Tuesday, July 30, 2013

How Toothless is MLB and it's PED Policy? (Updated July 31, 2013)

Hello,

After MLB threatened to suspend Ryan Braun for 100 games, they eventually worked out a deal with him which he agreed to accept a 65 game suspension. The Brewers weren't going anywhere anyway and Braun was battling injuries, so how much of a punishment was that really?

Currently MLB and Alex Rodriguez are fighting how long of a suspension that Rodriguez will serve. Rodriguez's lawyer says they'll fight any suspension that MLB gives him. ARod (or it it A-Ped) this is why people hate you, you might be one of the few professional athletes that's more despised than Dwight Howard. And of course this is also why people hate lawyers. We also have the namby pamby MLB saying they might suspend Rodriguez for "violations of labor deal". Why is it that I get the feeling that Rodriguez is in the driver's seat in determining what punishment he'll get.

It seems both Bill Clinton and OJ Simpson had the right idea about avoiding consequences. Their strategy seemed to be: Deny and lie until you get by. That worked for Clinton and Simpson and now it seems Rodriquez is trying the same strategy.

How about MLB man up and suspend Rodriguez for both PED and labor violations? I know there's the CBA to consider, but I can't believe that Commissioner Selig doesn't have the power to suspend anyone especially when there's overwhelming proof against them?

What in the name of Kenesaw Mountain Landis is going on with Major League Baseball? Why are there rules if they can't be enforced? Bud Selig needs to take on the spirit of Landis and start punishing people. It seems like he doesn't have that power now, but the commissioner should absolutely have that power.

Landis was the first commissioner of baseball. Landis was brought in as commissioner following the embarrassing Black Sox scandal. Landis was given "was given full power to act in the sport's best interest, and used that power extensively over the next quarter-century". (Thanks to Landis' Wikipedia page.)

"Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing ball games are planned and discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I don't know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game."
(Thanks to the wikipedia.org post for Landis.)

Now hilariously Rodriguez says he wants to be a "role model". A role model for what? How to cheat and get away with it? How to be one of the most gifted baseball players of all-time yet still leave a bad taste in the mouth of baseball lovers? To be clear I don't want my kids to emulate Rodriguez or use him as a role model in anything. My kids have and will continue to mess up, but I don't want them to lawyer up or weasel their way out of accepting consequences. No ARod you aren't a role model for my kids or anyone else's. If you really wanted to be a role model, you should have thought about that about 15 years ago.

ARod's whole "role model" nonsense is a sign that he has no self-awareness. In the SI article ARod whines about the "noise" surrounding him. Alex, why is there noise? It's because of your poor choices, the refusal to man up and take your deserved punishment. Volunteer to take your punishment and you would be surprised by how much the "noise" decreases. Rodriguez should volunteer to sit out all of next season as his punishment, assuming that he's healthy enough to play. Then use that year to educate people on the dangers of steroid use. If Rodriguez has any awareness and did something simple like I suggest, he would be perceived a lot more favorably by the public. Just how unaware is Rodriquez?

theirritatedmusicaddict

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