Friday, March 26, 2010

Shocker! A-Rod turned down "Saturday Night Live" - repeatedly!

Buried in today's Joel Sherman's New York Post column about Alex Rodriguez's upcoming interview with the feds about Anthony Galea is one of the more jaw-dropping tidbits I've heard about A-Rod in a while. Sherman says A-Rod "turned down multiple overtures to host Saturday Night Live" this winter.

What???? How could that be? Doesn't he know that hosting "SNL" is one of the perks of being a superstar New York athlete? Turning down the chance to host "Saturday Night Live" is like telling Oprah Winfrey, "No thanks, I'd rather not be on your show." It's just not done!

You may remember I suggested this winter that Joe Mauer wouldn't get to host "Saturday Night Live" or present at the American Music Awards as a Minnesota Twin. And I got some grief from readers this week when I wrote that I "hope [Mauer] knows that his chances of hosting "Saturday Night Live" are officially kaput!

I also actually watched an entire "SNL" episode last November for the first time in ages, in the hope that a Yankee might show up (this was on the Saturday after they won the World Series.) And they had nothing about the Bombers, to my dismay. Given that producer Lorne Michaels is a big Yankee fan who has seats behind home plate, it was weird that there were no Yankee players on the show that night.

Then it was reported in a number of places that Derek Jeter was going to host "SNL" again, this time with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys as musical guests. But that gig never happened. I wondered at the time why "Saturday Night Live" would have Jeter on again, given that his hosting gig showed that he wasn't exactly the best athlete actor ever. At any rate, they didn't have him on again, and they couldn't get Rodriguez on for the first time.

The fact that A-Rod was so low-key in the media this winter - the only media appearance he made was to introduce his good friend Jay-Z at the American Music Awards - was nothing short of stunning. I would have expected him to be all "Take that, haters!" and been ubiquitous in the media, but instead, he stayed relatively quiet.

And as I wrote back in November, A-Rod even low-keyed it at the Yankees tickertape parade, where, with his black hat, black sunglasses and black gloves, it took a second for Yankee fans to even recognize him. And, with Jay-Z along for the ride, he arguably might not have even been the biggest name on his own float.

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, A-Rod, didn't just nix "SNL;" he also turned down Leno, Letterman, and major magazine covers. Alex better not have turned down Oprah, though, or I may never forgive him for that insult!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

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