A-Rod: Satan? Topic

MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
Posted by rsp777 on 8/2/2013 12:25:00 PM (view original):
I mean, really Mike, don't you LOVE the GAME? Doesn't **** like this just out and out disgust you? I grew up with baseball, and as a soon to be 46 year old man I'm just disgusted with what the game is today. How can you not feel the same?
I understand the business aspect.  Or maybe I should say "I accept the business aspect".    When there's so much money involved, it's usually just one ******* trying to outdo the other *******. 

While the ARods of baseball annoy the **** out of me, MLB does virtually nothing to "restrict" them from doing so.   The whole PED thing is as much, if not moreso, MLB's fault as it is any player.   Anyone in the game who says "I didn't know" is full of ****.  35 y/o men don't get better.   Normal people don't add 25 lbs of muscle in 3 months.  Something was going on and MLB looked the other way because they were making money. 
8/2/2013 12:33 PM
rsp777
Posts: 13242 (0)
Hall of Famer
337 3
Prospect
Posted by bad_luck on 8/2/2013 12:28:00 PM (view original):
Posted by rsp777 on 8/2/2013 12:25:00 PM (view original):
I mean, really Mike, don't you LOVE the GAME? Doesn't **** like this just out and out disgust you? I grew up with baseball, and as a soon to be 46 year old man I'm just disgusted with what the game is today. How can you not feel the same?
Grow up.

Baseball players (and professional athletes in general) have been trying to find ways to gain an edge since the games were invented. Spit balls, nail files, corked bats, & PEDs (steroids, amphetamines, & HGH) are all cheating. Cheating will always happen.
For me, it's not about the "cheating". It's about the lying and the attitude that baseball owes them something. To me, there is a GIGANTIC difference between a spitball or a corked bat and stuffing your body with drugs that enhance your performance. Daniel Tosh has a bit about the asterisk on Bonds where he says something to the effect of "how do you not have an asterisk on someone like Babe Ruth when he played in an era before black men were afforded the opportunity to even PLAY the game." That hits the nail on the head for me when it comes to history, and it applies to A-Roid and PED's as well.
8/2/2013 12:36 PM
bad_luck
Posts: 21761 (0)
Hall of Famer
48 1 10
Prospect
Posted by rsp777 on 8/2/2013 12:36:00 PM (view original):
Posted by bad_luck on 8/2/2013 12:28:00 PM (view original):
Posted by rsp777 on 8/2/2013 12:25:00 PM (view original):
I mean, really Mike, don't you LOVE the GAME? Doesn't **** like this just out and out disgust you? I grew up with baseball, and as a soon to be 46 year old man I'm just disgusted with what the game is today. How can you not feel the same?
Grow up.

Baseball players (and professional athletes in general) have been trying to find ways to gain an edge since the games were invented. Spit balls, nail files, corked bats, & PEDs (steroids, amphetamines, & HGH) are all cheating. Cheating will always happen.
For me, it's not about the "cheating". It's about the lying and the attitude that baseball owes them something. To me, there is a GIGANTIC difference between a spitball or a corked bat and stuffing your body with drugs that enhance your performance. Daniel Tosh has a bit about the asterisk on Bonds where he says something to the effect of "how do you not have an asterisk on someone like Babe Ruth when he played in an era before black men were afforded the opportunity to even PLAY the game." That hits the nail on the head for me when it comes to history, and it applies to A-Roid and PED's as well.
It seems like you are making two different points. 1 - that PEDs are "gigantic[ly]" different than other types of cheating. And 2 - that all eras have their own situations that need to be understood.

I would agree with your second point. Which is why I don't freak out over PED use. Major League baseball players have been using PEDs for 50+ years. Put a drug testing program in place, punish those that are caught, and move on.
8/2/2013 12:51 PM
rsp777
Posts: 13242 (0)
Hall of Famer
337 3
Prospect
Posted by MikeT23 on 8/2/2013 12:33:00 PM (view original):
Posted by rsp777 on 8/2/2013 12:25:00 PM (view original):
I mean, really Mike, don't you LOVE the GAME? Doesn't **** like this just out and out disgust you? I grew up with baseball, and as a soon to be 46 year old man I'm just disgusted with what the game is today. How can you not feel the same?
I understand the business aspect.  Or maybe I should say "I accept the business aspect".    When there's so much money involved, it's usually just one ******* trying to outdo the other *******. 

While the ARods of baseball annoy the **** out of me, MLB does virtually nothing to "restrict" them from doing so.   The whole PED thing is as much, if not moreso, MLB's fault as it is any player.   Anyone in the game who says "I didn't know" is full of ****.  35 y/o men don't get better.   Normal people don't add 25 lbs of muscle in 3 months.  Something was going on and MLB looked the other way because they were making money. 
And that is why baseball means SO much less to me today than it ever has. They've managed to "business" it into something that I just cannot care about anymore. I think you and I are very much the same Mike. We both LOVE the game, and we are both disgusted to what it has become today. We can argue stats and performance and everything else about the game itself and both maintain a mutual respect for each other, out of fandom and out of love of the GAME. But I think we are both OLD SCHOOL fans who are just disgusted by what the "game" has become because of money and everything that goes with it. I just don't care about baseball like I did when I was a kid, and that, to me, is sad.
8/2/2013 12:55 PM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect

I'm sure you remember the "Game of the Week".   The Saturday game.   And that was all you got.   Because the Yanks sucked in the early 70s, I never got to watch them.   So I followed them thru the box scores.   No ESPN and the local news did more HS football than MLB.   So, without the money, that's probably what I'd still have.   That's why I've accepted the "business" side.   It allows me to watch my team rather than read the box score the next day.

