Whether it compares to the real thing, we can only imagine. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti (above, right) isn’t quite ready to put the fag-flap behind him.
I have to chuckle at some people — including some writers — using this opportunity to blame me and tell lies about how I do my work. Would people like to explain what I’ve done here, other than my job? To cut through some of the b.s. I’ve been reading, hear this: I have nothing against locker rooms and clubhouses as long as they’re civil. Again, if Guillen wants me to join his nightly OzFest charm sessions before games, he and Sox management will have to address and apologize for a history of threatening and unprofessional episodes. It’s certainly not about fear. It’s about dignity, couth, professionalism and a refusal to lower myself to laws made by jockdom.
One incident involved Guillen himself on a night in Baltimore when he stood naked behind me in the clubhouse and — how do I put this? — pretended to have sex with me. If that happens out on the street, he gets arrested for lewd behavior. A screaming Carl Everett, mean guy, confronted me outside the Sox’ clubhouse last October. Oh, and before a playoff game, while I joined a live ESPN “SportsCenter” segment on the field, Guillen yelled at me from the dugout, “Get off our field before I kick your ass!”
So, do you want me on your field, Ozzie, or do you not want me on your field? Can’t have it both ways. I’m confused.
There have been incidents involving Frank Thomas and a bat he wanted to put up my butt “sideways.” There was a disturbing 15-minute standoff with a screaming Tony Phillips. Aaron Rowand always yapped about wanting a piece of my hide. Hawk Harrelson blathers on in that drawl about some bird, and all it does is enflame fans who make threats on e-mail and voice mail.
HAHAHA! Mariotti is such a bitch. When a whole organization hates you, along with all the fans of that organization, why would you write this article? All he is doing is ruining his future. And Frank should have followed through.
I suspect Jay’s future is rather secure — he’s not being paid to be a cheerleader or a daily beat(down) reporter, so what does the organization or the fans hating him have to do with it?
White Sox fans seem to get off on their collective hatred of Marriotti, as though somehow his various run-ins with members of the double-wide dwelling Sox family was personal to them. I’ve yet to find one in Chicago that will actually say something beyond “well, that’s Ozzie for you” about his random rants. But then again, maybe objectivity is a bit of a stretch to hope for from a group that thinks that Hawk is a good announcer. Sox fans are making Cubs fans look rational, well-educated, and reasonable by comparison. Which may be a sign of the apocalypse.
You’re not lookin’ that hard.
I know a lot of Sox fans, and any of them who voiced an opinion were bummed out that Ozzie stooped to calling Mariotti a fag. But his rants aren’t really random. They’re pretty focused, actually.
And I do not know a single Sox fan who thinks Hawk Harrelson is a good announcer.
Just about everyone in Chicago hates Mariotti.
Check out the Sun-Times’ other sports columnists in the last week. One weak call for a suspension, many telling non-defenses of Mariotti and his bullshit writing. To say nothing of his fellow columnists at the Trib.