ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I wish this story would go away. The Mariotti and Ozzie debacle is turning into the Ozzie should be ostracised show. Talk radio, the Internet, and ESPN have provided deafening coverage of the F bomb heard around the world. It's time to lay it out for both Ozzie, the organization and Mariotti:

Dear Ozzie,
Man, you fucked up. This isn't like all those other times you called someone a homosexual or that time you greeted your pal by calling him a child molestor. This is different because it's that extra little bit that everyone is adding to your legacy. That's right, you have a legacy. (already) It seems like it might be getting tarnished as we stand here looking at the ebb and flow of search results with your name and the word fag. You can act like you don't care, but I  know you do. This legacy is something that will follow you and your family around forever. You should cherish it as much as you cherish that championship we won last year. You're supposed to be a stand-up guy. You proved that when you apologized to A-Rod for your WBC comments. You haven't spoken his name since. That was a good move. This recent tirade against Mariotti is a joke. You got baited into this crap and you should have known when to keep your mouth shut. The problem now is that you apologized in the only way you know how. By calling him a piece of shit. You're setting a bad example in this regard. You're speaking the truth, and we all agree with you - but you're the manager of the World Champions. We need to change our reputation from a beer-drinking-Wrestlemania loving, chant-the-Cubs-suck-even-when-we're-playing-the-Indians organization to a true class act. Someone has to stop the nonsense. Someone has to continue to lead the transformation of this ballclub, and baseball in Chicago for the good. Call it Grinder Rule #1: Good Guys Who Wear Black Wear it With Class. Don't give me the Charles Barkley, I am not a role model routine either. Because you are - and after the other day - a bad one at that.

Dear White Sox Organization(re: Mr. Reinsdorf),
First, thanks for taking all our shit over the past 15 years. You deserved better, and in hindsight we should have been measuring and ranking the "best" ownership in this city with the amount of parades/celebrations we took part in. I hope all that nasty crap that we blamed you for is just water under the bridge. (white flags, causing a strike, Jerry Krause, etc.) You've got a real problem on your hands with Oz. This isn't the first time his mouth is writing checks your ass has to cash. Have you seen who ESPN compared our skipper to? Read about it here. Marge and Rocker aren't people considered good company. This guy has it right. You have to have a sit down with Ozzie, Kenny and the PR department to clean up this mess. Suspend him if you have to, but do it now before people start calling for his head. Sure, he said he was sorry - but he still called him a peace of shit. Do we really want this to be the face of our organization? It's starting to detract from the team. If anything, you need to impart some knowledge on Ozzie when it comes to talking to the media. I'm not asking for a gag-order, but we need to set some ground rules when anyone is talking with that White Sox uniform on. Especially when there is a mic in the vacinity! May I suggest we get Ozzie to admit his faults and apologize to his team, and to his city for bringing this kind of heat down on us. Specifically his team. We have been playing great baseball as of late, and instead of talking about how we used the Cardinals for a punching bag, we're talking about calling people names. Bad names at that! So, do what you have to do - but make it known that the White Sox organization doesn't tollerate this kind of behavior. Even if you did win a World Series. Good luck cleaning up this mess. Don't worry, we're still behind Ozzie and the club - we just need to stop the playground-style name calling and get back to winning another ring.

Dear Mr. Mariotti:
You are a hack. There is no question about it. I've never liked your sour style of writing. That being said, you have every right to write commentary on Ozzie and Dusty Baker. Do I believe Ozzie should apologize to you for being a gut-less waste of space - no. Should he apologize for embarrasing himself and his team by making derogatory comments in general. Absolutely. I understand you've got to sell papers, but I don't understand why you continue to think that antagonizing people is the only way to do that. Hell, from what I heard you were crying about the Sun-Times being pro-White Sox. You're kidding right? You expect your paper to be objective? Shouldn't you be held to the same standards? Hell, shouldn't you not piss off your bosses by crying foul over their parsing of your crappy content? Ozzie is right, you have never done anything for this city. You're famous for being a jerk. But hey, it's America and jerk isn't a word that is as offensive as that F-bomb Oz used to describe you. My advice to you Jay is to do what you're told before you get let go by the Sun-Times and end up like me, writing for some sports blog.

That does it for me. Let's get that sweep tonight. GO SOX
Filed under: WhiteSox, Leftovers