8/2/2013 1:24 PM
dahsdebater
Posts: 10036 (0)
Hall of Famer
284 270 18
Pro
Even though it changed the culture of the game, I have a hard time condemning the money flowing to the players in baseball and other sports.  I'd much rather see that than the old system in which the already-wealthy owners kept it all.  Anymore they contribute almost nothing to building their own facilities, the profit is all profit, and it's still substantial.  Imagine what it would be if all those giant salaries were lining the owners' pockets as well.
8/2/2013 2:00 PM
This post has a rating of , which is below the default threshold.
Show
Jtpsops
Posts: 13984 (0)
Hall of Famer
624 1 2 2 138
Prospect
Posted by dahsdebater on 8/2/2013 2:00:00 PM (view original):
Even though it changed the culture of the game, I have a hard time condemning the money flowing to the players in baseball and other sports.  I'd much rather see that than the old system in which the already-wealthy owners kept it all.  Anymore they contribute almost nothing to building their own facilities, the profit is all profit, and it's still substantial.  Imagine what it would be if all those giant salaries were lining the owners' pockets as well.
Ya, it's not the players' fault - it's the teams that pay them. And baseball has always been a business. Players used to be bought and sold as commodities - the "business" has just changed.

I wish MLB would show consistency with this whole PED issue though. They run the risk of turning guys like Bonds and ARod into "victims" in a sense. Both guys are dirty, but MLB has clearly shown more of an investement in bringing them down than anyone else. They've made them the poster guys for PED use in baseball, while guys like McGwire, Clemens, Braun, etc. get basically a slap on the wrist. Sure, ARod's an idiot and should be punished for trying to interfere in and obstruct the investigation, but IMO, MLB should be way more ****** at Braun. He made a mockery of their process and then rubbed it in their faces with his outspoken and arrogant proclamations of innocence. Unlike ARod, Braun has actually tested positive before. But he gets a nice 8 month vacation and will come back with a good portion of this blown over next season. More consistency is needed.
8/2/2013 10:09 PM
tecwrg
Posts: 18995 (0)
Hall of Famer
4 1 152 32 129
Prospect
Looks like the hammer is going to drop on Monday, and it's going to get ugly.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9535752/alex-rodriguez-likely-suspended-2014-season-monday-according-sources
8/3/2013 9:00 PM
tecwrg
Posts: 18995 (0)
Hall of Famer
4 1 152 32 129
Prospect
Announcement to be made at noon; ARod may be able to play while he appeals.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130805/BBO-MLB-Drug-Investigation/
8/5/2013 6:47 AM
bad_luck
Posts: 21761 (0)
Hall of Famer
48 1 10
Prospect
Posted by tecwrg on 8/5/2013 6:47:00 AM (view original):
Announcement to be made at noon; ARod may be able to play while he appeals.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130805/BBO-MLB-Drug-Investigation/
Yeah, MLB kind of overplayed its hand threatening the CBA suspension. He'll be suspended under the JDA and get to appeal. Assuming they don't agree to a deal in the next 20 minutes.
8/5/2013 11:38 AM
tecwrg2
Posts: 237 (0)
Hall of Famer
1 2 3 94
Prospect
What I don't understand is this: the JDA clearly states suspensions are (a) 50 games for first offense; (b) 100 games for second offense; and (c) lifetime suspension for third offense.

So how does a 214 game suspension fit within the confines of the JDA?
8/5/2013 11:48 AM
AlCheez
Posts: 3375 (0)
Hall of Famer
12 59 54
Pro
Those are only the suspensions for PED use violations.  There are other violations in there as well - I assume they are going to use some of that other evidence they are supposed to have for hit him for participating in distribution, among other things.
8/5/2013 12:04 PM
bad_luck
Posts: 21761 (0)
Hall of Famer
48 1 10
Prospect
Posted by tecwrg2 on 8/5/2013 11:48:00 AM (view original):
What I don't understand is this: the JDA clearly states suspensions are (a) 50 games for first offense; (b) 100 games for second offense; and (c) lifetime suspension for third offense.

So how does a 214 game suspension fit within the confines of the JDA?
I think there's a clause for non-drug tested suspensions.
8/5/2013 12:14 PM
Jtpsops
Posts: 13984 (0)
Hall of Famer
624 1 2 2 138
Prospect
MLB is also treating this as multiple violations, apparently: 1) use/possession 2) lying to investigators 3) actively obstructing the investigation
8/5/2013 1:04 PM
◂ Prev 1...18|19|20|21|22...48 Next ▸
A-Rod: Satan? Topic
△Top△Bottom

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.