Even his public apology was ripped apart by armchair exegetes who questioned his sincerity, honesty, morality and failure to correctly use the past pluperfect subjunctive.
Most recently, he was back in the tabloids for availing himself of the services of the same escort agency favored by former N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer. The governor lost his job when his expensive call-girl habit hit print, and rightly so. As the state’s attorney general, he had pandered to the Puritans by busting high-class escort agencies. His hypocrisy made him fair game for the newspapers.
But A-Rod did nothing to merit being named as a customer, involved in a such a questionable crime. Worse, it was workers at the agency who tossed him to the wolves, exposing him as a client, even while he was married. Gasp!
What that had to do with baseball, I’ve no idea. And you could forgive him for wondering why his betrayers don't just name every customer. There are sure to be names of more of the rich and famous among them. Let them suffer as he did.
But A-Rod never uttered a peep. Maybe it was because he’s in shock at this point. More likely it’s because he realizes there’s nothing he can say and, when you get down to it, nothing he should need to say. If he used an escort service, it’s a matter that should be between him and his wife, and as he’s no longer married, it’s nobody else’s business.
He’s the highest-paid player in American team sports. As such, his performance on the field is fair game for criticism and discussion. His use of performance enhancers is also fair game, but it should be taken in the context of when he used them — baseball had no drug policy — and the fact that he was hardly alone.
I still think most of the tabloid coverage A-Rod has endured has been unfair. It’s also grossly unfair to single him out from among 104 positive tests. Most people in his situation would whine endlessly about the injustice of it all.
He hasn’t done that. Instead, he continues to apologize and insists he doesn’t wish what happened to him on anyone.
Hooray for him.
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