Official Ozzie/Mariotti Thread

[Steff]

Yeah, but I thought people would be a little more rational and objective.

 

Not surprisingly, I've already been straw-manned a couple of times and of course now I'm not a "real" Sox fan, because I don't hate some freakin sports columnists as much as I'm "supposed" to.

 

 

 

You've been around here long enough to know how this s*** goes down. You posted your opinion and that's that. Ya just gotta suck it up and move on, and don't take any s*** to heart from a drive-by poster.

[LVSoxFan]

You're not the only one that reads this slimeball regularly. If he's talking about baseball, I read it. I happen to have a complete and totally 100% different opinion than you about this tool. You expressed yours, then get upset when I express mine. I never said Ozzie was guilt free. I just know that Mariotti is nothing more than a low class s*** stirrer.

 

Oh that's crap and you know it. I have no problem with you expressing your opinion about Mariotti--IN THE END, HE'S JUST A WRITER, DIG?--the only problem I have is the inferences you make about me because I played, admittedly, devil's advocate here.

 

I agree that he's a s***-stirrer, but in this town with these freakin' owners (save for Jerry who has redeemed himself twice-over), I kinda like that. Maybe we need more s***-stirrers in this town.

 

And regardless of what everybody says, he has been behind the Sox for two years now. I don't know what more everybody wants. Doesn't mean that everybody should start liking Mariotti, just means let's get our facts straight.

 

That's all.

[Controlled Chaos]

a vocal Sox fan the past two years?

 

Dude, I read him every day too. To call him a Sox fan is totally abusurd. Yeah he has written a few positive articles...nobody here ever said he slams the sox 100% of the time. They're the World Champions if he didn't have a positive article once in a while he would lose what little credibility he has. Even when he does write a positive article he almost always has to get in some kind of a dig. Whether it be a past quote of Ozzie or a past experience at the park or something Reinsdorf did or somethign Kenny did.

[Soxfest]

Well the both have 1 championship, but I hope OG does not live off it the next 20 yrs like the Coach. I want more skins on the wall from the Sox.

[LVSoxFan]

You've been around here long enough to know how this s*** goes down. You posted your opinion and that's that. Ya just gotta suck it up and move on, and don't take any s*** to heart from a drive-by poster.

 

Oh I'm fine Steff and I'm glad everybody jumped on this. Hey: at least we got a nice three page distraction going before tonight's game, during the down-time.

 

 

Dude, I read him every day too. To call him a Sox fan is totally abusurd. Yeah he has written a few positive articles...nobody here ever said he slams the sox 100% of the time. They're the World Champions if he didn't have a positive article once in a while he would lose what little credibility he has. Even when he does write a positive article he almost always has to get in some kind of a dig. Whether it be a past quote of Ozzie or a past experience at the park or something Reinsdorf did or somethign Kenny did.

 

Fan? I don't know if I said he was wearing jerseys to games but I know of no other columnist that's written more positive stuff about the Sox--particularly 1st half last year when everybody was ho-humming them as pretenders--than him.

 

It certainly wasn't the Trib, that's for sure.

 

Look, I'm not being a character witness for Jay Mariotti. What I'm calling into question, and I stand by this, is the idea that he is continually anti-Sox. And the suggestion by some that he is anti-Sox and pro-Cubs is just flat-out laughable, and easily disproven.

 

That's all.

[Milkman delivers]

Well hell: at least you acknowledge one of my points about bashing equally. But is everybody going to keep pretending that he hasn't been a vocal Sox fan the past two years?

 

I concede though that I never watch him on TV and for all I know he comes off like a total a-hole. I only know him from print.

 

It has nothing to do with how he comes off on TV. The other reporters know his writing. They know he prods everyone constantly, flip flops on issues, and is just generally a dickhead.

[illinilaw08]

Oh that's crap and you know it. I have no problem with you expressing your opinion about Mariotti--IN THE END, HE'S JUST A WRITER, DIG?--the only problem I have is the inferences you make about me because I played, admittedly, devil's advocate here.

 

I agree that he's a s***-stirrer, but in this town with these freakin' owners (save for Jerry who has redeemed himself twice-over), I kinda like that. Maybe we need more s***-stirrers in this town.

