Seriously Ozzie?

[Vote4Pedro]

It would seem like it, but this works. I'll bet if you listen to talk radio, very little is said about the hitting last night, and they spend a ton of time on Ozzie's statments.

when you have younger kids looking up to this man as a role model and he comes out and makes statements like that it makes the whole whitesox organization look bad not just the manager. at the end of the day the teams offense has been so bad that the spotlight will shine on them regardless of what he says....ozzie's statements are just fuel for the fire.

[Chisoxfn]

It would seem like it, but this works. I'll bet if you listen to talk radio, very little is said about the hitting last night, and they spend a ton of time on Ozzie's statments.

There are better ways to get the focus off of your players than by encouraging violence. If he wants to get his attention he should blast about how ownership should fire him or something ridiculous like that which has no impact on the young kids that follow and look up to him.

 

And lets face it, Ozzie is the face of the franchise so to many people he is the spokesman of this franchise and as far as I'm concerned these comments are a slap in the face to a shareholder (i.e. fan).

[southsider2k5]

So because fans calling up to the Score are talking about Ozzie being a jackass you think our offense feels at ease with little pressure on them?

 

DO you feel better at your job with your bosses in your face, or off talking about something else?

[southsider2k5]

There are better ways to get the focus off of your players than by encouraging violence. If he wants to get his attention he should blast about how ownership should fire him or something ridiculous like that which has no impact on the young kids that follow and look up to him.

 

And lets face it, Ozzie is the face of the franchise so to many people he is the spokesman of this franchise and as far as I'm concerned these comments are a slap in the face to a shareholder (i.e. fan).

 

I never said it was right. This is Ozzie. This is what he does. The sad thing is that it works.

[BigSqwert]

DO you feel better at your job with your bosses in your face, or off talking about something else?

I wouldn't be able to relate. I've never failed so miserably at my job.

[Steve9347]

Well we all should have known this was coming. The team is playing like s***, the sun came up today, and Ozzie said something stupid. Go figure.

This may be the post of the year.

[Chisoxfn]

I never said it was right. This is Ozzie. This is what he does. The sad thing is that it works.

And what he said is unaccepatble. I don't give a s*** why he did it. It is wrong. Should I go encourage killing babies to get the attention off of showing up late to work? f*** no. If I my subordinate didn't finish a project on time, should I tell the CEO about how If I didn't finish a project on time I'd get piss drunk and wasted and end up in jail. No, I'd get laughed at and fired.

 

Ozzie speak makes sense and I understand it, but when he crosses the line he crosses the line and this comment said by anyone other than Ozzie would get creamed and probably fired. In fact, outside of some of the most respected people in the game, they'd be gone. When you add in the history of antics there is no dobut that this is a fireable offense. It won't happen but

[Kyyle23]

Jason, I dont see the encouragement of other people to beat people up that you are seeing. I see Ozzie saying "If it was me, I would have beat that guy up", which is still stupid, but it isnt like he is saying "More people need to beat people up when they are heckled" or anything like that.

 

Again, what he said wasnt smart given his position, but I dont have this outrage feeling that you are getting.

[SouthsideDon48]

Seriously?!?!?! People are embarrassed by this? That's nothing, guys. People get embarrassed way too easily from Ozzie. :-/

[Vote4Pedro]

Seriously?!?!?! People are embarrassed by this? That's nothing, guys. People get embarrassed way too easily from Ozzie. :-/

no people are tired of ozzie talking out of his a** He is the face of the organization and kids look up to what he says, whether people say it isn't that bad and that he isnt encouraging beating people up kids younger may take it that way. If he felt this way he could have kept his comment between him and rios and not have to go out in the media and say that. Again, what does these comments have to do with the way the team is playing?

[southsider2k5]

no people are tired of ozzie talking out of his a** He is the face of the organization and kids look up to what he says, whether people say it isn't that bad and that he isnt encouraging beating people up kids younger may take it that way. If he felt this way he could have kept his comment between him and rios and not have to go out in the media and say that. Again, what does these comments have to do with the way the team is playing?

 

It does exactly what you just did... You are wasting your time on it instead of on how the team is performing.

[hogan873]

One of these days Ozzie will go too far. He came pretty close on this one, but like others have said, stupid stuff like this is almost laughed at when coming from Ozzie. It would be a HUGE news story if Ron Gardenhire or Jim Leyland said it.

[35thstreetswarm]

It does exactly what you just did... You are wasting your time on it instead of on how the team is performing.

 

I really don't get this line of argument. I think most fans, and sportswriters, are capable of holding two thoughts in their head at once - maybe even three or four. I haven't forgotten that we're 3-5, or that we almost got no-hit last night. Now I realize we're 3-5, almost got no-hit last night, and have a manager who embarrassed himself in public (again). None of those things distracts from, or dilutes the impact of, any of the others.

[BigSqwert]

I really don't get this line of argument. I think most fans, and sportswriters, are capable of holding two thoughts in their head at once - maybe even three or four. I haven't forgotten that we're 3-5, or that we almost got no-hit last night. Now I realize we're 3-5, almost got no-hit last night, and have a manager who embarrassed himself in public (again). None of those things distracts from, or dilutes the impact of, any of the others.

