Needles And Pins

There's a PSA that has a man standing outside a convenience store talking about how he can't be blamed for children being on drugs anymore because all the drugs the kids need are inside their parent's medicine cabinets. There's a definite trend these days toward prescription drugs, and two very public figures screwed up their life in very public ways by using them.

The first is, of course, Michael Jackson. Since he died from them, his story takes priority over the other one. It's coming out now that he was using a drug that most of us couldn't and wouldn't want to get our hands on. He did have problems with other prescription drugs though. Since no one, especially celebrities, wants to be seen on a corner buying street drugs, it shouldn't be surprising that scripts are so common. It's made worse, of course, by the fact that he was injecting them. It's a lot harder to control the dosage when a) you're shooting them and b) you're having someone else do it. It's much more dangerous and the addiction moves faster. I'm guessing that Michael wanted to see his kids grow up and it's sad that his story ends here.

The second is Manny Ramirez. He didn't die, but his Hall Of Fame career did. Sure, he'll keep most of his fans (myself included), but he won't be entering the HOF if history proves true.

These two men had overwhelming amounts of natural talent and in Manny's case needed nothing to bolster anything he didn't already possess. Michael had a well known history of script abuse and no one did anything about it except give him more. I'm wondering of the whys of celebrity. Yes, I suppose it's cool to know a celebrity and be in their life. I don't think it's cool to watch someone kill themselves or their career, because you're afraid of standing up to someone. These two needed someone to stop them. Someone who put them before the fear of being banished from the "inner circle". All of these people are no longer in Michael's inner circle, because he's dead and now Manny has banished quite a few people out of the fear of "looking dirty". So what did all the coddling of these two get anyone? A corpse and and one way ticket out of Mannywood. Yay. Now they'll get to go do it to the next celebrity who is afraid of not reaching the peaks of their former successes.

Michael's next release (the first in a very long line I'm sure), will sell bigger than almost anything he's done since Dangerous, and the Dodgers ticket sales will be through the roof again. Was it worth it? Of course not. Now it'll be Michael Jackson the junkie child molester (more on that in my next post) and Manny the steroid user. Was that how they wanted to be remembered? God, I hope not. Michael Jackson did so much more in his life than take drugs (yeah yeah yeah or molest children, but I SAID more on that in the NEXT post) and he should be remembered for that. Remember the joy that his music brought, the people he helped and the wonder of his dancing. Forget the drugs. Forget every needle except the one you brought down on Thriller when it was released. With Manny, since he is still alive, there are endless questions and not enough answers. I'd say remember the happiness in his eyes when he hits the ball out of the park, or his exhilaration at winning the Series and stick a pin down on these last few months until there are answers as to how long and what. You know that he's playing clean now, so let's see what he does. Maybe he'll suck, but I doubt it.

It's going to be hard to remember these two as clean, as the media will be shoving it down your throat for a long time that they weren't. At one time, though, they were and you loved them. Did Manny cheat? Probably. Did Michael? Just himself and his children. Does it really concern us? No. Do we enjoy them less knowing what they did? Maybe some of you with Manny, but you shouldn't. We know he was clean during both of the Sox Series wins, and that's what we remember about him. Oddly, neither one of these two will ever have the chance to clear their names (Next post...shut up! I'm not ignoring anything), one because he's dead and the other because it's in his best interest to stay quiet. There will be tragic answers in Michael's case, and lots of speculation in Manny's.

These are two talented men who shot (no pun intended) themselves in the foot by going about things in the wrong way. Yet, the same people who are now crucifying them are the ones who set their pedestals so high, they couldn't step off of them. These are two mortal men, who used drugs. They shouldn't have, but they did and they paid. Let them both have peace.