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 ...
Marriotti was a terrific columnist. Even if he had personal shortcomings.
Someone on my facebook who normally makes sense said they don’t understand why he should be suspended because “his opinion has nothing to do with his job”.
I brought up my example of a WalMart greeter saying “f-— you” to everyone who walks in. Should they be fired? And:
“Oh, and a lot of Marlins fans are Cuban. They are not pleased. If you’re the owner of the Marlins, do you want to see thousands of empty seats because of what Ozzie says? Baseball is a business.”
Holy crap - Horrifically incorrect statement by me. I got my lame columnists confused - it was Skip Bayless who was recently exposed as a huge liar thru his bs tweets about his fictitious basketball career - shame on me.
It’s a 162 game season, a 5 game suspension is basically nothing. Basically he’s off until next Monday. Not that big a punishment for alienating a fan base they’re desperately trying to grow. The press might like to talk to him for his personal opinions, but as long as he wears the uniform it’s ALWAYS about the company line. People WILL boycott the Marlins because of what he said, they’re hoping the suspension will reduce that number.
That routine was good enough to win him a world series. No they don’t have a problem with it, as long as he wins.
Liberals weren’t concerned about Guillen’s right to free speech when he was being castigated for calling a reporter a “fag”.
A five game suspension does seem disingenuous. If the owners were really outraged, they should have fired him. Otherwise, they should defend his right to free speech. Five games is just patronizing to those who were truly offended by the comments.
If I were the owner, I would acknowledge his right to free speech, and fire him as a business decision. He’s the manager for MIAMI. You know, Miami, home to 95% of Cuban dissidents, many of whom personally experienced the horrors of Castro. If he was still in Chicago, it wouldn’t have been as big a deal. But a Venezuelan (Venezuela is Cuba’s staunchest ally in Latin America) can’t go to Miami and say he loves Castro, in any context.
The Marlins were stupid for hiring him in the first place. Ozzie is known for saying stupid things. A few years ago he was reprimanded for calling a guy a “fag”, which I don’t think is a big deal, but Miami has a big sizable gay population. This guy just seemed like a bad fit for Miami from the get-go. But five games is pointless.
While your point is valid, I can still understand why it may have offended the local Cubans. What the heck is the manager of the baseball team making stupid or misunderstood remarks when you’re trying to sell stadium tickets for the new arena!
Scouting report on Castro......
No speed.....the team mascot can get around the bases faster than him.......can’t field.....claims the sun is in his eyes even during night games......batting average starts with a zero.......couldn’t hit a beach ball if it was pitched underhand.....not a team player......unless he needs oil......give him a scooter-chair and a bobble-head doll......that will keep him occupied until the old reprobate kicks off.
Is not this the same fan base that has the lowest attendence rate in MLB. I remember seeing pictures from a weekday game last season that had approx 350 people in the entire stadium.
Plus their tickets start at $8.00.
The Cubans never went to Marlin games, anyway. Mark my words - this won't harm this crude drunk in Florida. I'll bet callers to the Miami talk shows (if they still exist) are cheering him.
In 2006, Hussein Obama went to Kenya to campaign for his cousin Rail Odinga, who named one of his sons Fidel Castro Odinga
Future Ozzie Guillen speaking opportunities:
At an NAACP convention: “I respect James Earl Ray. That was a hell of a shot he got off from across the street like that.”
At a B’nai Brith meeting: “Hitler was a good man. He just wanted the best for his country.”
At a Tea Party rally: “I have to thank Barack Obama. He did some great things for my economy, man. I never had to worry about getting a job either.”
At a NOW convention. “You women would be better off if you just shut up and do what you’re told. Go bake some cookies or something.”
In Boston: “I always thought Yankee fans had more class than your fans.”
In Salt Lake City: “I think Mormons are crazy, man. They’re like a cult.”
I was in Miami on Saturday and heard him say on one of the locals sports radio shows that he performs animal sacrifices, 2 so far this season .
The host pressed him on what kind of animals, but Ozzie wouldn’t say because he didn’t want to get into any trouble!
I hated this guy when he was with the White Sox, but he’s definitely statying to grow on me.
I saw him on a CNN spot where he said, “I don’t regret what I said, but I do regret hurting people.”
Guillen will be managing in the cuban winter league by the end of this year.
I’m sure of my critique of the uniforms. You are missing my point entirely.
