Is A-Rod the new J-Lo?

One of the biggest news in sports today wasn't Serena Williams' epic comeback from a leg injury that forced her to collapse, or Roger Clemens winning his 350th game or even Tank Johnson being under the legal alcohol limit when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

It was a t-shirt Alex Rodriguez's wife wore to a ballgame.

His wife, Cynthia, wore a white tank top with a naughty message (as the AP put it, a "common, two-word obscenity ending with 'you'") on it to the Yankees-A's game Sunday. The New York Post thought it was important enough to put it on the front page.

My reaction: Why?

What knowledge does the public gain from hearing that Mrs. A-Rod wore a tank top with the F-bomb on it to a ballgame? Or, for that matter, that A-Rod went into a strip joint with a woman he wasn't married to.

Nothing. Zip. Nada.

So why is it news?

As Stephen A. Smith would put it, "Quite frankly, IT ISN'T!"

It's sports celebrity journalism. And it makes me want to roll up a copy of People magazine and beat the head honchos at ESPN over the head with it.

The public certainly has a right to know what athletes do off of the field. They're important people, and children look up to them (for better or worse). So we deserve to know if they help out hurricane victims, like the angelic Peyton Manning does, or if they're monsters like Tom Brady, who impregnates women out of wedlock.

But it shouldn't be front-page news, and it doesn't deserve more than a brief in the newspaper or a blip on SportsCenter.

It troubles me that sports journalism is heading down the same path as the rest of journalism. I hate the fact that Paris Hilton's prison saga monopolizes media coverage while few reporters talk about the prison system itself. I despise the idea that Lindsay Lohan's drug and alcohol problems become big news, but no one talks about where we stand in the war on drugs. And I'm sickened by the fact that CNN talked so much about Prince Harry's tough decision about being deployed to Iraq while so little time is spent on the soldiers who aren't in a position to make that decision.

I don't want that to happen to sports, too.

Athletes, like celebrities deserve their privacy. They should be able to go into Starbucks, shop at Target or, yes, go for a night on the town with a friend without reading about it in the newspaper the next day.

If their off-the-field exploits start affecting their performance in the arena, then let's hear about it. If Maurice Clarett's love for Grey Goose keeps him from suiting up for the Broncos, it's fair game. Or if a defensive tackle bites cops on the wrist and bruises their legs, then the public's right to know trumps their right to privacy.

But until then, athletes deserve to live their lives just like everyone else. No matter what t-shirt they wear.