6 Reasons For 600 Home Runs: Why People Hate Alex Rodriguez

  Alex Rodriguez was stopped tonight in his bid to reach the hallowed 600 home run mark by the Toronto Blue Jays, but barring catastrophe it is a certainty that he will eventually join the likes of Mays and Aaron. But people don't really have the mad-loving hype going on that one would expect of baseball fans witnessing a man approach the mark that only 6 other men have attained. Some fans are even downright vicious, wishing A-Rod sustain a career-ending injury or worse before he hits the magic number.
  There has been little positive press for the A-Rod mark, in fact when lovable Jim Thome passed Harmon Killebrew for 10th all-time recently there were well-wishes and congrats from all over the Globe. It's also safe to say that when Thome blasts #600 sometime next year that it will be a far happier event amongst sports geeks.

  In sports polls around North America, Alex Rodriguez always fares badly. Even certified douchebags like Jose Canseco and Ben Roethlisberger fare better in some polls. Wherever you go, Number 13 is the player that people love to hate, but why?


#1: Not Only Did He Do Steroids, He Lied About It

  Fans don't like being lied to and they hate cheaters. Alex Rodriguez is part of the era that steroids ruled, but he denied it until he was caught. He denied using them in an interview with Katie Couric and to other members of the press. And when he was caught, he blamed the fans for his drug usage whilst also claiming he didn't know he was actually using banned substances. It seemed like a backhanded apology. He also tried to blame his cousin for buying him the drugs and fans don't like the idea of throwing a family member under the bus to save face.
  If he had come clean instead of lying and coming up with new excuses by the day, he would have skated like Andy Pettite.The only thing worse than a roid rocket is a rat.

#2: The Contracts

  Seattle is one of those sports markets that has few heroes and treats them like Gods. And fans felt slighted by team honchos who traded heroic Ken Griffey and Randy Johnson prior to the 2000 campaign. Amazingly the M's made the playoffs and the fans wanted more A-Rod. But he LEFT, and that sting was the largest psychological boo-boo to a city until LeBron left Cleveland. Mariners felt cheated even before they saw the numbers.
  And those digits made Alex Rodriguez a marked man all over the sports world- 10 years and over 250 million bones. He took the money to play for a team he hated which violated the unwritten moral code of baseball fandom.
  Next, when he was unsure whether he'd be given a monster salary, he opted out of the final year of his lucrative contract and subsequently signed a new 10 year deal worth $275 million meaning he'll likely retire as a Yankee after making over half a BILLION dollars playing America's pastime. He was blamed for skyrocketing player compensation, and for good reason.
  You can make money in the game for sure, even loads of it, but if it becomes the sole determining factor when and where you'll play, you may never be forgiven.

#3: He Cheated On His Wife And Lied

  Yes, players cheat on their partners. Some see it as part and parcel of the pro sports experience. One pro (non-baseball) team even has a staff gynecologist to deal with the STDs that players bring home to their spouses. But Alex Rodriguez seemed different. He had the nice psychologist wife and a couple of wee daughters. Like Tiger Woods after him, he seemed to have the dream life. And it was a lie.
   A-Rod cheated on his wife with dozens of women in both the U.S. and Canada- strippers, models, and hairdressers. He frequented prostitutes and was seen out with married women like Madonna. He was a womanizing jerk with a difference. Not only did he lie about his daliances, he tried to bully his wife into having references to them removed from court records. He has also never apologized for any of it.
  Alex Rodriguez distanced himself from fans by coming across as a spoiled bully with no sense of remorse or accountability whatsoever. And female fans don't like a guy who treats women like they are chattel. It was a lose situation all-around.

#4: He's Too Hollywood

  Alex Rodriguez is a pretty man. Through DNA, he just has that certain thing that gruff beer-drinking jocks hate. But not only is he cute, he knows it. He dates actresses and prances around in haute couture and flashes that perfect smile on red carpets. Camera-friendly, A-Rod has been in commercials, movies, and even been on the O'Reilly Factor. He plays for the most pampered team in the game, but seems eerily above the game. He's on the sports page every day with his interviews that seem far too scripted and seems off-put and snide when someone asks a question he doesn't like. A-Rod lives in his own world and you aren't invited in.
   He comes across as an aloof, self-absorbed, attention-seeking prettyboy who will do anything or anyone for the spotlight and its accompanying dollar.

  Sports nuts love someone they can identify with. They want a guy who goes home to his wife and kids, doesn't pluck his eyebrows, and might have a wrinkled shirt. They want the guy who would rather volunteer his time in a hospital than party with the famous. They want Jim Thome, and Alex Rodriguez is not Jim Thome.