 

And regardless of what everybody says, he has been behind the Sox for two years now. I don't know what more everybody wants. Doesn't mean that everybody should start liking Mariotti, just means let's get our facts straight.

 

That's all.

 

We're going to have to agree to disagree about whether he is behind the Sox, but honestly there is a time and a place for calling out organizations for it to be effective. When you call them out weekly (and this applies to every franchise in the city AND the University of Illinois), it gets old fast.

 

For instance, there were a lot of positives for both the Bears and the Bulls this year, but that does not make it's way into Mariotti's writing. But like you said, you are entitled to your opinion of Mariotti, it just isn't something I agree with.

[YASNY]

Oh that's crap and you know it. I have no problem with you expressing your opinion about Mariotti--IN THE END, HE'S JUST A WRITER, DIG?--the only problem I have is the inferences you make about me because I played, admittedly, devil's advocate here.

 

I agree that he's a s***-stirrer, but in this town with these freakin' owners (save for Jerry who has redeemed himself twice-over), I kinda like that. Maybe we need more s***-stirrers in this town.

 

And regardless of what everybody says, he has been behind the Sox for two years now. I don't know what more everybody wants. Doesn't mean that everybody should start liking Mariotti, just means let's get our facts straight.

 

That's all.

 

Inferences about you? What, you can't handle someone telling you to 'get real'? That's about the only thing I can see that inferred anything. And no, it's not crap. It's exactly what happened.

[GoSox05]

No way. Ozzie supports Hugo Chavez and dikta supports George Bush. Total enemies, total oppsites

[LVSoxFan]

It has nothing to do with how he comes off on TV. The other reporters know his writing. They know he prods everyone constantly, flip flops on issues, and is just generally a dickhead.

 

All right, I'll take your word for it. But again: where has he flip-flopped on the Sox over the past two seasons?

 

The only words I think he had to eat was when he was badgering KW for not making a post-ASB trade last year for a big bat when we were swooning. Otherwise, I'm at a loss here.

 

HOWEVER, I will give you this: if I'm not mistaken, in the winter of 2004/2005 when we made the radical change to "small ball" team, I think he was openly doubting that if I'm not mistaken. So I'm aware of the flip/flops (like with the Bulls/Utah as I noted).

[LowerCaseRepublican]

Sorry, but I wouldn't be bragging about that email.

Exactly! We have a winnar!

 

Not only was the e-mail so poor with the insults used, it merely plays into the stereotype put forth by Mariotti regarding Sox fans. But then again we're all first base coach assaulting, players' wife smacking, swearing blue collar trash, right?.

 

And none of this is directed at you, YAS -- I just wanted to quote your post about not bragging about the e-mail because I completely agree and I didn't want to make two posts one after another in this thread.

 

Mariotti is a f***ing idiot. As a fan, you have the opportunity to -- get this -- it is a truly novel idea...don't read his columns! Turn off the TV when he's on ESPN! We all know the guy is so full of s*** even the whites of his eyes are brown. There's no reason to run about with a persecution complex because some dips*** columnist decides to write a poorly written column bashing the Sox.

 

Everybody writing him hate mail, scrutinizing every word Mariotti says only serves to keep him in business. People who love him will always read it -- but people who hate him are giving him circulation power by picking up the paper, reading his columns online etc. Ignore him because he really jumped the shark a long time ago.

 

And again, regarding the e-mail that started this thread. It wasn't cool. It wasn't edgy and/or funny. The guy didn't have the balls to use his own e-mail address and back up his sophomoric, childish, nigh-brain dead vitriol with his own name.

[SoxFan1]

Ozzie is going to become coach of the New Orleans Saints!?!?!?!

Edited June 22, 2006 by SoxFan1

[CanOfCorn]

I am no JM fan, but I am tired of OG talking just to hear himself talk about NON on the field baseball related issues...a no comment from him on certain subjects would be nice from time to time.

 

the sox knew what they were getting when they hired him.

