Sports Illustrated writer and ESPN contributor Selena Roberts just penned a book A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez based on interviews, previews, leaked chapters, articles, hype, etc. the book paints a particularly unfaltering picture of the home run hitting Yankee. I think the book is garbage. First and foremost let me be clear, I'm not disputing the so called "facts" of the book, did he?, didn't he? We already know he cheated for a time period, he admitted to that publicly. Which is more than we can say for some other former players who have just as much "credible" evidence linking them to steroids. My problems, and what I think is garbage is with the book in general, essentially I have a problem that this book was even written in the first place.
My biggest gripe is that the book was penned without the permission of A-Rod. The man has a family, he has kids. None of us are perfect (including Miss Roberts) and I would image that if we look back on our lives we will all find some transgressions that we are not particularly proud of. Now imagine someone takes those, bundles them up in Microsoft Word and prints a book, now that book will be in every Barnes & Noble in America for your kids to read, your kids classmates to read. It sickens me that people continue to profit off of someones trials and tribulations with complete and total disregard for how it may affect them and their families. And she's touting this like she discovered Watergate. Guess what he already admitted he cheated. Move on. How many times over the next year do you suppose his kids are going to have to deal with questions about their dad's b#%ch t$#s? Kids can be cruel, so I'm guessing more than a few, but hey Miss Roberts is getting a lot of face time on the networks, ink in the press, and is sure to make a lot of money. It's one thing to report the news, to report fact, but to fill a book chuck full of all a man's transgressions; which you got from "anonymous" sources, without his permission, and for all involved to peddle it for profit is a pretty cold thing to do.
As I mentioned, I've heard over and over about one of the biggest question marks and another of my big problems with the book is her use of "anonymous sources". According to numerous reports the book is littered with these so called "anonymous sources" aka "I could have just made this up" or "This came directly from A-Rod himself", you don't know, because they were all anonymous, there is absolutely zero way to filter out and discern fact from fiction because you have no idea where this information is coming from. The entire process has to be questioned. Add to this the fact that Miss Roberts was one of the leaders of the pitchfork mob after the heads of the Duke lacrosse players and you really have to question the "sources" she uses and how she gets her information, as I recall from Googling articles, her and her sources were certain that these men were guilty; and we all know how that one turned out. Read the following Jason Whitlock article for a pretty good discussion on this: Because bottom line if someone knows they will be be veiled as "anonymous" I suspect that they may speculate a little bit more on what they know, saw, or thought they saw; their recollection of certain situations may be as clear as day, but tell that same person that their good name will be attached to ALL statements and they may not be as sure about what they saw, or remember. In my opinion if they aren't sure enough and secure enough in what they are saying to sign their name to it, otherwise it should not be presented and touted as fact.
I guess this is part of a bigger frustration I have that sees millions being made on America's out of control voyeuristic obsession with so called "celebrities." US Weekly sells millions of issues a week, just so we can look at pictures of these people, pictures. I mean they have an entire section of pictures of celebs doing normal things "Brad Pitt picking up his dry cleaning" "Lauren Conrad drinking Starbucks" it's insanity. At the end of the day what is it all for:
Does it matter the exact dates he used steroids? Does it really matter? Is it going to change anything? I believe the answer to all questions is a resounding NO. He admitted that he cheated. Let's move on. If you really want a guaranteed clean up to the game, test players before every game. Two strikes and your out. First time, year long suspension. Second time, lifetime ban. I would bet that that would clean up the game in a NY minute. If they knew that their meal ticket steak could be cooked and doused with A1 and that they had to pee in a cup almost daily no one would try. But they won't ever do that, because no one is really that serious about cleaning up the game, not the players, not the owners, no one. To them a little bit of controversy is good for the game, it keeps them relevant November through April, it's almost like to them the proverbial "black eye" is worth it. Baseball needs another smooth hitting "white knight" to restore purity to the game. Mr. Pujols better watch out, because now that A-Rod has been knocked off the pedestal I suspect your turn under the microscope is rapidly approaching.
