Okay, now it's my turn to chime in on today's news on the suspension of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder and superstar Manny Ramirez for 50 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug.
First, as a true blue Dodger fan, I'm saddened at the news. This couldn't have happened at a worse time for the team, as it's on a roll with one of the best records in baseball, a record-breaking 13-game home winning streak, and a lovable goofball of a hitter who fits right in with the laid back L.A. culture much better than the hopelessly uptight Boston sports scene.
Yes, I said Manny Ramirez is a goofball. And I say that affectionately: those infamous "Manny being Manny" moments of not taking things too damned seriously, together with his power hitting and trademark dreadlocks, have immediately endeared him to Dodger fans. It's too bad he may have taken the goofball thing too seriously concerning banned substances if he knowingly and deliberately took them.
But now comes the interesting part. Within minutes of the news breaking this morning, ESPN Radio was already pouncing on him for being only the latest drug fiend in Major League Baseball, that Jose Canseco's prophecy that another big name player would be exposed was fulfilled today, how the sport has been sullied, that this and that blah blah blah... no doubt Red Sox fans (including my brother) are grinning like Cheshire Cats and saying "Eh? Eh? Ah told ya so, an ya didn't believe me? Eh? Eh?"
It's so easy to demonize someone who is high on the totem pole and is villified as much as he is lauded, as is the case with Manny. You either like him or hate him, it seems. If you are somewhere inbetween, both extremes are ready to draw and quarter you and post the video of it on YouTube. But as I have learned in my own ups and downs with life, it's so easy to point the finger at another's faults and be totally oblivious to your own. The old saying goes that each time you point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you. My corollary to that old saying is that you can try to chop off those three fingers so they're not pointing at you, but all you get is a bloody mess.
Manny's positive test result is sad and without excuse, and sadly will only add to his being stereotyped as a pothead or junkie. Mannywood, which the Dodgers christened the left field seating area with much pomp and circumstance, may embarrassingly have to come down as quickly as it came up. But aren't his self-appointed executioners the same ones who gloated over Britney Spears' bouts with suicidal depression and mental illness? Don't they scour TMZ with regularity for another fallen celeb to blog about and brag that they aren't as bad as THAT one is? Don't they excuse the same problems in their own lives as not as bad as the big stars? Eh? Eh?
I used to get all worked up and boastful about these kinds of things. But all it did was add on to my anger and resentment, and shielded me from dealing with the chinks in my armor that everyone but me complained about. And that was a very lonely, frustrating business. Now I look on such fallen and disgraced people like Britney and Manny with, dare I say, compassion, and pray that the Lord will deliver them out of the pit and bring them to Himself.
Now excuse me, I need to take another good look in the mirror.
--
Richard Rodriguez
0 comments:
Post a Comment