On Tuesday New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez addressed the media in response to the recent developments that recently came out regarding a positive 2003 performance enhancing drug test. To Rodriguez's credit he is one of few athletes to openly discuss his own use of performance enhancing drugs. Many stars such as Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Roger Clemens have avoided openly discussing allegations of their own use of performance enhancing drugs, tainting their respective careers and records more so than had they addressed the allegations in a much more candidly. So the question that remains in the wake of Rodriguez's press conference is whether or not he really was sincere as well as telling the truth.

Over a week prior to the news conference, Rodriguez sat down with ESPN's Peter Gammons to openly discuss the positive test for the first time. When asked what he tested positive for, Rodriguez claimed that he was not sure what he had taken that had triggered the positive test. This of course makes little sense seeing as Rodriguez is a professional athlete; a professional athlete who makes more money than any other player in his respective sport, so it is difficult to believe him when he claims he wasn't sure what he was putting into his body. After all, it is his body's ability that allows him to make such an obscene amount of money.

Tuesday's news conference brought new details from Rodriguez who admitted that the substance that triggered the positive drug test was a steroid called “boli” or “bole”. When asked about his denial of the name of the substance in the Gammons interview, Rodriguez responded by referring to his 2007 interview with Katie Couric thus avoiding coherent response to the question. Much of the news conference was full of such artful dodging.

In his opening statement Rodriguez addressed how he obtained the illegal substance through his cousin. The substance was obtained in the Dominican Republic and could be purchased over the counter. Rodriguez also admitted in his opening statement that he was told that the substance would give him an energy boost, but minutes later he claimed that he was “not sure what the benefit was” when receiving the injections. Not only did Rodriguez begin to contradict prior statements during the news conference but he also attempted to put forth the idea that he didn't know what he was putting into his body at the time. Once again this goes back to the absurd claims made in the Gammons interview in which Rodriguez wasn't sure what the name of the product was that he was injecting himself with. Regardless if you're a world class athlete or a poor college student living on Ramin and frozen pizza, chances are you know what is being injected into your body and what the benefit is going to be.

Rodriguez's main reason as to why he didn't know what was being injected into his body was because he was young and naive. When he began using the performance enhancing drugs in 2001 Rodriguez was 25 years old with seven years of major league experience. It is difficult to believe that such naivety can exist after seven years on the job. With that said, it is easier to give Rodriguez the benefit of the doubt when he claimed that the pressures of performing to the expectations of the highest paid player in baseball history is what caused him to use the substance in the first place.

Throughout the news conference it became apparent that Rodriguez was attempting to downplay his illegal actions from 2001-2003. Beginning with his age and claims of naivety, one gets the feeling that Rodriguez is searching for a scapegoat to help take some of the blame of his own actions. It wasn't the highest paid player in baseball history, nor was it the potential future home run king that used performance enhancing drugs. The young, naive kid was the one who injected himself in an attempt to gain an edge on the competition.

Rodriguez continues to try and downplay his use of performance enhancing drugs as he repeatedly points out to the media members his “best seasons”. According to Rodriguez his best seasons came in 1996 and 2007. In '96 Rodriguez burst onto the scene in his first full major league with a career high .358 batting average. In the other two triple crown categories, home runs and RBI, Rodriguez's '96 season totals were more more pedestrian in comparison to the rest of his career. His 36 home runs are the ninth highest single season total of his career and his 123 RBI's are the sixth highest total of his career. His other self proclaimed “best season” came only two years ago when he put up a career high 156 RBI's. His 54 home runs and .314 batting average were the second and third highest career totals in their respective categories. Rodriguez does make a legitimate point when bringing up his 2007 season totals as being his best overall season of his career so far, and if we understand that he has been clean since his positive test in 2003, Rodriguez's 2007 season was done so enhancement-free.

But what statistics such as this brought up by Rodriguez do for us is get us further away from the impact performance enhancing drugs had on him from 2001-2003. In those three seasons in which he claimed to have used, three of Rodriguez's five highest single season home run totals came in consecutive seasons. There is no denying the fact that the performance enhancing drugs that Rodriguez injected did precisely what they were intended to do: enhance an individual's performance. No matter how far he tries to steer the public away from the fact that he used an illegal substance to gain an edge, the statistics will always show an abnormal spike in performance from 2001-2003.

What many fans and media members were hoping to see from Rodriguez by the end of his news conference was some form of a sincere apology. What fans and media members received was an artful dodger attempting to minimize the trouble he had caused himself already. At one point Rodriguez claimed that, “All these years, I never thought I did anything wrong.” We know that this was bold-faced lie simply because prior to this statement he admitted to bypassing team doctors and trainers when obtaining the substance from outside the country. What could be more shady than a deal performed behind your employer's back in almost a thousand miles outside your home country? Later in the news conference Rodriguez talks himself in another circle when he stated, “I knew that [the drug] was something potentially that perhaps was wrong.” Even though it isn't a very straightforward statement, similar to the rest of the news conference, it is easy to see that Rodriguez is trying to save face throughout.

In the end, one cannot help but feel that this most recent admission to steroid use in baseball was done so by another athlete who rather than being sorry for his actions, is simply sorry he got caught. Rodriguez announced that he would be pairing up with MLB to help send an anti-steroid message to kids. What reason would Rodriguez have to help send an anti-steroid message to kids had he not been caught? It is apparent that he isn't doing so out of the kindness of his heart, rather he's doing so in an attempt to save his image as one of baseball's greatest players. Rodriguez is aware of the demise of former home run king Mark McGwire because of his steroid use. It is a nice gesture on Rodriguez's behalf, but in the end the A-Rod Dog and Pony Show we are being subjected to is merely a personal attempt to save his place in the hall of fame.