Many fans are quick to say the game of baseball is being ruined and degraded by the use of steroids.
The fact is the game was being ruined, but the serious stance Major League Baseball has taken ever since is restoring the glory to the game.
Remember, the reason why steroid testing didn't occur sooner was because of disputes between the players' union and owners.'
Certain players were trying to preserve their positions and weren't willing to own up to what they had been doing for who knows how long.
As reluctant as they were to allow testing, players are finally redeeming themselves of their fault. Exposing Alex Rodriguez for using performance enhancers was supposed to be a crushing blow, but it my eyes it's a reawakening of honesty in baseball.
I am a lifelong New York Yankees fan - one who fits in the category "never liked A-Rod." He was arrogant, choked during the clutch and epitomized owner George Steinbrenner's shortsightedness of buying hitters instead of building a team like the Yankees of the late '90s.
His interview, however, showed a whole new side to him and, in my eyes, redeemed himself. Here's a man who fell victim to a supercharged industry where a hall-of-fame performance is expected season after season. He made a decision to use illegal substances, and it burned him.
But unlike the player who is using until the point he gets caught and then says he is sorry, A-Rod stopped, on his own, five years prior to anyone even being able to know what he had done. People who use until they're caught are simply sorry they got caught, flat out.
They are sorry for the embarrassment and the judgment that will be passed upon them, but they are not sorry for using. A man who upon his own will stops before that point is genuinely repentant. He made a personal decision uninfluenced by the media or fans or anyone. There are no ulterior motives to speculate about.
All this has led me to change my mind about A-Rod. The inhuman baseball behemoth comes across as a human, with strengths and weaknesses and a need for some support. If other athletes come forward and drop the arrogant and defensive BS, maybe people will learn to embrace them for their honesty.
People shouldn't idolize players just because they lead the league in home runs, or they might get their hearts broken to learn who they really are. That's as superficial as girls who idolize Paris Hilton because of her money.
Just like anything else, you're going to have your jackasses and your persons who are worthy of praise. Baseball is working to correct its mistakes but it is still as pure as any other professional sport.
If Allie Conti questions if you can love a team, I think she doesn't understand what baseball still means to some of us.
When Yankee Stadium closed, I was on the verge of tears watching all the greats announced on the field, including my favorite Yankee, Bernie Williams, who got a standing ovation his first time back in Yankee Stadium since his retirement.
Watching players like Derek Jeter makes you feel proud, and you think of them as family, much the way Gators fans feel about Tim Tebow. And when Derek Jeter eventually retires… well, it's an emotional thought I don't think any Yankee fan wants to think just yet.
If that doesn't demonstrate love for a team and its players, maybe I should send them all a Valentine's Day card and some chocolates.
Jason Kieffer is a pre-health junior.
