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Front Page Talking Points

FOR THE WEEK OF AUG. 05, 2013

Yankees star Alex Rodriguez is suspended through 2014 by Major League Baseball

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1.gifCatch up with this continuing news story and summarize any fresh developments.

2.gifNow look for an opinion column, editorial, reader letter or cartoon about A-Rod. List one or more points you see as strongest.

3.gifIs another sports dispute or controversy in the news? Share anything you spot.

Superstar slugger Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees is among 13 players suspended Monday for using banned muscle-builders to boost their strength. Major League Baseball announced Monday morning that a dozen players accepted 50-game suspensions. Rodriguez, nicknamed A-Rod, got the toughest penalty: a 211-game suspension, eliminating him from the 2014 season and forever linking his legacy to one of the worst scandals in baseball history.

The 38-year-old third baseman, a three-time most valuable player, didn't fail drug tests to detect steroids or other prohibited substances -- but admits using performance-enhancing drugs as a Texas Rangers player from 2001-03. He vows to appeal the suspension and is expected to file a union grievance through the Players Association if Commissioner Bud Selig won't let him play while the case is under review.

The penalties arise from a January article in a Miami newspaper telling how A-Rod and other players got muscle-builders from a South Florida clinic called Biogenesis. Selig and league executives believe Rodriguez interfered with their inquiry. A Milwaukee Brewers player, Ryan Braun, was suspended last week for 65 games.

Alex Rodriguez says: "It's not time for me to hang it up, . . . I have a lot more fight in me."

Sportswriter says: "A-Rod has lawyers. He runs through them the way he runs through his blonde girlfriends.”—ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports

Columnist says: "If the Players Association really wants to clean up the game, it should do as little as possible to fight for him. He has been anything but forthright and truthful." – Pat Caputo, sports columnist at The News-Herald in Southgate, Mich.

Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.