disappointedI may have to revise my thinking on Alex Rodriguez. I've always been something of a supporter, and as such, I excused the forearm to Arroyo as "heat of the moment" and the late hit on Pedroia as defending the line, something that all players do. And because they were Red Sox/Yankees incidents, and ultimately decided in the Red Sox favour (The umpires reversed the safe call to interference, preventing Derek Jeter from scoring, and Pedroia did turn the double play despite the hit), I decided I was too close the situation to make an objective call.
But speaking of calls, I can't imagine a situation where it's right to call off an opposing players. Oh, I've heard ARod's brilliant self defence, which is, unfortunately as transparent as his excuses for the hit on Arroyo.
1) That's not what I said.
2) Everyone else does it.
3) We were desperate.
Nobody else does it, Alex. Those voices you hear screaming at you at third base come from the fans (or inside your head), not from the field, and there IS a difference. And you can't pretend you don't know the difference.
I know you can't canonize sports stars, but, darn it, I really liked him. I thought he played the game well. Now I don't. I hate disillusionment.