The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm curious what ya'll think about Ozzie so far. I haven't really been keeping track of him since he left the White Sox. It's no secret that I like Ozzie, but it sounds like he may have gotten in over his head this time. What do ya'll think? Is the media just blowing this up out of proportion or could his job really be on the line already?

The word is that the Cuban-American are calling for his head. Hed he been a manager of a team with a stadium in any other city, there wouldn't be much of a big deal. Given the fact that the Marlins are openly marketing to the latin community, he may very well be in danger of losing his job. It all depends on how his apology comes across tomorrow (the kicker is he has already issued an apology but it wasn't in Miami).

I just can't see Ozzie getting axed because of these comments... I expect him to make a sincere apology when he gets back to FL, and for the situation to blow over rather quickly.

Not a chance in hell.

I don't see Ozzie riding this one out at all.  I'm not sure you're fully grasping the depths of what he said and he deeply it stabs into the heart of the Cuban population in the greater Miami area.  This would be like Joe Girardi giving a speech on the Upper East side and saying something like "Hitler wasn't ALL bad."

The Marlins will suspend him to try to MAKE it blow over.  It won't work.  You don't make it into Time Magazine with a quote as manager of the Miami Marlins unless you've said an amazingly stupid thing...a career killer thing. His next boss will think long & hard about hiring him.  "Miami gave up...what?  He was fired for...what?  IN MIAMI?  Yeah, pass."

I'm not sure you're giving his statement enough credit.  He couldn't have picked a worse place in the world to make it.

Ozzie will not, and should not, be fired.

Its funny how the Marlins have done all this to cater to the Cuban-American population, including building a multi-million dollar facility in the middle of Little Havana, and it all got erased in 5 words from a buffoon who talks too much.

This is what you get with Ozzie, not a surprise. 

I must just not understand the Cuban population, because I don't find this comment offensive.

In context, it's not like he said something all that terrible.  It was basically "I respect Castro because people have been trying to kill him for 60 years and he's still there."  I think he was speaking to the man's resiliancy.

It was a stupid comment, sure.  You know how you should just avoid using Hitler in comparisons?  The same goes for Castro down here.  ...just don't mention it.

ESPN reporting Guillen is suspended for 5 days

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7795152/ozzie-guillen-miami-marlins-suspended-five-games

"I'm really sorry.  No...I mean REALLY sorry.  But, also, what I meant was lost in translation.  So, really, I'm not sorry at all."

This guy is such a dick.  He really is.

Dave - saying he respects Castro?  Pretty damn bad thing to say in Miami.  What should have come out of his mouth was "it's too bad someone hasn't killed the guy" versus "I respect he has been around for 60 years to torment your brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, etc..."

Glad your future-vision is so infallible, but I'll wait to see how it plays out down here.

Your subsequent comments also lead me to believe that your personal feelings might be clouding your crystal ball...

5 game suspension by the Marlins and I'm a but surprised that it wasn't longer. The stadium is in little Havana for goodness sakes.

As the Black Eyed Peas once sang, "I gotta feelin'..."

I'm allowed to have those.

You can't market your food towards obese people and then have your CEO on YouTube making fat "yo mama" jokes.  It's poor form.

The stadium is in Little Havana, for Christ sake.  I'm thinking Ozzie won't survive this one, one way or the other.

That didn't end Will Smith's carrear.  In fact only a few months after he made that comment the President said if anyone was to do a movie about himself, he would want Smith to play the role. 

I'm not going to take the side of pro-Hitler, but you know what, even that statement makes sense in a certain context.  If you're talking about getting people to rally behind an idea in the face of adversity, Hitler's an apt example.  We want to paint everything black and white, when most things are not.

I'm certainly not defending Castro.  But are people REALLY, REALLY for real offended?  Or are they just supposed to be offended.  It's not like Ozzy said that he supports killing people.  He's just dumb and he said something dumb off the cuff.  It was a stupid statement, but not in the merit of the statement, only in that it unnecessarily alienated a large group of people for no understandable reason.

^^I'm talking about the worst places possible to make those statements, guys.

Again - Upper East Side New York?  One of the most settled areas for Jewish residents in the world, outside of Israel.  If you made a comment about "Hitler not being all THAT bad" while addressing a crowd in that neighborhood, you may not make it out alive.

Head into Oklahoma City and say "you'd need to pry the guns out of those idiots hands with crow bars."  Don't pre text your conversation.  See how well it goes for you.  Say that in Portland, Maine and someone will give you a funny look.

Go into Chinatown, San Francisco and talk about how wonderful the DOJ Internment Camps were during WWII.  Say that in Miami and someone will ask you "what the hell is a DOJ internment Camp?"

