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Albert Pujols Backs Mark McGwire With Big Bird Defense

Jan 19, 2010, 5:45 PM UTC

â†µThe steroid news cycle lasted longer than the PR people in Mark McGwire’s corner had hoped. SportsBusiness Daily had a wonderful breakdown of the PR strategy for McGwire’s team, with several public relations mavens suggesting that Camp Big Mac did everything backwards. â†µ

â†µâ†µOne thing everyone seems to agree upon is the fact that this weekend’s impromptu press conference in a hallway was a terrible idea for McGwire, and the Cardinals. Originally slated to be a full-on press conference, the question-and-answer session looked like the horde of media was waiting outside a courtroom to get the first interview with a convicted felon. JoeSportsFan.com had great coverage from the scene, including the video below:â†µ

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â†µâ†µNow, the second level of this story in St. Louis, and the MLB community for that matter, is what Albert Pujols thinks about McGwire’s steroid admission. Pujols is widely recognized as the best player in the game and, just last week, McGwire said that Pujols could be the greatest player of all time. Remember that in years past Pujols has vehemently denied use of steroids, banning media from news conferences for erroneously linking him to the Mitchell Report. To Pujols, steroids are serious business.â†µ

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â†µBut now, eh, everybody makes mistakes. Pujols told reporters this week:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“You know, everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes in the past. I’m pretty sure you all have made mistakes. There’s millions of people who wish they had the opportunity for something wrong that they have done to come out. I told him I was proud of him for coming out and to look forward.”â†µâ†µPujols then chided the media for covering McGwire’s saga instead of the earthquake in Haiti. But with all the PR advice being thrown McGwire’s way in the last week, where did Pujols find the “everybody makes mistakes” angle? Ah, public television. â†µ
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â†µâ†µâ‡¥“If you make a mistake you shouldn’t start to cry…â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Mistakes are not so bad and here is why…â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Oh, everyone makes mistakes, oh yes they do.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Your sister and your brother and your dad and mother too.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Big people, small people, matter of fact, all people.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Everyone makes mistakes so why can’t you.“â†µâ†µBig Bird: public relations guru.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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