Anyone Else Sick of A-Rod?

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

This old act just needs to go away....and it would actually be best for him as well at this point. Just when you think he can't screw up anything else, ruin his image again, or lose the trust of his teammates even more, A-Rod rises up and proves there is no end to his cluelessness.

Alex Rodriguez is on the cusp of receiving the second longest suspension from baseball ever. Maybe he will even manage to tie the record and receive a lifetime ban. Yet, he is more concerned and raising a stink about his injury rehab return date. So is it me, or is Rodriguez worried about one hair on his head being out of place while a train (MLB and the Biogenesis investigation) is bearing down on him, about to run over his entire body?

This a professional athlete who has now played with classy Derek Jeter for nine years yet has seemingly not been able to learn one thing regarding public relations. Jeter broke an ankle and rehabbed over the winter. No media, no tweets, no throwing his progress in the face of Yankees brass. He returned, was re-injured in his first game back and is now on the disabled list. Jeter is handling every aspect of his recovery by the books while A-Rod has turned a simple hip surgery and rehab into a complete debacle. 

A-Rod has launched a disastrous public relations campaign via Twitter, WFAN radio in New York and through calls with the Yankees. He is claiming he is ready to play. He has hired outside doctors against the rules of his contract. He even notified the Yankees via text message that he had retained this outside opinion in direct violation of the Major League Basic Agreement. He has had his rogue doctor, who was disciplined recently for his handling of hormones and steroids, go on the radio and disagree with Yankee physicians. 

Ultimately, the best statement (and advice) during this situation came from Yankee GM Brian Cashman when he responded to an A-Rod tweet by proclaiming, "Alex should just shut the f--- up!" While Cashman later apologized for his comment, this is actually exactly what Rodriguez should do!

The Yankees are clearly hoping A-Rod goes away forever and never plays again for them. They are hoping even more that they can recover a large portion of his salary still owed through insurance claims or suspension by baseball. Cashman made this clear when he stated the other day, “As you know, it is the Yankees' desire to have Alex return to the lineup as soon as possible.” Any follower of the Yankees knows this translates to "Wow, did we screw up when we signed this guy to a 10 year extension for $275 million in 2007."

Rodriguez obviously thinks the Yankees are out to destroy him, either through providing additional info to MLB regarding his connection with steroids or railroading him to the disabled list with further injuries. A-Rod claims the Yankees and him crossed signals and has declared that he has had enough with doctors and is ready to play. However, immediately after saying that, he returns to the radio and claims he does not really trust the Yankees or their medical process.

After being pinch hit for during the playoffs last year and now assuming he would be without steroids for a short time (he never seems to stay off them very long, even after admitting to use) I can't imagine his bat would even be much of a help to the Yankees. With two surgically replaced hips and turning 38 tomorrow, his range at third base will probably be reduced to the level of a retirement home resident on a shuffle board binge. 

So now A-Rod and the Yankees have established August 1 as a date for him to play another rehab game or partake in a simulated game. This seems to be the focus of Rodriguez while the Yankees buy time to let MLB swoop in and suspend or end this tainted career.

I suspect A-Rod will not go away without a fight, that he will use his millions to try and secure more millions. But the resumption of his career would best be done in a retirement softball league in Florida where the weather is best for cranky hips and any testing is geared towards hearing loss. 

Either way, I am done following either of these potential returns and won't tune in again to the A-Rod saga until it is time to determine if he can even receive the 5% of votes needed to stay on the Hall of Fame ballot. See you in 2018 A-Rod!

All this because I know more about nothing...

SEC Media Days Reveals a Stink in Death Valley

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

With the SEC football conference holding its' media days this week, I thought I would take a look deeper into the teams that may challenge the Buckeyes for national supremacy this coming season. Well, let's throw that out the window because has anyone noticed what is going on at LSU?

The Tigers of Louisiana State University are touting a star running back for this upcoming season named Jeremy Hill. He played for LSU last season, running for 755 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman -- with 684 yards and 10 touchdowns coming in the final seven games. Sounds like a rising star, a player to pin hopes on and carry the Tigers and Coach Les Miles to championships.

Except Hill is a violent predator and a repeat offender at that. He has multiple convictions, is only 20 years old, is on the football team and receiving a full scholarship at a major university and has something wrong with him. However, it appears as if Coach Miles and LSU have something much more wrong with themselves.

Over 90,000 Tiger faithful gather on game days to cheer Hill on. Les Miles ensures Hill is on the field and ready to play. Les Miles makes sure that Hill provides a piece of the puzzle that goes towards winning which enables Miles to earn $4.3 million per season. However, Hill will soon be facing another judge (an LSU graduate) who has the capability of making the path harder for Hill and Miles.

When Hill was a football star and senior in high school, he pleaded guilty to having "carnal knowledge" of an underage girl. He was 18 and Baton Rouge authorities say Hill and another 18 year old pressured a 14 year old girl to perform a sex act in their high school locker room. This (the football star part) prompted Les Miles to come around and offer Hill a scholarship. He put Hill on the field as a freshman and hoped he was good, knew he was good, watched him be good....but sure didn't care that he was bad.

The season ended and as Hill had some spare time, he now decided to add to his criminal resume by attacking an LSU student this past April. It was labeled in the press as a "bar fight" however I challenge anyone who Googles the video of this total sucker punch to label this as a bar fight. Hill pleaded guilty again, this time to "simple battery" which I am sure the victim would agree is not actually justice.