Show me a Miami Marlins home white jersey for this season that says “Marlins” across the front. You can’t. It doesn’t exist. Their home white jersey says “Miami” on front. Hence my comment about the “Miami Miami”.
Show me a Texas Rangers home white jersey for this season that says Rangers across the front. You can’t. It doesn’t exist. Their home white jerseys read “Texas” across the front. Hence my comment about the “Texas Texas”.
BTW, that New York Giants home uni you posted helps make my point, as the HOME white jersey reads “GIANTS” across the front and NOT “New York”. Thanks.
I have one of them displayed in my basement autographed by Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca.
Hence the Latin face to better identify with the locals...worked out well, eh?
On second thought, perhaps I should have used “local demographic” rather than “fan base”
In that lineup, I’d say #2 is the perp
Those uniforms are a whole lotta UGLY.
I hope he enjoys his Castro Cuban rations too! Oh, I forgot, free health care.
Guillen was fired for being honest. On the other hand, some politicians are at least as far left ideologically but won't admit that they admire leftist despots. (Yes, the book in the pic is anti-US).
Love the pic.
Thanks for the chuckle.
His apology will work when and only when Jorge Mas-Candosa says it is good.
If it doesn’t pass muster on Calle Ocho then he has to go!
Viva CUBA!
” Guillen was fired for being honest”
Honesty is over rated in 2012. Ask Derbyshire : )
Your point would be pointier if it didn’t start with misinformation.
Maybe he was talking about STARLIN Castro!!
When he called an upopular sports columnist a fag he later claimed the word meant something else in Venezuela.
This is classic OZman. He was probably drunk off his ass,
I’m glad he’s Miami’s problem now.
Meanwhile, If Bobby Petrino was only President of the United States he’d still be employed and more popular than ever.
Not to defend Ozzie, but he probably meant that he admired in a way how Castro had managed to survive all those years, not that he liked what he had done to his people. Ozzie says stupid things, and this one was as stupid as could be; an apology, clarification and five- game suspension sounds like a reasonable reaction.
As for calling a reporter a “fag,” he didn’t mean that the guy was a homosexual. The offensive slang term in Spanish for homosexual, “maricón,” is used in many places (including, I guess, Venezuela) to describe not just homosexuals, but someone who is a coward, or a weak person, or generally to insult someone. Just like someone in the U.S. might call someone a fag if he doesn’t want to dive into a swimming pool, or describe something “lame” as “gay” (which the NBA believes is the biggest human-rights problem in America), a Venezuelan might refer to a reporter who writes lies about him as a “maricón” even if he knew him to be heterosexual. And Ozzie translated it into “fag,” and all hell broke loose. Again, I’m not defending Ozzie’s behavior, just explaining that his “mistranslation” explanation is actually correct in a sense.
I agree that's probably what he meant. That's what I took away when I read the comments the first time. I wouldn't have gotten bent out of shape about it but then again Castro didn't imprison my family nor do I have a stake in Marlin ticket sales.
I would go further as to say even if he was a Castro-lover and communist he would have every right to his fool opinions, just as the Marlins have every right to punish or fire him if his comments hurt the team.
As for calling a reporter a “fag,” he didn’t mean that the guy was a homosexual
Absolutely, the South Park episode "The F word" speaks about this. And he was 100% right, the appearently heterosexual Jay Mariotti is perhaps the biggest fag/maricon to ever be a sports writer. That doesn't stop the gays from screaming that it's "homophobic" to use those words in those contexts (they are probably used much more in those contexts than as a purley anti-gay slur).
However I don't buy any of his alleged difficulties with the English lanaguage. I think he knew what he was saying both times and was probably blato both times.
Mariotti was a tool.
I read his columns though, I guess I must like being angry.
I wonder what he’s doing now. Too bad he’s not a music star like Chris Brown, then could have gotten away with hitting his GF instead of being ruined.
Bayliss is also a tool but that’s what makes him entertaining. I not surprised the dude appeartently lied about being a HS B-Ball star. Completely in character. He obviously would have wanted to keep playing if he was good enougn, he wasn’t.
By “blato” you mean “piss-drunk”? I think it’s spelled “blotto” (I could be wrong, though; it’s not a word one often sees in writing).
Viva CUBA and Los Ustados Unidos!
Blotto, you’re right.
I don’t recall ever seeing it in print until now.
I should have said he was “in the bag”. I haven’t heard that one since NYPD Blue.
It appears to be a very arcane saying. Probably originated from the practice of putting booze bottles in paper bags.
Sold in package stores.
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