9th
Cheaters Never..
Look to the media each day and you’ll find something worth squeezing some wisdom.
Today, and for the past few days. It’s been Alex Rodriguez. Or A-Rod for short. Boy, tough year for him. A few days ago, a positive test for steroids was linked to him from 2003. This is back when baseball didn’t ban steroids, as they didn’t realize players were using them, and the effects, blah blah.
What that means is A-Rod won’t be punished most likely, because it wasn’t technically banned when he used the drugs in 2003.
And after being put into a bit of a corner, he came out today and admitted taking them from 2001-2003. After he signed his ginormous contract with the Rangers. His excuse was “I was under a lot pressure” because of that contract. Well, yeah, but that doesn’t exactly justify cheating. Nothing does.
So now maybe he gets some positive sentiment because he admitted using. But that was only because the release of the tests from 2003 basically forced him to. That’s not very noble. The right thing to do was admit it when they banned it, when he was at no risk. There’s going to be a lot of talk of where A-Rod stands now, with fans, the media, and brands. A-Rod surely makes enough to not care about sponsorships, but now he should completely ignore it because, like Bonds, no brand is going to want to be associated with that behavior.
You pair this with this marriage breaking up, and the alleged behavior spawning that, and you get an idea of what this guy was, or is. It shows you people can give you two very different faces — the stern professionalism on the field countered by stunning immaturity off it.
With A-Rod being the only person really with a chance at topping Bonds’s record, will both records be marked with asterisks?
If Bonds’s is, then A-Rod has to be. Because he averaged like 50 home runs during that span, about 11 more a year than his “clean” years.
This is depressing. It really is. But in a way, not surprising. What’s the wisdom? Cheaters may win for a while, but they lose in the end.
