What kids think about A-Rod, steroids

It's interesting looking back on the good deeds Alex Rodriguez was doing while he was also doing steroids. In 2003, A-Rod presided over a ground-breaking ceremony for "The Alex Rodriguez Education Center" at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami, an event trumpeted by Major League Baseball.

A-Rod made a major gift to the center and explained the gesture this way: "I'm all about giving kids different avenues and good avenues. In life, there are bad ways you can go. I want to give kids good avenues."

Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald stopped in at the A-Rod Center this week to chat with kids playing ball. From the Herald article:

"He [Rodriguez] is like a living patron saint to this place. He always comes around in the off-season, to work out, to hang out. He gives away Christmas gifts, holds baseball clinics, tutors students. To the kids, he was the ultimate role model, because he was one of them, made it big and never forgot his roots.

"Now, though, a sense of confusion permeates the club. Fallibility isn't a concept kids can fully comprehend. But cheating is a word they know.

''Lots of kids want to wear No. 13,'' said Joshua Pastrana, 12, a catcher on the International Gold team. ``Now it will be kind of embarrassing to wear that number.''

Finally, the debate goes on in Appleton, Wisconsin over whether it's time to yank A-Rod's name from the local Babe Ruth League diamond. Post-Crescent sports columnist Mike Woods thinks it's a no-brainer. (See Feb. 10 post).