I have a couple of beefs...

Edit: 10:45 am, 6/22/06. Armchair GM asked me to post this rant as an opinion piece, as Ozzie Guillen stirs the conversational pot. So what follows below is the cleaned up (For spelling and grammar) version that appears there.

I know I brought this up in passing last night...But after watching the so-called Wordwide Leader Tuesday night, disgusting is the only word I can use to descibe Tim Legler and Greg Anthony, in regard to their heaping praise upon Alonzo Mourning during the Worldswide Leader's NBA Finals postgame. They insist on calling the quitter an inspirational player, and soooo deserving of a ring. Same goes for John Hollinger's Mourning puff piece on the WWLiS dot com. He's inspirational? Only to Vince Carter and Kenyon Martin.

Maybe the lunkheads at the Worldwide Leader should try bringing up Mourning to the front offices and fans of both the New Jersey Nets and Totonto Raptors. Mourning bent both franchises over and treated them as Schillenger did Beecher on "Oz." I'm often stunned as to how short the MSM's memory is when an ahtlete's ugly past gets in the way of what they believe is a feel good story.

You see the media gloss over nasty bits all the time, just to have that warm and fuzzy story. Vince Carter? It never comes up that he dicked over the Raptors. Now he's a great teammate who plays at an all-star level with the Nets. Kirby Puckett? The media convienently ignored his post baseball antics in his obituaries. Kobe Bryant? Let's not even go there. Knowing all this, watching Legler and Anthony suck up to another in a long line of jocks who play hard only when it fits their needs put me in a slow burn.

Ozzie Guillen is trash. A bully. Has chronic diarrhea of the mouth. Another Billy Martin waiting to happen. It really tells you something about the ChiSox fanbase in that they love the guy, and defend him well beyond reason. Which seems to be happening on a weekly basis at this point. So...I'm sure you're all aware of the latest Guillen foot in mouth incident which involves columnist Jay Mariotti.

First off, I think Mariotti is a hack, and cluelessly grating to boot. Viewing 5 minutes of the WWLiS "Around the Horn" would convince anyone of that. His schtick didn't go over here in Detroit, and Marriotti and his column were run out on a rail in the early 80's. I'd have no problem if Guillen called Mariotti out on his writing. But Guillen to slur both Mariotti and gays in the same sentence? In front of a gaggle of reporters? Quite a feat, even for the loudmouthed Guillen. But bring the latest offense up to a ChiSox fan or the Sox front office though, and you'll hear that it's just "Ozzie being Ozzie."

Was it Ozzie being Ozzie when he called Sparky Anderson a horseshit manager? Humiliating Sean Tracey in public, then sending his emasculated ass to the minors? Equating gays to child molesters? Confront Guillen on his utter lack of self control, and he always falls back on the lame excuse that it's "Different" in Venezuela. Strange logic, considering he's lived and worked in the states for his entire adult life. Then he goes merrily on his way, looking to disgrace the White Sox even further.

Despite all that, Guillen could spit on Michael Jordan, anal rape Mike Ditka, and piss on the grave of Walter Payton, and you know what the city of Chicago would say? "It's just Ozzie being Ozzie." Well, they'll say it till he has his first losing season...

I hope beyond hope that the Tigers beat out Chicago for the central division crown, if only to shut up the White Sox and their fan base. They give baseball a black eye.