Posted on 04/10/2012 7:50:22 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
The Miami Marlins have suspended Manager Ozzie Guillen for five games, effective immediately, the team said Tuesday.
Guillen sparked a firestorm when he told Time magazine recently that he respected Fidel Castro for being able to lead Cuba for six decades.
"I respect Fidel Castro," Guillen said in the article. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.blogs.cnn.com ...
You dumb gringos don’t understand Spanish!
Can we suspend Baraq for a week too since he loves Castro even more than Guillen?
I knew a guy who recently passed away: very Conservative and Cuban. I could only imagine his thoughts.
That’s not gonna be enough to placate their Cuban-American fans. They are gonna have to eat Ozzie’s contract and ship him off into retirement in Hugo Chavez-land.
What does anything he said have to do with baseball? And what does suspending him for his free speech accomplish?
LOL
The American left loves Fidel. Michael Moore loves Cuba and it’s healthcare system. The American left reveres Che Guevara, (a key and violent component of Cuba’s new Castro led government). But, the Cuban Americans in Florida who escaped Cuba equate Fidel Castro to Hitler.
It seems someone has a disconnect from reality? Why doesn’t someone point this out?
Cubans in Miami fill a lot of those Marlins seats. If they don’t accept his apology it will affect the ball club. As for his right to free speech, nobody made him shut up. He said what he thought but sometimes there are consequences that go along with speaking your mind.
This Gringo lived in Miami for over 10 years. Praising Castro is as bad as Blasphemy! Some things you just don’t say. Many Cuban-Americans lost family members and friends under the Castro Dictatorship!
You don’t have free speech in private employment.
“What does anything he said have to do with baseball? And what does suspending him for his free speech accomplish?”
He is the well paid public face of the franchise. What he says in a public forum matters.
No one is suspending his free speech. Guillen is free to say what he wants, and the Marlins ownership is free to react. Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence. You should study up on the 1st amendment.
The Marlins are trying to build a fan base in South Florida and Ozzie’s remarks don’t help. THAT is what it has to do with baseball.
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Baseball is entertainment; if you upset people you’re less likely to get their entertainment dollars. Ozzie’s free speech only means he can’t be prosecuted for saying whatever he wants about Castro - otherwise, he’ll learn his free speech can be very costly when viewed by his employer.
It will possibly placate the target market for what the Marlins are selling.
Private decision by a private for-profit business.
Guillen appears to be in a long slow process of self destructing anyway.
Hate Castro, obviously, but not sure I agree with this decision. It’s akin to the stories we’ve seen lately where teachers have been suspended for “controversial” facebook postings.
We need a bit more common sense in society. This guy clearly needs more in his head. But even in a private employer situation, it seems a bit much. These guys are always getting interviewed for their PERSONAL opinions... not necessarily the “company line.”
We're so messed up.
Not the first time Guillen shot off his mouth before engaging his brain. What was he thinking? He’s a manager in SOUTH FLORIDA! It’s like a deli owner in NYC praising Hitler. What a maroon...
They really had no choice. They just opened a brand new stadium in Little Havana. Changed the team name and uniforms and spent a fortune on new ball players, and this moron comes along and insults the heart and soul of Miami. Had they not done this, it would have caused havoc on their season.
I still think it is a cloud that will not easily dissipate.
(Miami):>>As of 2010, the ethnic composition of Miami was as follows: 72.6% White (includes White Hispanic), 11.9% Non-Hispanic White...Hispanic or Latinos of any race made up 70.0% of the population. As of 2000, in terms of national origin and/or ethnic origin, 34.1% of the populace was Cuban
A famed Cuban pitcher (Red Sox etc): Luis Tiant
That’s what I’m asking.
He actually called Jay Mariotti, a real lame-ass columnist here in Chicago (and recently outed as a major-league liar), a “fag” and took a lot of heat for it. As if gay men would even touch a women-beating dirt bag like Mariotti anyway....
Sadly I think you’re right. As the man who brought my obsession of a team the World Series, I’ll always love him, but I guess it’s going to have to be for what he was, and not what he is.
"I've got my routine. Game's over, stay in the lobby of the hotel, the hotel bar, get drunk and go to sleep," he told the Palm Beach Post.
"I get drunk because I'm happy because we won or get drunk because I'm very sad and disturbed because we lose. Same routine for 25, 28 years. It hasn't changed. I don't like to go out."
As I am sure you know, the team changed its name recently from the FLORIDA Marlins to the MIAMI Marlins much of which was to identify with the specific area.
That’s Ozzie being Ozzie - used to it after years of him here in Chicago. But you can’t compare his victimless stupidity to upsetting a huge portion of your fan base.
Ozzie seems to be real good at alienating people as displayed by the long fight with Magglio Ordonez. I don’t know what it was about or what started it but I do know that Ordonez had a few good years with the Tigers and even took a batting title.
I know that Guillen and Ordonez have patched things up enough to be civil and Guillen even picked Ordonez as an All star reliever since the fight.
Hideous is a word that comes to mind. Asinine for the failure to incorporate the team name.
Are they the “Miami Miami”? I can’t wait to see them play the “Texas Texas”.
You said just what I was thinking. We are all free to say whatever we want, but there can be consequences to what we say.
If you go into work, and publicly call your boss a mother fletcher in a staff meeting, for example, or openly compare his management style to Hilter, in earshot of others, you may well not have that job anymore. You are free to say things, but consequences can happen if you say offensive things.
Considering their fan base, management wanted a Latin face for their revamped franchise...affirmative action in action.
Yes...and these days “Jim Ed Rice”,next to him on top, is on New England Sports Network
Strike Two....
As an aside, I can’t help but remember, every time I hear about or see Jim Rice, the time I was watching a game and I saw him check his swing so quickly it snapped his bat. I know that has something to do with those thin-handled bats that are popular now, but still; I’ve never seen anyone else with the wrist strength to be able to do that.
Once saw Dave Winfield do it.
He got "sensitivity training" dictated by MLB. Not sure if he was suspended for it, though.
Ozzie just insisted on the baseball channel that he is not stupid. He said if this happens again and he doesn't learn from this then he is stupid.
I think this is all so stupid because he didn't say anything that is wrong. But he should just stick to baseball.
Of course he has the freedom to say what he wants. There is no LAW against it. And his EMPLOYER has the right to do what THEY want as he represents the organization.
I have the right to say what I want...but if opening my piehole will cost my company money...I bet I'd be looking for a new job after too many infractions...and rightly so...hypothetically speaking.
No, I agree with BBC’s complaint - I like the team’s nickname on their home uni’s - it’s a tradition I approve of. It’s weird to play the Rangers down in Arlington and see that “TEXAS” blaring across their chest. It’s like a pitcher wearing a single digit number - it’s just visually wrong.
He basically called him a tough son of a bitch. That's offensive high praise? Even the Cuban refugees who hate him know that is fact, and "son of a bitch" isn't terribly supportive.
People who may otherwise give the Marlins their money are offended. If your business depends on other people giving you money, it’s best not to offend those people, be it rational or not.
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