Michael Phelps is about to be blown off the pages of everything by the (alleged) revelation that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003. Phelps should send A-Rod a gift basket.
Here's the deal. Steroids in baseball will trump everything else sports related... And I think its unfortunate.
Phelps' misfortune can (by some) be attributed to his youthful hubris. Keep in mind he's 23. But the fact remains this "kid" has been in the national spotlight for over almost 6 years. The 8 golds just propelled him into the mythical status. Let us not forget that he got arrested and pled no contest to a DWI at age 19 in Maryland... Gee last time I checked, you weren't supposed to drink before 21, let alone get a DWI. He already had a indiscretion, apologized for it and promised it wouldn't happen again... Whoops...
But Phelps' last dance with Mary Jane (thanks Tom Petty) pales in comparison to the shit storm that will ensue in the coming days for A-Rod.
A-Rod is the best player in baseball. Period. End of story. He has been vilified because of his massive contracts, living in Derek Jeter's shadow and he hasn't brought a ring to the Yankees. This will be like pouring gasoline on a grease fire.
While most of the roid rage has been directed at Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, we can now add A-Rod to that category and I think its bullshit.
These people are entertainers. I want to see 600' home runs. If these athletes want to take the chance that their balls will shrivel to the size of snow peas... Knock yourself out. But don't come crying to me when you die at age 52 because your heart exploded (cough, cough Reggie White)
I harken back to the classic Saturday Night Live sketch for the All Drug Olympics where Phil Hartman (R.I.P) pulls his arms off trying to triple the world record in weightlifting. Let them take their steroids, it doesn't affect me and let's me enjoy the distraction that sports is in our everyday life.
So enjoy the break Mikey Phelps, A-Roid just did you a favor.
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I think we need to drop the hypocrisy. I think we need to stop paying athletes or, if we pay them, then let them do what they need to do to make themselves worthy of our money. I think we need an all-steroids Olympics: http://www.hulu.com/watch/4090/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-all-drug-olympics.
ReplyDeleteAnd what could be more entertaining than the simultaneous roid rage of two complete squads of baseball teams on the same field. Remember when Homer on the Simpson's had to watch baseball sober? The possibility of wealthy men driven to battle because of roid rage would be fun in itself. Sober entertainment even for the non-sports fan.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing about this: if it were Adrian Peterson or Ed Reed, would anyone care? No. Baseball is weird.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I do think leagues can and should do more to keep steroids out. I just find the double standard so strange. If you do steroids in the NFL you serve like a 4 game suspension and nobody ever mentions it again. But in baseball you'd be better off raping a nun as far as PR is concerned. I mean, isn't Mark McGwire like a recluse now? Was what he did really that awful?