Contrition is a wonderful thing and Charles delivers. Taking a queue from CSTB, compare this with the gibberish Alex Rodriguez offered the other day. His delivery sounds like a poor script reading for an upcoming sports sitcom on ESPN. Notice, Charles didn’t use a prepared statement as A-Rod did, and yet, he comes across as being more sincere and certainly a lot more apologetic for his actions. He’s also been quick to blame himself. A-Rod, on the other hand, blamed youthful indiscretion, even though his pattern of usage shows a calculated decision was being made.

Again, compare A-Rod’s statement to Barkley’s apology.

Feel free to watch the other parts if you’d like. I’m not embedding them because it just goes on and on and on about nothing substantial. Is a heartfelt:

“I was wrong. I screwed up and I admit it. I was doing it for a competitive edge and nothing more. I used products X,Y, and Z and I will never do anything like that again. I have and will be tested for the rest of my career. I only hope those results speak as loudly as my actions in Texas do.”

…such a hard thing to to ask for? If that was the message A-Rod gave instead of the poor script reading filled with far too many errant pauses, I’d respect his apology so much more.

And judging by the reaction of the MSM and the blogosphere, a lot of people would’ve as well.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Apologies, Bad Athletes, Charles Barkley, Steroids

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