I've been staying away from most of the A-Rod steroid fallout for the last couple of weeks because the fact that A-Rod used steroids wasn't shocking news to me. Ever since the Feds started chasing Barry Bonds seemingly 20 years ago about his usage, I've maintained that Barry wasn't the only one who used it and couldn't understand why all of the allegations were geared toward him.

When Jose Canseco came out and said that 85% of all MLB players used steroids I thought the number might be a little high, but unlike many who felt the number was no where near accurate, I've always maintained a guesstimate of 75%. Not trying to sound like I could predict the future or anything, but as more and more details about the Steroid Era are revealed, it looks like me and Canseco were pretty darn close to being dead on. Because of my gut feeling way back when, A-Rod's recent admission wasn't a shocker.

Just for the record, I wouldn't be surprised to see Albert Pujols, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero, Tori Hunter, Carlos Pena, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Rickie Weeks, Travis Hafner, Russell Branyan, Scott Rolen, Delmon Young, Andrew Jones, Ty Wigginton, Gary Matthews Jr., Hank Blalock, Pat Burrell and Magglio Ordonez turn up on a future list of users either. That was just a list of names off the top of my head listing at least one player from each team. And that was just the American League for the most part, I could've easily continued and came close to the 104 on the latest list but thats really not the point here.

I have nothing against of these guys or any of the admitted users and likely would've taken streoids myself if I was them. If you see the guy two lockers down from you go from a 20-20 guy for five years straight then jump to a 30-30 guyt in one offseason, you're more than likely going to do whatever you have to do to keep up with the Jones.

What I do have a problem with, is the guys like A-Rod who admit guilt only to then blame it on their own ignorance. A-Rod first admitted to using steroids when interviewed by Peter Gammons last week only to retreat in today's press conference by saying that his "cousin" injected him with an over-the-counter drug he picked up in the Dominican Republic. He said he injected the drug to provide him with an energy boost. Really A-Rod? Ever hear of Red Bull or Five-Hour Energy? A-Rod added that he was "ignorant and naive." While I do believe A-Rod isn't the brighest guy around, I don't believe for a minute that his group of advisors (the same advisors that came up with the cousin/energy boost defense) couldn't provide him with a trainer that could help him with all of his steroid needs. I also don't believe that anybody making more than $25 million a year would put anything in his body if he didn't know what it was or how it would affect him.

Everybody on the most-recent list was on the new list because they used Primobolan or Testosterone. For those of you unfamiliar with these drugs are steroids, plain and simple. Neither drug has ever been taken to boost energy that I'm aware of. They are taken to repair muscle tissue and to regenerate the cells in those muscles so users can repair the muscles damaged by extreme workouts and they can get back in the gym sooner than those who don't. They also can help hand-eye coordination and reaction time, which comes in real handy when trying to catch up to a 95-mph fastball. What they don't do, is provide an energy boost.

If only we could get all of these guys to come out and tell us the truth, we could all get past this tainted era quicker. If A-Rod came out and said, "I started using because I saw how it was making some of these average players great, and great players legends. I knew I was already a great player and didn't want them to close the gap on me so I said 'if you can't beat them join them,'" we'd all forgive and forget in time.

If these guys would just come clean, be honest, provide all the details of their usage and inform the public of baseball's little secret, we could all put this mess in the rear-view mirror where it belongs. C'mon, it's been 10 years of this BS, enough already. Toward the end of A-Rod's news conference he added, "I know it's a long road but I want to start working toward earning others' trust back ... " Exactly A-Rod, it will be a long road. But if you keep merging onto BS Boulevard with all of the rest of the phonies, you're only going to end up on a dead end in the eyes of us fans.