Monday, February 9, 2009

My E-Mail To Selena Roberts

I don't know why I'm on such a Selena Roberts kick. I'm just trying to make heads and tails of all of this and most of my questions lie with Selena Roberts, the reporter at SI.com who broke the story about A-Rod testing positive for steroids back in 2003. So I drafted an e-mail of my questions and sent them off to Ms. Roberts. Now, I have no idea of my e-mail was sent to the right address. After several attempts at different addresses, I finally didn't get one returned as undeliverable. So fingers crossed it made it to her. Here is what I sent:

Ms. Roberts-

Hello. I author a New York Yankees fan blog called Baseball & The Boogie Down. I would first like to start by congratulating you on breaking this story. It's a bombshell to say the least. My readers and I do have some questions though about your article and we'd certainly be appreciative if you could take the time to review and answer our questions. Your role in this matter has been pivotal, and suggests you have a sincere desire to share the information. We thank you in advance for your response.

1)In the Q&A you did with SI.com, one of your answers mentioned that while working on a profile piece on Alex, you began to hear whispers of his steroid use. What were the specific things you heard and where did you hear them?

2)You also mentioned in that Q&A you and David Epstein went through a "meticulous process" when verifying and re-verifying the information you had. Can you outline that process and explain what steps were taken to verify the authenticity of the information?

3)You have mentioned that you confronted Alex with the evidence you had about a positive test. From what I've been able to gather from your article and interviews you've done, it sounds like the basis of your report is based on the information given to you by 4 independent sources. What evidence do you have? Do you have, or have you seen, physical evidence that supports their claims that Alex tested positive, or is it purely based on statements they made to you about a positive test? You use the term "hard evidence" in one of your responses. The term "hard evidence" implies you have something physical and more than the statements made by 4 people. I haven't seen anything from you that I take as "hard evidence." Can you clarify what evidence you have, or have seen, to back up your claims?

4)How did you come into contact with your sources? Did you find them or did they seek you out? Do sources receive any form of compensation for their information?

5)You mentioned that you do not have any of the other 103 names that tested positive in 2003. Do you know if your sources know these names, and if so, why wasn't that information pursued by you, or any of your colleagues?


My readers and I again would like to thank you for taking the time to review and respond to our questions. We appreciate your efforts in breaking this story and look forward to receiving your response. Thank you.

I'm not setting out to try to disprove her claims. I don't doubt that Alex's name appears on that list. I'm just working to get a better understanding of her process and what went in to breaking a story like this. I haven't convicted him yet and part of that is because right now all of the dots aren't connected. I'd just like to know more and since Alex hasn't yet responded, I figured why not send Roberts an e-mail. Speaking of a response from Alex, XM Radio is reporting he is supposed to speak to ESPN sometime today. I don't have any more info other than that. But I'll share it if I hear something.

It's been about 15 minutes and I still haven't gotten the undeliverable e-mail. I'm taking that to mean my e-mail found its intended recipient. And now we wait.......

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many thanks, J-Boogie, for doing exactly what I would have done had I had more resources and wasn't as lazy as I am.
You think you'll get an answer...and if so, will it be more than gratuitous verbiage?
Good luck and here's hoping....

FanSince'48

Anonymous said...

She should be hit upside her ugly mug with a brick. I hate this witch hunting b.s., and I really hate this self-serving tabloid reporter coming out with this story 6 months before her unauthorized bio on Alex comes out, and 2 weeks after Torre's SI-authored (Verducci) tell-all book came out. Conspiracy theories, anyone? Her informants should be named (and hit with bricks), as well as the Players Association -- for not destroying the test results like they were supposed to. And all 104 names should be published ASAP. This just stinks big time.

You should email her about her book and how she justifies not only exposing just one of the 104 names, all of which were supposed to be private, but how she doesn't see it as too coincidental and stinking to high Heaven given her upcoming book.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090209&content_id=3811116&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

[...] The steroids story was uncovered by SI reporter Selena Roberts, who said more detail would be included in a magazine article to hit newsstands Tuesday. Roberts is also researching an unauthorized biography, "Hit and Run: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez," which will be released on May 19 by HarperCollins. [...]

Anonymous said...

So does this mean you're going to stop blaming Selena Roberts for being freakin' right?

Anonymous said...

Well done. Worded professionally, and without any "gotchas."

I'm sure you'll never hear from her.

J-Boogie said...

I doubt I'll hear back from her. I'd be surprised if I did. She definitely comes across as a reporter who is only out there looking for the negative. I was surprised when Alex talked about her actions in his interview. i'm not surprised by those alleged actions. In the little that I know about her, she seems overzealous and i can see her doing those things for her story. Someone will no doubt prove that she did or didn't do what A-Rod alleges.

And I don't think I ever blamed her. I said all along A-Rod's name was probably on the list. Her report to me would have been more believeable ahd there been more to it, other than saying 4 people with knowledge of the test saying it's true. My source says she tried to break into A-Rod's house. Does that necessarily make it true? No. But my source say he has a citation from it. She didn't say what she had in terms of evidence. I just wanted clarification.

Anonymous said...

J-Boogie I thank you for writing this email. I also have been sending emails to "this lady"(as A-Rod calls her). I wasn't as polite as you but I hope she responds. She is a bottom feeding reporter that is tryin to get her name out there is all! This isn't the first time she pulled a stunt like this. Remember the Duke LaCrosse players accused of rape? She slammed those guys more than once. I cancelled my subscription to Sports Illustrated until "that lady" is fired or resigns. Again, thank you J-Boogie!

Anonymous said...

You should tell this cunt to stuff a broome up her puss!