ADAM LAROCHE: BIG GAME LOSER

Social media was flooded on Thursday with a picture of Washington Nationals
first baseman Adam LaRouche kneeling down next to a massive, 12-point Elk he
shot while doing some off-season hunting in Wyoming.

Even if you're not a hunter, the photo is spell-binding and spectacular simply because the
Elk is incredibly huge. It appears to be the Arnold Schwarzneggar of its species except
without all the unnatural ingredients (PED's) needed to get so massive. It is, or was,
an incredibly beautiful animal that is sure to be stuffed and mounted somewhere in
LaRoche's equally mammoth home.

The veteran first baseman tweeted out to the world, "Thank you Lord for Rocky
Mountain Elk." That's great, really great.

I'm sure by noon on Thursday, LaRoche will receive more texts than his cell phone can
handle and be all over 'SportsCenter' as if he just produced a triple-double against the San
Antonio Spurs. Most of the nation will ooh and aaah over the photo and share it with
all their Facebook buddies. There will be plenty of OMG's and hash tags of Twitter that
will go along with the picture. I'm sure LaRoche will get interviewed far more than at
any point during last season. Carson Daly is bound to be talking about LaRoche and
his trophy Friday morning in the orange room on the 'Today' show.

Good, grief.

What kind of talent does it take to shoot a 700-pound Elk with a high-powered rifle
equipped with a scope that can see the zit on an Elephant's butt all the way in China?
Is it about being steady, patient, and having a 'good eye?' Seriously?

Oh, sure, there will be those who will be saying the elk population is out of control
and doing bad things to the environment and it's OK to kill a few of them off. I'm
sure all those Duck Dynasty-type of characters will proclaim that killing Elk is
a 'sport'.

Whatever.

It's a joke to think that shooting something as big as that Elk and runs slower than
me is a considered 'sport'. To me, it's nothing more than cheap entertainment and
a cheap way to say that you, as a hunter, really accomplished something special.
That's right, you killed something, so go ahead and smile, pose, and act as if you
just conquered world hunger.

It sure didn't take long for A-Rod to get off the hook and the back pages.

Can't wait to see what the news cycle gives us tomorrow.