Ah, the golden boy gets tarnished.
I actually feel sorry for A-Rod. Now it's lookin' like Mr. Clean isn't . Poor dude... The guy's been trying to be Mr Five Tool Perfect since he donned his first pro uniform—since his first set of pinstripes, at least. He tries too hard to be the perfect endorser, the perfect teammate, the perfect player, everything. Yet somehow he comes up short left, right and sideways. And now he's on roids to boot.
I feel sorry that he has to live up to this absurd construct of being picture perfect and mainstream-friendly in every way. It's not enough to be a great ballplayer (i doubt that it ever was, to be honest). No. You've gotta be "marketable" to a fanbase 3/4ths of whom would never have anyone like you as a neighbor or a job colleague. It's not enough to be a great baller, you gotta be the best ever. no doubt that's where the steroids come in to play. Not just for A-Rod, but for all these guys. Go (harder than) hard or go home.
Once again, it's the life.
My only problem with making "news" out of this now, is you have to go back and say, "What about Giambi?!" as in Jason Giambi who also tested positive for steroids during his 2000 AL MVP season and never said anything more than "the stuff"; and for that matter, what about the other folks who seemingly skated persecution beyond the occasional blog rant and late-night punchline?
MLB and Bum Selig, has been so selective and arbitrary about drug enforcement (among other things) that it's impossible to take whatever A-Rod's fate will be seriously. I mean Selig absolved Giambi because he donated to charity and was "a good guy" (Selig's words, not mine.)
Somewhere, my namesake Jose Canseco is throwing back cheap vodka shots and yelling at his old 27 inch TV, "462 career homers, but I'm the a--hole, right?! I'm the guy you don't want"
And no doubt, Bonds is sitting next to him thinking, "Cry me a river," as he contemplates plea deals and the prospect of MLB expunging his records.
Say goodbye to the bad guy.