[MiddleCoastBias]

One of these days Ozzie will go too far. He came pretty close on this one, but like others have said, stupid stuff like this is almost laughed at when coming from Ozzie. It would be a HUGE news story if Ron Gardenhire or Jim Leyland said it.

Agreed. And I think Ozzie knows he has the golden ticket and can say whatever he wants. I fear that one day (like today) he'll say something that just goes absolutely too far, and then it isn't 'cute' for Ozzie to be Ozzie, it turns into a real liability.

[Vote4Pedro]

It does exactly what you just did... You are wasting your time on it instead of on how the team is performing.

but its really just throwing fuel on the fire just bcuz ozzie made the statement doesnt make me all of a sudden forget how the team has played it just gives me one more thing to comment on

 

its like spraying cologne on a smoker....the smell is still there regardless

[caulfield12]

I think you have to look at the greater context.

 

I'm sure Rios appreciates Ozzie "having his back," so to speak. It SEEMS to be coming through with his play, his homer last night...for whatever reason, Ozzie feels this might be the best way to light a fire under Rios, by encouraging the fans to boo him or Ozzie.

 

I know it's definitely a "backwards" seeming motivational technique, but it's certainly garnering a lot less national attention than the Mariotti comments. Heck, it's almost impossible for him to say anything that gets attention anymore because everything he says is so over the top, it's hard to know where inappropriate even begins with the guy anymore. It's also part of Ozzie being Ozzie, that candidness is perceived to be one of his greatest strengths by the "common" fan, that he's not a completely "boring" guy like Bevington or Lamont or Manuel. When he calls out the fans "who wake up at 4 am," (etc.), we quietly laugh to ourselves and say, Ozzie's not poking fun at us, he's poking fun at those OTHER White Sox fans, like the ones who call into Ranger's post game show or offer to trade Betemit/Williams/Carlos Torres/Nix for Pujols, Mauer or Hanley Ramirez. He's singling out "harassing" fans who he feels crossed the line with Rios...the modern-day complaint of all athletes and public figures about their privacy being violated, about them not being role models (Barkley), etc.

 

Of course, the irony is that Ozzie loves the spotlight. You have to the feeling if he weren't managing what he would miss the most would be the media gathering around to hear more Ozzie speak. That and being around his friends like Baines and Cora, etc., just being around the game of baseball.

 

I guess the most important thing in Ozzie's mind is making Rios feel comfortable being a member of the Sox, and building up a "cocoon" of protection around him. Just don't get on his bad side, like BA, Cabrera, Swisher, Rauch, Sean Tracey, etc.

 

Plus, JR has to worry about hiring lawyers and interviewing witnesses to sort out the Del Negro/Paxson mess...unless Ozzie says something that offends a particular group (like the Mariotti situation) or REALLY REALLY tees off Kenny Williams to the point where their working relationship is damaged, he's going to be backed up 100% by JR. I mean, many on this board have the idea in their heads that Ozzie is so powerful that he can influence Williams to change his whole FO strategy in terms of player acquisition and talent in order to what....hold Ozzie accountable and fire him if things go wrong? I will never understand the idea that the team failing makes only Ozzie look bad but doesn't put KW under the same amount of scrutiny and pressure. But that's me. I don't get that, any more than I ever thought Ozzie was deliberately messing with BA. I think Ozzie is smarter than a lot of us give him credit for, he saw the hole in Anderson's game all along, and it's been borne out by his results since leaving Chicago.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2010 by caulfield12

[kitekrazy]

Honestly, yeah, he probably should have toned that down a little bit, but I don't see it as that big of a deal. His overall point of course will be lost but he is absolutely right. And of course since this is Ozzie the media will probably make a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be.

 

It wouldn't be news if the team was undefeated.

 

[southsider2k5]

It wouldn't be news if the team was undefeated.

 

It also wouldn't have been said if they were undefeated...

[elrockinMT]

Why is this an issue today or for the Sox at all?

[kitekrazy]

Why is this an issue today or for the Sox at all?

 

That's the way the Chicago sports media runs. They are into "girly soap opera" stuff.

 

[RockRaines]

Funny thing is, if he said these things about Cubs fans, there would be nothing but support and laughter from the people in this thread.

[fathom]

This isn't that big of a deal, but Jerry Reinsdorf has had better days

[SI1020]

Don't be so sensitive...all I'm saying is that in "White Sox Nation", team performance should be what matters most. I could care less what Ozzie says to the f**king media. They love to goad him into saying stupid things, then jump on him when he does.

 

Whether you want to believe it or not, Ozzie is a great manager. IMO the Sox probably don't win the 2005 WS without him.

I'm thinking of a famous John McEnroe quote here.

 

[SI1020]

It also wouldn't have been said if they were undefeated...

I'm going to have to disagree. Ozzie has a history speaking out of turn long before he ever thought of managing. He becomes more and more of a classless boor with each passing day. He says what he says because that's who he is, not as some kind of motivational tool. It's all about him.