What do baseball fans think about whether Manny Ramirez is innocent or guilty of using steroids?”
Alex Rodriguez: Guilty Until Proven Innocent for Pitch-Tipping Is it jealousy of star athletes? Well, the Duke lacrosse players were not well-known outside of the lacrosse world. But Kobe Bryant and A-Rod are both polarizing figures that fans of other teams love to hate—so beyond Laker and Yankee fans, it is easy to quickly find these guys guilty. Or is it something else? Is it that we like to see failure? We like to see that someone else also makes mistakes. We like to see that, yes, the world’s best athletes are indeed human. They make mistakes and are not perfect. The higher the profile of the accused athlete, the more coverage it receives, and the more vindicated we feel. It is why Juan Rincon’s 2005 drug suspension was merely a blip on the sports radar, while Manny Ramirez’s suspension will be a topic for many weeks to come. Bad news makes us common mortals feel more human. Now we see the same rush to a guilty verdict for Manny Ramirez. While some have obviously stepped up and def
