See, Bill has been the most ardent anti-Manny voice in the entire universe after his drug bust and subsequent suspension. He's such a man of character, such a man of integrity, and such a man composed of all the good qualities that Manny Ramirez does not have, that he even avoided going to Manny's minor league rehab outings.
That Bill Plaschke. He's the man parents dream their sons will be. Forget Derek Jeter or Michael Jordan or Peyton Manning -- nope. A man so noble, so virtuous, so forthright and honest, is what you raise your son to be. Essentially, you're raising your child to be Mr. Bill Plaschke.
But, a funny thing happened to Captain Integrity: he did follow Manny around the minor leagues. In fact, it was just 3 days and 2 hours after staunchly saying he wouldn't follow around such a cheat.
And then, there's the articles, a few of them, ripping Manny for not greeting Mannywood, for not showing public remorse for his "cheating," and then he followed him around the minors some more. You know, to be the voice of the fans that don't find Manny Ramirez loveable and don't approve of his cheating ways.
But there wasn't any fans to be found that were Dodger fans and ready to heckle and boo him unmercifully. Not in the minor league rehab stops, not in his return, not in the Dodgers series against the Padres, not anywhere.
Maybe I am wrong on this, but is a part of sports writing -- especially the kind that Plaschke pens -- voicing the opinions and voices that the average fan doesn't have the platform to voice? If so, what is he rambling on so much and so long about? The fans do not care. I don't know how many times a player has to be caught and do their time and get lauded with praise and cheers every time they step back on their home field by ticket paying customers for sports writers to finally understand that the steroid problem is only something that they've created.
The players don't care, or at least the majority don't. If they did, they would've gotten the majority of the union to be in favor of stopping it.
The fans don't care or else they would stop paying the salaries of such cheats by attending games, buying their jerseys, buying team hats and baseballs and baseball bats and posters.
The journalists -- the same ones who have bestowed upon themselves the ability to choose who is in (and not in) the Baseball Hall of Fame -- are the only ones that care. And that's been proven time and time again.
But, then Bill Plaschke trips into another puddle of hypocrisy with his twitter account again. Not only is he not going to attend Manny's rehabs by attending them, he's also going to continue chastising him by praising him for his pinch-hit grand slam tonight by, and I'm quoting directly from Bill's mouth:
FIRST PITCH GRAND SLAM!!!OMG!!!!Yeah. He goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it. And why does he do that? Because he is a fan. Because he's just a guy who loves baseball and sports and the dramatics of it.
My favorite was this one:
Just left dodger clubhouse...casey blake was dancing...that's all you need to know..a special night...he's still a cheat but, well, omg..Emphasis mine. Yup. He's a cheat, but, well, let's forget all about that and shower him with love and adoration for what could be a "defining moment" of the Los Angeles Dodgers season. You know, just like all of the fans who showered him with love and adoration on his minor league rehab stops, his first stop back in the bigs, and his first stop back in L.A. after his drug suspension. The same people with the same reaction you had tonight, yet those people were enablers and were chastised by Bill on Around the Horn and in print.
How does someone who clearly is not immune to immense hypocrisy and being a casual fan, and thus, doesn't care about cheats and steroid users (abusers) get to play such bullhorn for the moral fabric of sports? And, does that man lose his right to be the bullhorn for the moral fabric upon which sports is built, when he displays the same inconsistency and propensity for not caring about who injected what when that player wins a game for their favorite team?
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