 

By the way, I heard an interesting take on this from Colin Cowherd this morning. He basically said that, yes, Ozzie was wrong for calling Mariotti a f**. But, if you are going to write columns without being there everyday, or even being there everyday, that's what happens in a big league clubhouse. Does that make it right? No. Does it mean nobody should ever be offended? No. But it happens, and if you are going to write something about someone, how can you not expect some retaliation in some form.

 

Also, this wasn't a John Rocker or Jimmy the Greek or Marge Schott or Al Campanis situation, because this was a man-to-man argument. Those other people made gross generalizations about blacks or gays and Ozzie was just pissed off at one guy. Not Bud Selig, not baseball, not fans, but one "columnist."

 

Should he be fined? Yes, because he said something stupid and he should know when to hold his tongue. But that won't stop him. He is who he is and he will never be anything different and I respect him immensely for that. He's always said he would take the shots, but he will also stand up for himself.

 

For Mariotti to be surprised by this turn of events is absolutely ridiculous. That's like Ozzie being surprised that Mariotti came up with a pithy nickname like "The Blizzard of Oz." This should be handled in-house and not in the papers.

 

If you want to read him, read him. But, for the love of god, please don't defend him...he can (but won't) do it himself.

[LVSoxFan]

Inferences about you? What, you can't handle someone telling you to 'get real'? That's about the only thing I can see that inferred anything. And no, it's not crap. It's exactly what happened.

 

I can handle a lot more than that, thanks.

 

"Get real"? I pointed out where Mariotti had some points and your blanket dismissal was simply that he was a piece of crap.

 

Ooookay, so that's your answer.

 

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. You refuse to acknowledge that and I'm the one who needs to "get real"?

 

 

 

the sox knew what they were getting when they hired him.

 

By the way, I heard an interesting take on this from Colin Cowherd this morning. He basically said that, yes, Ozzie was wrong for calling Mariotti a f**. But, if you are going to write columns without being there everyday, or even being there everyday, that's what happens in a big league clubhouse. Does that make it right? No. Does it mean nobody should ever be offended? No. But it happens, and if you are going to write something about someone, how can you not expect some retaliation in some form.

 

Also, this wasn't a John Rocker or Jimmy the Greek or Marge Schott or Al Campanis situation, because this was a man-to-man argument. Those other people made gross generalizations about blacks or gays and Ozzie was just pissed off at one guy. Not Bud Selig, not baseball, not fans, but one "columnist."

 

Should he be fined? Yes, because he said something stupid and he should know when to hold his tongue. But that won't stop him. He is who he is and he will never be anything different and I respect him immensely for that. He's always said he would take the shots, but he will also stand up for himself.

 

For Mariotti to be surprised by this turn of events is absolutely ridiculous. That's like Ozzie being surprised that Mariotti came up with a pithy nickname like "The Blizzard of Oz." This should be handled in-house and not in the papers.

 

If you want to read him, read him. But, for the love of god, please don't defend him...he can (but won't) do it himself.

 

 

Okay maybe this is where I get confused because I never took "Blizzard of Oz" to be a put-down.

 

The comment, yes, was uncalled for (and I mean the language not because it's Mariotti) but no it's hardly along the lines of Marge Schott--agreed. As for Jimmy the Greek I think that was total overkill, but that's another (non-relevant) thread.

[gojimthome]

All right, I'll take your word for it. But again: where has he flip-flopped on the Sox over the past two seasons?

 

You lose, sir.

 

November 17 --(I am) launching a campaign demanding that (Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf) sell the team to a group with the financial means and commitment -- the Comcast Sports empire, perhaps -- to compete for championships in a big market. Otherwise, the Sox might tumble into total irrelevance while The Ballmall Formerly Known as Comiskey Park becomes a sausage factory. Reinsdorf... might as well wave another white flag before next season..... Think I'm underestimating the Sox' chances next year? ... Hell, the Sox might be a .500 club....If (Reinsdorf's) franchise isn't dying, it never has seemed more irrelevant in this town...(What Smart fans) want to know is how the Sox plan to win a World Series. Answer: They won't, as long as Reinsdorf and his people own the team. Please sell it.

