Tiger Woods heads the class of sports cheaters

Tiger Woods … or should we call him Cheetah Woods … is certainly the leader of the pack when it comes to sports lowlifes.

He did nothing to change that impression with his somewhat emotional statement-reading Friday morning when he refused to answer questions.

Woods can’t take away the facts that he committed adultery with more than a dozen women; or paid millions of dollars to cover it up.

He did make a point when he told the media to leave his family alone. But sadly, when you’re a person of his stature, you bring it on yourself when you have multiple affairs on top of the fact you treated people poorly for years while you were on top of the world.

“I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," Woods read from his statement. “I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position. I have a lot to atone for. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was unacceptable and I am the only person to blame.”

Give his wife, Elin, credit for not appearing in the room.

Woods is hardly alone when it comes to athletes and cheating.

How about former Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry with nine different kids by nine different women?

Or San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie with seven kids by six different women? And now he’s reportedly being sued for lack of child support by a woman who was his fiancée until Cromartie got somebody else pregnant while they were engaged.

Baseball?

You’ve seen and heard about the likes of Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez and Mark McGwire when it comes to another type of cheating … performance-enhancing substances.
McGwire (presumably) only came clean so that he could return to baseball as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The sporting world is full of cheaters. Cheetah Woods is at the head of the class.

Cheating is fine; if you're on the home team

So here we go again.

Now we discover that the Boston Red Sox first World Series title in 86 years was tainted when they won in 2004.

Surprise, surprise … David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were among the 104 major league players listed as having tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in 2003.

Does that diminish Boston’s championships in 2004 and 2007 with these guys on the team?

If you’re a Red Sox fan, absolutely not. If you’re a fan of someone else, of course it tarnishes the accomplishment.

Funny, but it wasn’t so long ago that Red Sox fans were on the New York Yankees for having known cheaters such as Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.

But failing a drug test is only a crime if you are not on the home team, according to the fans.

After all, Los Angeles Dodgers fans couldn’t figure out why San Francisco Giants followers cheered cheater Barry Bonds. Now those same Dodgers fans support Ramirez … because it’s OK to cheat if you’re on the home team.

Mark McGwire will always be a hero in St. Louis; same with Sammy Sosa in Chicago.

And the list goes on.

Lesson learned? Society has taught us to cheer for cheaters … as long as they wear the uniform of our home team.

Selig not to blame for MLB's drug problems

Say what you want about MLB commissioner Bud Selig, but don’t blame him for the current drug mess in baseball.

Selig’s recent comments to Newsday are very revealing … and right on the money.

“I don't want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn't care about it,” Selig said. “That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I'm sensitive to the criticism. The reason I'm so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we've come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible.”

The commissioner rightly blames the problem on the players’ union.

“Starting in 1995, I tried to institute a steroid policy. Needless to say, it was met with strong resistance. We were fought by the union every step of the way.”

Despite the constant criticism Selig takes, he should not be criticized for these comments.

After all, it took Congress to get the players’ union to finally agree to a more stringent drug policy for MLB.

We all remember the likes of Rafael Palmeiro and Roger Clemens lying to Congress … Mark McGwire keeping silent because of his drug abuse … and the constant lies and more lies by Barry Bonds.

It’s a good thing Congress finally came along to help straighten out the drug policy in MLB.

Otherwise, people would still wrongly blame the commissioner and owners … rather than the players who thought they could get away with something when nobody was looking; except Jose Canseco.

MLB Players: Few of character; many A-Frauds

Character is often defined as “doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.”

Under that definition, baseball is full of characters without character, right?

Absolutely.

Let Alex Rodriguez and his recent revelation about steroid usage from 2001-03 stand as the latest Exhibit A.

To refresh your memory, A-Rod told Katie Couric a few years ago on national television that he never used steroids. But when Sports Illustrated discovered he really did use steroids, A-Rod had little recourse but to tell the truth.

A man of character? Hardly.

Then we have such baseball characters as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Miguel Tejada.

None wanted to reveal what they did behind closed doors (i.e. take steroids.) But when the truth comes out, you can bet they were all steroids users.

Bottom line: Don’t go describing them as men of “character.”

Rodriguez may have been referred to by his New York Yankees teammates as “A-Fraud.” But now that the truth is coming out, too high of a percentage of baseball players are nothing but A-Frauds.