A-Rod = A-Shame

It may seem cliche to be talking about Alex Rodriguez considering his name is amongst nearly every headline at the bottom of the screen on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNEWS, and the like. The man has his own damn title for the ticker.... NBA, NHL, NCAAM, A-Rod, Top Stories: A-Rod..You get the idea. Anyways, I am sick and tired of it. The man screwed up. He cheated. Move on. I would rather watch rerun highlights of Warren Sapp on Dancing with the Stars than hear about A-Rod's confession to taking steroids. By no means do I condone A-Rod's behavior or personal choices, but who am I to judge. Sure, his image, or brand if you will, may be tarnished, and this new evidence against him will undoubtedly affect his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame someday, but honestly, give it a rest. As sports fans we are all victims of redundancy. We are held at the mercy of media outlet giants like ESPN who will provide us with way too much information about way too few subjects and story lines. This morning was refreshing because the Heat-Bulls game took over as a top story line for Sportscenter, but much to my dismay, as I read the sidebar of upcoming stories, sure enough sandwiched between the Coors Light Cold Hard Facts with John Clayton and the highlights of a thrilling Gonzaga-St. Mary's matchup was Alex Rodriguez Saga. I realize that A-Rod is A-Big Deal due largely in fact to the obscene gobs of money that is thrown his way by New York Yankees. However, every off-season it seems to me, that no one, including the Dallas Cowboys, can begin to measure up to the level of scandal that surrounds the New York Yankees. The pin-stripes seem to be ruling the MLB off-season this year, even more so than usual. Whether it is the nearly half a billion dollars they have thrown to free agents, the Joe Torre book release, and now the latest A-Rod steroid scandal, the Yankees seem to overcome it. I may come acrossed as being somewhat biased in my opinions, especially since I am a Tigers fan and hate everything associated with the Yankees, but I must give credit where credit is due. It seems to me that no one can circle the wagons, regroup, re-align, or whatever other cliche metaphor you would like to use to describe the method of moving from an area of scandal and uncertainty to a level of prestige and dominance like the Bronx Bombers. Next week, the remainder of the Yankee's team will report for Spring Training. I look forward to seeing how A-Rod is received by his teammates, but am not looking forward to the hours of coverage and discussion/debate that will undoubtedly exist between Peter Gammons and the rest of his Baseball Tonight cronies.

God Bless.