Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Yes, They Still Exist

I made the mistake of listening to a few minutes of that terrible Boston sports station today. (Hey, always good to check in on what you're boycotting, right? Or does that technically end the boycott? Anyway....) Guy calls in and says that he can't believe the Red Sox gave Papi so much money. Starts criticizing him. Then takes it to the next level, saying Papi isn't a "good citizen." At this point the hosts were a little confused--"well what do you mean by not a good citizen?" Guy starts talking about how "you never see Papi doing any charity work." Uh...ok then. Hosts of course start defending Ortiz by saying that he does plenty of stuff like that. And that's when the guy says...

"Not for the WHITE communities he doesn't!"

Then he goes on to say Papi is "100% Dominican" (as if that were a synonym for...I don't know, any negative word). And that the Red Sox are fourth in his mind among the Boston teams, who all presumably cater to his kind more often.

At this point one would think the hosts would cut the guy off, or at the very least come right out castigating him for being shamelessly racist. But they just went on talking to him. I'm not saying they agreed with him, but you have to do something there, you can't just continue on acting like he's a normal person making rational points.

Oddly, they did cut the guy off later, but only when he started claiming that Johnny Pesky has been in assisted living in Danvers. Such horrible information is grounds for dismissal, but saying that David Ortiz is a bad citizen because he only helps Dominicans in need and neglects the poor, oppressed, middle-aged white guys of the North Shore is just normal banter. These hosts have to wake up. (Of course I know they're busy going through lists of hilarious texts from random no-names so it's hard to concentrate on the person who's actually talking to them.)

Then they went on with their usual brainwashing of the casual fan about complete lies from deep inside the Red Sox clubhouse.

Anyway, even if Papi really did help only Dominicans, that would still be totally fine, but here's a site that shows the different causes he's attached to. The guy won the Clemente Award last year. That's for the player who contributes the most "on and off the field"--not just among his teammates but everybody in the league. And yes, you might even see the faces of while kids at his charity's web site. (And you'll also notice plenty of non-Dominican celebs play in his charity golf tourney every year.)

I doubt that caller will actually see this, but if you know any racist motherfuckers like him, please let them know that David Ortiz is one of the most charitable athletes out there, and he's not actually removing the diseases from Dominican kids and putting them into white kids. In fact, that asshole caller has inspired me to donate to the David Ortiz Children's Fund. I hope you will do the same.

Comments:
I call sports radio, "Knucklehead Radio." I refuse to listen to WFAN here in NY for anything other than Mets games. It's a haven for miscreants I can do without.
 
I know we've had this conversation before, but to me the FAN is great....because it's NOT Boston sports radio. Which should give you an indication of just how bad that is. But I would to hear your perspective after listening to a week or two of Boston and then compare it to the FAN. And the FAN still has people I don't like--"Evan" I could do without, for example. Francesa is obviously a big windbag but at least he talks about sports most of the time, and knows the very basics of sports radio since he's been there for so long. You know you're not gonna get like fart noises and stuff.
 
(As for the callers, though--they're idiots everywhere. I do think the FAN is better at screening and/or immediately cutting off people who have absolutely nothing to say. )
 
I'll admit I don't listen to Boston sports radio online, Jere. I've heard the horror stories, like the one you wrote about here. I've just given up on listening to idiots on both sides of the mic, as it seems to attract too many dimwits, who most times either leave me shaking my head or wanting to break the radio. (Although, I will admit there is one day I do always listen to WFAN every year and look forward to: "Yankee Elimination Day" and its aftermath. It's good for many laughs.)
 
You get those callers on WFAN, too. If there's one thing Ortiz can't be accused of is not being charitable. Sharing needles with ARod? He can certainly be accused of that, but he's certainly charitable.

I wonder if you like WFAN because you have so little invested in the teams (except for the Jets) they cover. Because I sure find it as infuriating as you find WEEI, however, I don't boycott the WFAN - except for one day, the day Omnipotent WILL listen.
 
I have as much invested in the Yanks (losing) as I do in any other team. And you get great anti-Yankee stuff on there. (Was much better when Mad Dog was on.) And as for growing up and getting Nets/Jets talk on there--well, there just wasn't much to begin with. When there was though, I never got a sense of people trying to drive my favorite players out of town like the Boston media does. Of course I hate Francesa's condescending attitude toward the Jets though.
 
You're a Nets fan too?!?!? Dumb question, Jere, WHY? I get all the rest, Jets, Sox (obviously), but the eff'ing Nets? I'm guessing we are about the same age, and I don't ever remember the Nets being interesting in the 80s. There are the mid-to-late 90s era teams, the Jason Kidd teams, but you were already a lot older then - I mean, when you are older you no longer have that innocence that causes kids to develop an affinity for a team no matter how much they suck.

The Nets also had that one PG that died in car accident, wasn't it on the autobahn or something?
 
You gotta stop skimming, man, I have brought this up plenty! Yes, Nets since I can remember. Early-mid 80s, the G-Man, Buck, Bernard King's brother, Sugar Ray, Orlandoooooo Woolridge and Otis Birdsong--I was huge into Chris Morris when he came around. He was my all-time favorite Net. I still have my Derrick Coleman hat, poster, and shirt too. Though I wasn't too crazy about Joe Barely Cares or even Sam Bowie. Whoo boy am I glad I didn't make the call to get a Yinka Dare jersey. Oh Jayson Williams was of course a big fave of mine but then he killed that guy. Then yes they got Drazen and sadly just as he was about to turn the organization around, he died. I still liked them with Kidd and Van Horn and stuff, but right around then they started "YankeeNets" and I was like "I can't support this." So it was so bittersweet having them in the Finals those 2 years. Then I officially stopped having a favorite team.
 
Ok, you got me, I'll stop skimming. Well the Knicks play the Nets tonight, and I'm giddy cause I got MSG back -- Time Warner you can go eff yourself!!!

Jayson Williams and Drazen (I got that wrong, he was their SG) were the only Nets I ever liked, I absolutely hate that the Nets are moving to Brooklyn. Does that excite you? Maybe you wrote about it and that's one of those pieces I "skimmed".

The Brooklyn Nets aren't too far from where I live, I promise to loathe them even more than I ever have. Parking, traffic, and a second basketball team in the city. It all merits one long BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
 
I don't care what they do but it will be good for them if they move to Brooklyn. But it's the same thing as the football--if they start getting good I'd be happy for them, but then as they start getting REALLY good and suddenly all these Yankee fans are making fun of me assuming I'm a Celtics fan, I'd have to root for them not to win so I don't have to "hear about it" despite the fact that they don't know who the hell Mike Gminski is. Same reason it got hard for me to root for the Jets any more. But then the Celts would win 3 championships in a row and all my Red Sox fan readers would be like "so you're rooting for the Celts over the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals right?" and I'd be like, Well, now I gotta root for the Nets again! I'm stuck in a whirlpool I can never get out of.
 
A conundrum indeed.
 

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