Classy, Ozzie. Real classy.

Will somebody please make this guy answer for the things he says? At some point, the Ricky Ricardo "I doan know how you say eet in Eeenglish" bit has to stop working, doesn't it? Ozzie is an idiot. Plain and simple. He's certainly been in the US long enough, and he's been around young American people enough, that he just has to know that saying things like that is unacceptable.

Let's go NCAA on Ozzie. I propose the league bans the White Sox from playoff participation for the next, oh, 347 years as punishment. That's a start.

I thought football and hockey were the sports for ignorant, reeking machismo...

BTW, you know you're a wanker when the defense people have for you is "Well, it's OK to call someone a piece of ****, but not a ***." I don't know about y'all, but if I were to call someone a piece of **** in an interview while I was working I would probably get a new ******* ripped for me.

Chris
Flagstaff, AZ

Someone in the cave looked it up and "fag" does not exist in VZ slang, so Ozzie's defense is failing too.

Not okay.

I did not realize this was a second offense. Ozzie, not cool. Not cool at all.

I did not realize this was a second offense. Ozzie, not cool. Not cool at all. (Not that the first offense was okay or acceptable, mind you. It was not cool then, too.)

I find the "recovery" hilarious.

"Guillen added that he has gay friends, he went to the Madonna concert, goes to WNBA games..."

Usually it's a good idea to NOT continue stereotypes when trying to dig your way out of a hole.

Dig up Ozzie. Dig up.

"...enjoys mineral water, occasionally speaks with a slight lisp, and owns 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' on DVD."

torhu-

yeah, he might as well have said "what? i totally respect that lifestyle decision. i love interior design!"

where's carl everett in all this?

andy

I'm a White Sox fan, but one who thoroughly enjoys Bat-Girl and likes to stop by for the occasional read. I was obviously embarrased by Ozzie's most recent display of idiocy, and frankly pissed off. I'm one of the writers for the White Sox blog at the Most Valuable Network, and here's what I had to say today about it:

http://whitesox.mostvaluablenetwork.com/5/o4-ozzie-out-of-order/

OK, this man just needs to not talk. Ever.

Time to change the nickname from the Bitch Sox to the Intolerant Sox?

I just heard on WCCO that he got a one day suspension (ONE DAY!!!!) am I the only one that thinks that/this is ridicules?

I think that was a one-game suspension for some beanball thing. Not for the whole diarreha of the mouth problem.

Torhu,
I hope you are write.

This is what I heard/read, that Ozzie gets suspended two games for his foul mouth and Riske gets three for the beanball.

You're correct -- that one-game suspension was not for the derogatory slur, but rather for a separate beanball incident. Interestingly enough, they're linked: Ozzie had newly-acquired pitcher David Riske intentionally throw at the Cardinals' Chris Duncan on Tuesday. Riske took the roster spot of prospect Sean Tracey, who was sent back down to AAA after NOT intentionally throwing at Hank Blalock last Wednesday. Ozzie screamed at Tracey in the dugout for not following orders, and it was columnist Jay Mariotti's criticism of that act that led Guillen to call Mariotti what he did. Bottom line: Ozzie is even more off his rocker than usual lately, and the Sox need to step in and do something about it.

A man from a Latin culture that stresses machismo, who has spent the majority of his life around 40 other male players, coaches and trainers in a locker room, calls another man a "fag". I am shocked.

Do not hold these guys to some politically correct standard you have in your head, they do not live in that universe. Just treat thier tirades like you would any other petulant little brat's- ignore it. Giving the situation extra attention is what Ozzie craves.

MLB should suspend the White Sox from the playoffs forever? Just for their manager saying something stupid? MLB should give Ozzie a fine, maybe even a huge fine, but that is it. The players should not be punished for his stupidity.

This is America. You have the right to say anything you want, even if it is stupid (and even if it hurts someone else's feelings). And we have the right to hate you for it. And MLB, as a business, has the right to fine you. But punish the rest of the team? That is going to far.

Ummmm....that was a joke, NIH. This is a Twins' fan site, and the White Sox are our mortal enemy, so the suggested punishment was tongue-in-cheek. Didn't the "347 years" bit give you a clue?

Sorry. I guess I missed your "toungue in cheek"-ness.

NIH, if it makes you happy, I'm placing bets on that there will be no formal repercussions at all. Sigh.

I, too, remember "fag" being a synonym for "loser." It's not a place of origin thing. I was in third grade, and it was the eighties. But then I found out what it really meant, and why that would translate in slang to "loser," and I was offended. Most of us who lived through that decade realized it stopped being acceptable terminology, and should never have been acceptable in the first place.

It's not about where Ozzie grew up, but *whether* he grew up.

Twink- I hope there are formal reprocussions. But I think he should be fined a lot, not suspended.

Ozzie is an Asshead for 2 reasons:
1. He is a member of the White Sox.
2. He says Asshead things.

I try to focus on reason number 1. I try to ignore reason number 2. Or at the very least, laugh at reason number 2 and move on.

Ozzie has been pretty entertaining this season. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Oh, the heavy hand of Bud Selig. "Ooch, that smarts," squeaked the Asshead's wrist.

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060622&content_id=1518343&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/nzhrs

Oh, what I wouldn't do to see Ozzie fuming his way through a sensitivity training workshop... I wonder if it includes a session on respecting pitchers who don't want to throw the bean ball?

"It's not about where Ozzie grew up, but *whether* he grew up."

Extremely well said, twink.

