It's easy to hastily misjudge others and we've all been mistaken for doing so.  But often, over time and with closer evaluation, we realize how easily we were duped.

That panhandler on the sidewalk with the track marks on his arms?  He wasn't really asking for spare change so he could buy something to eat.  That exotic dancer from the club whose most marketable assets being her long legs and deep intellect?  She wasn't really saving the tip money to finish her law degree. But at the time I believed them mostly because I wanted it to be true.

With famous athletes, it becomes even more difficult to accurately assess character.  We don't see the individual so much as we see their public persona.  Admittedly, I've been quick to judge before and, for that, I've been wrong.  Some recent stars who have caused me to flip-flop, Kurt Warner, Shaquille O'Neal, Philip Rivers, Phil Mickelson, Randy Moss, both Peyton and Eli Manning, my initial image of you all was incorrect and upon further review, I admire your dedication and competitive nature.

Next up, is it Alex Rodriguez? 

Well, not quite.  But I'm getting closer.

Up until the last couple of weeks, it hasn't been an easy year for A-Rod.  (That is, as difficult as life can be for someone who earned over $33-million before endorsements.)

Fueled with as much negative publicity as he was performance-enhancing drugs, Rodriguez was labeled a liar, a cheater and a choker before the 2009 major league baseball season began.  Both Selena Roberts and Joe Torre ripped him in the pages of their books while most of the rest of us just ripped into him publicly.

Now, months later, he is a world champion and a postseason performer.  More importantly, he did so without putting himself before or above the team.  Look at this photograph taken shortly after the trophy presentation for the 2009 World Series champions, the New York Yankees.

Notice where Alex Rodriguez is or, more revealing, where he isn't.  Not in the limelight and not acting as the center of attention.

It's something he was never able to do before.  But it wasn't just in this captured photo but throughout the postseason and during the entire World Series that he resisted putting himself first.  Could it be that Alex Rodriguez has finally become a "team guy"?