I thought that finally winning a World Series title and staging fewer weird magazine photo shoots would soften Alex Rodriguez's(notes) image with the public.
Same goes for Mark McGwire admitting to and apologizing for his PED use last winter.
But the world is an unforgiving place sometimes, as evidenced when both men still placed in the top 10 of the "Most Disliked People In Sports" survey recently conducted by Forbes.com.
McGwire is sixth on the list, while A-Rod checks in at the eighth spot. Their company includes a dog fighter (Michael Vick), a serial adulterer (Tiger Woods), a guy who drew a gun on a teammate (Gilbert Arenas) and a guy accused of rape before charges were dropped earlier this spring (Ben Roethlisberger).
Check out the whole Forbes.com survey here
I'm not a big fan of either ballplayer, but it seems unfair to group them with the above crowd, especially when none of the NFL's banned-substance suspendees — or the more selfish and unapologetic Manny Ramirez(notes) — are anywhere to be found among those most deserving of scorn. McGwire doesn't earn as many points as he should for his fight to prevent child abuse. And I've often thought that A-Rod's public image is a simple product of his ineptitude when dealing with superstardom and Scott Boras' ability to get Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks to bid against himself back in 2000.
That's not to say that I don't understand that both players have turned themselves into lightning rods after making the decision to use PEDs to boost their stats. But those are actions that should lump them in with the other listed figures like Al Davis, Jerry Jones and Terrell Owens ... not with the crop whose moral failings had an actual impact on others.
Better luck next year, fellas.Yahoo
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