The Manny Taint

I'm not going to dig too deeply n the ManRam story here today. Someone in Blogfrica has to avoid it, and frankly, there's nothing here that we haven't seen a hundred times before, and with each time it happens, it shocks a little less. It also says something that the biggest story here isn't that he cheated, but that MLB caught him, and is actually going to subject him to the same punishment that it has given to the borderline players that have been caught before. JC Romero and Manny Ramirez, equal in the eyes of the law. That's a little refreshing, on some level.

Assuming no further complications (a big assumption, but one that's relatively safe, given the amount of money that's behind ManRam's rehabilitation), he'll return in early July. The Dodgers will still be in first place in the mostly putrid NL West. Given Manny's advancing age and interest in proving the world wrong after this scandal, they might even be better off for this in the long run, given that they'll have a much fresher Ram for their playoff run.

The only thing this does is take the Dodgers down from a 100-win team to a 96-win team, because even though ManRam makes their whole lineup better, it's not like they don't have a good lineup without him, and a weak division to kick around. The biggest hit in the Man Ram saga is all of his fantasy owners, who now get to hate him just as much as his non-owners. It's a bonding moment for all of us, really.

But before we put this thing to bed, I'd like to talk about the New England major sports champions of the last decade, and how every single one of them -- yes, amazingly, all of them -- are now more or less trading in dirty trophies. (And before Boston Fan jumps to conclusions as to how I'm clearly a New York Fan to go here, um, nope. Sorry about that.)

The Patriots, you know about, and the NFL's remarkably tone-deaf treatment of the matter means that we'll never really be able to put that team to bed. The 2004 Red Sox are loaded with guys that fit the profile of Roid Achievers, and their right-handed offensive linchpin is now an admitted cheat. ManRam is still a major contributor in 2007, along with a number of other likely suspects. The 2008 Celtics are the cleanest of the bunch, and they get to the Finals when a Hall of Fame ex-player packages his franchise player for a package of guys that play on just one side of the court, if at all.

This causes me no real joy. A tainted title is a wound that doesn't heal, and makes you wonder, really, why you bother watching the games.

But on the plus side, we get to hear Boston Fan cry about how awful this all is, and how everyone cheated and... zzzzzz... sorry, nodded off there. Enjoy your ignominy, Manny. Especially if, as some in Blogfrica are speculating, your cheating came from sexual performance doping, rather than pure athletic performance cheating. Nice legacy.