The Comma!

My weekday morning commute always consists of listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio.

Amidst the four hours of rambling, Sports Center interruptions, and not-so-funny jokes, Mike and Mike will throw in a nugget of wisdom – a profound statement – every once in a while that even the casual listener can take away and apply to their lives. Last week, they brought up an interesting point when talking about high-profile Baseball players and their steroid use. (As an example) Alex Rodriguez is without a doubt a player who will go down in history as one of the greatest ever, but before everyone talks about his stats and records, there is going to be an asterisk, a blip on his radar that mentions his illegal usage of performance enhancing drugs.

Here is what one on the Mike’s said, “What comes after the comma when you read someone’s name is just as important as the name itself.”

Think about it.

When we talk about A-Rod, his legacy will forever read, “Alex Rodriguez, who used banned substances from 2001 to 2003, was the youngest player to ever break the 500-home run milestone.”

What stands out? What comes after the comma? What about Rick Patino? What about Michael Vick? What about you? What about me?