Dick Vitale: It's The End Of The World As We Know It

If you feel that the world of sports is falling apart, you're not alone. Dick Vitale feels your pain. Of course, your pain may be in large part to Dick Vitale, but let's move on.

Vitale addressed the Alex Rodriguez situation on Mike & Mike's ESPN radio show on Monday, with his rant spilling over and becoming an indictment on all the wrongs of sports. If only people would listen to he, Dick Vitale, then all would be right.

"It really breaks my heart. I was very close to Alex when he was a kid coming up in Seattle, but he's no longer the kid I knew. ... His life has become a big soap opera and a disaster. I've tried to give him some advice from time to time on some things but that didn't go over very well, and when that happens you just disappear."

Vitale went on to list all of the athletes who have let us down, advocating a "Hall of Shame" for players such as Rodriguez, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and Palmiero. But most of all, what about the kids?

"I'll tell you, I just wrote a check out for 20-some thousand dollars for four season tickets, and really, you feel tainted. It really bothers me; where are the role models? Now you have the Phelps situation where he was caught drinking and smoking marijuana, and he had a DUI earlier in his life. So many guys are disappointments to so many beautiful young kids."

Those tickets of course are for the Tampa Bay Rays, of which Vitale is a big fan, and those "beautuful kids" he refers to all look like this.

Vitale Rant On A-Rod: You Broke My Heart, Fredo [USA Today] Dick Vitale On Mike & Mike [ESPN 950]