#5: He's A Choker and Unsportsmanlike

  Baseball players have an unwritten code of on-field conduct that Alex Rodriguez seems oblivious to. From notorious crossing-the-plate incidents to slapping the ball out of basemen's mitts to calling out during the opposing team's fly ball, A-Rod has pissed off players and fans alike. He sometimes has a childish manner about him- firing hurt glances, arguing calls, and being a general pest. He's prone to defensive lapses resulting in horrendous error streaks and can scare himself in close-and-late situations. A-Rod is emotionally fragile and can indeed crack under the pressure he puts on himself and booing fans don't empower him, they can ruin his game. Rodriguez is also prone to horrendous slumps like the one he is currently mired in. His 5 year long streak of 0-for-29 with runners on base during the postseason instilled a reputation with the fans that may take several repeats of the 2009 postseason to erase.
   There is nobody in baseball more watched and critiqued than Alex Rodriguez. Fair or not, his play is analyzed to meticulous detail and he is expected to perform like a man with his salary night in and night out.


#6: He Is Too Damn Good

  Once in a generation comes a man who has as many natural gifts as Alex Rodriguez. From high school to the pros, there has been something special about A-Rod. Drugs or not, he is a long and lean embodiment of talent. #13 holds 12 Major League records and is not even close to finished. While his Gold Glove seasons are long behind him, he makes up for it at the plate. A-Rod is a threat to go longball or walk and steal second and third. His statistically-awful current season  is still pretty decent and he leads his team in RBIs. With 13 seasons of more than 100 RBIs and 30 home runs, he could be the first admitted steroid user to become enshrined in the Hall of Fame. His dainty swing and svelte body mask a beast of offense. It is terrifying to think of the numbers that this dude would post if he wasn't so focused on trying to impress people and didn't live in his head.
  Fans are conditioned to love the underdog and a guy who has been THE ONE since Day One strikes a weird chord in a lot of hearts. Not everyone is blessed with an effortless swing, incredible wheels, and movie-star looks. Folks cannot just be Alex Rodriguez. And because they will never be him, they envy him. And jealousy can become hate.

  Alex Rodriguez WILL become the youngest man in North American baseball to hit 600 home runs and once he hits that mark will likely hit 700. Love him or hate him, #13 has cemented his place in sports history. The man who took Cal Ripken's lead and eclipsed him is one of the greatest baseball players of the past half-century. Nothing Alex Rodriguez does off the field nor his conduct on hit will alter his place in the great American game. Baseball is a game of finite numbers, of statistics that young and old can see and analyze and dream about. A-Rod is baseball's dog in lamb's clothing, and like a Bloodhound will smell a new target and capture it.

  It's up to us as fans whether we will accept Alex Rodriguez as-is or loathe him. It is our privilege to witness a player of such skill for we may not until we are old and gray. Are we willing to look past the obvious flaws of a monumentally imperfect man to see the perfect player?

Bacon-Related Post Of The Week

  If you have mad love for smoked swine, there is no place on the planet like Michigan. Visitors and locals alike are treated to the heart-stopping meat at plenty of places that promise the greatest adventure in pork. Just how BIG do Michigan's famous BLTs get? They can tip the scales at over a pound. And the video below is at the famous Tony's in Birch Run, MI. The insane sandwich contains a pound of the fine swine alone.

  So feel free to watch one man brave this monster meal and its 3000 calories. You won't gain an ounce.

Abused News

  Sarah Palin made a statement comparing ultraconservative women to mama bears rising on their hind legs when somebody is trying to attack.

  So it's safe to say that neocon ladies walk on all fours and have hairy asses. Also, Liberals are the douchebags who shoot them from helicopters.

  Good to know.


Image courtesy of the University of Washington Bear Center

Soup Chronicles: Peanuts And Fish

  Today is a holiday so I'm just letting my brain go wherever it pleases, and it wandered over here where I found something that reminded me of a very vague childhood memory.

  Yes, boiled peanuts in a can. I am obsessed with canned foods because we preserved everything, including things best never canned. Both of my grandmothers packed all sorts of things in jars for the winter and taught me how to do this is well. I have witnessed everything from my granny's Matbucha (which I still know how to make by memory) to curried fish in a jar. There were the usual staples like fruit and veggies and I'm positive that my first canned corned beef experience was out of a Mason jar.

  But they never canned peanuts. The peanuts came to our side of the border after my maternal grandmother made a trip around obscure parts of the American south. I don't recall the actual taste of the peanuts, but I know I liked them more than my grandmother's bizarre version of chitlins made out of lamb intestines. Granny Annie had no problem with culinary adventure. Some of them were delights rehashed from her childhood like the amazing roasted chickpea snacks and some were not only new to her, but new to the planet. Many were successful (roasted spicy lamb stew...drool) and some scared me (curried whitefish that she didn't take the bones out of) but her heart was always in the right place.

  Back to the peanuts. I WANT these peanuts to rehash an unusual childhood memory of a peculiar person that changed my culinary life. I would make them myself (I can Google) but there is no way I am finding green peanuts here. I have also never found these things on my side of the border, or even the western States for that matter. If one of you knows where I could buy or steal these dandy little legumes I would be one happy critter. :)

  In the mean time, I have found someone online who cans salmon almost identically to the way my grandmother taught me how to and it has pretty pictures. The only change I'd make is to add a sprig of dill to each jar and a pinch of pickling spice for a little tang. Oh, and if you debone your fish, pack it skin side OUT. (I don't know WHY, but my grandmother just said so and she's always right.) Go here for the pretty pictures.

