Here's more from Sweeny with a hat tip to Steve Lombardi of Was Watching:
Being a member of the media, I rely on speaking to athletes every day to do my job. I ask them questions, they give me answers…this is how the job works. If they don’t speak, I don’t have much to go on. That said, I’m going to suggest that Alex Rodriguez never open his mouth again. Seriously.Again, I think most Yankees fans feel the same way as Sweeny. I know I do. I cringe every time he's about to answer certain questions because I know he's likely to say something that will make me cringe even more. And sometimes he will even turn a perfectly safe question into a major gaffe. The bottom line is the guy just doesn't know when to stop talking.
This is simply a guy who proves time and time again that he can’t talk and chew gum at the same time. Last week A-Rod had his cousin (who is apparently guilty of transporting a controlled substance into the U.S.) meet him at the ballpark to give him a ride home (the Yankees response was something like, “Just how stupid are you?”). This week A-Rod stumbled in the simple act of trying to compliment Jose Reyes. He rolled out the Welcome Wagon, only to run over Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon in the process.
Former Yankee 3rd base coach Larry Bowa and bullpen catcher Mike Borzello used to fine Alex $100 a pop every time he said something stupid. I was surprised to see that both men are still working, joining Joe Torre’s staff in LA. I just assumed Bowa and Borzello had taken their winnings and retired to a small island in the Caribbean.
If saying stupid things were an Olympic sport, A-Rod would have won a gold medal by now. While trying to defend himself from Mike Lupica, he hammered Derek Jeter (the famous 2001 Esquire article). While confessing to steroids, he accused Selena Roberts of breaking and entering. He once forgot the name Sandy Koufax, referring to him as “the Jewish gentleman.” He referred to his slap at Bronson Arroyo in the 2004 ALCS as a “brilliant play” even though he was called out because it was illegal. Oh, and he keeps calling him Brandon Arroyo.
Listen, I’m not asking for The Gettysburg Address. I’m just hoping for something better than Jeff Spicoli. ... But I’m voting for the Steve Carlton treatment. The Hall of Fame lefty didn’t talk to reporters for pretty much the second half of his career. All he did was pitch great and win. No one seemed to care.
It's not even that A-Rod says things that are controversial, he just says things that are stupid. I could accept controversial, but stupid bothers me.
I wonder if it's something he can fix. Can a person learn how to not say stupid things? I don't think so. Like A-Rod say the other day, he's just not good with words. This is why Sweeny's suggest is the only solution.
10 Comments:
But then the media would have to find someone else to play out their "I wasn't a kool kid in high school so I'm making you pay for that" fantasies.
lol that's true, but who cares, they can focus on real baseball stuff instead.
With that said, I don't believe it has anything to do with not being cool in school or anything like that. The job of the media is to sell papers and A-Rod sells papers.
There is such a thing as dual motives. Just sayin'...
I see your point with regard to the steroid hysteria, but the latest thing over how he dissed Jeter is ridiculous, which is borne out by the fact that finally several members of the media have acknowledged that he actually meant to compliment Reyes, but did so clumsily. The ones who failed to do that are the targets of my first comment.
"There is such a thing as dual motives. Just sayin'..."
Can't argue there.
I also agree that this Jeter thing is nonsense. It's the media creating a story.
"The ones who failed to do that are the targets of my first comment."
Once again, I can't argue with that.
Please Sweeny the media would be ripping A-Rod if he didn't talk.
The whole Reyes/Damon/Jeter thing is just a media creation. They know A-Rod didn't mean it like that but they are still prolonging this non issue. They are the reason why guys like Jeter and many other players like saying nothing and acting like boring robots. They dont want to get kill and be all over the backpages. The sports media are looking for these kind of quotes just so they can rip an athlete.
I mean you got Selena Roberts driving around A-Rod's house looking for salacious details about his personal life for a tell-all book. There is a reason why a lot of athletes are standoffish and dont want to deal with the media.
And as far as those quotes about A-Rod talking about Koufax, calling Arroyo Brandon if Yogi said that people would find that funny, since its A-Rod they just kill him over them.
LOL Rich, nice.
But seriously, Sweeney is right. He's actually one of the better Yankee reporters, too, and not just because he's one of the most pro-Yankee reporters out there. He knows his stuff. And while this is an "off the field" thing, he's right about this too. Alex, for as hard as he tries, never succeeds at saying the right things. He wants so badly to be liked (even loved) by everyone, which is his first mistake. You have to just be who you are, and let everything else take care of itself.
I feel bad for Alex, because I think he truly is a very good person, who cares a lot about his friends and family. However, he has a lot of issues, and just lacks a certain social grace and way with words. I think that's why everyone always thinks he's coming off like a phoney - it's because speaking doesn't come very naturally to him.
Oh well. I just hope it doesn't bother him or the other players, and they just go out there and do their thing.
A-Rod reminds me of Beauty Queens--a beautiful face with an empty brain.
Rich/Anon got it right. Anything A-Rod does or doesn't do he is lynched for. If he went mute the media would say he's dodging, and that he doesn't have the "mettle" to play in the biggest city in the world. When he does speak, and makes even the slightest slip, its reported as if he just declared war on the former Soviet Union. And Greg, don't pawn this off by saying the media needs to sell papers, you're guilty too, because it brings readers to your blog. You could turn the other way but you don't. Then again I could turn away and I don't.
And to the guy who think Sweeny is one of the best Yankee reporters out there... seriously? I've never seen a guy with more inside access who never breaks a story, never has anything new to report, and is hardly critical of a flawed team. He seems like a nice guy, but as a reporter he's very pedestrian.
A-Rod is the classic case of a player who can play between the lines but as soon as he is off the field he's in trouble. I don't see this ever stopping. Just imagine if Boston had pulled off that trade in '04. We would be having a blast with it.
Anon,
The media may have it out for A-Rod, but the guy says stupid things over and over again. If he learned how to not be an idiot, maybe this wouldn't be a problem with him.
"And Greg, don't pawn this off by saying the media needs to sell papers, you're guilty too, because it brings readers to your blog. You could turn the other way but you don't. Then again I could turn away and I don't."
Spare me... Yes, it was the media who injected the best player in the sport with steroids every month over a three-year period. It's a big story when a good or great player does steroids (Clemens, Pettitte, Giambi), but it's a huge story when the greatest player in the game does them. And it does sell papers, there's no denying that.
As far as my blog, I report on the reporting. If A-Rod is the main focus of Yankees news it will be on a Yankees new site. And, if you haven't noticed, A-Rod gets people talking.
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