You're going to hate this one. Not that you love most of my opinions, because you don't, and that's fine. But this one? You're going to hate this one.
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| A leak causes Alex Rodriguez permanent damage. (Getty Images) |
The biggest victim of the Alex Rodriguez debacle is Alex Rodriguez himself.
And you hate it. And I don't blame you. But here's where I will blame you. Here's where I will absolutely be ticked off with you:
When you finish this story and decide that you still hate it.
Because if you read this entire story -- not just the headline or the first few paragraphs, but the entire story from start to finish -- you should be scared. Scared of your government. Scared of your employer. Scared of your union. Scared of your shadow.
Scared.
Scared people tend to be angry people, and when you finish this story you should indeed be angry. Just not angry at me. Not for speaking the truth.
Be mad at the baseball union, and at baseball itself. And at the U.S. government. Be mad at all of them, and hope that Alex Rodriguez doesn't decide to get litigious. Because if he does, if A-Rod sues the people and parties that made him the biggest victim of his own steroid scandal, he will own baseball. He will own the players association. And considering how the government also is to blame, he might just own that as well.
USA? United States of A-Rod.
Listen, steroids such as those used by Rodriguez -- and by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and so many others, allegedly -- are wrong. They're illegal, they're unfair, they're awful. My outrage is gone, sapped after 21 years of being angry about Ben Johnson and then Marion Jones and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti and Shawne Merriman and Bonds and Clemens and ... done. My outrage is done. You can have yours, and that's good, because athletes and society need the outrage of everyday people to keep them in check. So be outraged. Me, I'm depressed about the steroid scandal. Just not outraged. Not anymore.
But using steroids to become a better ballplayer is wrong, and A-Rod was wrong. He cheated the game and the record book. Not sure he cheated you and me, as some baseball writers like to say. Not sure how we got cheated. We wanted home runs, and we got them. We wanted greatness, and we got it.
We didn't get screwed.
A-Rod did.
Go back to 2003, when the owners and the union agreed to look into steroid testing. In 2003 the deal was simple: The players would submit to anonymous steroid testing, and if more than 5 percent tested positive, real testing with real penalties would begin in 2004.
But in 2003, the tests were going to be (A) anonymous and then (B) destroyed. Those were the rules of engagement, and in any civilized contest, the rules of engagement are critical. Everything has rules of engagement, even something as life-or-death as war. Ever heard of the Geneva Convention? Those are rules of engagement, and it's something we are expected to follow -- even against a war-time enemy we literally want to kill.
Somebody broke the rules of engagement with A-Rod. Baseball and the union were supposed to destroy the tests in 2003. If there was a master list linking each test to a specific player, that list was supposed to be destroyed, too. This was serious stuff, this confidentiality, and only because it was so serious did players like Alex Rodriguez submit to it.
How the screw-up happened, well, that's up for debate. The union says it didn't have enough time to destroy the tests before the government, in its pursuit of BALCO and Barry Bonds, subpoenaed those records. Baseball says the union had a week or two to destroy the tests before the subpoenas. The cause remains in dispute. The effect has been undisputed.
A-Rod's legacy is dirt. His Hall of Fame candidacy is in jeopardy. His name is now a punch line. All because he took a test that was supposed to be (A) anonymous and then (B) destroyed. It was neither (A) nor (B). But what came next was worse.
The government decided it wanted those test results, thinking they would aid its pursuit of Bonds and other BALCO users. So the government subpoenaed the testing agencies for those tests, and only those tests, and the government got its hands on Bonds' test result.
And more. Lots more. Too much more.
The government also got its hands on the test results of hundreds of other players. Including Alex Rodriguez.
Oh, and thousands of regular people's results, too.
Didn't know that? It's true. After raiding those testing facilities, the government emerged with drug test results for thousands of everyday people. Maybe your friend. Maybe your neighbor.
Maybe you.
The government has no right to those tests. None. It has a right to Bonds' test, and the tests of the other BALCO suspects. But a subpoena is a critical rule of engagement, and just like in civilized society the Geneva Convention must be followed -- no matter how much we abhor our enemy -- in civilized society the rules of a subpoena must be followed. And the subpoena didn't say anything about A-Rod's drug test.
Or your drug test.
What do you think the government will do with those other drug tests, anyway?
If the government got its hands on my anonymously submitted drug test, and the results of my test were leaked, and the fallout caused me any problems at all, I'll tell you what I'd do: I'd sue.
And I'd win.
I hope Alex Rodriguez sues. And wins. Because employers and unions and most of all government officials can't go around making the kind of mistakes they made on A-Rod.
I hope he sues them and beats them -- because next time, the privacy they invade might be yours. Or mine.
