Classic Rant #116 (October 22, 2009): Zipper Up For Safety, Zipper Up!

Why is it so difficult for some famous guys to keep their pants on when dealing with the opposite sex? I really don't understand it.

The latest such incident involves Steve Phillips, current ESPN analyst and former New York Mets GM. He supposedly had a three-week affair with some lowly recent college grad who has worked for various sports-oriented services during the past few years.

The problem is that this lady has an extremely big mouth. She has blabbed to anyone who will listen (and you known the media loves this stuff, so they listened) that she had this relationship, and she even had the audacity to contact Phillips' wife and try to contact his child on Facebook (another reason to hate that service).

Anyway, Phillips has taken a leave of absence from his ESPN gig, and his wife as filed for divorce.

Believe me, Phillips does not deserve anybody's pity. He has been caught doing this before, when he was the Mets GM.

And the woman does not deserve anybody's sympathy either. She has said something to the effect that she would do anything to get ahead, and I guess that means sleeping with the proper person.

A few weeks ago, David Letterman got into the same scrap, and throughout recent history, many, many others have been tripped up and fallen hard when their affairs became public. Some have been able to get up and brush themselves off, like Ted Kennedy; others have taken a nosedive into oblivion, like Gary Hart.

I simply do not understand why these guys can't foresee problems when they get involved like this. I know that young ladies may be very tempting to them, but you have to resist the temptation. "Look, but don't touch" should be their motto, but it isn't.

And these young girls, as I said before, really don't deserve any sympathy from anyone. I mean, don't you think they know exactly what they are doing?

I guess it's just that when you pair up males and females, you are going to have indiscretions.

I just wish that the guys would think of their wives and families before doing this, and I just wish the women didn't think they needed to do this to get ahead in the world.