Not for doing steroids. No, that's certainly his fault. Not for the "pressure" to do steroids, because I don't buy any of that garbage. No one had a gun to his head, he decided to ruin his legacy, not us.
What I mean to say is, maybe it's our fault for even taking him (and other celebrities and athletes, for that matter) so seriously. What makes Alex Rodriguez a role model? The fact that he can hit a baseball a long way, the fact that he can range to his left and has a cannon for an arm? I understand how society is set up, and that as a guy in the public eye, making as much money as he does, there are expectations people like he and Michael Phelps need to live up to. But, maybe that's the problem.
We seem to be constantly in shock and surprise when our favorite athletes and musicians and actors/actresses get caught for doing the wrong things. Whether it's domestic abuse, or cheating in the sport they play in, or drug possession, or saying racist things, these guys aren't perfect. In fact, they're just like us. Some of them are good guys, some aren't. Some you'd be friends with, others you'd never want to even talk to. So why, because they play basketball or can rap or play a guitar should that elevate them so?
I happen to be a fairly fortunate sports fan. Growing up, my favorite player was David Robinson, whose only crime was that he was a bit too religious early on in his career. Following Robinson, I idolized Tim Duncan and Warrick Dunn and Derek Jeter, all players that have (thus far, fingers crossed) stayed far away from negative press and quite in the positive realm. That's just one person's experience.
Yet, there has to be at least one Albert Belle fan out there. One Vince Coleman fan. One Rae Carruth fan. One Notorious B.I.G. fan (guilty). Point is, we've all liked celebrities that we may not have liked personally.
But, that's OK and that's how it should be. What we pay to see is what they do in between the lines, on the CDs, in the movies. That should be it.
Don't you think it's a bit odd that even President Obama commented about A-Rod? Or that the government seems to be knee deep in this whole investigation? Shouldn't we have more pressing issues to concern ourselves with (ahem, government)?
In no way am I excusing A-Rod of what he did. It bothers me to no end, as a Yankee fan and as an idealistic fan of baseball. But, if I stopped rooting for players or musicians based on what they did in their personal lives, I'd really be at a loss. I couldn't listen to any Kanye West songs, three quarters of the NFL and NBA I'd have to ignore. It would be awful.
Would it be great if every player was like Tim Duncan (OK, more exciting than TD, but you get the point)? Sure. But, that ain't the way it goes.
Some are jerks, some are not. If anything, this whole episode should prove that we need to stop putting these athletes and stars on such pedestals. All they seem to do is let us down.
While I agree with this idea in theory Spinelli I don't know if it's quite that clear cut. We all remember the Barkley Nike (at least I think they were Nike) I am not a role model ads. But that's just not the case with these athletes. They are role models. Everyone has and will continue to look up to these athletes. People go to sport to get away from everyday life and from the point we were young we look at these people in awe because they get paid the money they do for playing sport x. It's the very definition of a dream lifestyle...getting paid to play. So when these guys cheat, thats why you get the outcry that you do. But then this ties into the last part of your post for me. I don't understand this rampant outrage from seemingly 95% of fans to crucify A-Rod. You want to look at this whole thing from a conspiracy theory/pessimistic/glass half empty viewpoint? Go ahead. I can't do that though. To me more than anything else, it's disappointing. I take his reasoning for what it is. I can't afford not to believe him at this point. But it sucks.
ReplyDeleteAt what point do you believe aroid and why would you believe him now? When did he gain a conscious and begin telling the truth? Did he tell Katie Couric the truth? No, nor would I have - he had no reason to out himself at that time on national tv. Its not like he has a history of being honorable. I would imagine that in some way shape or form he is still manipulating the truth to best serve his advantage. Just ask Miguel Tejada.
ReplyDeleteYou don't buy into the 'pressure' argument? That's interesting to me. Let's say some competing blog began to runs stories that took viewership away from this blog, but these breaking stories were received by using unethical journalistic techniques. If this blog was your entire life, and major means of income I believe you may give into the 'pressure' and do whatever it takes to make sure your blog stood out above the rest, instead of fading into nothingness. There is a competitive spirit in all of us. Whoever the first person to bring steriods into the game changed it forever, but it built up a culture, or pressure on players to use them or fall behind the curve. People will always want to stay ahead of the curve
ReplyDeletenah, you're right, i agree with what you say. what i don't buy is the idea that the only reason he did it was the pressure to live up to his contract. something about his vanity had to have something to do with it. obviously, he was already one of the best players at that point in the game anyway.
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