ALBERT PUJOLS TAKES A STAND

by Jack Cobra, Cobra Brigade

With all the facts, rumors and speculation that surrounded The Mitchell Report, there was bound to be some hurt feelings. You can add Albert Pujols to that list....even though he wasn't in the report. Now, he's taken some action of his own against the media who misreported his name before the report came out:

Albert Pujols, angry his name was incorrectly linked to the Mitchell report on steroids last month, banned a St. Louis television station from participating in a news conference Monday.

Pujols asked Cardinals media relations director Brian Bartow to make a reporter and cameraman from St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI leave the room where Pujols' news conference was taking place on the final day of the Cardinals' winter warmup.

On Dec. 13, KTVI broadcast an incorrect report, citing information
posted on the Web site of New York television station WNBC, that linked Pujols
and other players to the Mitchell report. When the report was released that
day, Pujols' name was not included.

This is actually a pretty shrewd move by Pujols and I applaud him for it. Names were being thrown out left and right and reputations were tainted even if the names weren't eventually in the report. Still, there is only so much the players can do. They can try to sue, but that's just a waste of money and they can try to argue with the media....but that never works...

I think you'll see this happening fairly often in the future as athletes seemingly have become more frustrated lately with misreported 'news' and rumors.