A T.O. with T.H.

According to a Hootie and the Blowfish song, “Too many stories weave a common thread.” This philosophy came to life again this week as the “steroid in baseball” story re-surfaced.

Ever since the NFL blew up, and the MLB steroid scandal was born, baseball continues to drop in overall popularity. The middle-ground fans left awhile ago, but now even some die-hards are leaving the MLB camp.

This week’s casualty is arguably the game’s best player.

Alex Rodriguez not only plays for the New York Yankees, baseball’s most controversial and well-known team, but he also is the highest-paid major leaguer.
A Sports Illustrated report came out this past weekend that stated A-Rod tested positive for a banned substance in 2003. He admitted Monday the report was accurate, but he did not go into detail.

Unfortunately, this admission came after he was caught.

What annoys me about this is the credit he seems to be
getting for telling the truth about breaking the rules.

Every time an athlete admits to doing wrong, everybody acts as if he is different than all the other rule-breakers in sports who refuse to talk about it. The thought that A-Rod is any different than Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens or Sammy Sosa, just to name a few, is ridiculous.

I’m like Chris Rock. Why should I congratulate you for doing something you should do? What do you want, a cookie!?
Why am I supposed to feel sorry for a guy who did wrong or think he deserves an escape from reprimand just because he admitted to it after the facts were out?

ESPN once again demonstrated that journalistic integrity is not one of its key priorities.

Peter Gammons held an interview with the third baseman, and anyone who knows anything about interviews someone knows he broke the golden rule: Always ask the hard questions.

Gammons threw Rodriguez a few snowball questions, including one where he gave A-Rod the timeline of when he took steroids. This way Rodriguez would not have to fess up to taking them currently.

The network’s senior baseball writer also allowed A-Rod to play the “I didn’t know what I was taking” card. This excuse to me is unbelievable. Any professional athlete who pumps chemicals into his body and doesn’t know what he’s injecting is a moron.

There is no excuse for not knowing what supplements you are taking.

I will not tell you everything said in the “interview” but it got pretty bad. Gammons allowed A-Rod to tip-toe around the truth and even provided him with more positions to lie and make A-Rod look justified in his actions. Gammons’ questions also made A-Rod look like a golden boy.

Rodriguez should be embarrassed for himself and the game. However, he is not the only one to blame for this fiasco.

As long as ESPN continues taking stories so far that they turn into manufactured rumor and hearsay and allowing athletes to look like they are better than everyone else, we are going to be stuck with this crap.

My only real regret in the world of sports is the fact that the “total sports” network essentially has become the only source fans pay attention to. It is what gives sports a bad name.

ESPN has good reporters and experts. However, the majority of them are talking heads who are ruining sports media.

As for A-Rod, I hope he enjoys finally having something to worry about besides Madonna dumping him. He will make somewhere in the ballpark of $25 million this season.