Rewarding bad behavior

It's one thing that Manny Ramirez - the supposedly bigger-than-life-superstar baseball player - had so little respect for his team and the game to violate the league's drug policy. It's another that the violation was so substantial that it was penalized to the tune of a 50-game suspension (nearly one-third of the 162-game season) with a subsequent $8 million dollar loss in compensation. It's yet another that perhaps millions of fans (many of them kids) have this type of example set in front of them and that Ramirez apparently never thought of the impact on his brand while doing this.

Now for the latest chapter. He currently is the fourth highest voted player for the outfield in this year's All-Star Game. He may actually win a starting spot and is assurred of a place on the team.

I thought All-Star voting was supposed to be based on performance. How can someone be voted to the team who isn't even playing? Clearly this is a popularity contest and a sympathy vote by fans willing to overlook all that he has done or in backlash to the league's ruling - or both.

Whose brilliant idea was it to put him on the ballot or to allow write-in votes to count? If he's suspended, he's suspended. End of story.

What kind of a message are we sending? You can do wrong, get caught, get penalized, and still triumph?

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