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Sox visit to White House may be on Monday


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QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 09:52 AM)
The dumbass morning show host on the Score is beating the dead horse yet again today.  Ugh, for the love of God I can't wait for this to be over and people to shut up about it!

 

Is it North? Don't let him get to you. Change the station or you're playing right into their hands.

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QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 09:27 AM)
Good call on that, I didnt even think of it. I would have guessed Commcast would be airing it, or maybe even ESPNEWS.....

If memory serves usually ESPNews and SC will run a brief highlight clip. I'm hoping CSpan or their website broadcast it.

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Telander article on Ozzie no show. Oh and by the way, I am no fan of North in fact, I can't stand him, but isn't labeling someone a racist without anything to back it up a little ridiculous. That woprd gets tossed around way too much.

 

 

For the record, all of you can consider me a flag waving yahoo. :usa

 

 

It's not where he is, it's why

 

February 13, 2006

 

BY RICK TELANDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

 

Ozzie Guillen told the Sun-Times on Friday that his decision to skip the White Sox' celebratory visit to the White House today was "not a political decision.''

 

I wish it had been.

 

In truth, it is, no matter what Ozzie thinks.

 

When the manager of the long-suffering, abruptly-feel-good 2005 World Series champions -- himself an up-by-the-bootstraps, recently naturalized citizen of the United States -- says President Bush can hold the party without him, its most important guest, it says a bundle.

 

"It's a statement that I would rather spend time with my wife and family,'' Guillen explained. "It's a family-values statement.''

 

No, it isn't.

 

It's a statement that the leader of the most powerful country in the free world is no more relevant to a free spirit like Ozzie than those pesky magazine writers and TV hosts who always want just a few more minutes of his valued time.

 

What does this say to the multitudes of already disengaged citizens of our land, to slacker kids, especially, who have cynicism and laziness stenciled across their foreheads like cheap tattoos?

 

No, you don't have to go see the president when he calls.

 

And that is the beauty of our republic, based as it is on the premise that all men are created equal and that the sovereignty of an individual is no less than the sovereignty of the many or the powerful.

 

Nor is there a king here.

 

But you should have a reason for not going.

 

I was in the Dominican Republic last spring, where the Guillen family is vacationing, and last I checked, you could fly out of there to mainland America pretty easily.

 

Especially since Guillen knew of this twice-changed date a month ago.

 

A pain in the behind? Yes.

 

Overwhelmingly ugh? No.

 

People say Guillen already visited Bush in the White House when Guillen was a coach for the Florida Marlins after that team won the Series in 2003.

 

Yes, but he was a man in search of a big-time job back then.

 

Now he has it.

 

Now he's an island.

 

I find it almost pathetic that other Sox members are missing the event, too, including outfielder Scott Podsednik, who is skipping the prez because Pods is on his honeymoon. (Excuse me, but a new bride who can't spare you for one night might not understand that World Series championships come along a lot less frequently than big hugs.)

 

Is this about patriotism and being a good citizen?

 

Absolutely.

 

Is it about loving your elected leader and showing fealty to the ring?

 

Absolutely not.

 

My hero in all this is Sox general manager Ken Williams, also a harried, time-deprived, devoted family man, who is going to the ceremony even though he disapproves strongly of the administration's war in Iraq.

 

Williams will rise even higher in my eyes if he lets Bush know how he feels.

 

Respectfully. Off camera, perhaps. Man to man. Somehow. Some way.

 

This is what a president should expect from engaged citizens when he invites them to his place.

 

This is what he should expect from those who agree with him and from those who disagree.

 

It is pitiable that our highest-profile athletes have become bland, know-nothing, good-time consumers of stuff.

 

They seem to exist in capsules devoid of real-world ponderings and opinion.

 

They have no time to think about the era in which they live, the responsibilities of a nation that is accused of smugness and bullying and myopia even as it changes the planet around it.

 

Maybe it wasn't Michael Jordan who started it, but his kind of shrug-the-shoulders social commentary has proliferated to the extent that it makes one crave the old and uncomfortable involvement of superstars such as Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe and Jim Brown.

 

We see people in third-world countries and just-tumbled dictatorships voting, when able, at the highest levels of participation.

 

You know how they must marvel at the apathy of Americans, who need not be politically active because our government can cruise along on autopilot.

 

Guillen's slap in the face of George Bush, unwitting or not, is actually a slap in the face of our nation's status as a democratic model to the world.

 

What does it mean when a rich and famous man would rather lie in the sun than shake hands with his country's highest public servant and tell him what he thinks?

 

Ozzie, it's OK to embarrass anyone and anything.

 

You just shouldn't do it for no reason.

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Reading this article, and I just now took a look at it, makes me a bit angry. #1 you don't go to a White House function that honors sports teasm/heroes with the idea of making a political statement, and by not going I don't see why that should be taken as an insult. That's what makes America great too-freedom of choice and love of your family. He wants to be with his family so try and read something political into that... I guess moronic reporting does.

