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December 13, 2005^9:29pm
Jaydawg^7
A-Rod Considers Playing For Dominican Republic in World Baseball Classic
sports.yahoo.com/top/news;-ylt=Av0hxflKRWVXgFrYjjzifGQRvLYF?slug=ap-wbc-dominican-a-rod&prov=ap&type=lgns//
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     Alex Rodriguez, New York born and Miami bred, is leaning towards playing for the Dominican Republic, the native country of his parents, in the inaugural World Baseball Classic (WBC) next month.  Also, Mike Piazza is committed to playing for Italy, the country of his ancestors.  It kind of reminds me of Zola Budd, neither a citizen or native-born, representing Great Britain in the '84 Summer Olympics.

     This absolutely makes no sense to me.  If you aren't a native-born or citizen of a particular country, you have no business representing that nation in any sporting event.  Having an ancestry in a country shouldn't qualify you either.  I can't speak for Italy, but the Dominican already has an abundance of high-quality players.  In basketball, Hakeem Olajuwon did it the right way.  Prior to joining the Dream Team in '96, he became a U.S. citizen.