WHY IS THE SPOTLIGHT ON AROD?

It sure seems like he is the one in the hot seat. He has a giant red target on his back. Sure, there are  20 guys linked to this scandal but he is the center of attention. There are a lot of opinions out there and while I do believe in the "innocent until proven guilty" idea, but I also believe that old habits die hard.

For once it would be nice to have Alex Rodriguez's name attached to good news. A heartwarming story, not gossip. That won't happen anytime soon though because trouble seems to find him. Should we even care anymore? Should we stand up for the guy or do we speak out and just tell him what we really think about him? Honesty is the best policy, right?

I do care, and I think people should care. Sure I am a Yankee fan, but I also love the game. I like to go to games and watch how the kids in the crowd react to seeing their favorite players. I like seeing a child's face light up when they get a ball from their favorite player or get a picture with them. These guys are setting an example for these kids who want to be on the field years from now.

I am reminded of a quote by the great Joe DiMaggio who said: "there is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best." Joe understood it. These players are role models, like it or not. When you put on the uniform you assume that responsibility. These kids idolize them. They want to BE them.

I get that there is a long list of players besides ARod on this list that is connected with BioGenesis. He isn't the only one I am talking about. He just happens to be the one I am concerned with most because the money I spend helps feed his very expensive contract. I am paying you to play the game honestly and to show some integrity and to win the right way. You get to play this great game and make money doing it. Myself and many others can only dream about doing that.

And what about integrity? Shouldn't that mean more? To be fair, I can direct my attention to someone else. What about Ryan Braun? Just like ARod, he has been in this spotlight more than once also. Back in 2011 he failed a drug test. Long story short, his legal team shed light on a technicality and he won his fight. You would think a player would learn from that and just stay away from any sort of connection, but here we are. I believe that where there is smoke there is probably fire. So here we are, another possible 2-time offender.

MLB wants to punish these players, but what does a suspension say? It says it is OK to do it, get a slap on the wrist with a short exile and come back. It also tells our children that you can cheat the system and still get what you want. There are many people that will never become a big league baseball player, so don't take it for granted. I was watching the pre-game on Friday night when Meredith Marakovits sat down and talked to David Adams.

He said something that stuck with me. He said that he learned that you always have to "Respect the game. You have to earn your right to be here" and that is admirable. To cheat means you disgrace the game. You can't do it the honest way. That's my opinion anyway. I'm sure others will disagree and that is fine. I am just done with all players, not just ARod, who makes the choice to go down this path.

We should care about this scandal. I don't think ARod is getting unjust treatment here. He was connected to this before in the past and he has all kinds of resources at his disposal. Teams these days have so many team trainers, coaches, and regiments that they can all get in house. Why even associate yourself with something outside of the organization? I don't get it.

I am no expert, but I have to look at how ARod seems to be scrambling to add more people to his legal team (read HERE) and think that this would be unnecessary if he truly didn't have anything to hide. So is ARod on a ticking clock? Maybe. If Anthony Bosch's testimony reveals hard evidence that shows ARod is once again guilty than a 100 game suspension will be the least of his worries. Fans already don't like the contract he has been given and how he has not performed for us in quite some time....but Yankee brass isn't going to sit around and just turn a blind eye. Fans shouldn't either.

That's just my take on it anyway. What is yours?

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


 
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