You're Not Hollywood, A-Rod; Just Be Human

Alex Rodriguez’s troubles have less to do with what he’s done than who he is, Michael Rosenberg writes for Fox Sports. “We all know he is desperate to be liked,” Rosenberg writes. “And yet, everything he does to be liked makes people hate him.” A-Rod’s indiscretions may soon seem negligible—“With every year, steroid use in the pre-testing era makes more sense,” Rosenberg writes—but his attitude is another story.

“Rodriguez seems like one of those sad souls who doesn’t know who he is,” Rosenberg writes, and trying to play the Hollywood image game just sinks A-Rod further into a hole, making everything “contrived: his public persona, his apology, even his family life.” The solution is tough but simple: the public “won’t forgive your flaws unless you acknowledge them,” Rosenberg writes. “They won’t accept you as human unless you admit you are.” (More Alex Rodriguez stories.)