I don't disagree one bit about Mr Selig (if I ever crossed paths with him, I'd do one of two things: if I had my scorebook with me, I'd have him autograph my scorecard of the 2002 All-Star Game; if not, I'd punch him in the face) or Mr Rodriguez (who seems to lack a single likeable bone in his body).
But this makes everyone look even worse. I can't stress enough how much pressure Mr Lauer puts on Mr Tacopina. Mr Lauer cuts him off when he tries to explain that he doesn't sign documents randomly handed to him. I don't think Mr Lauer and NBC News took sides: they simply were played by MLB, which is shameful enough. Meanwhile, I don't know if Mr Tacopina was playing the role of lawyer or PR hack, but he didn't do a particularly good job in either. A lawyer (as PGage notes) would've repeated over and over that no one in their right mind would sign a document just shown to them without time to review it. A PR hack wouldn't have taken a position that he did (we'll talk if MLB waives their confidentiality) without contemplating what happens if that condition was met (See: President Obama's Syrian Red Line). To quote Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, "I wasn't expecting that." I cannot stress enough how much I want Mr Rodriguez to win this whole kerfluffle. I don't like the man, but I do like the cause he's fighting against. Politics can make strange bedfellows. On Tuesday, August 20, 2013, PGage wrote: > I did not see this yesterday morning, but read about it a lot when I got > back from running errands. A-Rod's lawyer was being interviewed on the > Today Show. Lauer waits for the Lawyer to say that he would like nothing > more than to discuss Rodriguez’s drug-testing history and related matters, > but that he was prevented from doing so by the confidentiality clause in > baseball’s testing program (see: > http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/sports/baseball/rodriguezs-lawyer-calls-baseballs-offer-a-trap.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 > ). > > Lauer barely manages not to wet himself before dropping the news that he > has a signed released from MLB, and that if the lawyer will sign it too, > both sides would be freed to speak about all the details surrounding the > testing and allegations of PED use by A-Rod (see for the video: > http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/23223570/watch-arods-attorney-finds-himself-in-tight-spot-on-today-show > ) > > The lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, back peddles furiously, does not sign the > waiver, and drops a pretty big counter bomb himself - that the Yankees > knew Rodriguez’s labrum was torn prior to last year's ALCS. But most of > what I have seen - including a piece on one of those snarky sports talk > shows with a semi-attractive blond woman doing a bad Michelle Beadle > impression this morning - is summarizing this as A-Rod's lawyer getting > punked by Lauer. > > I have never liked A-Rod, dating back to his days in Seattle and Texas. I > would love to see him never play another game, as he is about to pass my > all time favorite baseball player on the home run list. And I do not like > the Yankees. But to me the main story here is not that A-Rod's lawyer is a > weasel, but that NBC News (I am assuming Today is still produced by the > News division) decided to basically conspire with one side in a high > profile dispute that it was supposed to be objectively reporting in order > to make the other side look bad on its air. There is no way that any > competent lawyer was going to sign a legal waiver with that much at stake > on live television, and Lauer obviously knew that. It was stunt television > - ambush journalism, whatever you want to call it. A more responsible move > would have been to have given the lawyer the document at least a few hours > before the interview, let him read and research it, and then ask him about > it in the interview. > > What this looks like is that Lauer has teamed up with Bud Selig and MLB to > trash A-Rod. Selig has developed a huge hard on for A-Rod, and has > basically decided to use all of his considerable resources to bring him > down in some kind of personal vendetta. I have no love for A-Rod, but I > detest Selig and almost everything he has done to baseball since he took it > over in a bloodless coup. In my view nobody, not Barry Bonds or Jose > Canseco or A-Rod or Victor Conte or Anthony Bosch is more responsible for > the role of PED's in baseball over the last 25 years than Bud Selig. I > don't expect Lauer to conspire with A-Rod's lawyer to gut Selig, but I do > expect him to cover the high profile dispute between these two characters > in something approaching a balanced fashion. NBC News appears to have > chosen a side in this dispute, and is actively working with that side > against the other. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