 

December 14 -- Oh, this makes loads of sense, building a slap-and-tickle team to play 81 games in the most power-friendly ballpark in the majors..... Ken Williams is trading mashers for midgets....Amazingly enough, a team that hit a major-league-best 242 homers in 2004 has lost four prime power hitters, including Jose Valentin. And the only attempt to fill the void was Williams' cheapskate signing of injury-hobbled Jermaine Dye, who will make $4 million next year ($10 million less than Ordonez made last season) and is a career .208 hitter with two out and runners in scoring position.....Don't be fooled by (Scott) Podsednik's 2003 National League Rookie of the Year award or his 70 stolen bases last year. This is a leadoff hitter who has trouble leading off, hitting only .244 last season with a lame .313 on-base percentage....When Juan Uribe is a team's third-best hitter, you again start hoping that Reinsdorf sells the franchise while wondering if the general manager has lost his lid.... As long as Jose Contreras is your No. 3 starter and Jon Garland is your No. 4, the Sox can't play OzzieBall.....They don't care about winning and only care about making money.

 

December 19 --If the Sox had given (former Cub Matt) Clement an extra $5 million and (pitcher Omar) Vizquel an extra year and $3 million, they would have a quality No. 3 starter behind Freddy Garcia and Mark Buehrle and a fielding wizard to anchor the infield. But because they bid low in both cases, they'll be a .500 team next year. Or worse.

 

April 4 -- The Sox will win 84 games and miss the playoffs. In a season of questions about health, payrolls and elective styles of baseball, the only certainty is that both (Chicago) clubs will fall short of the St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins in their divisional races, extending the city's streak of collective seasons without a Series championship to 185. "I go into every season thinking we can win a championship," says Ken Williams, the loopy general manager of the Sox. "I think we have a chance to do great things." They tote the rhetoric. I bring the reality..... I do not believe in Jon Garland and his Cuban clone, Jose Contreras, who needs to make more pitches and tip fewer. .... With Johan Santana locked in (with the Twins) through 2008, the Sox may not win a division title for a while.

 

April 7 --(The Sox are) Winning Lucky. Groovy as Sox life seems right now, let me assure you that this is no formula for a division title. ...(Jerry Reinsdorf ) and (Ken) Williams have concocted this "new way" of baseball that actually is a euphemism for payroll-crunching.

 

April 18 -- I stand by my story that the Twins are better... .The Sox are a work in progress; the Twins are the polished product.... Are the Sox ready? I think not.

 

April 23 --If someone in charge doesn't muzzle Ozzie Guillen with duct tape, inject him with a horse tranquilizer or simply order him to shut the [bleep] up -- his favorite expression, not mine -- the man is going to talk himself out of a job and shame the city and ballclub he represents. .... Guillen's penchant for bizarre, unnecessary controversy is rising at the same approximate rate. ....Guillen is only confirming what his critics said: He's too nuts, off the wall and out of control.

 

May 6 --The happy news is, this team is 21-7 despite its offensive problems, which suggests Ken Williams' daring transition to thinking-man's baseball -- Small Ball, Smart Ball, Snail Ball, Ozzie Ball, Anti-Magglio Ball, Ducksnort Ball -- is his most successful gamble yet in an otherwise lukewarm career as general manager. ....Maybe this is a magically conceived team with purring chemistry and the perfect attitude. ...there are legitimate reasons to think the Sox will contend deep into September.

 

May 15 --(The Sox) have the sweetest rotation in the sport ....And while I'm not about to predict they'll be the first local team in 187 collective seasons to win a World Series, they are built to last deep into September.

 

May 19-- I've always asked the Sox to place their media-bashing energies into assembling a pennant contender. Now ... Ken Williams seems to have done that.

 

May 21 --It should surprise no one.. that the Sox would rise impressively.... the Sox seem poised for glory.

 

May 25 -- The Sox are the biggest overachievers in baseball.

 

May 30--You can't chip and dink out runs for 162 games and expect your starting pitchers to bail out the cause every time. ...Excuse me, but are those the Minnesota Twins only 3 1/2 games back now? Pardon me, but have the Sox sunk to ninth in the American League in runs scored after managing 17 in their last seven games?

 

June 7 -- I can safely say the Sox won't win a World Series as long as (Jerry Reinsdorf) owns them.

