MANNY

Manny Ramirez's 50-game suspension was the story of the week, and while it was disappointing, it wasn't all that surprising. The same, too, could be said for the media's reaction to it.

Most, such as Buster Olney, the normally fantastic ESPN.com writer, completely overreacted. Olney wrote that a positive test should trigger a lifetime ban. That's ridiculous. All of baseball, from the commissioner's office down to the players on the field, has turned a blind eye to performance-enhancing drugs for more than two decades. The players, therefore, shouldn't take the fall for something in which all parties involved have been culpable.

Others just didn't make sense. Jayson Stark, also of the ever-declining ESPN brand chimed in, writing a column Thursday that ripped Manny for lying about the circumstances surrounding his suspension. "Why should [the fans] forgive a man who was willing to do something this stupid, and then tried to spin his crime away with a statement saying, essentially, that it was all his dopey doctor's fault," Stark asked.

Uh, Jayson, wow. That's all I can say, wow. Ever heard of Ray Lewis, who was arrested in connection with a murder and then was cheered by fans less than a year later, when he led the Baltimore Ravens to their first and only Super Bowl victory? And Stark wants you to believe that Manny is beyond forgiveness at this point? Fans will forgive anything.

Yes, there will be some who will hold it against him for the rest of his life. Many others, however, will forget it the moment Manny steps on the field again on July 3, mostly because they know the only thing that separates him from the vast majority who also used PEDs during their career is that Manny got caught.

Stark and other baseball writers don't want you to believe that, though. See, if everyone was doing it, that means those guys weren't asking enough questions (such as, wow, Brady Anderson hitting 50 home runs in a season seem a bit odd, doesn't it?). To Olney's credit, he's expressed regret that he didn't do a better job during that time. Others haven't come close to accepting some of the blame. ...

MEDIA REACTION UPDATE

Former player and current "broadcaster" (I think that's what he's trying to do) John Kruk went on SportsCenter Sunday morning to say he was upset that Manny let his teammates down by using PEDs. Really, John? Three of Kruk's teammates with the 1993 National League champion Philadelphia Phillies were Darren Dalton, Lenny Dykstra and Pete Incaviglia, three guys whom, with my life on the line, I would bet used steroids for years. Wonder if John felt let down by them when they helped the team get to the World Series that season?

I didn't know what to make of Bill Simmon's column about the whole Manny affair. Simmons, who is mostly far too verbose and long winded, nonetheless, was thought provoking, questioning the the validity of Boston's 2004 World Series title. On one hand, I agree with him: That team was dirty. On the other, all the teams were to some extent, which makes it hard to single out the Red Sox. Whatever the case, it was the most honest of all the columns I have read since Thursday, when the news broke.