Thoughts about A-**** and Other Thoughts

>'ROID-RIGUEZ IN HALL OF SHAME.

>ANOTHER SYRINGE STUCK IN BASEBALL.

>Yankees stuck with A-Fraud.

>A-Rod a total bust when it comes to Baseball Hall of Fame chances.

>This is just some of the Story and Blog Headlines from this weekend.

>I am writing this saying that if these reports of Alex Rodriguez testing positive for Steroid Use are true and he did use them.

>My thoughts are ,Disappointment and a small amount of shock. I always thought it was possible that A-Rod had used PEDs, But I was hoping that he was doing it right.

>Now let me come clean, I have been very hard on Alex Rodriguez since 2005.
It is well known by long time readers that I have referenced A-Rod as A-Dog. because I thought he was proving to be a total bust in Big Game Situations.

>Also I am a Yankee fan going back to the Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and even Jim Bouton days.

>When he decided to announce his Opt-Out of his contract during the middle of a game in the 2007 World Series I advocated to let him go. I was upset that the Yankees decided to bring him back, But when he was signed I said I hope he will come through and become a good pressure player, teammate, But he did not have a Great year in 2008, (Compared to Other A-**** Years)
I was hoping that A-**** was going to have his usual odd year type of season.

>Now this information comes out that he tested positive during the 2003 testing.
We can say that this information should never have come out, and I do agree that the Union and MLB should have destroyed this information, but since it did come out we have to live with it.

>The worst part is that A-**** told Katie Couric in an interview he never used and never was tempted to use. So he does appear to be a liar.

>So what do I think overall. As far as I am concerned the Yankees should just cut A-**** and Pay off his entire contract and allow him to sign anywhere including Boston.

>It will be 5 years on Feb 14th that the Yankees traded for A-**** and they seem to be cursed since then. It is almost becoming embarrassing to be a Yankee fan these days, They are becoming a joke, I did say last year I was thrilled with the rise of the Tampa Bay Rays, and I really hope they can contend again this year.

>Other thoughts--I wonder when other big names from "Other" teams will come out. No one can convince me that just the Yankees along with (The other already suspected names) have had steroid users.--This is very damaging to the game. One just has to hope that there are never any reports of Steroid use by names like Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Greg Maddux or any other very well respected players by all fans.

>Also as one of the Headlines says. A-**** will never get into the Hall Of Fame now, We will never see #13 as a retired number in Yankee Stadium. And the Booing will never be louder in Yankee Stadium when he comes up to bat, A**** will be vilified in Yankee stadium even more than Any Red Sox (Keven Millar, Jason Veretek, or Bill Lee) player or Randy Johnson during the 2005 ALDS Game 3 Playoffs.

>One has to wonder what is the damage to the game. Add this to the bad economy and as in the Yankees and Mets case goes Very High Ticket Prices one would have to believe that Attendance will drop off. It more than likely not happen in 2009, but keep an eye out for the 2010 season, I think many fans will say enough, Revenues will drop and many teams will lose lots of money and may not be able to continue to operate. Also when the Labor Agreement expires you would have to expect a very tough negotiations and I would not be surprised to see a Strike/Lock Out that could last one season or even longer, (You can expect this in every sport including the NFL)
Corporations will not continue to pour Cash into Sports Franchises, So the bottom line is unless the Economy rebounds and is stronger than it ever was and by all reports they say no matter what is passed it will take anywhere from 2 to 5 years till the economy even begins to improve that we can see a large amount of Sports franchises to cease operations.