Another One Bites the Dust

Steroids have become a very prevalent issue in baseball recently, and the scene just blew up again over the past few weeks.

Alex Rodriguez, star third baseman for the New York Yankees and, up until a few weeks ago, a sure-fire candidate to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, admitted recently that he used steroids during the 2001, 2002 and 2003 baseball seasons.

This was not supposed to happen.

As a baseball fan, I believe we were supposed to see Rodriguez break Barry Bonds' home run record in a few years by doing it "the right way,” free of steroids, after Bonds tainted the record by using steroids.

As commissioner of baseball, the news that Rodriguez did in fact use steroids was supposed to be confidential because his drug test was supposed to be anonymous. How does a secret become more than just a rumor?

Does any other Major League Baseball Player know whom to trust? Can you trust that the substances your trainer provides you with are legal? Can you trust your teammates not to rat you out if you do make a mistake?

But most importantly we must ask: how do you repair your image? Because steroid usage is so wide-spread in baseball, it is not likely that a player caught using steroids will lose all his endorsement deals like one might in basketball, for instance, where steroids are less of an issue.

Yet despite his talents, Rodriguez had a less than favorable image before these reports ever emerged. Within the past few months, he left behind his wife and daughter to have an affair with Madonna; he was ridiculed in a book about his obsession with fellow teammate and Yankee Captain Derek Jeter and the horrible presence he brought to the Yankee clubhouse (the book was written by his legendary coach Joe Torre, no less); he refuted a long-term, multi-million dollar contract offer from the Yankees in December thinking he could earn more than his league-leading $25 million elsewhere (only to realize he was mistaken and re-sign with New York) and the list goes on.

And it is that long list that makes one wonder: Is it possible to have so many public defamations that they start to become less of an issue? Could things really get any worse for Rodriguez? Does this become a Britney Spears-type issue where you just roll your eyes and move on anytime this celebrity receives negative press?

Honestly, yes.

Rodriguez is not the first player to get caught using steroids, yet as the steroids issue grows, so too has attendance at baseball games. Most true fans of the game, especially Yankee fans who are accustomed to their team succeeding consistently, are not going to care what Rodriguez does in his personal life, or what he consumes to be able to hit home runs the way he does- all that matters is that he puts on a great show on a regular basis.

Sports are just another form of entertainment for a particular demographic and- more often than not- fans just want to see amazing performances that they themselves could not dream of accomplishing. How these performers get their act together is not as big a deal as the media is making of it.

So as far as Rodriguez's image, think of it as that rebellious friend you have that completely covers themselves in tattoos and piercings? At this point, would you ever notice if they got another one?

Me neither.