America v. A-Rod

Why Does America Hate A-Rod?

This is the name of the survey-type quiz on ESPN.com that I just took. The people from the sports website are trying to understand why fans just don't want Alex Rodriguez. On Tuesday, ESPN.com asked, "Would you want your favorite team to sign Alex Rodriguez?" and the results were that a 2-to-1 margin said "No." So why are people hatin'?

Here's the quiz with my answers in bold and the percentage of people who chose which answer. 91,999 people have taken the quiz so far.

1) If you don't want Alex Rodriguez on your team, what is your primary reason?

34.9% Costs too much money
26.5% I'd want him on my team
15.6% He's just not a winner
12.4% Clubhouse cancer
10.5% Just don't care for his personality

2) What has most shaped your opinion of A-Rod?

43.1% He just seems greedy
23.9% His recent poor play in the postseason
21.6% Who cares? He's a great player
11.4% The media portrays him in a negative light

3) Who do you dislike more?

66.9% Barry Bonds
20.5% Rodriguez
12.6% I like them both

4) At what price would you be willing to have A-Rod on your team?

36.7% $20 million per season
24.8% $15 million per season
15.8% $10 million per season
13.2% Wouldn't want him if he played for free
9.4% Whatever it takes

5) Who would you rather have your team spend $25 million on?

38.4% Do I have to answer this question?
34.9% Alex Rodriguez
26.7% Torii Hunter and Kyle Lohse

6) How does signing A-Rod affect a team's budget?

71.4% He eats up too much payroll to field a winning team
28.6% He's talented enough to justify the big salary

7) Would you want A-Rod and Bonds your team for 2008?

75.3% No
24.7% Yes

8) Which player would you most want on your team?

23.2% Johan Santana
15.7% David Ortiz
14.2% Alex Rodriguez
14.1% Albert Pujols
7.5% Ichiro Suzuki
5.2% Matt Holliday
4.5% David Wright
3.5% Grady Sizemore
3.4% Miguel Cabrera
3.1% Ryan Howard
3.1% Hanley Ramirez
2.7% Jimmy Rollins

9) Which player would you rather have?

69.3% Alex Rodriguez
30.7% David Eckstein

Where do you fall on the scale between tolerating, loving, and despising A-Rod? I can't explain why I chose not to care for A-Rod. It's not that I hate him but he's no where near to being one of my favorite players or even players I follow. Maybe the distaste is pure jealously or maybe it's because he's a Yankee. Like the experts at ESPN.com says, "...this is arguably the best player in baseball, a guy who has averaged 45 home runs and 128 RBIs the past 10 seasons. He plays hard, he plays every day and he puts up those huge numbers." So again, what's the problem with Rodriguez?

If you want to help them make sense of this situation, head to ESPN and take the quiz. Who knows, maybe my opinion of him will change if by some freak accident, the Cubs snatch him. And then again...