Emily, I agree that Ozzie's wrist probably shook that undisclosed fine off pretty easily. And I'd like to point out that I hate Bud Selig to the very depths of my soul. And the soles of my shoes. And so on. But sports have traditionally turned a blind eye to homophobia, so this impressed me (from Selig):

"On Tuesday night, Ozzie Guillen used language that is offensive and completely unacceptable. Baseball is a social institution with responsibility to set appropriate tone and example. Conduct or language that reflects otherwise will not be tolerated. The use of slurs embarrasses the individual, the club and the game."

You know things have gotten weird when Selig responds with class.

Maybe if you combined Dusty Baker, who has essentially no personality at all, with Ozzie, who has too much, uhh, personality, you might get one normal person.

Then again you might get a homophobic Stepford manager.

As a gay White Sox fan, and proud to be both--

Speaking personally here, I'm not all that insulted that Ozzie called Jay Mariotti a "f*g." Words only hurt if you let them. I understand others out there might take offense though, and Ozzie needs to understand that and deal with the repercussions.

Instead, Ozzie should sincerely apologize to gays everywhere for lumping Jay Mariotti with us. Ugh!

[throws $.02 into jar, thanks batgirl]

If anyone out in blog-land has MLBTV, you may want to check out the White Sox / Cardinals game from tonight. Shades of the classic Santana / Garcia duel in a Twins / White Sox game last year where Garcia gave up one hit in 8 innings and lost the game. Gotta love good baseball.

Also, not to beat a dead horse, but Guillen's comments were out of line. I wish the White Sox would have disciplined him themselves. And though I agree that holding professional athletes to higher standards isn't the best of ideas (as I think heros and role models should be people like firefighters and parents), he's in the public eye and needs to think about the insults he uses and how that reflects on baseball and the White Sox in general.

Also, props to Miah.

Who wants to be lumped with Mariotti?

I was offended by the adding of the WNBA into all of it, because I am a huge WNBA fan.

Just shut up, Ozzie. Stop talking.

Hmmmm....I've been thinking about this all day. I don't think this is holding a public official to a higher standard (which I don't think is a bad thing even if it were). If a representative of a corportation used that particular word in public, he would probably get a pretty big talking to and thrown into some kind of training.

That said, BG's not so sure how she feels about him being fined--it seems to treat a slur as akin to arguing with an ump. The issue isn't to make it cost money so he doesn't do it again, the issue is that some things are just not okay. Then again, sending Guillen to sensitivity training is like sending AJ to charm school.

What Ozzie Guiilen said was said as a personal attack intended to hurt one man, Jay Mariotti, dickwad extraordinaire.

This is between Guillen and Mariotti. So, if Mariotti comes back on Around the Horn and says "Look, I've been called worse getting coffee in the morning," then why is everybody throwing a hissyfit over what Guillen said?! Because he made a derogatory statement? Big effing deal. Like I said, it was a personal attack, thus, between Guillen and Mariotti.

Oh, sure, the personal remark was made through the media, but, again, big effin' deal. If the media prints it, airs it, whatever, don't forget to blame them, too. But there is no blame to place here.

Ozzie called a man a hurtful name. That was his intention, to hurt Mariotti. Obviously, he failed (see coffee statement). If Mariotti brushed it off, so should you.

If you agree that it is okay for people to dislike one another and be emotional about it in speech, then what is s/he supposed to say, "Oh, what a poopy head?!" That works on the playground. As one gets older, one finds that an arms escalation is required. And some people never really learn.

Remember the old sayin' "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"? What the fukk ever happened to that. Isn't it obvious that we don't want Guillen resorting to weapons. Since Mariotti (have I mangled the guys name into a hotel?) is already scared to show up at the White Sox ball park because of physical threats, thus Ozzie has already demonstrated he has moved on to the appropriate level, a first amendment protected freedom, free speech (without bodily threat).

{EDITED BY BG}

Alas, calling someone a fag is not calling them a "poopy head." whether or not one person is hurt is hardly the issue. If he had called him a poopyheasd it would have been stupid and immature, but no one would have cared. And yes, Ozzie Guillen has every first amendment right to call someone whatever slur he wants, he doesn't get arrested for it, and its a beautiful thing. That's the thing with America--people can publicly call someone whatever offensive thing they want and the govt' can't stop them, but the public can tell them they were wrong and the organizations they represent can show that it's not okay. And I'm not sure your reaction would be the same if he used, say, a slur for religion or race--and yet it's the exact same thing.

Thank you Bat-girl.

In this case, Oz is being held to a lower standard than most people. Few people can get away with his behavior day in, day out, and keep their jobs. I know if I was representing my employer and went on those kinds of rants, with expletives and slurs and bantam posturing and milquetoast apologies and peals of boyish laughter in response to serious questions, I'd be gone.

That being said, boy, baseball has a long history of total bastards acting like total bastards, and it's a more interesting game for it.

I would like to say, that Ozzie needs to learn how to control his emotions in public situations, because regardless of what you feel a decent level of respect for society in general is definitely required, and his comments display an obvious lack of respect and consideration.

That being said Marrioti is a massive douche bag, and I hope he contracts a rare infectious disease that causes parts of his body to fall of slowly and painfully. This guy made himself rich by hating on Chicago and focusing on the negative. He is the archetypal pessimist. I do not know who likes this guy, but I bet its the people I meet everyday that just make me shake my head and wonder, are people really this obvlivious and disconcerned?

Good point by Andy; I think Everett tossed a few of his hallucinagens Guillen's way because that's a level of insanity few in this league can reach.