 

June 14 --I could .... concur that the rotation is the best we've ever seen, point out that the White Sox are the 12th team since 1996 to take a winning percentage of .673 or better into June, further point out that 10 of the previous 11 made the playoffs... and then conclude, This is definitely is the year!" But that would be a lie. And I sure don't want to lie to anybody.... Will (Ken) Williams recognize his Joe Crede problem and pursue Shea Hillenbrand?....The Sox still don't have enough offense, and given the struggles of the Yankees and Red Sox, Williams should be driven to spend the necessary money and make the bold deals.

 

June 21 -- I will state for the record today, on the bosom of Hawk Harrelson, that the Sox are crash-proof in this regular season. You may as well sit back and enjoy the next 31/2 months. They are not going to miss the playoffs. Hear me? The aren't choking. Got that?

 

June 24 -- Guillen's feistiness has a magical effect on the Sox.

 

July 4-- Destiny is a dangerous word at midseason. It connotes a contentment that shouldn't exist with a team that, realistically, isn't quite as good as its record. No doubt the Sox are heading to the playoffs....The hot debate among Sox fans is whether Ken Williams, Executive of the Half-Year, should be a major, minor or non-player in the trading period. That's easy. When you haven't won the World Series since dinosaurs roamed the earth -- or, in Carl Everett's non-Jurassic world, since Adam and Eve hooked up -- you only can be a major player. This will shock and anger many Soxheads, but as a public service, I will submit that the Angels and Red Sox are slightly more equipped to win the American League pennant.

 

July 19 --- I'm not saying the Sox can't win the pennant. I'm just saying they have to load up on reinforcements when the American League competition includes Boston, New York, Anaheim and Minnesota...History looms. It matters not if the Sox are 62-29 on July 19 if they lose three of five to a wild-card team -- the Red Sox or Yankees, I presume -- in the divisional round of the AL playoffs.

 

July 30-- Williams insists the Sox don't need major roster surgery, but I couldn't disagree more.

 

July 31--All I know is this: If 3 p.m. rolls around and Ken Williams has not made a significant trade, perspective will succumb to the usual paranoia in Sox precincts everywhere. Because this franchise will have jeopardized its best World Series shot in years... As presently constituted, I doubt the Sox are as equipped to win the pennant as, say, the Disneyland Angels, who have won a recent World Series and have the American League's most complete team. Or the Red Sox, who finally won it all last year and are so big on midseason shakeups that they're shopping Manny Ramirez after successfully dumping Nomar Garciaparra last summer. ...Today is the day the season is won or lost on the South Side.

 

August 15--- For all his talents as a skipper, Guillen is a loose-lipped disaster as a representative of his team, city and sport.

 

August 17-- You might be under the influence of Hawk Harrelson, but for non-homers who analyze baseball at face value, the Sox are vulnerable because their attack lacks punch. ....Remember that sick feeling in Seattle (in the 2000 playoffs) after the sweep? To avoid it again, Williams has to find a big bat.

 

August 20 --Only a fool thinks a scratch-and-tickle offense doesn't need Ken Griffey Jr.... A theme is emerging, and it isn't pretty for the South Siders. Barring an unforeseen deal by general manager Ken Williams, who is too protective of team chemistry and not focused enough on reality, the Sox will enter the postseason with one of the tamer offensive lineups in recent memory -- which places incredible pressure on starting pitchers to throw great games... I subscribe to a growing theory that the club's playoff fate is most dependent on Garland.

 

August 21-- When you see the Sox morph into a limp, feeble club that can't piece together a run, much less win a game -- I mean, is it wrong to mention early similarities to 1969? --....is it not fair to wonder if a vintage Chicago baseball gag is unfolding? Anywhere else, they'd call it a speed bump, a minor rut. In Chicago, it's reason for primal scream therapy. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!....Enough with the romantic concept of protecting four months of fine chemistry.

 

August 24 -- Tuesday night in Minnesota, the Sox lost their most agonizing game yet in what has been a maddening, unnerving skid in Choke City. ....This is supposed to be a season of history. Instead, the Sox are dipping into infamy. .... Serious baseball people have been waiting for them to fold all year, figuring they are playing over their heads because they haven't put together success against elite teams. At the moment, the Sox are making the doomsayers look smart.

