"A-Roid"

A-Rod, A-Fraud, A-Roid. I can't wait to here what type of other super hilarious nicknames they come up for him in the upcoming weeks. Okay, Alex Rodriguez took steroids. Is anyone really all THAT surprised? I mean the guy is probably the most solid 225 lbs you've ever seen on a baseball field. It's disappointing, sure. But is it really necessary to make such a tremendously huge deal about it? I guess given the fact that he is the highest paid player in sports means the answer is yes. Although, I would argue that there are many writers out there, such as Yahoo's Jeff Passon, who are taking the whole thing a little too far.

Alex Rodriguez did not need steroids. Scouts who saw A-Rod in high school rave that his bat was more powerful than Moses’ staff.

Yeah, that's high school. In case you are unaware, professional baseball is slightly a step ahead of high school level baseball. Heck, a lot of players drafted out of college don't even make it onto the pro ballclub. That should tell you just how different mother flippin Westminister Christian (A-Rod's high school of 300 students) is in comparison to Major League Baseball.

Also, who's to say he wasn't taking steroids in high school? I knew plenty of guys who experimented with the stuff before they graduated. And with no testing policy in place, it made it all the less likely to get caught. I'm not defending A-Rod's actions by any means, but to suggest that he could have maintained his elite baseball status simply because he was "THAT good" in high school is utterly moronic.

He was born with natural brilliance, a diamond with a perfect cut, just like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

These men are paid to play baseball. They did what they thought was best in order to perform at the highest level in their job. It was not illegal. Was it still wrong? Probably. But can you really fault these guys for trying to keep up with the rest of the league? Most of whom were already taking steroids well into the mid 90s? Maybe you do, maybe you don't. But the fact of the matter is that these guys most likely would not have performed at the same level were it not for some type of performance enhancer. Is there anyone out there--especially in this economy--who would not take steroids in order to make millions of dollars? I didn't think so.

And he allegedly injected himself with performance-enhancing drugs for the same reason they did. He’s a raging narcissist, consumed so much by the idea of himself that his actions made it crumble into an ironic pile of rubble.

I've done a fair amount of research on the steroid subject throughout sports. It is projected that well over 50% of all MLB players were taking some type of performance-enhancing drugs during the 1990s. An overwhelmingly majority of NFL players have allegedly taken steroids at some point in their careers. I don't think you can say with a full degree of certainty that all of these sports figures were "raging narcissists" who are "consumed" of the ideas of themselves. Andy Pettitte is probably one of the nicest, genuine, humble players in all of sports, and even he took steroids! These players are simply looking to gain every advantage possible to them. Doing so does not automatically make them a bad person by any means.

It has gotten to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if any MLB player used steroids at some time. In fact, I think it is better to assume that everyone did. Because simply penalizing those who get caught doesn't seem to put things on an even keel for those who got by before any testing was implemented.

It’s sociopathic, in a way, the single-mindedness of it. Baseball always has romanticized the one-on-one nature of its game, pitcher against hitter. The steroid era has brought out the worst in that ethos: players concerned for themselves, their money and their legacies, sport – or anyone else, for that matter – be damned.

What can baseball say now after Sports Illustrated revealed that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003? That it occurred six years ago? Yeah. That’ll fly.

Steroid Supplier: Hey A-Rod, you're good, but what would you say if I told you there was a way to make you EVEN BETTER? So much so, in fact, that you could make hundreds of millions of dollars just by playing baseball.

A-Rod: Hell yeah! What do I have to do?

SS: That's the best part, you don't really have to do anything, just inject yourself with these drugs from time to time.

A-Rod: Really??? That's it? Sounds too good to be true. Wait, I bet there's a catch though, isn't there?

SS: Well... your balls will get small.

A-Rod: Fuck.


I'm not really sure what that fake conversation was meant to accomplish. Moving on.

This is an indictment of powerlessness, another black eye on baseball, which has been in need of new orbital bones for years. No matter what baseball tries to do, its past will dog it forever because Rodriguez is going to break Bonds’ all-time home run record, and the sport’s two greatest power hitters will be known steroid users.

Hank Aaron admitted to using amphetamines. He claims it was only once, but who knows? Perhaps he wasn't the embodiment of all supernatural, God-given ability, either.

Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees and the dozen or so leftover fans without skepticism laced into their DNA presumed Rodriguez the bastion of cleanliness, a rightful heir to Hank Aaron who could vanquish Darth Bonds.

Hank Aaron admitted to using amphetamines.

It matters not if Rodriguez is clean today. He knew in 2003 that there would be testing without penalty, and like the 103 others who came up dirty, figured the anonymity of the program would protect him and everything he had become. When the government stormed in, it matched positive results from that ’03 survey testing with players’ names and had the big kahuna of all steroid busts. The results leaked out, and A-Rod, – who has been manipulated by others since his teenage years – did what any trained monkey would: He told SI’s Selena Roberts to talk to the union.

Yes, the players’ association is to blame for this getting out. It could have destroyed the tests. It didn’t. And when steroids were running through baseball like kudzu in the ’90s and earlier this decade, the union did nothing to stop them.

Yes, instead of blaming the players themselves, attention should be more precisely directed at those in authority who allowed this to happen for such a long period of time. I mean, if these guys weren't going to be penalized, then...why not?

I'm not saying I condone the use of steroids or any other illegal "performance enhancer." However, I think we all need to stop viewing this as a black and white issue. These guys are not horrible people simply because they wanted to become stronger/more durable. Yes, it was wrong and irresponsible. But should they be condemned forever for doing something that most of us probably would have done ourselves? Absolutely not. Football's got the right approach. Accept the idea that players will eventually get caught for steroids and, when they do, penalize them and move on with it. The steroid issue is becoming so tired and wore down. It is time to leave it alone and come to terms with its existence throughout sports.

I don't want to have to go through this whole ordeal next year when it's revealed that Albert Pujols once failed a drug test in 2001.