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Rodney's arrow shot is the dumbest celebration in sports. And doing it in the 8th was even dumber.
It's not an exuberant celebration. It's not something that comes somewhat naturally. It's a forced pantomime of shooting the other team dead. I understand that sports is ritualized battle, but if Rodney instead cocked an imaginary shotgun and 'shot' it at the opposing dugout, that wouldn't quite fly, would it? Well an arrow can be just as deadly as a shotgun shell. Pointing the weapon in another direction is an important difference, but not a big enough one for me to mentally disconnect the killing concept from his act.
What is Rodney shooting at, anyway, pointed to the sky? Is it the crowd? No, wouldn't want to kill the fans. Is it a seagull? I don't think they've wronged him in any way. Is it God? I mean, players often point to the sky when something good happens, thanking their Lord. Maybe Rodney is atheist and is ritualistically killing the Deity after every save.
Maybe my distaste for this celebration stems from the fact that all the times I've seen people shooting weapons in the air, they were celebrating a terrorist attack, a beheading, burning an effigy of a foreign leader, or some other similarly wholesome activity.
I don't care how good Rodney is in the clubhouse, or on the field; I don't care for his persona or the feeling I have that he'll choke when the stakes are highest. I'd prefer a Mariners team with fewer wins if it meant not having him on the team.