A Yankee Fan's Take: Dating Madonna Is A Bigger Crime Than Using Steroids
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A Yankee Fan's Take: Dating Madonna Is A Bigger Crime Than Using Steroids Before They Were Banned
NEW YORK YANKEES' third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the highest payed player in baseball, admitted yesterday that he used steroids as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers between 2001 and 2003.
Sports Illustrated reported Saturday that the headline- stealing stealing slugger had tested positive in 2003.
And so the pummeling begins! The New York tabloids are pouncing all over A-Rod, paying interns to dig through their morgues to find the pics that best show the 12-time all-star at his most bewildered, then slapping those pics on the back pages with oversized fonts and less-than-clever phrases!
Fans and sportswriters are worried sick! Will this tarnish A-Rod's legacy? Will he be banned from the Hall of Fame? Will there be an asterisk next to the all-time home run record he's bound to break?
I say: Leave The Guy Alone!
Consider the context: Steroid use was ignored in baseball in 2003 (in a "look the other way" kind of way), and it wasn't even against the law!
It wasn't until 2005 that anabolic steroid use was made illegal and banned from Major League Baseball. So A-Rod he didn't break any law or any MLB rule.
And since steroid testing has been in place in the sport since '05, the two MVPs awards he earned in pinstripes ('05 and '07), were earned without the juice!
So where's the story? Wow, a big name, Big League ballplayer used steroids sometime between the late 90's and the early 2000's? All the headlines and breathless reporting overlook that there are no WMDs.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning steroid use. I was as disappointed as any other red blooded Yankee fan to discover that baseball's "Golden Boy" was a user, but no one's suggesting he's juiced up since joining the Yanks! He's tested negative and he certainly doesn't look any bigger. Consider Mr. PerjuryBarry Bonds.
Since his rookie year, his hat size went from 7 ½ to Yeti. A-Rod looks exactly the same. And, unlike Bonds and former Rodriquez teammate Roger Clemens, the Yankee slugger has come right out and admitted his mistakes. He held himself accountable! (Insert second potshot at Bush administration here). Fathead Bonds lied under oath, for cryin' out loud! A-Rod's crime is a misdemeanor compared to the felonies of some of his contemporaries.
If you want to beat up on the guy, let's go back to lashing him for sleeping with Madonna more than a coupla times? I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers, but you'd think the handsome young millionaire baseballer would have her singing This Used to be My
Playground by now. Move on! She's ancient!
And the media should move on too; this story is a nonstarter.
Peter Lawrence kicks up the dirt while pounding New York City's pavements. You can reach him at PLawrenceNYC@gmail.com.
Tags: Madonna