 

September 1 --The final, final, final trading deadline passed late Wednesday night without activity, leaving the Sox with one of the flimsiest batting orders of any contender in years. (The Sox are) a downwardly spiraling imposter that has little chance to win a postseason series, unless ominous patterns unexpectedly turn bright in coming weeks...... Buehrle doesn't have his stuff. You don't know what you're getting from Garland. El Duque is fading. Dustin Hermanson still has an iffy back. The team looks tired. The defense has been woeful. The lineup has too many automatic outs. The Sox aren't playing well at home. Who is Geoff Blum, anyway?

 

September 18-- If there is any sense of mercy, the White Sox will be blacked out the rest of the season so a terminally cursed city needn't witness The Mother of All Collapses. .... I have been opining since the summer trade deadlines -- in this column, on national TV, on every media outlet not controlled by Soxaganda -- that the boys are vulnerable to a classic choke job because management didn't bring in reinforcements....(Ken) Williams was foolishly protective of clubhouse chemistry ....The Sox have been a house of cards all along ...It was unrealistic to think smart ball would hold up all season when the concept was so dependent on pitching. ... A recipe for October success, this is not. The next 14 days and nights will be hell for the Sox, their fans and a city sick of applying the Heimlich maneuver. Watch at your own risk.

 

September 20 --Other cities host the World Series. Chicago hosts Choke Job Theater....Part of our lot in life is that the local baseball teams are destined to tease, crash and burn.....The Sox are deluding themselves if they believe Bobby Jenks -- a 270-pound rookie reliever -- can stop a historic free-fall. Who do they think he is, Ricky [Wild Thing] Vaughn of "Major League" fame?.... The thing about chemistry is, sometimes the test tube explodes and leaves your dreams in pieces. .... Whether the Sox go on to finish the biggest regular-season fold in baseball history or somehow do a backdoor slider into the playoffs, it should be obvious now that the rampaging Indians are a much better team and are worthier of the American League Central title.

 

September 22 --The Wheeze Sox....(are) pressing and gagging, contrary to the protests of Ozzie Guillen and the pig-like wails of Hawk Harrelson, who should be put out of his misery.....Oh ye of too much faith. The Sox aren't good enough to think beyond the next game....So, this dark, doomsday drama inevitably careens toward a final three-game series in Cleveland ... Williams failed to make the club better at midseason and left the Sox vulnerable.... Yes, it was difficult to make deals this year. But the best organizations always get their man ... and the Sox only got Geoff Blum.

 

September 27 -- Do you honestly think this team can do the slightest damage in the playoffs, assuming the Sox don ' t squander what is now a two-game divisional lead and two-game lead for the wild card? ...Just why are the Sox playing for October when they clearly don ' t belong there?

 

 

October 2-- I can't see the Sox beating the Angels (in the playoffs).

 

October 3 -- What is impressive about the Sox is how unified they've remained through all the stress. Some teams would have divided and pointed fingers during a slide that saw a 15-game lead shrink to 11/2 games, but not once did we hear a peep of dissension.

 

October 4-- I've been trying to tell out-of-towners that Guillen has been a terrific manager.

 

October 5----Ozzie Ball isn't about an on-field approach as much as the unity he cultivates in the clubhouse. He has their backs, and they have his -- even when he's pulling a stunt.

 

October 6 ---I caution that the American League Division Series is not the World Series, euphoric as the feeling is right now.

 

October 11--one important Sox executive seems to have his head on straight at the right time. General manager Ken Williams has occasionally sparred with media and fans since inheriting the hot seat five years ago at age 36, but he has a mature perspective about the precious presen

 

October 12-- When they should have swatted away the Los Angeles Angels and turned these world travelers into road worriers, they instead blew a wonderful opportunity and returned to that wheezing mode we saw last month.But letting the Angels wiggle off the hook isn't a proud moment -- and might be remembered as the night that sunk the Sox and continued the futile postseason history of a city.

 

October 13 -- Maybe, dare I say, the rewards are finally coming.

