(Omaha) — Hello, MavRadio listeners, readers, sports fans, whatever you may be…thanks for reading. My name is Ryan Matheny, here from the MavRadio Sports Department. I’ll be blogging throughout the semester about a wide variety of topics in the sports world, so check back here for all my wonderful and great opinions.
I thought I’d start out with the big topic in the sports world right now, Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez v. Major League Baseball. If you follow anything in the baseball world, then you’ve heard about this scandal. Rodriguez was handed down an unprecedented 211 game suspension by the MLB for violating the Drug Prevention Program. Rodriguez immediately filed an appeal that went to arbitration, where the suspension was reduced to one full season (162 games).
This is where I’ll jump in the story. Rodriguez has filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the arbitrator in the case, Fred Horowitz. My take on this whole scandal is that the MLB and Bud Selig have overstepped their bounds. Now, for anyone that knows me, you’ll know that I’m a huge baseball fan and that I love most of the things the MLB does. But, this whole situation just appears shady on the outside, and looks more and more like a witch hunt.
Rodriguez has never tested positive for any kind of performance-enhancing drugs, yet he has been given a suspension that is almost triple what a positive test is supposed to get you. Anthony Bosch, the MLB’s key witness in this case, is having his security paid for by the MLB. All of this just makes the MLB’s case sound a little fishy to me.
In the end, the biggest thing that I don’t like about this whole situation is the length of the suspension. I’ve got no problem with A-Rod being suspended — because there’s no doubt that he’s been involved with something — but without a positive drug test, I don’t think you can even suspend him for 50 games. This suspension is Bud Selig trying to make an example of a well-known player.
There you have it, my detailed opinion on this whole scandal. Let me know what you think about the whole thing, or if you have any ideas on what you’d like me to blog about in the sports world. You can hit me up on Twitter @ryanmatheny16 or send me an email at rmatheny@unomaha.edu. One other thing, make sure to listen to myself and Paul Dobler for the 2014 debut of The Dugout Show, one hour of great sports talk on MavRadio. Peace out!
