A NATION OF SNITCHES AND SELLOUTS

Here a snitch, there a snitch, everywhere a snitch. What the hell is going on in this
country with people ratting on others and selling them out? On the "Today"
show, Tyler Hamilton, a convicted liar, crier, and drug cheat, is pimping his new
book about how he witnessed Lance Armstrong doing performance-enhancing drugs.
He said he felt the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders for his admissions,
but the former Olympic cyclist looked liked he wanted to jump off the Brooklyn
Bridge after his interview with Matt Lauer.

Later in the day, I'm listening to Bobby Valentine's bizarre interview with WEEI in
Boston and he gets all defensive when it came to the question about the Red Sox
manager arriving late to the park. Besides wanting to punch the host in the mouth,
Valentine deflected the attention from himself to Joe Maddon, manager of the the
Tampa Bay Rays, "Joe Maddon gets there (work) every day at 4pm." I realize
Bobby V's under a lot of stress, but to drag Maddon into his cess pool is shameful,
really shameful.

But that seems to be the way of the world lately, doesn't it?  If you're going down,
you might as well drag someone down with you. Hamilton, in addition to Floyd Landis,
certainly embody the "taking you down, too," mantra. Both cyclists were caught
cheating and stripped of the titles and medals. Their reputations were stained forever
so they went on "60 Minutes" and wrote their books  and said, "Hey, if we're going
down, Lance Armstrong is coming with us. He's a cheater, too."

Adrian Gonzalez, formerly of the Red Sox, allegedly texted the owners of the Red Sox
because he and some of his teammates didn't like Valentine and wanted him fired.
Gonzalez, of course, said the text came from his phone, but he didn't send it. Somehow,
back-up catcher, Kelly Shoppach got dragged into it and he was blamed for sending
it out. Whatever, the case, the team cried about their manager and sold him out.

Remember when Eric Mangini ran to the NFL about Bill Belichick and hatched open
"Spygate?" Every job Mangini got was because of the Patriots head coach. He was
groomed by the Hoodie and became a millionaire because of him. But after getting his
butt handed to him one too many times, Mangini ratted out his former friend and mentor.

I don't  agree with cameras on the sideline, but I'm strongly against the way Mangini
squealed on Belichick. He could've handled it differently, like man-to-man. Mangini
got lucky when he landed the Cleveland Browns job after being fired by the Jets. The
Browns owner was enamored with Mangini because he was a ball boy for the team
(Thanks to Belichick) and went over his football executives and hired him.

However, the rest of the coaching fraternity hasn't forgotten about Mangini's
sell-out and it may be a long time, if ever, before Mangini gets another coaching
job. Who can trust a guy like that? Mangini has been pretty much ostracized by
most in NFL coaching circles. When I see Mangini talking on ESPN, I often wonder
if he thinks ratting on his former coach was really worth it.

For those who have played team sports, ratting or selling out teammates was taboo.
You just didn't do it. If you went to a coach about a teammate and the rest of
team found out about it, you'd wear the scarlet letter on your chest for the rest of
your career and probably get your ass kicked every way but sideways.

That doesn't seem to be the code in the working world, where co-workers smile
to your face, stab you in the back, and throw you under the bus to get ahead. That's
just the way of the world, I guess, and it's really, really, sad.