Assuming a “cousin” actually exists (and frankly, we’re not so sure this individual does), the race to find this mysterious individual started a few hours ago. Here are some odds on which media outlet gets to “him” first:

NY Post 8:1. Relentless, tireless, and we’d venture a guess that at least one reporter is already on a plane to the DR.
NY Daily News 8:1. “I-team” has been right there with the NY Times regarding the steroid usage the last few years.
NY Times 10:1. Were close to breaking the A-Roid story before SI got to it. Perhaps they’re already aware of this cousin?
Newsday 20:1. Is the staff deep enough to devote the resources to a story like this as the paper continues to scale back?
Sports Illustrated: 4:1. Between breaking the story and the Selena Roberts book, one figures SI has the inside track.
ESPN 15:1. Has the most resources to devote to this, but do they wait for another outlet to break it and then own the story by brute force (TV, radio, internet)?

For awhile during that joke of a press conference – no follow-ups? Really? – we thought Scott Boras really could walk on water … he crafted this “cousin” plot brilliantly. It set up a scene of cheating outside of the United States that immediately got A-Rod off the hook with any of the lame congressmen who wanted to call him in and grill him in another exercise in futility. It also took the spotlight off the Texas Rangers clubhouse, and directed it at the seedy, unregulated drugstores in the Dominican Republic. What about the other drug you tested positive for, testosterone? Get that in the DR, too?

Did A-Rod really think that he’d throw off everyone’s scent with a little misdirection? Injecting himself for three years with something he wasn’t even sure was working (even though his stats gave a definitive answer)? Hahahahaha. Like the aggressive New York media’s just going to roll over and let that one slide.

Oops. Forgot. Sheep Fans don’t care. No need to report things out. Just give the baseball public homers and wins and VORP and forget the best player in the game was ‘roiding up for three years. What’s the end game? How far to take this? It took awhile for the media to crack the Bonds case … and the guys who did wrote a book that sold well and one of them was scooped up by ESPN. Next week or next month or next year, somebody will get the cousin (or expose the lie), and we’ll do this dance again.