prose was praised as "heart-stopping" and "incandescent" by executive editor Joseph Lelyveld. New York thought her sentences "occasionally overwrought" but still found her "the best sportswriter in town." And, at the other end of the spectrum from Lelyveld, some random fellow (*cough*) at the Observer quipped, "Sweetheart, get me rewrite!"
None of which is to say Roberts was as over the top in her Rodriguez reporting. In an ESPN interview, the athlete claimed Roberts stalked him, was cited by Miami Beach police for breaking into his home last week while his daughters were sleeping, was thrown out of his New York apartment and was thrown out of the University of Miami for trespassing. SI said it stood by the story "and the professional manner in which it was reported."
And Roberts' denial cut to the chase:
"The allegations made by Alex Rodriguez are absurd," said Roberts, in the statement. "I've never set foot in the lobby of Alex's New York apartment building, never spoken to the University of Miami police, and never set foot on his home property or been cited by the Miami Police for doing so."
It sounds like Rodriguez is going to have to find some other way of distracting people from his problems. Given his proven ability to get onto the front of the tabloids, we're sure he'll think of something.
Send an email to Ryan Tate, the author of this post, at ryan@gawker.com.
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