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QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 11:56 AM)
Reading this article, and I just now took a look at it, makes me a bit angry. #1 you don't go to a White House function that honors sports teasm/heroes with the idea of making  a political statement, and by not going I don't see why that should be taken as an insult. That's what makes America great too-freedom of choice and love of your family. He wants to be with his family so try and read something political into that... I guess moronic reporting does.

 

Let me just say I don't particularly side with Telander here....but I just wanted to give some educated insight to the other side...

 

Ozzie won't be going on a vacation for the next 7-8 months. If he wants to go on a vacation before he has to work for about the next 240 consecutive days, then he should be able to do so. I personally, would have found a way to go to the White House, but it's certainly his right, not to interrupt his trip and I won't hold anythign against him for it.

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Excerpt from Telander:

 

Guillen's slap in the face of George Bush, unwitting or not, is actually a slap in the face of our nation's status as a democratic model to the world.

 

I can imagine Rick staring at this sentence, feeling dignified he brought politics into his colum. This quote, and in addition to the entire article, is a space filling pile of s***. Someone should teach him how to piece together a paragraph before anymore inciteful stories about Guillen's shunning of a presidential visits. As if immigrants and school children were thinking, "You know, I've always respected American values--but now that Guillen won't see the president, it's time to raise hell!!!!"

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QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 01:37 PM)
Excerpt from Telander:

I can imagine Rick staring at this sentence, feeling dignified he brought politics into his colum. This quote, and in addition to the entire article, is a space filling pile of s***. Someone should teach him how to piece together a paragraph before anymore inciteful stories about Guillen's shunning of a presidential visits. As if immigrants and school children were thinking, "You know, I've always respected American values--but now that Guillen won't see the president, it's time to raise hell!!!!"

 

Funny you quote that sentence, cause it caught my attention as well. I was reading through the article, and it just seemed to be the same nonsense that has been spewed over the past week by the media. But when I got to that part, I said to myself "Good f***ing god, where the hell am I?"

 

Yes, Telender actually said that Ozzie's abcense at today's photo-op is "a slap in the face of our nation's status as a democratic model to the world." Its as if he was sitting in his cubicle, and in the middle of writing this column, he thought to himself "hey, I don't think this situation has been blown completely out of preportion, so I'm going to be the one to push it over the top."

 

I usually don't get too caught up in the nonsense that is thrown around on a daily basis in the Chicago newspapers, but this one had my head spinning.

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The funniest part of that Telander article is:

 

I find it almost pathetic that other Sox members are missing the event, too, including outfielder Scott Podsednik, who is skipping the prez because Pods is on his honeymoon. (Excuse me, but a new bride who can't spare you for one night might not understand that World Series championships come along a lot less frequently than big hugs.)

 

Not only does he rip all over Ozzie, but he gets a dig in at Pods.

 

 

George W. Bush :whichway Lisa Dergan

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Can anyone else imagine, God forbid, if during the year we're in a funk, and THIS is used as an reason for our troubles? Honestly, I can picture a article containing such information:

 

"Troubles concerning this ballclub have been rooted long before their recent slump. Dating back to last February, when Ozzie Guillen refused to the White House, there have been questions raised of his devotion to his players. Last year, a slump was temporary, in part, because of the "loose" clubhouse attitude Guillen abided by. Ever since the White House snub, things have been different...."

 

-Jay Mariotti

Edited by Flash Tizzle
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QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 01:54 PM)
Was it broadcasted live on TV?

I saw it on Cub Lovers TV.

 

And right after it concluded, the anchor told us that "Red Sox tickets....or is it the Cubs?....Red Sox, right?....My producer will get that information for me...." go on sale this Friday at 10am.

(bolded for emphasis)

Edited by The Critic
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Oh man, I can't wait for the article blaming lack of team unity going back to the White House trip for why are aren't playing well during our first slump, that will be funny.

 

As for the ceremony, it was akward and lame, just like every other sports champions ceremony at the White House, regardless of who the team and who the president is.

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QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 02:19 PM)
As for the ceremony, it was akward and lame, just like every other sports champions ceremony at the White House, regardless of who the team and who the president is.

i hope people realize this part. Yes, this ceremony was short and contrived, but they ALL are. The Sox did not get a shaft or anything, this was the typical pace/style to this event.

 

There were some highlights though, the crack about Ed Farmer was classic and Bush saying he thought PK was going to give him a loan was funny.

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Is that Carl next to Dye? You can't really see his face in either one.

 

Haha, and some reason I think this is really cool. I know it's nothing more than a photo-op, but only the CHAMPIONS get to do this. I don't care at all about politics, but this is awesome.

 

Some reason this finally makes winning it all feel real to me.

 

:gosox3: :gosox2: :gosox3:

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