 

October 16 -- You can feel the gathering eruption, a convergence of crashing and booming that comes when 45 years of frustration are trumped by rare autumn rewards. The White Sox, once a nondescript franchise of inferiority complexes and White Flag trades and fans who tackle umpires, are one victory from the World Series.... I never thought it would happen, and if you check your inner conscience, neither did you.

 

October 17-- The team that once fixed a World Series is now fixing to win one. Yes, the White Sox have proved me wrong. They've proved millions of others around the country wrong, too.....There's also no doubt they survived a lack of serious activity at the trade deadline, which could have been their undoing..... Williams received the most flak after huffing, puffing, dialing, roaming and ultimately missing on a couple of would-be deals, but no one was happier by the GM's whiff job than Guillen.

 

October 20 -- What they've accomplished so far is incredible stuff, having established a blueprint for how to overhaul a franchise culture in a single offseason and how to play the game in the post-steroids era. Williams gambled his professional reputation and pulled off a dramatic metamorphosis, making him Executive of the Year. Ozzie Guillen thumbed his nose at the world and became a players' leader for the new millennium, making him Manager of the Year. Reinsdorf proved a ballclub can reach the Series in a major market with a middle-market payroll.

 

October 21 -- They've won with the kind of smart, unselfish, high-character, pitching-and-defense charm that defies everything we've seen from baseball in recent seasons....The Sox are about pure baseball.

 

October 23 --Not only are the Sox in the World Series, they're up a game. No one, it's safe to say, has stopped believing.

 

October 26-- In the top of the 14th inning, well into the fifth hour, (Geoff Blum) lined a solo home run into the right-field seats at Minute Maid Park...Who was smiling more? Blum or Ken Williams, the general manager who traded for him, then had to defend it as his only move? All the while, the Sox are only one win away. Say it again: one win away.

 

October 27 --Wednesday night, the White Sox won the friggin' World Series....One of those fighting tears was Jerry Reinsdorf, who stood in the Sox clubhouse with his longtime friend and partner in crime, Bud Selig, and accepted the trophy. Have I sparred with Reinsdorf through the years? Yes. Was I happy the man finally won? Yes. ...Unlike the Cubs, the Sox didn't choke. They smoked, oozing of Ozzie and melding before our eyes in Williams' test tube.....What they did, thanks to the feisty leadership of Guillen and foresight of Williams, was write a new blueprint on how baseball might be played in the post-steroids era.

 

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_colum...ariottis_y.html

 

What a f***ing jerk-off Jay is.

Edited June 22, 2006 by Contreras' Crew

[RockRaines]

I can handle a lot more than that, thanks.

 

"Get real"? I pointed out where Mariotti had some points and your blanket dismissal was simply that he was a piece of crap.

 

Ooookay, so that's your answer.

 

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. You refuse to acknowledge that and I'm the one who needs to "get real"?

 

Lets face it LV. Mariotti has gotten by on writing opinion pieces that basically contain no sports substance at all. It doesnt even include interviews that he personally does with the players or coaches. He is basically a blogger who is paid to write for the Sun Times. He really holds no credibility as a sports writer and his role in this city will fade away as long as he continues down that path. Opinion-only writers have no place in the sports world, you have to have some substance or actual dialougue with a team or indiv players to make yourself credible. Since he does not have any of that, he has no credibility. Mariotti's legacy will fade, but Ozzie's ring will not.

[RME JICO]

Mariotti is a poor man's Bill O'Reilly.

[YASNY]

I can handle a lot more than that, thanks.

 

"Get real"? I pointed out where Mariotti had some points and your blanket dismissal was simply that he was a piece of crap.

 

Ooookay, so that's your answer.

 

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. You refuse to acknowledge that and I'm the one who needs to "get real"?

 

Okay maybe this is where I get confused because I never took "Blizzard of Oz" to be a put-down.

 

The comment, yes, was uncalled for (and I mean the language not because it's Mariotti) but no it's hardly along the lines of Marge Schott--agreed. As for Jimmy the Greek I think that was total overkill, but that's another (non-relevant) thread.

 

What answer? You said I 'inferred' something about you. Show me where! I simply disagreed with you.

[ZoomSlowik]

All right, I'll take your word for it. But again: where has he flip-flopped on the Sox over the past two seasons?