Your Daily Diversion

 

  This morning I posed a very ordinary question, but the number of responses was amazing.

  I simply asked if people get into silent wars with the other occupants of their house based on how the toilet paper should hang. I am guilty of engaging in this because I firmly believe that toilet paper belongs against the wall. Otherwise it makes you look lazy and is too easy for the cat to run away with. The other 2 occupants secretly disagree and change it their way. And none of us will budge nor acknowledge that anything is going on. (well, i guess I did now)
  Thing is, I received many passionate arguments, even from people who don't follow me, about how they feel the loo roll should hang. (or not, some people use vertical roll things) A few people commented that it seemed like a female preoccupation  yet some couples replied that they have engaged in the Battle of the Salle De Bain for decades. People are serious about their shitters.

  Thusly, since I LOVE statistics and viewpoints, I open the floor to you lovely people. Please don't crap on it, that's not the kind of input I'm looking for.

  How does your roll hang?

Yummy Treat: Soylent Feed

  For the third time in the last 2 weeks, Brandt meat products has had products recalled by the Canada Inspection Agency. This time, the company is recalling an entire product line and has shut down production because of salmonella and listeria contamination. Brandt also manufactures (I hate that term when we're dealing with animals) pork products for Freybe and others, so be wary. Also since their products are often sold in bulk, deli counters could be affected.

  After hearing of numerous pathogenic outbreaks, I wonder why people purchase sliced deli products at all. Yes, it is far more convenient to rip open a package than to cook up a roast on the weekend and slice it in many minds, but I don't know if it's worth the risk. In most meats, the flesh of hundreds, even thousands of different animals is jammed together and if one of them is contaminated, the whole pile is. This is why you see more outbreaks involving pressed deli and ground meat products than anything else. While cooking may kill many bacteria, the speedy packaging lines ensure that thousands, even millions of packages can be contaminated without notice. Add into this the intensive (factory) farming methods that promote growth of antibiotic-resistant strains and you have a recipe for disaster. And then comes all of the salt and nitrates and G-d knows what else. This stuff is bad for you and you know it.

  So what to be done? First- don't buy heavily processed meat and demand that your meat come from a single animal. If you REALLY must have that ham on rye, buy a whole ham (not pressed roll) and slice it yourself. It freezes well and it's about 60% less expensive than at the cryptosporidium counter. And eschew factory-farmed meat altogether if it's possible. Agriprocessors are capitalists and they WILL give the customer what they want or fail. It's Business 101. But the biggest thing you can do short of going vegan is to support your local farmers. There are mum-and-pop butcher shops out there and farmers markets. It's better for your health, the environment, and the little guy that is the backbone of the economy. They also genuinely care about their customers and value your right to know what is in your food.

  We have become people who insist on consuming flesh that does not remotely resemble the animal it came from. Our parents knew exactly where their steak came from and they respected the animal who gave his life for their enjoyment. They also knew that animals were different because they could see the cow and the chicken and sheep. They tidied the barns and let the chickens out to pick and scratch and chase the dog around. And after they killed one of their coop they didn't mix its meat with that of animals from 50 different farms a thousand miles away. The unwritten code of the local farm was and is infinitely more hygenic than the industrial feedlots and food factories that have nearly taken over.

  Soylent feed is made of pig,cow,chicken, and goat by-products mixed in with the fingertips of overworked workers, industrial chemicals, waste products, and dairy considered unfit. It's tightly packed and smoked and sliced with salt and cheap spices to conceal what it is. And you're the one eating it.

Yo Ottawa!

  Be on the lookout for this escaped paedophile. Yes, you are seeing correctly, it is former CFL quarterback Cody Ledbetter. He likes young girls, and not in a parental way.

  In 2004, he was charged with 4 counts of sexual assault, 2 counts of a teacher having improper relations with a students, and 2 counts of indecently with a child. The footballer turned high school teacher basically got the sports guy walk on those charges but was convicted a year later on separate charges of violating a student. He was given a sweetheart plea deal of 10 years probation and has fled the United states.

  He turned up in Ottawa and evaded police on Saturday and is probably still in Ontario. He's 6 feet tall, weighs 225 pounds and droves a maroon dodge Ram with Oklahoma plates.

  Hopefully someone sees him and calls him in so he can do some hard time in Texas for being a stain on humanity. Something also must be done about us as a whole. While someone who played pro ball might seem qualified to be a football coach, we need to remind ourselves that they are working with CHILDREN. Also, sex offenders are chickenshits as a whole and will run from probation. There are tons of these assholes walking amongst us. The child molester is less likely to be the eerily quiet old man down the street than he is to be your clean-cut neighbour. These freaks wear no uniform, they hide in plain sight, they use their appearance and social skills to get at children. And they think they are above the law.

  I'm dead tired of seeing reports of sex offenders who are supposed to be supervised arrogantly laughing at the law. There needs to be better coordination amongst law enforcement agencies to ensure that when these innocence thieves fuck up they are caught immediately and locked up for lengthy periods of time. In this age of information technology there is no excuse.

Watch your kids. you have NO idea who might be watching them.