Poll & chat: Ozzie...Does get get fired?

[Pappy13]

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?

[Phishfan]

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).

[Sunstroke]

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.

[MaineDolFan]

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.

[Brian Fein]

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. 

[Dave Gray]

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.

[Brian Fein]

ESPN reporting Guillen is suspended for 5 days

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

[MaineDolFan]

"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..."

[Sunstroke]

Not a chance in hell...

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...

[SportsChick]

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.

[MaineDolFan]

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...

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.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

  This would be like giving a speech and saying something like "Hitler wasn't ALL bad."

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. 

[Dave Gray]

This would be like Joe Girardi giving a speech on the Upper East side and saying something like "Hitler wasn't ALL bad."

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.

[MaineDolFan]

^^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.

[Brian Fein]

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.