Tough Year

I realize I have not posted anything in 10 months but 2009 has been a dreadful year. How else can I describe week after week of agonizing results? The ridiculous levels of frustration and anger I have endured this year have me searching for a new past-time. Like so many I turn to sports as a distraction from the stressful and/or the mundane but my passionate support leads to heartache and sleepless nights.
I am a loyal fan of three teams: The Mets, Knicks and Giants. I care deeply, if not illogically, about my teams. I experience actual joy when they win big games but I also hate, absolutely abhor, certain teams and players. I despise all things Philadelphia, the Cowboys, the Lakers, the Yankees and anything that has to with Jordan, Arod, Ray Lewis, Kobe, Jeter…honestly; it is an ever expanding list. 2009 may have been the worst year of my sports observing life.
The Giants lost a playoff game to the Eagles and the classless Donovan Mcnabb in January and have done little to ease the sting of that loss so far this season. The Knicks will not even try to be successful until next year and who could enjoy watching Kobe rape the NBA in June? The Mets, oh the Mets, experienced possibly the most disappointing season in team history and there are many years to chose from in a past filled with losing. Injuries ravaged what promised to be an underachieving team but at least that sparred me the heartache of another season ending collapse. The 09 Mets were dead long before the last day of the season.
Kobe Bryant winning a Shaq-less championship and being lauded as an all-time great was hideous to watch but nothing will compare to the revolting sight of a champagne soaked Arod holding the World Series Trophy. An image I only glimpsed for a second but is burned into my brain. I was so disturbed by this lying, cheating, fraud of a man being crowned a hero and champion that I avoided all media for 3 full weeks. It is still difficult to listen to the radio and hear Yankee fans babble on and on about their team or how great a GM Cashman is. I wonder how the other 29 general managers in baseball would do with another 75-125 million to spend?
With so many of my waking hours spent watching games, reading sports sections and websites, debating potential trades and future outcomes with friends and coworkers, how can I avoid these depressing emotions? How can I go on with my days completely consumed by bitterness and disappointment? The simple answer is: stop watching. Stop caring. I can no longer occupy my time with baseball, football and basketball. From this day on I will devote all of my passionate attention to Formula 1 racing. More specifically, I will embrace my heritage and pledge my allegiance to team Ferrari, whom many tell me are the Yankees of racing.

Arod and GNC or Whatever

I can not wait to watch Arod twist in the wind tomorrow afternoon as he faces the press for the first time to discuss his steroid use. That is if he can get his story straight. Arod has apparently hired a team of lawyers and public relation experts to help get him through tomorrow. I find it humorous that anyone would need help to tell the truth. Before I breakdown Tuesday's lies I want to take a minute to recap some of my favorite moments from last weeks extremely entertaining interview with Peter Gammons. A few quotes:

“Loosey goosey era”
“GNC or whatever”
“I am guilty for a lot of things”
“I have millions of fans out there…that will…will never look at me the same”
“I didn’t want to over-investigate what I was taking”
“SI pays this…this, lady to stalk me”
“Gene was very specific in 2004…he said, you might or might not have failed a test”
“I am tired of being stupid…and selfish…about myself”
“The truth will set you free”
“I was stupid, an idiot…and I think New Yorkers can relate to that”
“Everybody makes fun of me”
“I love to take it…I am a good receiver”

Ha! Thank you Alex, thank you for making this such an entertaining February and good luck tomorrow. Remember, ‘The truth will set you free’

“The truth will set you free”

Alex Rodriguez is a liar. I have known this since he was free agent after the 2000 season. All I heard about for weeks was how much Arod wanted to play for the Mets and return to his home town team. That wasn’t completely true and neither was his confession about his steroid use yesterday. I don’t blame Arod for not being completely honest but I think we should expect more truthful details from guilty athletes.
The only decision that former Mets general manager Steve Phillips ever made that I completely agreed with was openly withdrawing from signing Arod after the 2000 season. Alex and his agent spent weeks proclaiming the Mets as Arod’s first choice to continue his career. They failed to mention that he would need 25 million a year, along with a hotel sweet on all road trips, a box for his family and friends at Shea and a place to land his helicopter for this to happen. I don’t have a problem with greedy, selfish ball players as long as they don’t try to pass themselves off as team oriented individuals. I am not naïve and I can relate to guys that want to maximize their income over the short period an athlete’s career last. I am also not stupid and I would appreciate at least a veiled attempt to deceive me.
Arod’s alleged apology yesterday was a complete farce and I have found it extremely entertaining but far from truthful. Alex looked right in between the camera and Peter Gammons eyes and lied to everyone watching. He admits to taking “performance enhancing substances” but has “no idea what I took”. He goes on to mention GNC 5 times, as if Primobolan can be purchased at GNC. Primobolan is one of the most expensive and least traceable steroids that money can buy; it is not available with a doctor’s prescription and Arod claims the first time he heard of the word “Primobolan” was this past Sunday. Arod blames his cheating on “the culture of the time” as if he were a hippie of the 1960’s defending his acid habit. He did say he was sorry, really, really sorry and called himself stupid a number of times. I believe he is sorry he was caught and sorry and stupid for going on 60 minutes to claim he never even considered taking performance enhancing substances. Yesterday Arod did admit he lied to 60 minutes but he claimed he wasn’t being honest with himself so how could he possibly be honest with CBS. Ha! Please make more of an effort to mislead me.
The sad thing for me is the positive media coverage of this alleged apology. It is commonly reported that Giambi and Petite are prime examples that apologizing and admitting your mistake is the best way to handle being caught cheating with steroids. Many reporters have commended Arod for his admission of guilt and that he was wise to follow the lead of his Yankee teammates. I agree Arod took a similar route as Giambi and Petite but honesty had nothing to do with any of these somewhat informative admissions. Jason Giambi did apologize but he never said for what he was sorry. We were to assume he meant ‘roids but he never said he did steroids. As vague as Giambi’s apology was at least it came across as more sincere than Andy Petite’s condescending, back handed apology for using HGH once. Andy admitted to using HGH a second time a few weeks later which he didn’t apologize for but apparently that was his father’s fault. I am not sure if the elder Mr. Petite has apologized publicly.
Maybe I am being unrealistic but I want one of these culpable baseball player’s to be honest. I want to hear they took steroids to get better and make more money. Arod has signed the two largest contracts in the history of baseball; steroids are at least partly responsible. If we can not get more forthcoming confessions from our guilty athlete’s, can we at least stop praising them for continuing to cheat us with their lies and half-truths?