Two all time greats, two players that have defined their respective sports over the past 20 years, are in headlines this week. Both players have had their careers tarnished beyond belief - one for his transgressions of the field heightening his strange antics on; the other for transgressions on the field heightening his strange antics off.
Alex Rodriguez has been to hell and back over the past 7 years. 2008 was the first year Alex Rodriguez seemed human. Well, his AL leading .573 slugging would suggest otherwise, but it was the first time since 2000, his last year in Seattle, that he hit the DL. He had just won three MVPs in 5 years. He was the best player in the sport. He then started a long journey to where we are today.
That journey was filled with steroid accusations, steroid admittances, strange times when he tried pinning it on his cousin, and then the revelation three years ago that he had run the 'most disciplined doping cycle' the sport had seen. Despite never failing a drug test, A-Rod was suspended for the entire 2014 season. He was missing his year 38 season. Him breaking the HR mark, which seemed so inevitable when he signed that massive contract during the 2007 World Series, now seemed so far away.
Yes for all the trouble that has befitted A-Rod, Tiger Woods probably has him beat. His life also changed in 2008. That was the year he got hurt, seriously hurt, for the first time. It was also the year he last won a major title. He won the 2008 US Open on one leg, his 14th major win overall, and 12th in 34 tries since 2000. That streak had two ridiculous stretches. The '08 US Open capped off a stretch where he won 6 of 14. Of course before that he won 6 of 9. He left the sport for the rest of 2008. The only thing he's done more of since 2008 than get hurt is have former mistresses turn on him.
Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez are similar in a lot of ways. Both, of course, were prodigous talents. Tiger Woods blasted onto the scene as a pro in 1996, winning his first major at 21 in the 1997 Masters. A-Rod, who is the same age, blasted onto the scene as a pro in 1996 as well, putting up a 161+ OPS as a 20-year old.
They are also similar in the boring perfectionism, their manicured persona, their ability to always seem like they're reading off of a teleprompter. They've both had their love lives splattered all over the tabloids - Tiger's having been far more toxic, while A-Rod's far more strange (remember when Cameron Diaz was spotted feeding him in a box during the Super Bowl?). And now, they're both at pivotal moments in their career. A-Rod fought through suspension, fought through the Yankees basically admitting they wanted him gone, only to come back and be the best player on a 1st place team. Tiger fought through his own scandals, but is losing the fight to his body. He just shot an 80 in the 1st round of the US Open, the 3rd worst score of anyone. The thing is, who am I supposed to be upset at, and who am I supposed to pity?
I didn't like the old A-Rod. I found him descipable and laughable in all the ways eeryone else did; and add that on top of being the ultimate sign of the Yankees greed. But through his steroid scandal, through him being made a paraiah, in a way that everyone tried to distance themselves from a man they all profited off of, I grew to like him. I grew to like the way he doubled down on his worst qualities, on his blind faith in his own innocence, on his vapid personality.
A-Rod became the worst version of himself through the suspension, and that drew me to him. I'm not rooting for A-Rod, but it is hard to not root for a guy for whom the Yankees are going to attempt to withhold millions of dollars on performance bonuses for no reason. A-Rod's latest assualt on a hallowed mark, this time 3,000 hits, will be greeted with joy for me.
Tiger on the other hand I feel bad for. I don't feel bad that he got caught cheating, that he had his perfectly fake life crash all around him, that he had his life torn apart. He deserved all those things. He also deserved for the scandals to show his true personality for what it was - a laborious bore off the course, and a cussing jackass on it. What he didn't deserve was then for his body to betray him the way it did. Tiger has rarely been healthy since 2009. The few times he has - most of the 2012-13 seasons - he was the best golfer in the world. He just hasn't been able to win a major.
I pity seeing Woods now. His amazing play from 2000-2008 was so indescribable, so unlike anything golf had seen, it was awful at the time but looking back we didn't appreciate enough. Same with A-Rod really. There is nothing Alex Rodriguez likes to do, or is more natural at, than hitting a baseball. He's been doing that at a ridiculous level his whole life, and at a 'he's one of the best 10 people to do this thing' level for 20 years. Seeing them fight age, fight scandal, and try to do it all over again has been invigorating in the case of A-Rod, and saddening in the case of Tiger.
