It's the question that's plagued confirmed and alleged steroid users for the last decade and in many ways is the biggest sports story of the 21st century. And quite frankly, I'm sick of it. Having no desire to read, watch and hear the same personalities rehash the same arguments I decided to call it quits on sports for the night.
Until, just as I was about to switch the radio dial, Michael Kay, the Yankees TV play-by-play man and an ESPN radio personality, launched a better discussion about a more intriguing question. Why is A-Rod so disliked?
Flickr via happyskrappyAs anyone who listens to sports radio can tell you, throw out an open-ended question to an audience of rabid sports fans, and you're bound to get answers that range from ridiculous to hilarious. If you can survive the stupidity and listen long enough you'll notice a consensus. The consensus here had A-Rod so disliked because he "consistently seems disingenuous."
Calling a star athlete disingenuous is like calling a director a perfectionist. It comes with the territory. In today's 24-hour media cycle people are constantly starved for every and any piece of news about star athletes. And we forget that the "star athlete" is often just a young man, sheltered by formative years of commitment to their sport, with millions of dollars to throw around. The athlete must put on an act--and be disingenuous--if he hopes to avoid being victimized by that cycle. Even the most beloved players will be shredded to pieces if they don't learn to tip-toe the line between being personable and politically correct. Derek Jeter, for example, walks that line like a gymnast. That's how you know he's disingenuous. Rodriguez, never truly learned to do the same.
Worse, A-Rod invited more scrutiny. He signed the largest contract ever guaranteed in North American sports: $252 million over 10 years. Obviously, anyone would have signed that contract, thanked the organization, the good lord, capitalism, and America. But once you're the highest paid guy--and by a substantial margin--you play with a bullseye on your back. To me, that's the true reason A-Rod is disliked. There's no underdog story when you make $252 million. Only unrealistic expectations.
And so people looked past all the home runs, the MVP trophies and the gold gloves. They focused on what he couldn't do. He couldn't win a championship. Fans conveniently forgot that one player does not, by himself, constitute a championship squad; they clearly disregarded his blank criminal slate and focused on his strip club attendance; they didn't care that he was one of the few steroid users to admit to his transgression without letting the story take on a life of its own. He's done mostly good, but fans focus on the bad.
It could have been different, too. If he made, say, just $150 million, he would have been perceived completely differently. Perhaps fans would have shrugged off his nightlife and attributed it to his good looks and considerable wealth. Maybe they would have appreciated the unimaginable dedication he had towards becoming the best. They might even have appreciated his apology and fallen for the player who hit rock bottom and admitted his transgressions, only to win the elusive ring later that season. Oh, what could have been.
But there are 252 reasons it didn't turn out that way.
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