After both Madonna and A-Rod have filed for divorce from their respective spouses, it's obvious that they are, in fact, some sort of item. Those weird Kabbalah classes and him showing up at seemingly all of her concerts doesn't prove that they're romantically linked, but does reveal some sort of odd obsession with her. And the more and more they're spotted not-so-secretly gallivanting around with each other, it appears it's a calculated image makeover on the part of Team A-Rod, who coincidentally is now represented by Guy Oseary, who just so happens to also rep Madonna. But — why? For all of Rodriguez's achievements, he's always been, for whatever reason, not taken seriously as one of the premiere athletes of our generation. His greatness always seems overshadowed by his lack of a championship, his chilly, boring demeanor,his marital problems, or his enormous contract. He's the one player that seems to get denied the usual reverence by sports writers simply based on the fact that, well, he's Alex Rodriguez. If anything, A-Rod still needs some help securing his image as a top-tier athlete as opposed to an extremely loyal Madonna groupie, yet that's exactly what he's become. Look at that photo up top. Look at the rest of these photos: that's the man who will be the home run king one day. It's entirely possible that if Rodriguez continues to make these baffling public image choices the rest of his career, people won't mind Barry Bonds holding onto that record a little longer.

Does A-Rod Know He's Being Used? [NY Mag]
A-Rod Rocks Out With Madonna [Gossip Girls.net]

“He hasn’t even finished Kabbalah 1 (the introduction to the study of Kabbalah) and the majority of the time he’s spent with Yardeni so far was for counseling, not study,” said MSNBC's unnamed source. This is certainly off-putting to Madonna.

"She did drag Guy [Ritchie] into kabbalah; she's doing the same now [with Rodriguez]. But he's bored. He's basically a kabbalah school dropout."

Perhaps A-Rod finally read the fine print. According to Wikipedia, Kabbalah is a form of Jewish mysticism in which it is believed that cosmic forces control everything, even the AL East. Sample teaching:

It is not recommended that men masturbate, as the sperm are abandoned souls that become demons. When a woman's insides come into contact with a man's sperm, they are coming into contact with the essence of their energy and are affected by this for several years.[8] The man should not orgasm before the woman, as it injects selfishness into the act of love making.

And now Rodriguez is even getting grief over where he'll spend Thanksgiving. Ha. Welcome to the club on that one.

Kabbahlah Coming Between Madonna, A-Rod? [MSNBC]

(*kazoo sound*)

To the celebrity gossip-mongering!

Newsday's blog, The Final Score, begrudgingly passes along the news via US magazine which had this to say about the alleged unholy union:

As Madonna announces her divorce from husband Guy Ritchie, a source close to the singer tells Usmagazine.com she and the New York Yankees slugger "are definitely romantic."

"Guy is not involved in this equation," the insider tells Usmagazine.com. "With or without A-Rod, Madonna and Guy haven't been 'together' for over a year - they have been privately separated. Madonna, however, wanted to finish her world tour before divorcing."

An A-Rod source tells Us, "A-Rod and Madonna are more involved than ever."

"Alex has really missed spending time with Madonna. However, he understands the position Madonna's in."

And E! News says that A-Rod has been "lying low" to avoid any connection to the split. But he won't let these pesky rumors get in the way of his Kabbalah training. Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance.

Source: A-Rod and Madonna Are "Definitely Romantic" [Us Magazine]

Boras, who famously negotiated A-Rod's kajillion dollar contract and is the epitome of soullessness, has apparently been called into broker a "truce" between Rodriguez and his wife, according to the New York Daily News. The source in the NYDN story says the trio met on Saturday and suggested Boras is either trying to negotiate a quickie divorce or offer consultation on how the two of them could better handle this in public.

From A-Rod's perspective, bringing Boras into the fold makes sense. Who better to handle an apparent impasse and come through with a financially beneficial solution for his client? Once Boras gets done with Cynthia Rodriguez, don't be surprised if A-Rod somehow manages to make money off of the deal. She'll probably end up paying him alimony.

A-Rod's Ex-Rep Called Into Toronto To Broker Truce Between Slugger And Cynthia [NYDN]

Well, look who it is! Welcome to the party, Alicia Marie, who's unfortunately making news because her name is being tossed around as a possible "friend" of Alex Rodriguez. But Alicia is quick to respond to the New York Daily News to defend herself and her "friendship" from such tawdry allegations:

Responding to an e-mail from The News, Marie said Rodriguez frequently visited her Chelsea apartment a few years ago to lend a sympathetic ear "when I had just gone through a separation and divorce."

"I am well aware that people will assume the absolute worst here, but Alex was, and to this day remains, just a close friend," wrote the 5-foot-10 brunette. "Friends hang out together in each other's apartments!"