But then I think, shouldn't I feel happy that Tiger is getting what he deserves, or upset that A-Rod flaunted and cheated the game and is returning a conquering hero? Doesn't Tiger deserve his fate and A-Rod not?
Alex Rodriguez has been to hell and back over the past 7 years. 2008 was the first year Alex Rodriguez seemed human. Well, his AL leading .573 slugging would suggest otherwise, but it was the first time since 2000, his last year in Seattle, that he hit the DL. He had just won three MVPs in 5 years. He was the best player in the sport. He then started a long journey to where we are today.
That journey was filled with steroid accusations, steroid admittances, strange times when he tried pinning it on his cousin, and then the revelation three years ago that he had run the 'most disciplined doping cycle' the sport had seen. Despite never failing a drug test, A-Rod was suspended for the entire 2014 season. He was missing his year 38 season. Him breaking the HR mark, which seemed so inevitable when he signed that massive contract during the 2007 World Series, now seemed so far away.
Yes for all the trouble that has befitted A-Rod, Tiger Woods probably has him beat. His life also changed in 2008. That was the year he got hurt, seriously hurt, for the first time. It was also the year he last won a major title. He won the 2008 US Open on one leg, his 14th major win overall, and 12th in 34 tries since 2000. That streak had two ridiculous stretches. The '08 US Open capped off a stretch where he won 6 of 14. Of course before that he won 6 of 9. He left the sport for the rest of 2008. The only thing he's done more of since 2008 than get hurt is have former mistresses turn on him.
Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez are similar in a lot of ways. Both, of course, were prodigous talents. Tiger Woods blasted onto the scene as a pro in 1996, winning his first major at 21 in the 1997 Masters. A-Rod, who is the same age, blasted onto the scene as a pro in 1996 as well, putting up a 161+ OPS as a 20-year old.
They are also similar in the boring perfectionism, their manicured persona, their ability to always seem like they're reading off of a teleprompter. They've both had their love lives splattered all over the tabloids - Tiger's having been far more toxic, while A-Rod's far more strange (remember when Cameron Diaz was spotted feeding him in a box during the Super Bowl?). And now, they're both at pivotal moments in their career. A-Rod fought through suspension, fought through the Yankees basically admitting they wanted him gone, only to come back and be the best player on a 1st place team. Tiger fought through his own scandals, but is losing the fight to his body. He just shot an 80 in the 1st round of the US Open, the 3rd worst score of anyone. The thing is, who am I supposed to be upset at, and who am I supposed to pity?
I didn't like the old A-Rod. I found him descipable and laughable in all the ways eeryone else did; and add that on top of being the ultimate sign of the Yankees greed. But through his steroid scandal, through him being made a paraiah, in a way that everyone tried to distance themselves from a man they all profited off of, I grew to like him. I grew to like the way he doubled down on his worst qualities, on his blind faith in his own innocence, on his vapid personality.
A-Rod became the worst version of himself through the suspension, and that drew me to him. I'm not rooting for A-Rod, but it is hard to not root for a guy for whom the Yankees are going to attempt to withhold millions of dollars on performance bonuses for no reason. A-Rod's latest assualt on a hallowed mark, this time 3,000 hits, will be greeted with joy for me.
Tiger on the other hand I feel bad for. I don't feel bad that he got caught cheating, that he had his perfectly fake life crash all around him, that he had his life torn apart. He deserved all those things. He also deserved for the scandals to show his true personality for what it was - a laborious bore off the course, and a cussing jackass on it. What he didn't deserve was then for his body to betray him the way it did. Tiger has rarely been healthy since 2009. The few times he has - most of the 2012-13 seasons - he was the best golfer in the world. He just hasn't been able to win a major.
I pity seeing Woods now. His amazing play from 2000-2008 was so indescribable, so unlike anything golf had seen, it was awful at the time but looking back we didn't appreciate enough. Same with A-Rod really. There is nothing Alex Rodriguez likes to do, or is more natural at, than hitting a baseball. He's been doing that at a ridiculous level his whole life, and at a 'he's one of the best 10 people to do this thing' level for 20 years. Seeing them fight age, fight scandal, and try to do it all over again has been invigorating in the case of A-Rod, and saddening in the case of Tiger.
But then I think, shouldn't I feel happy that Tiger is getting what he deserves, or upset that A-Rod flaunted and cheated the game and is returning a conquering hero? Doesn't Tiger deserve his fate and A-Rod not?
