SPORT/MEDIA, White Sox and Jay Mariotti

I listened to some of yesterday's White Sox game on the radio. The White Sox came back from being down 9-1 to force the game to extra innings. Tadahito Iguchi hit a three-run home run in the seventh and a grand slam in the ninth.

No matter how many runs the White Sox are down, the current team can cover the difference. The hitting in the starting line-up and off the bench is incredible.

And I'll bet when the post-season comes around the starting pitchers will be able to turn-up their games and deliver some great starts.

Yesterday, as I cleaned house in preparation for hosting the writing group I belong to, I listened to sports talk radio. The White Sox had won their last nine games, so naturally the talk was all about White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen calling Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti "a fucking fag".

Guillen shouldn't have used the word "fag". But it seems a little disconnected from reality how we (Americans) attach so much importance to epithets but so little to actual actions. We have national policies in place that have large numbers of Black men in the criminal justice system, but hey, our politicians never say, "nigger".

One of the claims made by the talk show host was that Mariotti couldn't avoid writing about the incident. I mostly disagree.

I was sued for defamation by Emanuel "Chris" Welch, the president fo the District 209 school board, for defamation. My lawyers asked me to minimize writing about the lawsuit to avoid the perception that I was milking it for publicity.

Generally, I don't write about developments in the case, because I'm trying to do the honorable thing.

Mariotti is a professional asshole. Part of his thing is getting under the skin of pro-sports people. Mariotti is clearly milking Guillen's poor word choice for the maximum amount of publicity.

Someone who was really concerned that Guillen become more appreciative of the issues facing gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people would probably want to have a private meeting to discuss things with Guillen. Or arrange for some mutually respected third party to meet with Guillen and increase his awareness.

But the way Mariotti is approaching this shows a certain insensitivity on his part. Mariotti's actions demonstrate indifference to actually increasing awareness. For Mariotti, it's all about Mariotti.

[UPDATE: I should have checked the blogs before writing this entry.
Temple Stark wrote:

Would I enjoy time spent with Guillen? Probably not, but honest words are always preferable to faking outrage. Or faking stupidity. Mariotti, yes, gets paid to have an opinion. And apparently has called Guillen plenty oif names in his column, "Mafia guy" and "gang member" are two that Guillen picked out. And there's nothing wrong with someone calling that opinion a pile of horse manure.

And Deadspin wrote:

Jay Mariotti’s column is reading like a “Penthouse” letter to the men he covers. Yeah, he’s not letting this go away.

]