While Mark McGwire was lying to Bob Costas on MLB Network about taking steroids to recover from injuries, ESPN was trotting out random people to comment on the subject. They had Tony LaRussa on earlier in the day, and then brought out the foremost expert on the topic of PEDs. Wait, it was Bobby Knight? And he compared steroids to Gatorade? Naturally.

Lost within all of this, is the fact that Bob Knight is a close personal friend of Tony LaRussa and was possibly just on to defend Mark McGwire's former manager (and current boss). I mean, by the true definition of "performance enhancing" I guess Gatorade would fall into that category, but that's just a tad bit of a stretch there Bobby.

Bob Knight compares steroids to Gatorade on ESPN (Chicago Sun Times)

By now you've heard that Mark McGwire has copped to using steroids during his career, but more specifically when he broke Roger Maris' HR record in 1998. Shocking, I know. McGwire issued this admission to the Associated Press, but it will be MLB Network and Bob Costas that gets the first interview this evening....

MLB Network’s Bob Costas will have an exclusive in-depth television interview with Mark McGwire tonight on MLB Network live at 7:00 p.m. ET about McGwire’s admission of using performance enhancing drugs during his career. This is the first television interview granted by McGwire since he admitted using PEDs in a statement earlier today.

Following the exclusive interview, MLB Network’s Matt Vasgersian, Mitch Williams, Joe Magrane, Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal will discuss their reactions to the conversation. Costas will provide reaction from location in California and MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds and Peter Gammons will also provide commentary.

I'm one of the many people that followed McGwire's every at-bat during that season, and while I don't necessarily blame him for using steroids, this is something that should have come out years ago. Hiding that fact just makes me think he's a scumbag. I'm hoping that Bob Costas conducts a better interview than Peter Gammons' sitdown with A-Rod last year, but I doubt much of what McGwire says is going to make me change my views on him.

I think this might be a first! Sports Center has certainly credited blogs before, including this one, but I don't think Deadspin has ever been mentioned on the flagship show for ESPN. This morning Josh Elliott credited Deadspin with a quote from Jay McGwire, Mark McGwire's younger brother, who says in his new book that he was the one who supplied the slugger with steroids. Here's the clip....

Congrats to my former employer (*tear*), AJ and the rest of the crew over there, and good on ESPN for recognizing who found the item first. The best part about this, is that it's ESPN's lead story on Sports Center, so they're going to be mentioning the website all day. Just another small step towards acceptance!

Mark McGwire's One-Eyed Baby Brother Reveals The Not-So-Startling Truth (Deadspin)