Unfortunately, there is some more troubling news buried in this story — Alicia and John Rocker recently broke up, but she told the DN that she "still loves the man New Yorkers love to hate." Aw. It seems like only yesterday that I witnessed the tricep-extending chemistry between these two in person. From the Super Bowl XLI files:

Alicia Marie says that when she and John were walking through Coconut Grove, O.J. Simpson stopped while in the back of his white limo, rolled down the window, and hollered over to John Rocker that he's a fan of his. Brilliant.

Most other people would probably lose their minds from such a creepy encounter with the Juice, but Rocker seemed a little perplexed of how to take the compliment, shrugged, and appeared to accept it for better, worse, and weirdness.

"He's kind of fat now, " Rocker said.

They graciously agreed to take a picture and then Rocker requested that there be no altering with photoshop. "Don't make it so her top's off or that I'm saying "I Hate Black People" or something."

.

A-Rod shocker! Fitness model, Boston Babe on Alex's Roster [NY Daily News]
Our Interview With John Rocker [Deadspin]

Houlihan said A-Rod had a couple of shots of tequila and a few Sex on the Beach cocktails, then they went back to A-Rod’s room at the Ritz-Carlton and had sex. But, she added, they also talked all night and seemed to hit it off. But when A-Rod called her when he was in town for the American League Championship Series, Candice met him and they had sex again. (Although this time he didn’t let her stay the night.)

“He said he had a big game the next day. I like to say I helped us win,” she laughed. “I reversed the curse!”

Ms. Houlihan also told the Boston Herald that Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, was right to dump him because "A leopard doesn’t change his spots.” A-Rod, she said, actually picked her up during a game, and she knew he was married from the beginning.

“It was killing me and I felt bad afterwards,” she said. “I’m not a bad person. I know how it feels to be cheated on, it sucks. But a couple of drinks later, I didn’t notice all that much, to tell you the truth.”

That-a-girl; way to take one for the team, Candy.

Ex-Stripper To Cindy: A-Rod Won't 'Change His Spots' [Boston Herald]
Did A Stripper Change The Course Of Baseball History? [Sox And Dawgs]

More details are spilling out, as Cynthia Rodriguez's support team goes into protect-the-baby mode to keep the focus on Alex and distract everyone from that whole shackin' up with Lenny Kravitz in Paris-thing. One silver lining for A-Rod is that, according to some "branding experts" his commercial appeal won't be tarnished.

"Wife-beating would hurt him, underage girls would hurt him, a gay lover would hurt him, but run-of-the-mill affairs - that's a non-issue in American life," said branding expert Howard Bragman, head of the public-relations agency Fifteen Minutes. "We just don't hold affairs against people anymore."

Superb.

A-Rod Pal: Cynthia Spent $100G In Paris [NY Daily News]
Cheating Hubby A-OK With Corporate Sponsors [NY Post]

The rumors about either Rodriguez's flings with aging pop stars still swirl, but there is one fact amid the absurd allegations: Cynthia Rodriguez has filed for divorce from the Yankees' third baseman.

The two parties have dispatched their legal teams to Miami to start the messy unraveling process and a custody battle for their two children. According to the filings, Alex claims that his wife "was not serious" about patching up their five year marriage. Cynthia's is a little more damning, alleging that A-Rod's extra-marital affairs with other, more muscular women are no longer tolerable and that his relationship with Madonna was less than platonic.

This is a brilliant financial move for Cyndy, as she could conceivably walk away with a huge chunk of A-Rod's baseball and endorsement fortune.

A-Rod, wife to file for divorce [NY Daily News]
A-Rod's Wife Hurls Splitter [NY Post]

After days of speculating about the state of Alex Rodriguez's marriage it appears that the one truthful item out of this whole entire scandal is that he and his wife, Cynthia (can't bring myself to say "C-Rod" — yet) are not getting along. Late yesterday afternoon, the tabs and gossip blogs began reporting that Cynthia had been stepping out on A-Rod with former Huxtable-humper, Lenny Kravitz. But Cynthia's mother tells the Daily News that the reports about her daughter gallivanting across Paris with Kravitz are absolutely false.

(Somebody tell the NY Post!)

Regardless of what's going on in A-Rod's personal life— Madonna-related, marriage-related — Yankees' owner Hank Steinbrenner just wants Rodriguez and the rest of his team to just hit the goddamn ball and not worry about anything else. At least Jason Giambi listened to him.

If anything, maybe this controversy will reinvigorate the vaunted Red Sox-Yankees rivalry that's been pushed out of the way by the Rays-Sox . It should be a fun weekend in New York.

Yankee hitter on outs with wife [NY Daily News]

A-Rod Wife Goes Down Swinging [NY Post]

From Radar, new designated tabloid scoop-ruiner:

Is there more than one cheater in the Rodriguez family? We have no idea if this is true or not, but we're just gonna go ahead and put it out there because it's probably going to be all over the tabloids in the next few days: we're hearing from several sources at the gossip weeklies that A-Rod's blonde wife, Cynthia Rodriguez, has been stepping out on her stripper-loving third baseman husband with none other than singer Lenny Kravitz.

