# Kenny Rogers, put that camera down! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 1, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769 "2005-07-01T22:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/21 "2005-07-02T12:43:40Z")
I am a former news photographer. I have had my camera grabbed, been called names, threatened and had a tiger spash the hell out of me with water. Those things happened for the same reason that things got windy when I used to follow thunderstorms for storm damage video. I went looking for it. We used to call such incidents “newsgasms”. To put it another way, camera folk go where they think news is going to occur. I suspect when Rogers walked out onto the field, the photographers all saw him and hit “record” in case something might happen. Rogers obliged. Here is my theory about what happened next. When a camera is held on the shoulder, if you zoom in, the video gets shaky. Therefore you zoom all the way out and walk toward the subject to get closer. Rogers probably saw the guy approaching and lost it. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/22 "2005-07-02T13:10:55Z")
I have seen the video. The guy was about 15 feet away, and during his turn towards Rogers he may have taken a step or two towards him (maybe 3 feet?). Rogers came right up to him and started pushing, shouting, etc. Then he actually grabbed the guy, and when the camera hit the ground he gave it a couple of swift kicks. Absoluetly uncalled for. The argument that today’s palyer shouldn’t be photographed doesn’t hold water. If he only wants to throw baseballs but not take the other stuff that goes with it, he should go pitch for Midland. ---
**Author:** ![Flyhalf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea5d25/32.png) [@Flyhalf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyhalf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/23 "2005-07-02T15:52:45Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > The media has no right to hound a player; the media does have a right to not be attacked. > > Is that clearer? How exactly was he “hounded”? This is just another example of a professional athlete acting like the big, whiny bitches they are. If someone looks at you as you walk down the office corridor are you going to knock the pda out of their hands? Fuck this fucking prick Rogers and nearly all other professional athletes!! I’m sick to death of these petulant little girls and boys who get paid millions to play a FUCKING GAME and then act like complete dicks!! FUCK THEM ALL!! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/24 "2005-07-02T15:54:02Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Kenny, of all people, should have known when to walk away. . . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/25 "2005-07-02T17:39:38Z")
Me too, **Flyhalf** --and this idiot needs some major anger management classes. Is he mentally ill? Seems like it, in a way. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/26 "2005-07-02T17:54:07Z")
The cameramen were exactly where they had permission form the team to be. The suspension is appropriate, expecially since as a pitcher it means really 4 or 5 starts. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/27 "2005-07-02T20:32:59Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > It is his job to throw baseballs. Not to suck up to the media. > > He deserved his suspension, but I’m not happy with the concept that ballplayers have a responsibility to feed the media. They don’t. Wrong. Professional sports depends a great deal on the relatively free publicity and advertising the news media gives to it. Players and teams ought to treat the media well for fear that they’ll point their cameras elsewhere, at say Tony Hawk or his ilk. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/28 "2005-07-03T02:28:33Z")
No it is his job to be a media person. It is (I bet cha) in his contract. He is supposed to be available for pre- and post-game media stuff. Without the media he would have no job. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/29 "2005-07-03T02:30:07Z")
I think the best punishment for Kenny would be as follows. Whenever he is playing, all cameras avoid him all the time. He doesn’t wanna be filmed? Don’t film him. At all. When he’s on the mound, only film the batters. When he’s up to bat, film the crowds or something. Just keep him off the screen. The cameramen have a union, right? The union should declare a moratorium on Rangers games. Something to the effect that they will not record the games untill Rogers makes a very public apology or something. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/30 "2005-07-03T03:02:36Z")
What makes this suspension so insulting is that it is _with pay_. A 20 game vacation. Bon voyage. Also, it is important to note that _every_ MLB player gets between $40-100k per year for marketing fees. MLB pays the players association each year for baseball cards, team publicity appearances, the rights to use pictures of you playing baseball, etc. This money is divided up evenly between all the players. They _paid_ him to have his picture taken and he still acted like a jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/31 "2005-07-03T03:24:51Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Wrong. Professional sports depends a great deal on the relatively free publicity and advertising the news media gives to it. Players and teams ought to treat the media well for fear that they’ll point their cameras elsewhere, at say Tony Hawk or his ilk. The media does it because the fans demand it. That doesn’t make it right. It’s the moral equivilant of the tabloid photographers chasing around movie stars for the edification of movie fans. As soon as the mass public demands camera shots of Tony Hawk, that’ll happen too. I follow baseball for the game; the only thing the media provides me that I care about is a game recap and the box scores. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/32 "2005-07-03T11:53:07Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > The media does it because the fans demand it. That doesn’t make it right. It’s the moral equivilant of the tabloid photographers chasing around movie stars for the edification of movie fans. As soon as the mass public demands camera shots of Tony Hawk, that’ll happen too. > > I follow baseball for the game; the only thing the media provides me that I care about is a game recap and the box scores. While I agree that for some sports enthusiasts – by no means a large percentage – the game exists outside of television, surely you recognize the fact that if the “media” (and by this I mean all coverage of sports: ESPN, televised broadcasts, local news people, etc.) paid no attention to sports, there wouldn’t BE any sports? At least not in any way similar to how it is now. The sports depend on the media to provide an outlet for their games; the media depend on the sports for content. It’s a symbiotic relationship. The news guys being at the warm ups is more the moral equivilant of photographers going to a movie premier. Put another way, if the media stopped reporting on sports, all those athletes would have to go out and get real jobs. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/33 "2005-07-06T15:34:09Z")
As a somewhat accomplished [Photographer](http://www.takegreatpictures.com/articles/default.asp?aid=106) in his own right, you’d think he’d have a little compassion. okay…that should be the last of the ‘jokes’ regarding the _other_ KR. Seriously, the guy’s a Major League Asshat and Selig should grow a set & suspend him from the All Star Game. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/34 "2005-07-06T15:43:51Z")
> [@AndyPolley](#): > > okay…that should be the last of the ‘jokes’ regarding the _other_ KR. In that case please ignore this post. I just dropped in to see what condition Kenny’s condition was in. Yeah, yeah, Ohhh-Ohh Yeah. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/35 "2005-07-06T15:52:11Z")
when informed of his suspention, was he asked not to take his glove to town? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/36 "2005-07-06T16:33:21Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > when informed of his suspention, was he asked not to take his glove to town? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/37 "2005-07-06T16:37:11Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > 😕 Ruuuuuuuby, don’t take your love to town. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/38 "2005-07-06T16:43:47Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > when informed of his suspention, was he asked not to take his glove to town? No…but his actions were cowardly. In fact, ev’ryone considered him the coward of the county. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/39 "2005-07-06T16:53:42Z")
I’d like to have seen a suspension with some teeth in it. An athlete with known anger management problems attacks without provocation a photographer who’s just doing his job and doing it correctly and he’s to only miss 4 or 5 games and still get paid for it? I think Rogers is suppossed to make somewhere in the high 300s or low 400s over that period. His fine is 50. So he gets a rest and comes out over 300 thousand freakin’ dollars ahead and Selig calls that a punishment? Certainly Rogers will pay some price later when another contract is offered him, obviously discounted since he’s a risk. Still, the Player’s Association appears to lead Selig and MLB around by a rather secure leash. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769/40 "2005-07-06T16:59:35Z")
Isn’t problems with anger a symptom of steroid use? 'Roid Rage? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kenny-rogers-put-that-camera-down/310769.md?page=3)