Today, the Yankees did as is long standing tradition for the winners of any major American sports championship, and visited the White House.
It was all very much golly-gee amusement for the fans (the heartwarming part happened earlier, when the players went to visit the vets at Walter Reed), the type of feel-good, we-rule-the-world thing that has us living vicariously through multi-million dollar athletes for a few hours of the day. Nothing to see here, move along…
…that is, until someone brought up that President Obama did not mention Alex Rodriguez by name.
ZOMG, CONTROVERSY!
Only, not.
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Like any devoted Yankee fan, I’ve heard it from all comers on A-Rod.
I’ve heard about how he’s a great person, about how he’s a horrible person, about how he’s the best ballplayer ever, about how he’s a fraud, on and on it goes.
I think I’ve shocked more people when I tell them that Rodriguez is not my favorite Yankee (Mariano is; of course you, dear reader, know this by now…) than I have when I say that Jeter is not.
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For the non-Yankee fan, A-Rod would seem to sum up all there is to hate about the Yankees: the big money contract, the glamour, the aura of inaccessibility, the drama. He’s like Derek Jeter, but with hubris. (Thus far, it’s either that Jeter’s hubris is his defense, or he doesn’t have one. Which is kind of crazy in 2010).
For Yankee fans, A-Rod is the ballplayer that can do and does some crazy awesome things on the field, but somehow, for some reason, always manages to be the center of attention. Some Yankee fans will tell you that it’s only what he does on the field that matters, and because of this they’ll wear their #13 jerseys without a second thought; others will tell you that he’s not a team player, yadda yadda.
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In 2009, the A-Rod story arc was actually one worth following–the hip injury, the steroid admission (at this point, I can no longer remember which came first, though I believe it was the latter), the home-run-on-the-first-pitch-of-the-season, the walk off against Boston, the grand slam on the last pitch of the season, the bottom-of-the-ninth game tying home run in the ALDS, the extra inning home run in the ALCS, the camera home run in the World Series…
In 2010, it almost feels like in The Lord of the Rings, after Frodo and Sam have been to Mt. Doom, and are on their way back to the Shire. They’ve conquered the big, bad demon of Sauron (in this case the injury and the “unclutch” reputation, and proving himself to be a “true Yankee”), but they still have to deal with the just-as-annoying Saruman (in this case, the media-yes, the blogging community, too-that will grasp at straws to create controversy where there is none, just because it’s Alex).*
A-Rod has now won MVP awards, won games, contributed monumentally to postseason wins and won the World Series with the New York Yankees. He’s done what he was expected to do, and early on in 2010, he’s performing pretty well as is.
At this point, any controversy feels strained and forced, as though somehow some in the media are yearning for more Dallas Bradens to come forth, just because it’d make for good copy.
I don’t really care that Obama didn’t mention A-Rod by name–and if Alex himself cares, that’s his business, not mine.
Or maybe I’m just a bad media-type.
*Note: The Scouring of the Shire, while a central part of the Return of the King book, was left out of the movie due to fears of anti-climax and time constraints. No word exists on whether or not Peter Jackson cut the scene in order to appeal to Joe West, who may have thought that the movies were too long and a disgrace to the cinematic community.
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