Get Over It...YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!!

HELLO??

That's what I have to say about this whole A-Rod mess.

Is what he did any worse than people who doctor the ball or cork their bats? Not in my estimation. Is it worse than stealing signs? Everyone is outraged when it happens to their team, but develop a blind eye when their team does it.

Add a divisive personality like A-Rod and you have a non-story story. The only news in this whole drama is the ploy actually worked. Regardless, of what anyone else says. Whether he yelled "Mine" or "Ha!" is besides the point. Gamesmanship and bending the rules are a part of the game.

I have a hard time taking seriously fans and players who knowingly support cheaters of all types...as long they play for them but are getting their panties in a bunch over this.

Baseball has a long history of cheaters, yet we're acting like this guy threw a game. If they had this much outrage when Giambi, McGwire, Sosa and company were juicing in the nineties, steroids would have been outlawed a decade ago.

I'm just happy someone on this team of gutless wonders understands that they're against a wall and is doing anything they can to win a damn game. I'd rather watch a team that would scratch and claw and doing everything they can to get a win as opposed to losing with dignity and grace. Screw that.

This doesn't mean I'm for cheating. Far from it. But if we're going to become outraged over someone bending the rules to get ahead, then we need to have a zero tolerance policy for all rulebreakers. Simple as that. Not just the ones we don't like. If David Wright or Big Papi had done this or some variation, would you be as outraged?

This also means Yankee fans have to shut up as well when something like this goes against us. As many questionable calls that have gone in our favor over the years, Jeffrey Maier, Chuck Knoblauch's play and Mazzilli's lobbying against the Mets, you name it. We have no right to complain when the tables are turned on us. The next time we have a Kenny Rogers doctoring the ball to mow us down like in last year's playoffs...shut up and take your beating like a man. What's good for the goose....

10-5 looks a whole lot better than 7-5. Particularly the way Mo has been pitching. If A-Rod hadn't done what he did and Mo has given up a three run homer in the ninth and we lost our sixth straight, would all of you be happy then? Give no quarter ask for none.

When you're 7 games under .500 and 14 games out of first, you don't have the same luxuries that you have when you're 20 games over .500 and 10 games up. I wish this more guys on this team would play with the same sense of urgency as Alex did. Maybe we wouldn't suck right now.

It's always galled me that pitchers like Moose and Pettitte would never throw at other teams to protect their guys or establish the inside part of the plate. This game is as much psychological struggle as it is a physical one. If you can do something to make an opponent blink or think twice, you'd be foolish not to do it.

If we win, folks hate us. If we lose, folks hate us and laugh at us. So quit trying to their hearts and minds and start kicking their asses.

They're going hate you anyway, so I'd rather have them hating me while cleaning my boots with their tongue.

Hopefully, this is a signal that A-Rod will stop trying to make everyone love him. It's not going to happen, brah. They'll love you when you win. There are very few players who are beloved win or lose. You had a chance for that to happen in Seattle. You opted out and took the money. No fault in that. But this is the price you pay for the life you choose. You will always be that judged by that contract until you win a title. And that contract means you'll never ever be beloved like Jeter, Papi, Gwynn, Ripken etc.

You're in the same boat as Clemens. A mercenary viewed with cynicism. A necessary evil. I loved what you did. It shows that you give a damn. Now take it to the next level. Embrace your dark side. Start playing like a badass. Let's see if we can give the infidels a race. Or at least a scare for the summer.

Here endeth the lesson.