For A-Rod 600 is A-Fraud

So Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez is on the verge of joining the prestigious 600 home run club...my response, big deal! For me the A-Rod homer count, that seems to be everywhere these days, is met with a yawn. To be fair, there's no denying he's always been an enormously talented player. Rodriguez is a thirteen time all-star and three time winner of the A.L. MVP award. However, for those of you who have a selective memory, he's also a steroid cheat.

Just over a year ago, Rodriguez admitted to what for years had been speculated: he used banned substances. This revelation came after he had denied ever taking performance enhancing drugs during an interview with Katie Couric in 2007. It took a softball question and answer session with ESPN, followed weeks later by a press conference for A-Rod to finally get his story straight. Even then, he came up with some ridiculous tale about an unnamed cousin injecting him with an over the counter, yet unidentified drug "known on the streets as boli or bollee."

The whole thing sounded like an ABC after school special gone wrong with Rodriguez claiming he was "young, stupid and naive." He added that it was "hard to say" whether it gave him a competitive edge, and "all his years in New York have been clean." I hope you didn't buy all of that...if so I've got some swampland and a bridge to sell you. If the guy lied about PED's in the first place, how can I believe that he only used for two years? On top of that, why continue taking them if he wasn't sure they were really helping?

It all comes down to a matter of trust. If I don't trust that his accomplishments are legitimate, then it doesn't matter if he hits 600, 700 or 800 home runs. The way I see it, his stats are tainted. No amount of time is ever going to change that fact or wash it away. The second his unnamed cousin put that needle into his ass, A-Rod's numbers became irrelevant. I have the feeling that stings a whole lot more than the shots he was taking.

He's Not Like Mike

When it comes to basketball royalty, "His Airness" reigns supreme. Michael Jordan is the player all those who have followed are measured against. So when he speaks, like the old EF Hutton commercial goes...people listen. This week, Jordan was the latest to weigh in on Lebron James' decision to join forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, and his words were damning to the "Chosen One." "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry (Bird), called up Magic (Johnson) and said let's get together and play on one team. I was trying to beat those guys."

Those comments confirmed what I've been saying all along. A competitor like Jordan, Bird, Magic or even Kobe doesn't want to team up with you. They aren't interested in the whole buddy/buddy thing. Special players with that kind of makeup want to beat you plain and simple. Not only that, they're driven by the challenge. Bird and Magic pushed each other without even knowing it. Jordan was consumed by idea of achieving more than either Bird or Magic, and then dethroning the Isiah Thomas led Pistons.

In contrast, LeBron wants his hand held and someone to make sure he looks both ways before crossing the street. Sure he'd like a title or ten, but he doesn't care about beating the best in order to be the best. He'd rather become Dwayne Wade's wingman in Miami, if that means getting a ring. So instead to trying to lead the Cavaliers past the Celtics and Lakers of the world, he'll play Robin to Wade's Batman. And that's fine, as long as he understands what it means for his legacy.

No longer will he ever be mentioned in the same breath as an immortal like Jordan. That conversation is over. LeBron can win multiple titles with the Heat, but in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter. He'll be doing so on Wade's team and in Wade's town. They won't be building any King James statues outside of American Airlines Arena. Maybe it's fitting that LeBron is changing his number from Jordan's 23 to 6, because the fact of the matter is, they don't have anything in common anymore.