A-Roid… Why Should I Be Shocked?

Alex Rodriguez’s obituary is written. Upon his death, the initial sentences will be unfavorable and unflattering. Rodriguez cheated. Deceitfully and knowingly, one of the game's would have been greatest players engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game.

On Monday, Rodriguez admitted performance enhancing drug utilization. “When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure,” said Rodriguez. “I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and peform at a high level everyday. Back then baseball was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”

Texas Rangers Owner Tom Hicks’ reaction was severe. “I feel personally betrayed,” he said. “I feel deceived by Alex. He assured me that he had far too much respect for his own body to ever do that to himself. ... I certainly don't believe that if he's now admitting that he started using when he came to the Texas Rangers, why should I believe that it didn't start before he came to the Texas Rangers?”

The New York Yankees’ reaction was supportive. “We urged Alex to be completely open, honest and forthcoming in addressing his use of performance-enhancing drugs,” they said. “We take him at his word that he was. Although we are disappointed in the mistake he spoke to today, we realize that Alex -- like all of us --is a human being not immune to fault. We speak often about the members of this organization being part of a family, and that is never more true than in times of adversity. Alex took a big step by admitting his mistake, and while there is no condoning the use of performance-enhancing drugs, we respect his decision to take accountability for his actions. We support Alex, and we will do everything we can to help him deal with this challenge and prepare for the upcoming season.”

During his desecrated career, Rodriguez has batted .306 with 553 home runs and 1,606 runs batted in. Amidst his scarred era (2001-2003), Rodriguez averaged 52 home runs and 131.7 runs batted in. Since 2004, he has averaged 41.6 home runs and 123.2 runs batted in. “It wasn't a real dramatic day once I arrived in Texas that something monumental happened in my life,” said Rodriguez. “The point of the matter was that I started experimenting with things that today are not legal or today are not accepted and today you would get in a lot of trouble for.”

“You have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers,” he continued. “That's the right question today: Where did you get it? We're in the era of BALCO. There's many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test.”

Last week, Michael Phelps was embarrassed. This week, Rodriguez is embarrassed. Phelps’ actions were inappropriate. Rodriguez’s were unacceptable. Clearly, one is worse than the other.