Excuses Me!

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Astros pitching coach Doug Brocail thinks Wandy Rodriguez's recent struggles are due to being distracted by his name being involved in trade rumors'.

For those that only want to read politically correct stuff, go away, do not read the rest of this.
Thank you.

Ok, for the rest of us, are you as tired of this as I am?
It is bad enough that Rodriguez has pitched like he has. Now, he has a pitching coach making excuses for him.
Hopefully, it is a tactic to more endear Rodriguez to potential trade suitors. Although I don't know why another team would want a pitcher so easily distracted by off field activities.
If this is not a tactic, then shame on Brocail.
I know Wandy Rodriguez is human and is prone to think about stuff. But if he's thinking about a potential trade while looking in to get a sign from his catcher with Carlos Beltran in the batters box, why would I want him on my team?
Why would I want to trade for him?
All part of the wussification, folks.
It's something that Rodriguez cannot control. From a young age, ballplayers are told not to worry about things they cannot control. And yet, the Houston pitching coach enables this kind of behavior, even 'helping' him by addressing it through the press.

It is politically correct and considered 'kind' to give athletes excuses for underachieving.
Today, I was watching the British Open when an announcer gave a golfer an excuse for under performance, telling his audience that, 'He is from Colorado and that his heart must be very heavy after the theater shootings.'
Are you kidding me?
EVERYBODY'S heart is heavy from that happening!
Because he happened to be from the same state as the shooting does not make his heart more heavier than mine or yours. We all send up prayers for those folks.

Broadcasters have become enablers. If an outfielder drops a ball, the sun or something else is a factor. If a batter strikes out, they talk of the shadows between the mound and the batters box.
If somebody misses on a diving catch, the effort behind the miss is the subject, not the result.

Athletes do not shit rainbows. They're like us, we make mistakes, they make mistakes.
I had Hiroki Kuroda benched for his seven innings of shutout ball against Toronto earlier this week.
My personal broadcaster could say, "Well, Dan had a lot on his mind this week, he got in a tiff at the softball park while supervising, a disagreement with his daughter, and the loss of a person he used to know in high school. Benching Kuroda was excusable under those circumstances."
Bull!
All those things happened, but they are no excuse.
I under performed. Simple as that. We all do. It happens.
We don't need somebody making excuses for us.
Neither do ballplayers.