Selena Roberts was not initially assigned to uncover Alex Rodriguez's steroid use. According to The New York Observer, 'It was to revisit whether he actually fit in as a Yankee, and go over the last two seasons in which Mr. Rodriguez has been romantically linked to a stripper, subsequently divorced, and then linked, romantically again, to super-cougar Madonna.' Roberts began hearing rumors about Rodriguez's possible steroid use and dug deeper. Ms. Roberts, along with her colleague David Epstein, followed up on the rumors they were hearing. Slowly, stories they were hearing proved credible. Stories started to match up. They took a few weeks in January and the earliest part of last week to nail it down. The New York Times had also been chasing the A-Rod steroid story. ?We were working on it for many weeks,? said Tom Jolly, the paper?s sports editor. ?It?s a story whenever there?s smoke around A-Rod for a period of time, and we were chasing that smoke.? ?She did a great job,? said Mr. Jolly of his former colleague?s scoop. ?I don?t think there?s any solace with who we get beat by, though.? ?They?re still my good friends,? said Ms. Roberts. ?I didn?t think, ?Oh, I?m beating the place where I used to work!? I respect the heck out of the other people. I respect [Times sports reporter] Mike Schmidt?s work a ton. He?s had more than his share of big stories. On this one, it went our way. I?m sure next time, it?ll go his way.?