Hill had a friend with him that night also and just as before, the friend followed Hill's lead and duplicated the same criminal act. This time it left the victim down and temporarily unconscious. So now Coach Miles comes rushing in to level penalties. That is what a good leader of young men, a state employee and a role model as a football coach should do, right? Miles makes the mighty decision to suspend Hill immediately and indefinitely, you know, for all the games LSU plays in April, May, June and July....which adds up to zero.

Which brings us to Jeremy Hill pleading guilty in a court of law to a predatory attack for the second time in 15 months. This time, he receives a suspended jail sentence and two years of probation. He reports weekly to a probation officer and now has a nightly curfew. No comment is coming from Miles or LSU this week, during SEC Media Days, because the legal process is not completed.

Not completed? Now Hill and Miles are waiting for an August 16th hearing back in court where a judge will review and determine if his latest attack has violated the probation conditions on his previous attack. Is it even possible that it did not?

Since both attacks happened in Louisiana, all court proceedings take place in Louisiana. See where this is heading? Hill never received jail time for either attack and the judge who issued the nightly curfew also added a loophole so Hill can attend "night time LSU football related activities" past his bed time, which means he can play on Saturday night games. That honorable judge happens to be a 1976 graduate of LSU.

But this could all change in August when a judge reviews the cases and can send Hill directly to jail. So Jeremy Hill, who used his status and size to commit two attacks and receive minimal consequences, will face this judge as she determines what consequences to administer this time. And this judge should be quite familiar with Jeremy Hill and his actions as she is the same judge who did not sentence him to jail when he had his way with a 14 year old girl and was a top LSU recruit. You might not believe this, but she graduated law school in 1978 from.....do I really need to finish this sentence?

And Coach Les Miles is banking on this. He is not being proactive and releasing a predator and a coward from his football team. LSU is also hiding behind the premise of the legal system playing itself out. Either Miles or LSU could stand up now and declare Hill will never play another down for LSU, and this would not take a court order or judge to be put into immediate effect. Instead, they are both attending the SEC Media Days and waiting. Miles is probably hoping the LSU Law School graduate, now presiding as judge, does not send his stud running back to prison. You see, if an honorable judge within the great State of Lousiana declares it is ok for such a crummy human being to be out on the streets, then who is Les Miles to say he can't be on a football field?

Geaux, Tigers.

All this because I know more about nothing...

Aaron Hernandez.....Guilty or Innocent, This is His Fault!

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

I have now read several articles regarding Aaron Hernandez that take the opportunity to bash and blame some other entity or person for his behavior. I have now seen numerous writings and reports bashing Bill Belichick, Urban Meyer and SEC football. Apparently, the slow pace of progress and resolution in this issue has given too many people time to move on alternate agendas.

Why is it Urban Meyer's fault that a 23 year old adult has prosecutors claiming he picked up Odin Lloyd, drove him to a secluded industrial park and executed him? Big time college football is chock full of idiot players getting arrested for crimes or failing drug tests. Some even hit the jackpot and do both. Because the history at Florida under Meyer shows that those failings were higher than normal has given Meyer haters the opening to throw the Hernandez mess in his lap. I find it hard to believe that Meyer being harder on Hernandez at Florida, four years ago, would have resulted in Lloyd being alive today. Hernandez runs in the wrong crowd, Lloyd ran in the wrong crowd and suspending a "wrong crowd" member for the big Georgia game would not have made a difference.

I also see where Aaron Hernandez and his decisions are now a reason to bash Bill Belichick. The Patriots do have a recent history of signing players who are excellent at football, questionable at life. Look around, that is true on every NFL team but when you win like Belichick does, it becomes open season for people who don't like him. So I see these claims linking Belichick and his ways of running a football team and organization to Hernandez' alleged crimes. Belichick, with his ways of holding calculated and cold press conferences, accepting players over the years with questionable pasts and sometimes being a sore loser, has nothing to do Hernandez allegedly acting on his own to shoot Lloyd.

According to some others, this is actually the fault of the SEC drug testing policy. The policy is in place, but the schools hold the key which is determining who gets suspended and for how long, if at all. Certain stars and former players are known to have failed more than 10 drug tests with little or no repercussions. Hernandez himself reportedly failed at least six drug tests at Florida. SEC football is big boy football and that also makes it big money football. This leads to winning being at a premium and that draws dumb boosters, coaches willing to do anything, and a ton of resources being thrown at kids not yet prepared to handle the atmosphere.

But it is hardly the reason a former SEC football player, now 23 years old and several years removed from the SEC, is accused of murdering another person because he thought it was the best way to deal with being mad at him.

I understand the media needs to advance this story and has time to dig into the deepest darkest parts of this saga as the trial looks to be maybe a year away. But Hernandez and his alleged crimes should not be a reason to deflect blame from him and promote responsibility on others. You can't use him as a reason to mock coaches and organizations for which he has played.

Hernandez is a warning sign, a huge warning sign, but not for Urban Meyer's discipline, Bill Belichick's roster or the SEC's drug testing policy. The warning sign needs to be directed at athletes everywhere. It needs to be directed at young men everywhere. Actually, it just needs to be directed everywhere as handling differences of any kind and any level with deadly violence is not an answer.

Of course, ultimately, Aaron Hernandez will pay the price for his actions. Whether it is loss of career and endorsements based on a trial and being acquitted or whether it is a lifetime in prison based on a guilty plea or verdict, his life is ultimately different going forward. Hernandez made that choice, he put himself in situations where this could be a possibility, no one else.

But Odin Lloyd ran with the wrong crowd too and Aaron Hernandez was part of that crowd. Meyer, Belichick and the SEC are not part of that crowd. Be careful when it is crowded...

All this because I know more about nothing...