MSU Red Cedar Message Board

This is idiotic.

Who ever said they should get over hating Castro? Hate him until the end of time! Be involved in discussions regarding US-Cuba relations. Speak with school children about the history of Cuba's revolution and Castro's atrocities. Be upset if the President says this kind of thing.

I'm talking about worrying about some baseball guy's comments. Why do you give a fuck what he thinks?

It's obvious that your empathy level for these folks is pretty low. If you can't understand why they give a f*&K, fine.

Just understand that they do. You can't control their rage and anger simply by saying it's misplaced or stupid. Nor is it your place to tell them that they should confine their anger only to politician and no one outside of that should be involved.

One example: The Dixie Chicks made a comment about the war in Iraq. People stopped buying their records and going to their shows.

They had every right to make their comments, and people had every right to not patronize them.

I disagree with what Ozzie had to say about Fidel Castro but he still should have the right to his freedom of speech. I don't care what the Cuban Americans think, he should be able to express his opinion without losing his job. It is only the biased and repressive PC rules that prevent him from exercising his freedom of speech. Political correctness is incorrect..

One reason to give a fuck would be because he professed his "love" for someone who has imposed his evil fucking will on family and friends. Let's say your mother gets raped, god forbid, and Joe Blow professes his "love" for the rapist for avoiding prison after raping your mother. Would you feel the need to determine what Joe Blow does for a living before deciding if you give a fuck or would you resent the asshole regardless of his vocation?

I hope the Marlins' management is forced to fire Guillen due to market forces being impacted by the reaction of the community to just exactly who Ozzie Guillen is. I don't give a rat's ass about political correctness. I just want to see good ole' market forces at work, shoving Guillen's ass out the fucking door. Let him go coach the Cuban team.

You're Jewish. Your grandparents survived the Holocaust. Will you now patronize the hardware store that sells the tools to assemble the signs held up by the American Nazi Party when it parades down the main street of your home town?

Political correctness is first and foremost political speech, as is political incorrectness.

And Ozzie didn't lose his job. Please pay attention. He has his freedom of speech. He is just punished by his employer when he exercises that freedom in a manner that costs his employer money. As you would be, as I would be, as anybody would be. What you're complaining about is that he was not allowed to give his opinion without consequences -- and that is most certainly not what the First Amendment guarantees.

lol wut?

I can't decide if you are agreeing with me or calling me out.

It will be very hard to determine if attendance is impacted by this, because they really have no basis for an attendance comparison in the new ballpark. They'll still get decent attendance for the first couple of months, regardless of this. After that, it depends on how good or bad they're doing. That's probably why he wasn't fired. They know he's more talented than anyone else that they could get to manage at this point, and they spent a lot on new players. They're banking on success (and the ensuing bandwagoners) quieting the controversy.

But if they're looking for an excuse, they could claim that almost any attendance is a disappointment. The Marlins have been trying to tell potential advertisers that they'll average 30-35,000 per game this year. They probably don't honestly expect that, but they could claim that anything short of that is a disappointment and point to Guillen as the scape goat if they want to get rid of him.

"He should be able to express his opinion without losing his job." Your words. Your belief. Unsupported by law.

Has he lost his job? No. May he lose it in the future over this or similar statements? Yes. (Just check his past.) Is that legally wrong? No, but it apparently pisses you off.

The rest of your comment is so over the top I have no response. Good day.

Edit -- My God, I just found the perfect pic for you.

Freedom of speech is an individual right. But your employer certainly has the right to set limits on what you say.

The new Marlins stadium was built in the middle of Little Havana and funded with city money. The whole marketing plan was to fill the stadium with paying customers, most of whom would come from a pool of Cuban-Americans. Ozzie can say whatever he wants, but as manager of the Marlins his job is to 1) win games and 2) sell tickets.

I don't think the general manager of any baseball team should make political comments to Time magazine. They should coach baseball. They can comment on their favorite music and pastimes but politics should be off limits.

A few things this thread has taught me:

1. No matter how much common sense one believes their statements make, you'll always be able to find someone to disagree with you.

2. The ability of the RCMB to start at one subject and veer off on a tangent that has nothing to do with the original subject is boundless. Example: Ozzie's comments about respecting/loving Castro turn into a referendum on Pinochet and Samoza.

3. Politics finds a way to creep into damn near everything these days. No one, on either side of the political spectrum, can get into a discussion about baseball, selling tickets or being a loudmouthed character of a manager without polarizing political comments creeping in.

Thanks for posting...damn, those guys are full of the idiot sauce. Grantland should stick to their slideshow top 10 lists.