I’m pretty sure Ozzie can manage to say a stupid thing that will offend one large group or another at least once a week. If they avoid in-game interviews, he might be able to manage a game once in a while.
Because you should be sanctioned by your employer based on your political beliefs. That’s what living in a free society is all about.
It was a very stupid thing to say, but Guillen also apologized profusely and, as far as I can tell, sincerely. (And I think he’s an asshole.) It has nothing to do with baseball and it’s a little grating to see the organization suspend him just as a marketing ploy and a sop to Cuban exiles in the area. I am not sure a five-game suspension will satisfy anybody anyway. There are already groups saying he needs to be fired.
Not true in this case though. The Marlins need to appeal to the large baseball loving Cuban-American pop near the new stadium and the #1 face & voice of the Marlins just lovingly praised their Satan on earth. A manager takes on a responsibilty to the team that is more then managing and Ozzie could not have said much more to alienate the fanbase the Marlins want. A mere singer of “God Bless America” will never sing at Yankee Stadium again for some much lesser insulting statements about Jewish people. Unless Ozzie can get the forgiveness of the local Cuban community he will be fired and I would guess for cause.
And that one actually was bullshit: he made an innocent joke in private conversation about someone else’s bigotry, and someone took it to the press. But it’s true the manager is the face of the team in the community, and Guillen was very clearly hired for that purpose.
First, he’s not being sanctioned for his political beliefs. His comments weren’t about politics at all - they were about how he was impressed that Castro survived as long as he did while being targeted.
Second, his job has as one of its responsibilities being a liaison to the Hispanic (in Miami read: Cuban) community. Praising Castro, even in a limited manner, is not doing his job.
His best bet is to apologize profuse and sincerely, accept the suspension with humility, and hope it fades away.
Right. And Castro actually did do that (of course, he did it by oppressing people), which sort of makes you wonder why Guillen isn’t allowed to say “I respect Fidel Castro … A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still here.”
He did that before he was suspended. In fact I think he was coming back to Miami to apologize in person even though he’s supposed to be managing the team.
…Humility? We were talking about Ozzie Guillen, right?
I think he would have been fine without the “respect” and “love” verbiage. And your point in the paranthesis is key - many of the people Castro oppressed in order to “still be here” (or the relatives thereof) are now potential fans of the Miami Marlins. That’s bad PR to the Nth degree.
And really is surviving as a dictator worthy of respect? Anybody without a conscience and with a military can do it - Kim, Pol Pot, Saddam. None really worthy of respect in my book. As long as you have an intelligence service and the willingness to torture and imprison your citizens it’s not really that hard.
Yeah, that part could be tough for him.
That’s the part that’s making me a little less annoyed about the response he’s getting.
I don’t think so, but I also don’t care if Ozzie Guillen feels differently. I will say that it’s kind of ridiculous that nothing happened to Ozzie when he not only praised Hugo Chavez in 2005, but appeared on Chavez’s radio show. Since Ozzie’s too dumb to stop talking about dictators - does he feel a kinship? I have to ask - maybe the is not to offend groups who are organized enough to earn special treatment.
Not to mention that MLB didn’t see fit to take any action five years back when Guillen was calling journalists fags.
This is stupid. I think Guillen is a dick, for all sorts of reasons, but this suspension is bullshit.
ETA: Oops, i was wrong. Ozzie got fined for the “fag” thing. But no suspension.
Of course that’s the key. In particular, not to offend groups that are organized and are the majority of your fan base.
Compare the response to his comments slurring gays to the response someone doing the same gets in Hollywood. It’s called “knowing your audience” and is the key to any high-profile job.
Isn’t it the team that’s suspending Guillen, not MLB? That would seem to be an important distinction. I’d agree with you that MLB shouldn’t do anything to Guillen, given their inaction over his Chavez comments, cited by Marley, or their paltry punishment over his “fag” comments. His team, OTOH, should be free to drop the hammer on him, if they so choose, and if it doesn’t conflict with Guillen’s employment contract.
How much money did Miami and Dade County give the Marlins to build that new stadium? Something like $2B in incentives over the next 40 years? And their new manager turns around on his first regular season week on the job and starts insulting one of the significant minorities in the area? I’m surprised the suspension isn’t for longer.
In other MLB news, how weird is it that the Astros are 3-1?
Actually, that’s sort of why i can’t get too worked up about this.
The shafting that the taxpayers took for that stadium is far more offensive than anything Guillen could say about Fidel Castro. When you’ve bent over and taken it that hard, it’s a bit late to complain that your ass-rapist isn’t using quite enough lube.
Right, “give.” This is still less insulting than what team president said about the people who are being forced to pay for his stadium.
Oh, I completely agree with you both. Were it up to me, MLB—hell, all sports leagues— would be obligated to adopt a Pac Bell Park model for stadium funding. It infuriates me that sports teams are allowed to plunder the public treasury as if it were their own piggy bank. We are still paying off the bonds that were issued to renovate the Astrodome to try and keep the Oilers in Houston. Just disgusting.
For crying out loud though, didn’t you do any due diligence on Ozzie Guillen when you offered him the job? Did you think he wouldn’t say anything controversial? All will be forgiven if the Marlins run away with the East.
Are we talking about the same guy who referred to Fidel Castro, in the same statement, as a “son of a bitch”? It was a statement of grudging admiration for his staying power, not an endorsement of his politics.
I realize some people in Miami are still so butthurt about the long-ago revolution in Cuba that they shit their pants anytime anyone says anything about Cuba that is not a prepared text from the Association of Cuban-Americans That Did Well Under the Batista Regime, but there comes a time when you have to tell people that you can’t pussyfoot around their misinterpretations.
A thousand bucks says the people who claim they’re going to boycott the team weren’t gonna buy tickets anyway.
The second game of the season, if it is a weekday, is always the most poorly attended day of the season.
They obviously took a wrong turn on the bus back from Scottsdale, and wound up in Bizarro-land.
What’s with the schedule this week? They played a game in Denver Monday, then have an off-day Tuesday, then play two more Wednesday and Thursday before flying back to SF for the home opener on Friday. Why not play M-T-W and have an off-day for travel on Thursday?
Yeah, that’s a fair point. But, on the other hand, dealing with anti-Castro Cubans sort of goes with the territory in Miami, no?
This was a day game on a Saturday when it was in the 60s and sunny. And yet Wrigley wasn’t full and I was able to get good seats at about half face value.
I can sort of understand GAB being two-thirds empty on a Monday night. But it doesn’t speak very well of the Reds drawing power that they can’t do a bit better after their big splash for Votto.
The home opener in LA was a little more low-key than I would have anticipated, in terms of pre-game stuff. Of course, it sucked a little bit of enthusiasm out of the air that Magic Johnson couldn’t/didn’t come, and that Vin Scully was out sick (I overheard someone saying it was the first home opener he’d missed since 1977). Still, a great time at the ballpark, a solid pitching performance from Kershaw, and the bullpen did it’s job. Despite the lack of offense, we’ll take the W.
Getting out the parking lot today sucked, though. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Mariners lost again to the Rangers, but managed to hold them to only 1 run. Apparently, this was only the tenth 1-0 game in the history of the Ballpark at Arlington.