It's not as off-topic as it seems. Last night on Outside the Lines, presumably because of Kenny Rogers's recent act of self-defense from the menacing camera that was trying to hurt him -- they focused on the adversarial relationship between sports stars and the media. They showed all the usual clips -- The Big Unit's inauspicious arrival in New York, Ryan Leaf going berserk as his career is going to the toilet, Bobby Bonilla threatening Bob Klapisch, Barry Bonds just about any day of his life, etc. And then they showed the Braves locker room after the 1992 NLCS. Deion Sanders had gotten word that Tim McCarver had made some on-air comments criticizing his being a two-sport player, and was pissed. I can't remember (nor can I find) exactly what McCarver said, though I am sure it was obnoxious and condescending and all about how the Game of Baseball Should Be Played, because after all, it's friggin' Tim McCarver. What I can't understand is why some athletes get so incredibly pissy, and seem unable to recognize that the media is a big part of the reason they get paid millions of dollars for playing games. Seriously, if someone from the media is being really obnoxious, and it happens all the time, how hard is it to turn the other cheek, or just say "interview over"? Turning back to Kenny Rogers for a moment, they should "Know when to walk away". Anyway, Deion apparently thought the next line in the song was "Know when to dump a cooler full of ice water on Tim McCarver's head" and so did just that. And so you have Tim McCarver, soaking wet and freezing, coming up with a rather lame (though spot-on) comeback, "You're a real man, Deion. A real man!" as Deion bravely storms off. All on live TV. Everyone (including perhaps my least favorite player of all time, David Justice) there is smiling or laughing -- probably at Deion and/or the whole ridiculousness of the thing, but it must've seemed at the time it was at McCarver. Every time I see that, I find myself feeling really bad for McCarver. Not because I like him -- I don't, at all, and actually in theory the whole thing should've been quite funny -- but because Deion acted like such a baby, a spoiled brat, and a coward. He made me feel bad for friggin' Tim McCarver. And that is why I Hate Deion Sanders.
Now, Jim Everett attacking Jim Rome -- now that's awesome. I can watch that over and over again and it doesn't get old.
Man, it took me a while to recognize Rome there. He looked like Steve Guttenberg back then.
ReplyDeleteThat is a truly amazing clip, though.
While the Deion thing was obnoxious, I do recall that McCarver was ALL OVER Sanders the entire series and when he spoke about Sanders during the Series, there was that little smirk/snicker the McCarver uses. sure it was wrong for him to dump the gatorade on the guy's head, but I certainly did not feel bad for Timmy.
ReplyDeleteThey replied much of the story today on sports center, plus they had a live debate between Steve A. and Michael Irvin and some other poor ESPN commentator. Anyway, while I can see the athletes perspective that it's annoying to have someone in your face and to be ready and willing to dive into your piccadillos at a moments notice the simple fact that these players make SO MUCH DAMN money makes up for it. If a player is making $10,000 per swing why shouldn't we examine every little detail in their life?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Earl, players need to learn to "know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run".