Posted on 06/21/2006 12:37:16 PM PDT by Roberts
On Tuesday to reporters, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen referred to Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Around the Horn contributor Jay Mariotti as a derogatory name for a homosexual.
Angry with a recent column by Mariotti critical of Guillen's handling of recently demoted relief pitcher Sean Tracey and upset with Mariotti with columns of the past, Guillen said to reporters when referring to Mariotti before Tuesday's game with the Cardinals, "What a piece of [expletive] he is, [expletive] fag."
"I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country." Ozzie Guillen Mariotti was covering the NBA Finals Tuesday night and was not present to hear what Guillen said.
Columnist Greg Couch of the Sun-Times wrote a column Wednesday in response, calling for commissioner Bud Selig to suspend Guillen for his use of a "hurtful homophobic" term.
Before writing the column, Couch asked Guillen for an explanation. Guillen defended his use of the term "fag" by saying this about homosexuals and the use of the word in question: "I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country.''
Guillen said that in his native Venezuela, that word is not a reference to a person's sexuality, but to his courage. He said he was saying that Mariotti is "not man enough to meet me and talk about [things before writing].''
Guillen also told Couch that he has gay friends, attends WNBA games, went to a Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games in Chicago.
"I called that of this man [Mariotti],'' he told Couch. "I'm not trying to hurt anybody [else]."
Scott Reifert, the White Sox's vice president of communications, offered to apologize on behalf of the organization when approached by Couch.
"To anybody who was insulted or hurt by that comment ... as an organization, we'll certainly apologize," Reifert told Couch.
"Guillen said that in his native Venezuela, that word is not a reference to a person's sexuality, but to his courage. He said he was saying that Mariotti is "not man enough to meet me and talk about [things before writing].''
Guillen also told Couch that he has gay friends, attends WNBA games, went to a Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games in Chicago."
On another note, how insensitive of Couch not to be more understanding of Guillen's culture!
What? He was calling him a cigarette?
I love how if you admit to attending WNBA games, that makes you an okay person.
I would say that makes somebody unfit to lead. Those games are plain awful.
He wins, his guys put out for him and in the end, PC-ness takes a back seat. He expects his team to play hard and stick up for one another. Hit one of his guys intentionally and you should expect that someone is going to hit one of your guys.
Old school.
Guillen is bizarre. At first he seemed to be goofy and fun-loving, but the more he talks the more he exposes a petty soul and a callous heart.
Yes, old school. But an old school manager would not ask a rookie to do it, nor would he publicly vituperate a player who tried his best. Guillen is not old school. Old school is a guy like Frank Robinson.
ROFLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That would seem to be punishment enough for what he said.
He gave the kid a chance to make his bones and he blew it. The kid would have gotten a lot of respect in the clubhouse for taking care of business.
A veteran would know what to do without being told.
Sounds like that South Side charm...
No, he used the kid as a cat's paw because he was afraid that a veteran pitcher would get suspended. The kid was getting sent to the minors the next day anyway because of a recent trade. This was not a chance for the kid to become part of the team at all. He was a patsy. And Guillen's antics were embarrassing, or should have been. "Discussions" like that should take place behind closed doors, not on national TV.
I don't think anyone here has read Jay Mariotti. He is a piece of garbage. While Ozzie isn't the best with words, he is right on the mark. The only joke is the Sun Times, if you read Mariotti's columns it is 100% negativity. I don't know one person in this city who likes him.
I have to side with Ozzie on this one - hell, in a movie Sean Penn got to refer to his surfing opponents "They're all fags, man!!!!" so why can't Ozzie use the F-word?
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