Cynthia has been noticeably absent as rumors of her husband's affair with Madonna have swirled (rumors, it should be noted, which have been strongly denied by Madonna's camp). We're told the reason is because she's actually in Paris with Kravitz right now.

Question: Would you feel more dirty and ashamed for having sex with Madonna or that your wife has been banging Lenny Kravitz?

As if A-Rod's not having a tough enough week already, Shanoff just somehow sprinkled him with some magic Hebrew blog dust and made him Jewish.

The next story in this sage will most likely reveal that Rodriguez's mother has been having an affair with Brett Favre and then, somehow, the last 24 hours would make so much more sense.

A-Rod Cuckolded By...Lenny Kravitz? [Radar]

Reports: Cynthia Rodriguez has left A-Rod for...Lenny Kravitz? [Urbanite]

First off, it should be noted that both the NY Post and NY Daily News have this rumor-debunking information in their stories about a possible A-Rod/ Madonna romance:

NY Post: "Madonna and [Husband, Guy] Ritchie had no comment last night as they strolled into their Manhattan apartment holding hands."

NY Daily News: "Last night, Madonna and Ritchie held hands but said nothing as they returned home from dinner."

Great. Story closed. But both tabs do get points for their dogged pursuits. For example, did you know that A-Rod was interested in kabbalah ? The Post says so:

In recent months, A-Rod has shown active interest in studying the Jewish mystical practice popularized by Madonna, her director hubby, and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, sources said. Rodriguez has visited kabbalah centers in south Florida, where the all-star and the singer both have posh homes, the sources said.

The NY Daily News gets double-bonus points for getting a quote from one of the most trusted news sources in all of sports...Jose Canseco.

Asked about a Rodriguez-Madonna merger yesterday, Canseco sniped, "That's Alex. That's what he does. He goes after people's wives. I guess he's trying to follow in my footsteps now with Madonna."

Thank you, Jose.

Madge's Base Brawl [NY Post]
Alex Rodriguez in late-night visits to Madonna's apartment [NY Daily News]

But leave it to the Post to put a positive spin on this so they don't completely alienate their beat writers from the Yankees' locker room during what is sure to be an ongoing ordeal:

The alleged affair seems to be having a positive effect on the Pinstripe swinger, who last night hit his 534th home run, tying him for 14th place on the all-time homer list.

Yes. Clearly. One Deadspin e-mail tipster says this affair has been going on for "months":

A co worker of mine has a good friend who is married. His wife’s family owns a private jet business in NYC and confirmed to me that A Rod and Madonna have been using the plane for get a ways for the last couple of months.

Fun.

And, of course, the pun headlines will be aplenty come tomorrow morning.

Report: A-Rod Late Night Visits With Madonna [NY Post]







Alex Rodriguez In Late Night Visits To Madonna's Apartment [NY Daily News]







Alex Rodriguez and Madonna Affair Report triggers tabloid frenzy [Newsday]

Today, Us magazine enters the Madge-Rod fray, spilling these "exclusive" details about the stealthy couple.

A source tells Us that the $28-million-a-year Rodriguez, 32, has made numerous solo nighttime visits to Madonna, 49, at her spacious home and would sneak out "as late as midnight." Says the source, "All the doormen are talking."

Rodriguez attended Madonna's April 30 NYC concert; the singer sat in his seats at a Yankees game on June 22 (it was the first time she ever was photographed at a Yankees game). Her son Rocco, 7, also sported Yankees gear on June 25 while playing in Central Park.

Alex's wife, Cynthia must be torn about this news. She totally seems like the the type of Madonna fan who once wore ripped up sweatshirts, piles of crucifix-inspired jewelry, and fingerless gloves. It all must be so bittersweet.

NY Yankee Making Late Night Visits To Madonna's Apartment [US]

Oh, if this is true, this would just be one of the most fantastically mind-blowing developments on the planet. One can only hope that the gossip-mongering scoundrels at OK! magazine aren't confusing Alex Rodriguez with one of Madonna's other orange-skinned boy toys. But according to Radar, the magazine is publishing a story tomorrow that suggests the Yankees third baseman is the new man in her life:

OK! has learned the pop superstar and baseball great have been hanging out for months, as her relationship with her 39-year-old director hubby [Guy Ritchie] fizzled. Last October, Madonna and Alex were spotted working out together at Reebok Sports Club/NY in Manhattan, according to an online source. Two months later, Alex raised eyebrows by bringing in Madonna's close friend, entertainment manager Guy Oseary—who, incidentally, has no sports background—to help steer his career...

It makes perfect sense: They work out together. She gives him career advice. Madonna's marriage is on the rocks. A-Rod likes older women with bulging triceps and inner thighs that could squash pumpkins. Sounds like true love to me. True love, for baby, that is.

Madonna and A-Rod? [Radar]