So everyone knows I'm a big Mets fan, but as a disclaimer, I intend on being as fair as possible when venting about teams I don't particularly like. In this case, it's the Yankees, but the same sentiment stands for all my future posts. Obviously some bias may sneak in here or there, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum. For my very first post on NY Sports Vent, I am choosing to write about two of the most controversial "subjects" in sports nowadays - the Yankees, and Alex Rodriguez.As a PR intern working at a sports network in the City, I track anything and everything relating to New York sports that is written about and covered by the local media...day in, and day out. For confidentiality reasons I'm not able to discuss the specifics of my internship, but based on the work I do involving sports, I'm confident in my ability to assess the pulse of the town.
So, on to the vent...
It's incredible to me the way the Yankees dominate headlines in New York. The last couple of weeks all you have seen or heard about is the Yankees huge spending spree, the new stadium bonds issues, the Joe Torre book, and now, the cream of the crop - the Alex Rodriguez steroids story. That's not to say there hasn't been other relevant New York sports news outside of the Yankee organization, because there's been plenty. Where to start?
- For one, former New York Jets, and future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre has finally decided to hang up his jersey, and slip into something more comfortable (insert Wrangler jeans joke here).
- The Giants seemingly never-ending saga with Plaxico "Bang Bang" Burress.
- The Knicks playing decent basketball for the first time in god knows how long, along with the laughable Starbury debacle.
- The Rangers trying to stay afloat in a very competitive Eastern Conference NHL playoff race. Not to mention, they recently made moves toward re-signing the infamous Vogue intern/hockey player Sean Avery by allowing Dallas to send him to the team's affiliate in Hartford.
- Charles Wang's helpless, and once storied Islanders on the verge of a franchise move to Kansas City.
Granted, people are obviously writing/talking about the above topics, but they are COMPLETELY overshadowed by A-Roid.
I've lived in New York my entire life, and I understand the Yankees are, well, the Yankees, but when does it stop? Or slow down at least? Yes, spring training is starting. Yes, the 100 other Yankee related stories deserve good coverage. And yes, obviously Alex Rodriguez, the biggest name in sports playing on the biggest stage in the country, is worthy of headline news. My point is, it's becoming a bit of a circus at this point. The only other sports franchise even remotely comparable to the Yankees in this regard is the Dallas Cowboys. In reality, no other team causes nearly as much media attention and scrutiny.
One day, hopefully in the near future, I'd love to pick up a paper that didn't have something Yankee related smattered all over it. Let me give you a perfect example of what I mean. The front page, yes I said "front" page of the Sunday Daily News was about Alex Rodriguez and his super model date for Valentine's day. Only the best of the best for the superstar, and I don't mind admitting she's absolutely gorgeous.
So which story caught a smaller mention just beneath it? Ah, the tragic plane crash from last week in Buffalo of course, which I guess is sort of important. Are they for real
I remind you, this was the FRONT page! Oh, and the back page was about A-Rod too by the way. I'm nearly positive if you compiled the covers of the Post and Daily News from the last 3-4 weeks you'd find that at least 90% of them were Yankeeized. What's funny is if you took all of those covers, you'd find that almost none of them were about Yankees baseball. You know, that sport with the ball and the stick the Yanks tend to participate in between April and October.
The person who takes the Yankees storied organization and turns it into a reality TV show or soap opera is an absolute genius. Can you imagine the ratings? "All My Pinstripes"...I can see it now.
And how about Mr. Rodriguez himself? What a jabrony. I agree he's a prominent public figure with a tremendous target on his back, but just own up to your mistakes and be honest about them once and for all, guy! He admitted to experimenting with performance enhancers; step 1 in the process complete. We all appreciate it, Alex. But then he and his handlers conjure up some random story about a cousin, and energy boosters (you mean like Red Bull?), and not knowing what kind of effects the drug had (no relation to his massive numbers either I guess), and being young and stupid blah, blah, blah... Huh?
I'm 21 years old, which is young, but I'd considered myself at least a young adult at this point, and I would NEVER inject something into my body without knowing what it was, whether I was doing it properly, the kinds of effects it had, etc. Especially not for three straight years. Rodriguez was 24-25 at the time he claims he was taking performance enhancers, had been a pro ball player since graduating from high school, and was extremely wealthy, so the "young and ignorant" card he's throwing around needs to be considered for what it is; garbage. Let's just be real and call a spade a spade here.
I'm sorry, I just don't buy any of this nonsense, and I'm not sure if we'll ever find out the real truth here. So disappointing that perhaps the most talented baseball player of our generation is turning out to be such a shady character. What's even more unfortunate, is if he truly was being 100% honest, the process of this story beginning to fade could finally begin. Instead, the NY media will continue to poke and pry at it, and it will dominate sports news for god knows how long over the course of this season and beyond.
I know I'm excited.
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