You don't speak for the fans.

You think you speak for the fans, but you really don't:

"We like to think we do everything bigger and better here, especially in sports."

You are making that up.


"But lately it seems as if the only place we've cornered the market in sports is with the biggest pinheads."

I don't know, it's kind of funny. I just saw Barkley praised to high heaven for his sincere apology. He was driving drunk. But it's okay because he seemed sincere while apologizing.

Get a Congressional investigation and a parade of parents whose children were killed by drunk drivers.


"Yankee fans still want the Yankees to be Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada. Yankee fans just want to root for their team the way they did when Joe Torre was the manager and the Yankees won the World Series every year."

(Cheater/Liar Andy Pettitte conspicuously missing from the list.)

True, some Yankee fans live in the past. But not nearly as much as the sportswriters who still bring up 1998 on a daily basis.

Actually, forget about 1998. They bring up freakin' Babe Ruth on a daily basis.


Most Yankee fans I know are distressed by ARod's steroid use, but more concerned about the health of Joba and Wang and whether or not Gardner can hit well enough to handle CF.

Also, I'd like to point out that the Torre-era Yankee teams had steroid cheats. So, Lupica's point seems to be, "Fans would rather bury their heads in the sand and root for cheaters, as long as they don't know about it."

Kind of like a fool who'd write a book about the 1998 HR race.


"But now Rodriguez keeps getting in the way. To root for their team, Yankee fans have to root for A-Rod, who doesn't just admit to using steroids but then answers questions about that as well as he hits in the playoffs."

ARod answered more questions about steroids than any baseball player ever, except Jose Canseco.

As for his playoff hitting, it's not as bad as you think.


"Rodriguez is supposed to hit 800 home runs in the big leagues before he is through, hit more than Babe Ruth or Henry Aaron or Barry Bonds, and guess what?"

Babe Ruth. Nice.


"The Yankees would have to pick up half his salary, or more, to get rid of him."

That, I doubt.

This fury will settle down as long as he hits well.

The Yankees might miss the playoffs with ARod, but they'd almost certainly miss the playoffs without ARod. The guy has always been worth the investment, and still is.


"The truly amazing thing is that guys like A-Rod expect people to go back to rooting for them no matter what they've done or how pathetically they've explained themselves - or even how much they've lied - as long as they produce."

You miss the point entirely, don't you?

If ARod didn't produce, you wouldn't care. If ARod didn't produce, you wouldn't write stories about him every week. If ARod didn't produce, you wouldn't know his name.

I mean, you can win an MVP in this league and admit to taking steroids and nobody even pays attention because they're so focused on ARod.

You can win two MVPs in this league while taking steroids and nobody even pays attention to you because they're so focused on ARod.

Why?

One reason: ARod is a better player.


Kei Igawa has never lied to you and he's never appeared on any steroid list. As far as I know, Kei Igawa is a strong family man.

Of course, I don't care. Because he can't play baseball too well.

So, where's the Lupica article about Kei Igawa?


Go write a retrospective on the greatest Family Men in New York baseball. How's Craig Wilson's son doing? Did he graduate college yet? Awww, that's sweet. You seem like a nice guy. But you can't play for us anymore because you hit .212. Sorry!

I challenge anybody to tell me if Jose Molina is married or to describe his latest hairstyle. That's the Yankee starting catcher from last year. Bet you don't know anything about him, and you don't care.


ARod, you have permission to lie to me all you want. In fact, you don't have to ever speak to me again. You can frost your hair and divorce your wife and say contradictory things to Joel Sherman.

But if you hit .240 this year with 18 HRs, you're dead to me.