** When writing this, the blogger became enraged and may have made some grammatical/spelling errors in her fury. Please excuse these **
As the "sports guru" of my group of friends, I am often asked to share my feelings and insight on the happenings in the sports world, especially when the issue at hand is one of national popularity. And this week's hot topic: Manny's 50-game suspension as a result of testing positive to banned substance.
So how do I, a sports lover "feel" about this. Well, I will get it out of the way.
First of all, let me say that thank god some other overpaid professional baseball player screwed up and got caught. I was getting pretty sick of the "A-Roid" scandal. But now the spotlight shines on Manny Ramirez, as if that's anything new.
I should tell you that there was a time when I actually liked Manny. His antics humored me and I didn't mind ESPN's highlight reel featuring "Manny being Manny." He is a curious case that always somewhat intrigued me. "How does this guy get away with it?" I asked. The sports media was quick to write it off as "Manny being Manny." It was then I realized something: This guy is getting a free pass. We all want to be that guy who gets away with more than he should and then is rewarded for "unorthodox" methods.
But it only took a few months before I, like the rest of Bean Town, grew tired of his constant childish acts. In a way, he is like that rambunctious, bright-eyed kid you see terrorizing his mother at a department store -- running through the aisles, screaming and playing hide and seek with other unsuspecting patrons -- at first it is kinda cute, but after you realize that the mother is doing nothing to stop him, it gets real old real fast. In this case that child is Manny and that mother is the top gun at the front office of a major league franchise. But then Manny ended up in the one place where is carelessness and free spirit who not only tolerated, but praised. I am talking, of course, of La La Land.
I was willing to let most of it go: I can live with the dreadlocks. I can live with the fact that he disappeared into the Green Monster in the middle of a game because he had to go to the bathroom. I can even live with his greedy agent Scott Boras who convinced him that he is worth more than an entire franchise. Bottom line ... for a while his antics seemed OK. He was "unorthodox" but he got the job done. But I have been waiting since the 2004 World Series for him to do something that would push me over the line from humored to annoyed. And lo and behold, the news breaks that Manny tested positive for a banned substance. Of course, ESPN broke the news as if the real tragedy was that Manny had been suspended for 50 games, not that Manny had contributed to the systemic plot to make everybody hate baseball.
I don't care if I don't see Manny play for 50 games. It's not like I won't see his face on every grueling hour of Sports Center. My point is, to care that Manny isn't on the field is exactly what he and Boras want. To care is only fueling the fire that is the Manny being Manny Show PR Extravaganza.
What I do care about is his blatant disregard of the rules and then his blatant lie to cover it up. "I didn't know" he pleaded. Manny, like so many others, claimed that he was prescribed the drug by an outside doctor and was unaware that the drug contained a substance on the list of banned substances.
Now I was enraged. Fuck you Manny!
This is bullshit on so many levels. Firstly, I will give him the benefit of the doubt: Maybe Manny didn't know. But how fuckin stupid is that? You are arguabley the biggest name in Major League Baseball. You are one of the most sought after interviews in sports media and EVERYONE watches every damn move you make and you can't take the time to cover your bases. What an asshole! I can tell you that he DOES know that the banned list exists, so he, and others like him, should be smart enough to double check the list of ingredients against the list of banned substances to assure there is no overlap. Surely Boras or any member of his overpaid possey could have taken on that task. But no, Manny didn't do that, well I guess that's just Manny being Manny.
And to all you whiney, West Coast dwelling Dodgers fans who are boo-hooing over the loss of your Jesus on Earth, I can guarentee that you will not have the best record in the NL by the time Manny returns. But quit your crying. Because I can also guarentee that your record when he returns will not be a result of his absense. You are jackasses for thinking that you could hold on to the top spot for 50 more games with or without Manny. Maybe you, "anything goes in Hollywood" fuckwads could learn a lesson from this. The rest of the world doesn't really care how cool California is. And MLB doesn't care either. Rules are rules and if i was in charge of MLB instead of that do-nothing, know-nothing worthless piece of shit Bud Selig, Manny's punishment would be much harsher. Oh, am I hurting your feelings with by bluntness?Well, what can I say, that's just Kayla being Kayla.
But the biggest jackasses in this whole situation are the members of the sports media who have somehow managed to put Manny on a high horse for all to look at in awe. "Gee Paw. One day I wanna be an obnoxious rule-breaking SOB pro baseball player just like Manny." He is like the Tim Tebow of baseball, except, unlike Tebow, Manny isn't that good of a guy. He is a big-headed zealot with no regard for anybody but himself. He didn't even apoligize to his teammates after the bad news broke. Asshole. Well, I guess that's just Manny being Manny.
The real tragedy here is that Baseball Tonight will be filled with "Manny updates", like anybody gives a fuck. I say we send him back to whatever island he came from and let the game of baseball resume with integrity, instead of losing support because of assholes like Manny who break the rules and continue to ruin the good name of our nation's pasttime.
Sorry folks, that's just Kayla being Kayla.
Thank you. That is all.
Fuck you Manny!
