Ken Rosenthal recently wrote a very even-handed piece over on Fox Sports about Ozzie Guillen’s comments regarding Fidel Castro. Rosenthal’s piece ultimately called for the Marlins to suspend Guillen as a way setting a precedent that such unedited comments—which Ozzie is renowned for—will not be tolerated.
The piece turned out to be as polarizing as the person it was written about. Fans came out in droves to slam Rosenthal for being to “PC”, or sensitive. Some even said that they could care less about what Ozzie says, regardless of content, as long as he brings a winning team to the field.
That irritated me greatly.
At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole event. Frankly, I find the inability to think before speaking, especially when on a national platform, to be a good indicator of person’s intelligence level. Thus, I’ve looked at Ozzie Guillen as the village idiot of managers for years now. The tirades, the vulgarities, the unchecked emotional outbursts—yes, it’s entertaining (much the same way Jerry Springer is) but is it efficacious for the impressionable that watch such behavior intent on modeling it?
Slow down. Don’t jump and accuse me of being some sensitive, censoring, grammar school nun. I’ve played long enough to get my mistakes thrown back in my face from those chanting how I’ve betrayed my role model-hood. Well, it cuts both ways.
My gripe is this: individuals in the public eye are called to a higher standard. I have never believed that simply because folks dress up in costumes and play kids games on television for lots of money that they are great role model material. But I don’t make the rules. Our culture has chosen athletes and those connected to them to be the standards of success. If that’s the case, then what’s wrong with holding them the standards we’ve set? What’s wrong with someone saying to us we should expect better from them?
If a politician, a doctor, or a dean said what Ozzie did, there would be hell to pay. But Ken Rosenthal says that Ozzie’s latest comments of respect for a brutal dictator are too much and he’s the one getting flogged? People, where are our standards?
Yes, suspend the guy. He may be a great guy, and a real player’s manager, and very sorry about it all, but there IS MORE at stake at the level he’s on than just winning. That is something we should be fiercely protective of—that thought, reason, and class matter because we’ve chosen those elites with the microphone to represent us.
If we are going to hold athletes and their affiliated parties as highly as we do, let’s expect more from them. Thinking before speaking is not to much to ask.