A-Rod, A-Fraud

Noah,
It is on a somewhat dejected note that I sit down to compose this posting for today. There was once a time when I was a little boy that I looked up to professional athletes, but more so professional baseball players. I grew up admiring Ozzie Smith, who is one of the reasons I pull for the red birds to this day. But I also grew up admiring the likes of Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Ricky Henderson, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and the like. Only in America can grown men make millions of dollars playing a game that third graders fantacize about all week in class, waiting on pins and needles for Saturdays and the summer to arrive.

Many people saw Alex Rodriguez as the savior for America's pasttime. I see him only as a fraud. His public apology for use of banned substances not only tarnishes his reputation, but that of the Texas Rangers and baseball as a whole. On some level, it makes you question your whole belief system. I am sure at some point your mom will tell you that I am somewhat pessimistic, the glass half-empty guy. But on some level, at some point, I wanted to believe that baseball was the one true American surviving entity. It makes you question every player, every owner, every franchise, heck every World Series. Perhaps the whole thing is fixed and we are so caught up in the drama that we cannot help but watch. I will continue to watch, but as a fan I guess I must. If baseball already had several black eyes, it just got kicked in the nads.

Dad
"...I was young, I was stupid, I was naive...I was under great pressure to be the greatest of all time...."
-Alex Rodriguez, on HGH and Anabolic Steroid Use from 2001-03