 

The only words I think he had to eat was when he was badgering KW for not making a post-ASB trade last year for a big bat when we were swooning. Otherwise, I'm at a loss here.

 

HOWEVER, I will give you this: if I'm not mistaken, in the winter of 2004/2005 when we made the radical change to "small ball" team, I think he was openly doubting that if I'm not mistaken. So I'm aware of the flip/flops (like with the Bulls/Utah as I noted).

 

Did you somehow miss the daily choke articles toward the end of the year? How could you possibly read his stuff regularly and not catch it. Through the course of the year he went from Sox doubter to Sox supporter to Sox doubter to Sox supporter again. Go back and look at the blog link that was posted earlier, he changed his stance on virtually everything related to the Sox on a regular basis. Kenny went from a moron to a genius for going to the small ball approach, then to a moron that didn't add a big bat; the Sox went from a team that was never going to win a series with Reisdorf as the owner to a serious title threat to a massive choke-job. Ozzie went from being a genius to a guy that doesn't know what he's doing. The list goes on and on. He never stands by any statement or opinion that he puts forth.

Edited June 22, 2006 by ZoomSlowik

[southsider2k5]

I don't say this too often, because usually you are usually a dirtie liberal hippie, but great post LCR

 

[LVSoxFan]

What answer? You said I 'inferred' something about you. Show me where! I simply disagreed with you.

 

Mea culpa. I probably generalized and made it sound like you. Meaning: some were starting to call into questin my Sox love, yada yada. You didn't. I apologize if I made it sound that way.

 

It's all good. Hey, I got my piece out there; people don't agree. It was nagging at me this morning and I had to get it off my chest. What more can ya do?

[YASNY]

Mea culpa. I probably generalized and made it sound like you. Meaning: some were starting to call into questin my Sox love, yada yada. You didn't. I apologize if I made it sound that way.

 

It's all good. Hey, I got my piece out there; people don't agree. It was nagging at me this morning and I had to get it off my chest. What more can ya do?

 

Okay. Fair enough.

[Gregory Pratt]

Ozzie is going to become coach of the New Orleans Saints!?!?!?!

 

No.

 

He's going back to Florida to make his final stand!

 

[Chisoxfn]

Wasnt that the kettle calling the pot black? He called out his paper and said they have to treat everyone FAIRLY. Fairly? heh heh. This is the same paper that did a fullpage article on Darren Baker.

No, if you read, he is mad that his paper is seemingly taking the SOX side on this and has censored him in the past.

Something a paper should NEVER EVER do.

Who cares. Take it somewhere else. I said the media stuff is done here, you want it, blogspot.com and be done with it.

 

The same goes for anyone responding to your posts with that stuff (either pro or con). Thats that, the line has been laid, if anyone wants to try me out, you'll be suspended or banned.

[LVSoxFan]

Did you somehow miss the daily choke articles toward the end of the year? How could you possibly read his stuff regularly and not catch it. Through the course of the year he went from Sox doubter to Sox supporter to Sox doubter to Sox supporter again. Go back and look at the blog link that was posted earlier, he changed his stance on virtually everything related to the Sox on a regular basis. Kenny went from a genius for going to the small ball approach to a moron that didn't add a big bat; the Sox went from a team that was never going to win a series with Reisdorf as the owner to a serious title threat to a massive choke-job. Ozzie went from being a genius to a guy that doesn't know what he's doing. The list goes on and on. He never stands by any statement or opinion that he puts forth.

 

You're oversimplifying but let's be honest here: we ALL thought they were gonna choke in September, and that was hardly Mariotti alone that was talking that up in the press.

 

And let's face it, up until 2005 there was no reason to think that the Sox would ever win with Reinsdorf as an owner. Not me, that's for sure.

 

Yes through the years he's of course flip/flopped on the story, just like... fans do.

 

Maybe that's what I like: he writes like a fan. Up and down, love 'em, hate 'em--more about emotion than about Sportscenter analysis.

 

I'll be the first to admit, for instance, that I had my eyes closed until the end of September because I was thinking the unthinkable. I just didn't have the venue to write about it. Actually, I did: and I got banned.