# John Rocker....Need I say more?? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 23, 1999, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726 "1999-12-23T00:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rousseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Rousseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rousseau)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/1 "1999-12-23T06:00:00Z")
What is the matter with this guy??? OK, at first I thought he was just crazy. Then, during the NLCS, I determined that he was a _really_ crazy hick who grew up throwing rocks at birds or something (like the Big Unit, but crazier). But did anyone else see SportsCenter this morning? It turns out that he is not only the craziest hick in Georgia, he’s also a complete and utter masochistic moron!! Apparently, Professor Rocker looked around last week and realized that nobody’s paying any attention to him any more, least of all New Yorkers, so he gave SI a ringy-ding-ding and randomly made some comments that have simultaneously brought about a bounty on his head and gotten him nominated for Grand Dragon of the Klan, Atlanta chapter. Take it away, John: “The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?” Make that Grand Wizard. Apparently, two straight months of smoking crack and banging his little sister have deluded Rocker into thinking that New Yorkers actually _want_ him to come and play for the Mets. Can you imaging such a thing??? So Professor Rocker continued, on why he would _not_ want to play for the Amazin’s: “Imagine having to take the 7 train to (Shea Stadium) looking like you’re (in) Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing.” Wait. There’s more. “Nowhere else in the country do people spit at you, throw bottles at you, throw quarters at you” and, he said, make vulgar comments about your mother. That’s not true. The only reason he thinks this is because Boston doesn’t have a National League team. By the way, John, if you _ever_ show your ugly mug in Shea, or Yankee Stadium, or anywhere else in the five boroughs, the level of abuse that you will be subjected to will make all prior abuses seem as pleasant as, well, putting the stones to your sister. * * * The IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in the group. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/2 "1999-12-23T00:27:00Z")
Being an Atlanta Braves fan, I must admit I liked his arrogant, in your face attitude. It made the NLCS a whole lot more fun. After hearing what he said this morning (Atlanta talk shows were all over it today), I think he is a backwoods, inbred piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/3 "1999-12-23T00:31:00Z")
I didn’t even know Homer played baseball. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/4 "1999-12-23T14:45:00Z")
I was watching our local Fox affiliate’s news last night, and when the two sports anchors read this story, they made all sorts of snide comments. All I could think, having worked for a time in sports broadcasting, was, “Yeah, talk all you want, because I’m sure you two are REAAAAL tolerant of homosexuals and ‘foreigners’.” * * * “It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 1999, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/5 "1999-12-23T17:04:00Z")
It really pushes that “disagree with what you say but fight to defend your right to say it” concept, doesn’t it? Can’t you just see the Nike, Wheaties, and Campbell’s promotion department people fleeing in terror from this guy? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/6 "1999-12-24T04:55:00Z")
Rys: there’s a heck of a big difference between fighting for someone’s right to say something and paying someone to say something; now, isn’t there? ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/7 "1999-12-24T07:20:00Z")
What, Massa Rocker thought his overblown salary and moonshine allotment were paid for exclusively by his white, redneck fans in Atlanta ? If Pete Rose can get bounced out for gambling, this cretin **really deserves it**. Or bring back the bastinado. Isn’t Turner still the owner ? Wonder what Hanoi Jane thinks… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/8 "1999-12-24T08:33:00Z")
OK, so the guy is an insensitive bigot. However, what he said, and the reaction it has garnered is completely out of whack. He said he doesn’t like foreigners or minorities; well, that’s not the same as advocating the stoking of the ovens at Auschwitz, sterilizing ethnic women, or sodomizing black men with toilet plungers. Now there’s talk of banning him from baseball. Where is the proportionality of the response? Or has political correctness gone so far that it is necessary impose the most Draconian of punishments for any hint of racism? What do you do when you encounter truly evil racists? Double secret probation? I say ignore him. He’s an over-paid jock whose clock is at T-minus 14 minutes and counting. Not worth all the hubbub. * * * TT “Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/9 "1999-12-24T09:17:00Z")
Huh ? I thought this was the BBQ pit ! And, yeah, I would say ignore such folk, except that as a pro-ball player, he has access to a public soapbox as it were, paid for by the fans with their 5$ hot dogs - a significant percentage of whom, like me, are those nasty little swarthy Latinos, African-Americans, and others not on the Skoal mailing list. I’d gladly ignore him if he was truly as harmless as you suggest, and if **I weren’t paying his salary !**. “He’s a witch ! Burn him !” (No offense intended towards Wiccans). Even better: hand him over to Junior Seau. Put another way, _a million rednecks with a million shotguns and a million roadsigns will eventually write out “Mein Kampf”, but I refuse to pay for the ammo_… * * * _O le mea a tamaali’i fa’asala, a o le mea a tufanua fa’alumaina._ ---
**Author:** ![Rousseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Rousseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rousseau)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/10 "1999-12-24T14:46:00Z")
I got the issue of Sports Illustrated in question here, and read the offending article. And guess what? I found another little gem to add to the discussion. It turns out that Rocker has been heard to call an “overweight black teammate” a “fat monkey.” I hope I’m not offending anyone by posting this, but I think we should all appreciate what a model Klansman this guy really is (the picture on the front page of the article is of Rocker in full fatigues in the woods- presumably hunting- presumably for animals). * * * The IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in the group. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/11 "1999-12-24T19:51:00Z")
