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...

Making room for Mr. Hunter

The White Sox still have not gotten center fielder Torii Hunter to officially commit to them; however their efforts will increase dramatically from now on. This is due to the fact that yesterday was the first day that teams were allowed to make financial offers to the free agents. The White Sox are probably going to spend a good amount of their budget on Torii Hunter and try to convince him to play for the White Sox. Well how much you might be wondering? According to ChicagoSports.com, the White Sox may need to offer Hunter $15 million or more a year in order for him to sign with them, and the contract will probably have to be for at least five years. But we never know. Hunter has recently turned down a $45 million, 3 year offer from the Minnesota Twins. Hunter has also stated that the contract he will sign this year could possibly be his last because Hunter is currently 32 years old.

Ken Williams has stated numerous times that he has large enough finances to sign an all-star player, but now there are some doubts. There has been talk that the White Sox may need to trade starting pitcher Jon Garland and either Joe Crede or Josh Fields, in order to sign Torii Hunter or any good player at that. They need to make room for Hunter financially, and this is how they can do that. It is a possibility that they are going to trade Joe Crede because he will be eligible for the free agency after the 2008 season anyways. But again, there is always the possibility that Josh Fields can go also. I really don’t think it would be a good idea to trade Garland because the White Sox really depend on him as their starting pitcher.

It's a Win

Sexy Rexy Report: Hell yeah, it feels good to put up a Sexy Rexy Report again. Brian Griese got injured late in the first half and Grossman was put in. He went 7 of 14 for 142 yards and a TD to win the game. I'm glad Grossman got another chance and I'm hoping that if Griese looks like shit for another game that they give Grossman another chance.

The Good: We won, and the defense played well. We'll take what we can from the defense since they have been playing rather poorly as of late.

The Bad: Cedric Benson. He has continually looked like shit this season. I'm up for having Hester put in as a running back and see if he could perform something like Minnesota's Adrian Peterson. I realize he won't be that good, but I think he would be better than Benson.

The Ugly: Grossman had two fumbles, one of which came from his first snap.

The Red Flag Is Flying

When a red flag is dropped on the field, we all know what is coming next. The TV screen splits into two, revealing both teams' coaches and their reaction, the head referee goes into his little box, watching the play over and over, and the fans hold their breathes. What if I told you that in this instance, we're not talking about football? Instead, this flag had been thrown on the baseball diamond.

Last week, the General Managers of the MLB voted 25-5 in favor of recommending instant replay to Commissioner Bud Selig. Could you imagine this in baseball? Strike one! Oh wait, the White Sox are throwing the flag for an instant replay. Looks like the ruling on the field will stand, still strike one. Here comes the next pitch, ball one. Oh, here comes Lou Piniella and we're going to have another look at it...

Ok, it probably wouldn't really happen like that. At the GM meeting, it was said that instant replay will only be used on "contested home run calls." I could see where this might be helpful, especially in important, life changing games. Check out another baseball fan's opinion here. However, this might all be in vain. In the past, Selig has opposed the use of electronic replays during games to help assist call making. Also, Cubs GM Jim Hendry was among the few that voted against the proposal. I'm guessing that those who opposed instant replay felt that it would be used too much and and used for plays such as foul balls, if someone was safe or out, and even whether or not a pitch was a strike or a ball.

It's not that instant replay is necessarily a bad thing but I just don't see it being used effectively in baseball. Heck, it isn't used effectively in football half the time. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but let's take the Colts game last night. However much I don't want to talk about it, a point must be made. It was late in the fourth quarter and the Colts appeared to have the 1st down far in Charger territory. Then, officials in the replay booth challenged the spot which reversed the call on the field making it fourth-and-1. Following this catastrophe, the Colts false started, Vinatieri missed a field goal, and all hope was lost. Needless to say, Indianapolis suffered because of this instant replay call. Of course, not all instant replay calls are bad but I still can't see this being used in baseball.