Who Made Manny?

Having spent less than a week with the Los Angeles Dodgers enigmatic left fielder Manny Ramirez now says he would like to end his career with the team. I wonder how long that sentiment will last.

Ramirez has been playing major league baseball for almost 15 years now and, even in this era of intense media scrutiny, we know surprisingly little about what makes this guy tick. Our only explanation for his absurd conduct is to turn our palms skyward, shrug our shoulders and repeat the cliche "That's just Manny being Manny."

He pouts. He doesn't hustle. He laughs off errors. He uses (likely) phony injuries as leverage. He shoves down senior citizens. And he's still loved by fans. How does this happen?

My question to you all, Who Made Manny? Is this the inevitable evolution of a spoiled athlete used to getting his way, content with the millions he knows he has made and will make, who treats the game he plays as just that, a game.

Is he a creation of the Red Sox front office? Did they repeatedly allow Manny to get away with these ridiculous antics. Did they choose to turn a blind eye to incidents, knowing they needed his bat in the middle of the lineup to contend for a World Series title, and thereby encourage his childish behavior?

Or is it the fans' undying love of him that fosters this behavior? And why do they love him? Is it the bat? Is it the smile? How is this guy given a free pass, when Kenny Rogers (shoving camera men) and others would be crucified for throwing an elderly clubhouse attendant to the ground? Really, does the smile make it all okay? If he scowled like Barry Bonds, would he be equally loathed?

He doesn't hustle, he's a lousy fielder, his minor injuries flare up when he faces hard-throwing right-handed pitchers, he laughs of errors, he hits 500 home runs, he is a World Series MVP, he beats up old men, he was essentially voted off the team by his teammates and yet fans continue to love the guy. How in the world does this happen? How does Manny come to be?

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Brett Favre is back with the Pack and the quarterback competition begins tomorrow in Green Bay. This is probably how it should have been decided all along in an ideal world. But the ideal world doesn't include a media maelstrom following every breath Favre draws.

Now, even if Aaron Rodgers beats out Favre, there will be claims that the Packers' front office was desirous for Favre to go away and Rodgers was destined to win all along. The next few days at Packers' camp are going to be insane.

I know it's the summer and the NFL is short on news, but let's step back and think about what kind of undue attention this story has gotten. Favre had a great year last year, but Drew Brees threw for more yards and Derek Anderson had more TDs. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning is coming off surgery and Tom Brady is coming off a record-setting career year and a stinging loss in a Super Bowl that was supposed to serve as the Pats' coronation as the best team ever.

• Remember when Albert Pujols was supposed to have a terrible year because of all those injuries in the spring? Looks like that prognosis was a little off.

• Speaking of Pujols, Brad Lidge, the man whose psyche Pujols demolished with a monster home run in the 2005 NL Championship Series, has yet to blow a save in 2008.

• Good reporting by ESPN on the USA basketball team's previous opposition to China's human rights abuses and their current position that they're just there to play basketball. For the record, I have no problem with the stance. I also have no problem if an athlete does decide to speak out. For a detailed explanation on my position, see "speech, free."