So A-Fraud (Alex Rodriguez) finally fessed up to using performing-enhancing drugs during his time with the Texas Rangers? Yeah, I know; it's just another example of how cheating has become barely newsworthy in our society and our national pastime. And, yes, Rodriguez is performing all the necessary ritualized mea culpas. Forced contrition is rarely believable, especially six years after the crime; it feels more like regret at getting caught than anything else- especially when you've already publicly lied about it. I haven't watched but a few seconds of Rodriguez metaphorically falling on his sword, and I frankly have no interest in watching any more. I'm sickened by the constant drumbeat of cheating and drug use...and by Satan's...er, Bud Selig's...feeble, ineffective, and ineffectual response to the growing stain on our national pastime. Yes, Alex Rodriguez has come clean. Now Major League Baseball needs to come clean...and it needs to find a way to convince their fan base that they're serious about cleaning up the national pastime.
I love baseball. I always have, and I still have hope that I always will. I will own up to the reality that this is becoming increasingly difficult for me. It's not just the lying, the cheating, and the drug use...though I abhor all those things. No, it's about a sport that's completely out of touch with those of us who love the game the Lords of Baseball are slowly (and surely) destroying. How is anyone supposed to relate to a third baseman who makes $25 million a year for playing a kid's game? I'm not saying that talent shouldn't be rewarded, but when the payroll of the New York Yankees surpasses a QUARTER OF A BILLION dollars for a 25-man roster, can we assume that something (our priorities, perhaps?) is horribly out of whack? Yes, I think we can. Personally, I'd rather watch 25 college kids playing for beer and pizza money than a cheater making $25 million a year.
So, what to do about A-Fraud? Who cares? Six years after the horse left the barn, I think the idea of punishment is rather pointless. At this point, the shame and opprobrium surely to be directed at him should be more than sufficient punishment. Knowing that his brilliant career will forever be reduced to an asterisk should be humiliating enough. Beyond that, what do we do? What can we do? How in the Hell would I know? I'm just sick of seeing the game I love reduced to a parody of itself.
I can handle the idea of people making mistakes, but when you lie publicly about it and then continue to live with that lie until your hand is forced...well, respect can be hard to come by in that case.
Cheaters may never prosper, but they can still apparently make a s--tload of money, eh?
And you know what REALLY pisses me off about all of this? The reality that Jose Canseco was once again proven to have been telling the truth in his books and his public statements. How thoroughly messed up is that?
