The news of the last few days, that which says that Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroid use when he was playing for the Texas Rangers.

I wish I could say it's unbelievable, but nothing about steroids and baseball surprises me any more.  Sadly, the game as I knew it back when I was much younger is long gone.  The days of magical numbers like '61' and '755' were left behind a long time ago, thanks to hulking steroid laden bodies on players such as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, and Barry Bonds.  Lest we forget, there were also cheaters such as Roger Clemens out there too.

Bonds obliterated the numbers that had previously been eclipsed by McGwire and Sosa, and he also obliterated the lifetime homerun numbers of Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron.  Numbers that were so badly distorted by the freakish figure that we saw on the field that many hoped those numbers would soon be washed away by a legitimate figure, someone that hadn't been tainted by steroids.  Someone like A-Rod.

Oh, there were some of us (me) that had hopes that Ken Griffey, Jr., might make some noise towards some of the numbers, but 'the kid' just couldn't keep himself healthy, and his numbers suffered for it, so the chances of that happening were minimal at best.

Nope, we needed someone younger, more prolific and able to stay healthier, someone like, well, A-Rod.  Except now we find that A-Rod is no better than the other known cheaters.  He, too, created false results and now we have no one that we can trust to come along and bring our beloved records back to legitimacy.

I really wish there was someone on the horizon that could be counted on to hit 800 home-runs and hit over 80 in a single season.  Unfortunately I really doubt it'll ever come to pass.  At least not within my lifetime and with current rules.

I'd utter a sarcastic thanks to the powers that be at MLB for ignoring the problem as long as they did and letting things get as bad as they did.  The record books for the last 10 - 15 years should probably be expunged, but that'll never happen.  Instead we have illegitimate champions and illegitimate records.  Here, I'll say it anyway, THANKS FOR NOTHIN' Bud Selig.  Thanks for abso-friggin-lutely nothing.