OT: AROD gets 162 game ban

[Peter_Spaeth]

Kenny, it's one thing to foist in on consumers in fine print, it's another thing for millionaire athletes and their union to agree to it.

[Kenny Cole]

Peter,

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has been unable to recognize that fairly evident distinction, so it is just a fuc-ing all the way around right now.

[baztacula]

Baseball looked the other way for years. Performance enhancing drugs were basically endorsed by MLB, especially when McGwire and Sosa battled it out in 1998. The homers brought fans back to the park after their disillusionment over the horrible strike years of '94 and '95. How many players used PEDs during these years? How many never got caught? How many are still using and getting away with it? Who knows? A Rod, with his huge salary, has become the focal point for that reason alone. Sure, all players make too much and all owners charge too much. People will do whatever it takes to get an advantage and make more money. That's the American way. A Rod is past his prime and owed lots of $$$. Who wouldn't want to get off the hook paying all those millions? There's just too much hypocrisy in this saga for me to take any of this seriously. It's a great big joke.

[drcy]

"People will do whatever it takes to get an advantage and make more money. "

Some people, but not everyone. There are many people who aren't interested in cheating to make more money. I know many ethical people. I know a woman who mailed $2.25 to the City of Seattle, because she felt got an undue free ride on a city bus when visiting the city. She mailed it from her home in Wisconsin! "Everyone does it" is both untrue and a bad excuse.

[packs]

I don't think people should feel sorry for A-rod or cut him any slack. He admitted his prior steroid use in the past and was given a clean slate. He then decided to continue his associations with people like Bosch and his cousin, who was promptly banned by the Yankees from team events. Even after his banning A-rod still thought it was a good idea to bring him to his hotel while traveling with the team.

There are no logical excuses or reasonings for his behavior other than he thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants.

[drcy]

I think star athletes are given special privileges, given the red carpet treatment and allowed to get away with a lot since they were young, and they don't know how to handle it when suddenly everyone turns on them for doing something wrong. It's foreign territory compared to their previous privileged life experiences.

Realize that we're talking here about a guy who was paid tens of millions of dollars annually to play baseball and dated Cameron Diaz and Madonna, yet is claiming life is treating him unfairly. One might say his perspective is a bit askew.

Pertaining to his PED use, law breaking, rule breaking, lying to fans and other offenses, there are also the ideas of karma and the double edged sword. "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?," as I think Confucius said. Or maybe it was Wile E. Coyote.

Anyone not drinking flavor aid knew him as a transparent liar since at least 13 years ago when he insisted his signing with the Texas Rangers had nothing to do with the world's record contract. I happen to live in Seattle, so knew he was a phony before then.

* Those who know their history will appreciate my use of flavor aid instead of kool aid. Despite common misperception, the Jamestown Cult members committed suicide by drinking cyanide laced flavor aid not kook aid.

[tschock]

Originally Posted by drcy

I think star athletes are given special privileges, given the red carpet treatment and allowed to get away with a lot since they were young, and they don't know how to handle it when suddenly everyone turns on them for doing something wrong. It's foreign territory compared to their previous privileged life experiences.

Realize that we're talking here about a guy who was paid tens of millions of dollars annually to play baseball and dated Cameron Diaz and Madonna, yet is claiming life is treating him unfairly. One might say his perspective is a bit askew.

Ahhhh... I totally agree! But as you point out, he IS being treated unfairly. Just not in the usual negative connotation of being "unfair".

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by baztacula

baseball looked the other way for years. Performance enhancing drugs were basically endorsed by mlb, especially when mcgwire and sosa battled it out in 1998. The homers brought fans back to the park after their disillusionment over the horrible strike years of '94 and '95. How many players used peds during these years? How many never got caught? How many are still using and getting away with it? Who knows? A rod, with his huge salary, has become the focal point for that reason alone. Sure, all players make too much and all owners charge too much. People will do whatever it takes to get an advantage and make more money. That's the american way. A rod is past his prime and owed lots of $$$. Who wouldn't want to get off the hook paying all those millions? There's just too much hypocrisy in this saga for me to take any of this seriously. It's a great big joke.

+211

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

Peter,

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has been unable to recognize that fairly evident distinction, so it is just a fuc-ing all the way around right now.

Clear rules avoid those tricky slippery slopes I guess.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

One thing that I thought that was interesting was the interview with Bud Selig on 60 Minutes regarding A-Fraud. Here's the excerpt of particular interest:


Bud Selig: In my judgment his [A-Fraud] actions were beyond comprehension. And I'm somebody who's now been in the game over 50 years.

Scott Pelley: Never seen anything like it?

Bud Selig: I hadn't, no.

Here's the video and full transcript:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-case-of-alex-rodriguez/

OK, if this was the most extreme case Selig has ever seen, then why not give A-Fraud a lifetime suspension since that's Selig's continued stance against Pete Rose?

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby

OK, if this was the most extreme case Selig has ever seen, then why not give A-Fraud a lifetime suspension since that's Selig's continued stance against Pete Rose?

And, if they truly were treating each of his different PEDs as a distinct violation, why wasn't he given a lifetime ban? The penalty for a third violation is a lifetime ban under the JDA.

[HRBAKER]

My guess is today they would still treat gambling tougher than steroids.
The utter stupidity of what Rose did is mind boggling and also they were able to get him to agree to sign it as well.

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Clear rules avoid those tricky slippery slopes I guess.

Yeah, like that tricky slippery slope right to trial by jury.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

Yeah, like that tricky slippery slope right to trial by jury.

Which can be waived, no?
But I digress, I am not a proponent of altering rights via fine print. My only point is it gets hard to draw lines sometimes between situations involving genuine consent and those not.

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Which can be waived, no?
But I digress, I am not a proponent of altering rights via fine print. My only point is it gets hard to draw lines sometimes between situations involving genuine consent and those not.

Peter,

Absolutely can be waived. But, as you previously noted, there is a rather distinct difference between being a member of a collective bargaining unit, which has voted to agree to arbitration as a way to resolve claims, and doing it, mostly unknowingly, because the alleged "waiver" is buried six pages deep in the fine print of the adhesion contract that you entered into because you have absolutely no bargaining power but needed a credit card -- the actual terms of which generally show up in the mail about six weeks later.

There is a reason why businesses like arbitration and don't like jury trials. One does not need to be a member of Mensa to figure out that arbitration is heavily leveraged toward the business (or employer) and is not a good deal for the consumer or employee. I could go on for ever about that, but you and I both know that, at least in the commercial and employment contexts, the complaining party is almost always going to take it in the ass. And the fact that the Supreme Court has recently been complicit in screwing the little man and eliminating the Constitutional right to trial by jury is nothing short of sickening IMO. 'Nuff said.

[Peter_Spaeth]

The Supreme Court is also complicit in upholding unconstitutional Obamacare.