Say it Ain't So, A-Rod

I have to say that I was hurt when news came out that Alex Rodriguez used steroids. I felt the same way when the news about Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite came out before last season. With Roger, I really wanted to believe him when he denied it, but it became fairly obvious he was lying as his story got more and more unbelievable. The fact that he knew he was guilty and still went to Congress and tried to get away with it shows the ultimate in arrogance, and for that I will probably never forgive him.

At least with A-Rod, he is finally coming clean, much like Pettite did. Now, I don't know if you can call coming clean if you admit to something after it is reported, but at least they didn't fall into the same trap that Clemens did. However, neither one of them took full responsibility, with Andy saying he did it for his teammates to get healthy, and Alex saying he did it because of the pressure.

I also feel like this is a slap in the face, since I have constantly defended A-Rod and have been very critical of Yankee fans who seem to constantly boo him. And A-Rod is the best in the game (in this humble Yankee fan's opinion), so to find out that the best in the game is, at least in part, the best because he broke the rules, is incredibly disillusioning. Perhaps I am too naive, but I like to think that, at least when it comes to my team, that the players are playing the game right. But, of course, just like a murderer is somebody's neighbor, the players on my team are no different from those on any other team.

The sad thing is, this won't change a thing for me when the season starts. I still want the Yankees to win, and I will probably just willfully ignore this whole thing about A-Rod, much like I was able to do with Pettite last year. And integrity takes another hit in the interest of the bottom line.