Portland, Maine has a huge Ugandan refugee population.  Go hang out on Munjoy Hill and tell them you respect Joseph Kony.  You know, because people have been trying to kill him for decades and no one has managed to do it yet.  Bring a helmet.  Say that in Oklahoma City and they'll say "who?"

What Ozzie said was stupid.  Had he said it as a member of the White Sox it wouldn't have been this much of a big deal.  How many millions of Cubans live in Miami?  How many of those millions were directly impacted by Castro?  Who is Ozzie's employer?  Which population is this employer trying to win over?

It's a pretty big deal, in context.

FWIW - I've asked a few Cuban Americans that I know, some of whom were born in Cuba, and even they aren't all bent out of shape.  I wonder if the reaction itself is being blown out of proportion.

^^^ Nah...surely the media would never blow a story out of proportion! ;)

Here's where I say ignorant shit...beware:

I don't think that THAT many Cubans living here are directly impacted by Castro anymore.  They are 2nd generation Cubans, where hatred of Castro is built into their culture.  I know a guy that has a cigar box in his house of his family's old property deeds.  Guy never set foot in Cuba but feels that Castro's people acquired their family property, but that it's still his birthright.  By giving any recognition to Castro at all, he's basically forfeiting that land (though I think it's long since gone anyway.)  It built in him a blind hatred of Castro where all reason goes out the window (not that there's not reason to hate...but it doesn't even matter.)

I think that Castro still indirectly affects a lot of people and a lot have suffered.  My point is, you're not going to get people that emotionally invested to rationally think "What is Ozzy saying?  Should I be pissed about it?"  Instead, you're just going to get a vocal minority of people reacting, when in reality, most people probably don't give a shit.
 

You also have to take into account what Ozzie was to the fans prior to making the statement. I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that Ozzie got the biggest ovation from the fans on opening day. Not a player, Ozzie. This hurt his reputation, no question, but I think it will eventually heal especially if the Marlins have a big season with Ozzie at the helm. Ozzie was loved in Chicago until the Sox turned in a couple of sub-par years and then his comments started to grate on people. This is just Ozzie being Ozzie. Yeah it was dumb to say it and he knows it. He IS sorry. He's not a dumb guy, just a guy that absolutely HATES coach speak and sometimes bends over backwards to try to make a point and ends up saying something stupid. Even smart people say stupid shit sometimes.

Not to mention there was not that huge of an outcry as around 200 people showed up to protest.

Ozzie Guillen basically supported a brutal dictator who has beaten, tortured and executed political prisoners whose crime is often only making disparging remarks about Cuba's communist regime or being related to someone who has.  A brutal dictator who caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee the island for their lives and leave family members behind to live in squalor. 

I agree with Maine, he picked the worst possible area to make such remarks in.  That said, I don't think he gets fired.  A heavy fine should follow the suspension and the money should be given to one or more organizations that help Cuban Americans. 

He has put himself in a bad light with the Cuban community with these comments and it will take a long time for him to get on their good side, if ever.

Bill Maher pointed out the 9/11 terrorist weren't cowards in the US.   Granted he got fired over it, but quickly got another job.   

^ Maher was correct.

Just because you use a word to positively and accurately describe a hated group, doesn't make it wrong.  Terrorists are scumbags, but people who lay their lives on the line aren't cowards.  It doesn't mean you support them.

^ Agreed.  Mahar was correct.  Suicide bombing is a lot of things, but it ain't a cowardly act. 

But this is what Ozzie said,

"I respect Fidel Castro, You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."

He doesn't praise Castro for being a nice person, in fact he calls him a son of a bitch.  He just says he is impressed with his staying power.  And Ozzie is right.  How many times has a much larger and powerful county (US) tried to oust him, and he is still there.  Pretty darn impressive.  I respect his staying power. 

^ That's exactly what I was saying.  In context, the quote makes total sense.  He wasn't praising Castro.

Revisionism. Ozzie actually said "I love Fidel Castro..." Now Ozzie says he mistranslated his own thoughts by using the word love and I expect that may be true but let's at least get the quote right if we are going to put it in quotes.

^ I read it reported as "respect" as well. 

^^^ This link does not go to the full article (you need membership) but the first line is clearly, "I love Fidel Castro."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2110450,00.html

The respect line is later and is actually in line with what Hoodie quoted which was my mistake. But the lead in was love.

It's the .... that are important though. He went on to explain what he meant by that. It's a little deceptive to use only the first 4 words of what he said about Castro to convey his true feelings about Castro. He shouldn't have said it, but I think it's obvious that it was a poor choice of words and didn't really convey his true feelings. I think most people understand that and they will get over it.