Big Boys Don't Cry (Good Riddance)

In a bash-related story, this sample may afford some another angle on the daily scrutiny our beloved Knicks, and poster-man-child Stephon Marbury are subjected to.

Of course they are grown azz men and should be able to take it, but consider for a moment if you despise every word that is reported second-hand from Marbury, how much is the message massaged for maximum sensational effect and to sell more papers



New York - Chipper Jones said he's done talking to New York reporters after seeing his comments about Alex Rodriguez misrepresented and "sensationalized" by the city's tabloid newspapers.

The Braves third baseman was asked Wednesday by an Associated Press writer if Rodriguez would be dogged by steroid suspicions as Barry Bonds has been.

Jones said he expected Rodriguez would be, and so would plenty of other players of the "steroid era," including Jones himself. He said if he had to "pose a guess" on whether Rodriguez used steroids, "I would say no. But I don't know."

When the tabloids saw the wire-service quotes, they splashed them across the back pages. In the New York Post, the headline said "A 'Roid Shocker" with the subhead "Chipper says drug questions will dog Alex."

In the Daily News, the headline across the top was "Chipper's A-Bomb."

When Jones entered the clubhouse Thursday morning and saw one of the tabloids, he tossed it on a table in disgust and said to several reporters approaching his locker: "New York media — beat it. If you guys think you're going to get anything more out of me, you've got another thing coming."

Jones clarified his position with three Atlanta reporters and said he was actually trying to defend Rodriguez, whom he's known since their Florida high schools teams played against each other.

"It's just the pot-stirrers here," he said. "I'm actually defending A-Rod, and they turn around into a swipe," he said. "It's a joke. But what more do you expect from people who follow high-profile guys around with camera phones so they can get them in trouble."