This is A-Rod's latest revision, and he's sticking to it, at least until his next semi-confessional. Once more I'll say it: Believe what you want to believe. I'm already bored with Rodriguez's carefully crafted narratives, and I'm guessing many baseball fans are, too.

One scandal morphs into the next in our attention-challenged society, with people forgetting nearly as fast as they forgive. Rodriguez sounds contrite, if not credible. If he were more popular, the worst already would be behind him. Instead, it will take years, even decades, for him to repair his reputation, if he ever does at all.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman concedes that Rodriguez will be "fair game" in every new city the Yankees visit, and A-Rod grasps that, in the view of many, he will be tarnished forever. His news conference Tuesday only reinforced the difficulty of his position, at least to those following closely.

Cousin It, whom Rodriguez declined to name, purchased steroids for A-Rod in the Dominican and injected him approximately twice a month from 2001 to '03. Cousin It, for all anyone knows, might be Jose Canseco. But by now, we're all familiar with Rodriguez's refrain: I was young, curious and stupid. Forgive me!

Well, he wasn't that young — 25, 26 and 27 during the years he admits to have juiced. His curiosity should have extended to the nature of the substance he was injecting into his $252 million body. And no matter how often Rodriguez tries to make himself sound naive, he isn't stupid.

My initial reaction was that A-Rod acquitted himself well Tuesday, or at least better than I thought he would. But then I went back over my notes, and again found myself wanting to scream.

Rodriguez wouldn't concede that he cheated — "that's not for me to determine." He wouldn't agree with commissioner Bud Selig that he "shamed the game." And heaven forbid A-Rod call for more stringent testing — "My style is to never challenge anything," he said, playing the good union sheep.

Why, Rodriguez even portrayed himself as a victim, lamenting that he declined to attend college. He said that if he had a son, he would definitely recommend that the boy pursue higher education. Oddly, he neglected to mention his two daughters. Girls, you will just have to figure out in high school that steroids are a bad thing.

The problem with Rodriguez — his biggest problem as he moves forward — is that at times, he is almost comically insincere. At the end of his introductory statement, he thanked his Yankees teammates, many of whom were in attendance, as if he were acting in a soap opera.

"To my teammates ..." Rodriguez said, pausing for effect. He smirked. Paused again. Grimaced. Took a swig of water. Nodded at Yankees public-relations director Jason Zillo. Looked over at Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Co. and nodded their way.

"Thank you."

Cashman conceded later that some of the players attended the news conference out of genuine empathy for Rodriguez, while others took a more pragmatic view of the team's meal ticket, reasoning, "I need this guy."

Rodriguez vowed to be a better teammate, a better player for his fans, a better human being.

Well, let's see it.

Let's see Rodriguez stop creating distractions for his teammates. Let's see him lead the fight for even tougher testing and penalties. Let's see him evolve into the anti-steroid advocate that Mark McGwire promised Congress he would become, only to disappear.

Rodriguez can't disappear — he is under contract to the Yankees for nine more years, during which time he likely will break Barry Bonds' all-time home-run record. Like all professional athletes, he enjoys a unique platform. And Tuesday, he actually took the first step toward making a difference, joining the Taylor Hooton Foundation to help fight the use of performance-enhancing drugs among youth.

It's tempting to dismiss Don Hooton, the president of the foundation, as a mere public-relations prop. But Hooton, whose son, Taylor, took his own life as a result of steroid use, speaks with great passion about his cause. He contacted Rodriguez for help, not the other way around.

Rodriguez has yet to make a financial commitment to the foundation, Hooton said, but let's not read too much into that; no doubt A-Rod will deliver a major donation. A genuine emotional commitment from Rodriguez, however, would be just as meaningful, and even more revealing.

Let's see if A-Rod has it in him, or if he just uses the foundation as part of his image restoration.

Three interviews, three stories.

The rewrite isn't working. Rodriguez needs to start a new book, beginning at page one.

New York Yankees News News » A-Rod's latest story needs to be his last one
A-Rod's latest story needs to be his last one
TAMPA, Fla. - Three interviews, three stories. Alex Rodriguez denied using steroids to Katie Couric. He admitted using them to Peter Gammons. And on Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the Yankees' spring-training facility, he offered up the mysterious Cousin It. A-Rod steroid shake-up