A-Rod Editorial

With the recent media coverage concerning Alex “A. Rod” Rodriquez’s performance-enhancing drug use in 2003, attention is brought to several problems in our society.

Alex Rodriguez is considered to be one of the top players in baseball today. As a contender for breaking the home run record, Rodriguez is a hero of America’s pastime. However, his PED use has not only tarnished his reputation and record, but shattered the hopes of those who love baseball. Use of performance-enhancing drugs is essentially cheating. Rodriguez, no matter his level of skill, had an unfair advantage over those players who did not chemically induce their talent. He cheated to advance his career. This theme of greed is a trend that has helped land us in our current financial crisis. The avarice of CEOs, Wall Street moguls, and politicians has decimated America’s economy and weakened our spirits. The last thing we need right now is the same mentality in sports. Sports are supposed to take our minds off of the cruelties committed. Instead, our depression over the recession has crossed tracks.

Greed of another sort arose with the A. Rod scandal and the Michael Phelps drug incident; the voracity of journalists to get the story. Given the nature of the athletes’ popularity, due coverage is understood. However, the hype associated with these recent events is alarming. The overblown media attention was a distraction, especially with more important issues at hand. Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, the proposed closing of Guantanamo Bay, conflicts with Iran and Israel, and the dwindling economy all hold more weight than the drug behavior of sports celebrities. But with the print and media industry reeling from lack of advertising and the recession, journalists seek only one thing: sales. This new form of greed is driven by fear and instability. By compromising important stories for gossipy hype, journalists impair their credibility. Even worse, they devoid their readers of crucial reporting.

Times are hard; this is true. But taking the easy way out provides only short-term solutions. What does the American public need right now? Not more proliferation of greed, but those who are willing to work and live with honesty, fairness, and integrity.