And who can blame him?
According to The Washington Times, Sammy Sosa allegedly took a helicopter from Fort Lauderdale to Viera instead of a three-hour bus trip.
This is "controversial," apparently.
And here's an example of the media being way too bored and way too obsessed and not having enough to talk about, it would seem, because maybe I'm in the minority here, but if Sammy Sosa wants to take a helicopter to a spring training game, I really have no problem with it. If Sammy Sosa wants to take a hovercraft or dune buggy from the dugout to right field, I really don't care.
Now, Sosa insists he didn't take the helicopter, and that he drove, but a witness says he took the helicopter as they saw him getting off of it at the airport.
Why lie? Well, Sosa would lie because everyone would get all whiny about how he took a helicopter instead of the bus, which he's well-aware of, because sports fans and sportswriters even more so have the tendency to blow up non-issues like this, likely because of a certain jealousy over the money a baseball player makes, or the fact that he plays a game for a living. And by God, if that was me, I'd take the bus like regular folk!
I know that's not a terribly popular opinion unless you're actually a ballplayer, which I am not, but I think it's true. And I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with it. Am I jealous of Sammy Sosa making $16 million to hit a baseball with mixed results? Sure. Why wouldn't I be? Why wouldn't I wish that was me?
I guess now I'm whining about the whining, but all I'm really saying is, "Who cares?"
Let's ask Lee Mazzilli his opinion: "Do you want to talk about baseball or helicopters?"
Thanks, Lee.