Alex Rodriguez's Madonna Problem Is Not Going Away

Even though we covered — okay I did — the crap out of the original rumors about Madonna and Alex Rodriguez's alleged relationship over the summer, there's been little else to say about it. Partially because the initial rumors seemed entirely implausible and preposterous. Most of that coverage was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek — to treat Rodriguez like a gossip item before he actually became a gossip item, etc. Well, it happened and now it seems A-Rod is positioning himself to purposefully become one, even though nobody outside of the Us Weekly set really cares.

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]