Don’t forget that Marje Schott got suspended from baseball for making derogatory remarks about jews. Mr Rocker went far beyond Shott’s statements and he should be kicked out for a year. You would think that someone in the Atlanta organization would have instructed him in what you should and shouldn’t say to the media. Of course, when they do let him back in he can stay in Atlanta, because they seem to accept shenanigans more than any other team (EG Bobby Cox, David Justice et al). Just my opinion Keith * * * You want brilliance BEFORE I’ve had my coffee!!! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/12 "1999-12-25T00:17:00Z")
Well I thought I was going to have a hard time sticking to my pledge to give up baseball. Jerks like this are going to make it a breeze! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 1999, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/13 "1999-12-26T04:38:00Z")
So, Vogue, about those Giants tickets… ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 1999, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/14 "1999-12-26T04:56:00Z")
Um, Monty, what’s your point? I was simply saying that: 1. Rocker has the _right_ to make those lamebrain statements, and 2. It’ll be a cold day in hell when any endorsement contracts come his way. See? * * * “Sharpen your cutlasses. There may be skullduggery ahead.” The Penguin ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/15 "1999-12-27T05:29:00Z")
The folks over in **GD** seem to support Rocker ! ---
**Author:** ![dlv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dlv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlv)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/16 "1999-12-27T05:37:00Z")
Did any black athlete ever get punished for saying similar things about Asians, Jews, and whites in general? ---
**Author:** ![ConMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ConMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ConMan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 1999, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/17 "1999-12-27T16:19:00Z")
To dlv: The closest think I can think of is when Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists to salute Black Power at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Actions speak louder than words. Sadly, bigotry (& stupidity) is alive and well in America. And it is not just exclusive to the everyday, common white man either. It exists even in the higher echelons of corporate America. The corporations are just using athletes of any skin color, other than white to put up a huge false-front: "Look, what we are doing! We are helping a black athlete! He is on our board! (usually a non-voting role) To prove my point I need another “Tiger Woods”. Instead of being from America he needs to be from Tehran or Bagdad or Damascus. It would not matter how many tournaments he won, because he is from the Middle East, has olive skin and Muslim, it would be a cold day in hell before American Express would come running up to him with $100M contract! Before Nike would come begging to tattoo his ass with their swoosh! Why? Because the Middle East is associated with terrorism. No corporation in the world would want that stigma associated with their company. Now on the other hand, the corporate world has embraced Sergio Garcia because he looks white. Wait until he comes to the US to play full-time on the PGA Tour and see what kind of endorsements he racks up. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” If we go and stone Rocker then we need to tear down everything else as well. * * * “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’” E A Poe ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/18 "1999-12-28T23:17:00Z")
Kyla, those are my HUSBAND’S tickets. I’ll be the one at the ballpark reading a book during the game. 😉 * * * “Witnesses said the chained helmets, which directly faced each other on their platforms, seemed increasingly angry and agitated in the moments leading up to the disaster.” ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/19 "1999-12-29T15:35:00Z")
dlv: Reggie White had some pretty stupid things to say a few years ago to the Wisconsin state legislature. Other than some ineffectual mutterings about how horrendous his comments were, nothing came of it–sorry, I don’t remember the specifics, just that his comments were similar to Rocker’s comments. Also, a few years ago, when Allen Iverson was still playing at Georgetown, Billy Packer called him a “tough little monkey” during a broadcast. The CBS phone lines were jammed, but Packer apologized right away, and had the support of John Thompson, so it was ok for him to have made a racist comment on national television. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726/20 "1999-12-29T23:40:00Z")
Monty Member posted 12-23-1999 10:55 PM > [@](#): > > Rys: there’s a heck of a big difference between fighting for someone’s right to say something and paying someone to say something; now, isn’t there? To which (apparently unable to read and comprehend the simplest of questions), Rysdad Member posted 12-25-1999 10:56 PM > [@](#): > > Um, Monty, what’s your point? > I was simply saying that: > > 1. Rocker has the right to make those lamebrain statements, and > > 2. It’ll be a cold day in hell when any endorsement contracts come his way. > > See? My point is that, although everyone has a _right_ to say whatever stupid comments he or she wishes (lucky for you, hey?), Rocker’s position as a member of a major sports team lends the _appearance_ of his statements being _condoned or endorsed_ by the management/ownership of said team. Why you’re unable to grasp that is beyond me. I, however, did grasp your original statement and managed to hit the nail on the head with what the hullabub is all about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-rocker-need-i-say-more/3726.md?page=2)