Another Reason to Hate Valentine's Day

So today is Cupid's Day. It's the day when lovers across the country grace their significant others with flowers, chocolate, teddy bears, and if you're my cousin Dan, probably a new Giants jersey. Just kidding, Danny.

I've never really been a big Valentine's Day guy. By no means do I hate the day or whine about it as a pathetic Hallmark holiday. I just find myself in the position where I don't want to give a girl the wrong idea by gracing her with the sweetness of the Sip. So we will see.

But there are many out there that do hate Valentine's Day. To some it's corny, to others it's depressing.

Well for all you cynics out there, I have yet one more reason to hate Valentine's Day.

None other then George Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner, for those who follow New York sports is many things, a great guy not being one of them. Unqualified Asshole is probably more fitting (for a refresher, follow this link: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/steinbrenner.html).

But we'll give the guy his due. He is committed to winning, he's a savvy businessman, a dedicated horse-owner, and my god does he know how to wear a turtleneck.

But he is not a good guy.

But you wouldn't know that today, of course, not on the day when love is in the air. No, today the headlines read "George Steinbrenner, HEART OF GOLD".

This guy has about as much of a heart of gold as Muriel Lang in the 1992 box office juggernaut, "It Could Happen to You", co-starring a younger, less-of-a-toolbox Nic Cage.

So the story out of Bumble Fuck, Arkansas is that some kid saved up all his money to take a trip to Yankee Stadium this summer to watch his beloved Yankees.

The kid, Jonathan Farrar, claimed that "the Yankees are my main love in life."

That's nice and all, kid, but you're from Arkansas. As AFOMG observed via e-mail from the New York Office yesterday, this story would be a lot sweeter if the kid had any business being a Yankee fan. But you know what? Fine. We're willing to accept that this favorite son of Little Rock, Ark. grew up bleeding Yankee navy blue.

So anyway, this kid had saved up $1,000 to make the trip to NY to celebrate a belated 13th birthday. But, when he found out that his middle school was going under and needed the town's help he gave his money to the school, instead.

I gotta say, what a good kid. It really is a nice story, even if it is about a Yankee fan from Arkansas. My purpose here isn't to take anything away from Jonathan. He made about as noble a gesture as you can expect out of a 12-year-old kid, and he's done enough to convince me that maybe, underneath it all, some Yankee fans aren't actually the scum of the earth.

So my beef's not with Jonathan, but rather with George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner was informed of the kid's story, one can only imagine by his PR people, and contacted the kid. He invited him up to NY for a game this summer, told him he could walk the field etc., and then even gave the kid his $1,000 back.

What a guy.

Steinbrenner did what anyone with a bilion dollars and a baseball team could do.

But it's the way he did it and what he didn't do that bother me (mostly because I am a bitter Mets fan.)

Steinbrenner's actions and quotes made the story less about the kid and more about the Yankees and himself. In an effort to further their place as the almighty franchise, Steinbrenner went public with the story. I guess you can't knock him there. It is good PR.

"We're going to honor him and welcome him," Steinbrenner said through his spokesman Howard J. Rubenstein. "We're going to give him a New York Yankees welcome."

How sweet, George. You mean you're willing to buy this kid a plane ticket, reimburse him a thousand bucks, and give him a tour of Yankee Stadium? Again, high marks for PR-value, but if Steinbrenner really cared about this kid or about his story there is a lot more he could have done.

This kid was willing to give up his dream to support his community. Why couldn't Steinbrenner earmark one of his many millions of dollars that'll probably end up going to the next Raul Mondesi help the kid out where it was truly important? Why not help this kid's town, pledge $100,000 to the community, and actually make a sacrifice that is, in fact, something of a sacrifice?

This kid was willing to sacrifice, he was willing to give up everything he had, because he is a good person. A thousand bucks is no insignificant chunk of change to a 12-year-old kid (or to a 23 year old blogger, for that matter.)

Steinbrenner gives the kid his money back, a ticket, and a tour.

Clearly, Steinbrenner doesn't give two shits about this kid or his story. Instead, he cared about getting the Yankees their monthly dose of good press.

Call me a cynic, but on this day of love and romanticism, I wanted to show my anger.

As AFOMG put it a few months back, you don't hear much about David Wright's foundation. He doesn't crave the spotlight or use his foundation to better his image. He does it because he knows he should.

Well Georgie, if you really care, go to the next step. Build this kid his dream baseball field in his hometown. Help build a new athletic facility for his middle school. But don't offer something that you give to your pals because you can. Do something because you care, otherwise your actions are completely transparent. And while you're at it, pay my goddamn rent already. Geez!

George Steinbrenner is starting to rank up there with President Charles Logan and this girl I met out in San Fran as my least favorite person of the year (Johnny Damon, for those curious, was the 2005 winner. That doesn't disqualify him from the running, but based on 2006 alone he doesn't quite crack the list).

Anyway though, enough of the bitterness.

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Chipper, get Mom's some roses and a Newsweek, classic Momo style.

Best to all.

VCD,

SM