Young was arrested for tackling a tourist outside the New York Hilton at around 2:30 a.am. though i don’t suppose there’s any good time to tackle a tourist. He is also alleged to have hurled an anti-Semitic epithet the tourist’s way, which is not smart, never mind that the tourist in question isn’t even Jewish, but more to the point, that this is about the ugliest thing I can recall a big-league player doing in recent memory.
In the days since the incident, there’s been a lot of talk by people close to Young, and now Young himself, about his alleged alcohol problem, which strikes me as a convenient excuse. Anti-Semitism isn’t contained in a bottle of whiskey.
Young, who was charged for the incident and is out on $5,000 bail was said on Friday to have “admitted’’ he’s entered an alcohol counseling program. But I think he was only too happy to reveal that, as he alcohol is time-tested as an alibi for all sorts of ugly human behavior. In our society it’s much better to be a drunk than a racist or anti-Semite, though there are folks who are both.
...Young did, however, admit that the publicity surrounding the anti-Semitic comment he is said to have made (it was allegedly the “k’’ word), hurts him the most. “That’s the toughest part, especially being branded anything racist or bigoted, especially when that’s not me,’’ he said to the Tigers media. Young mentioned what a good family he comes from, but assuming that’s true only makes what he’s alleged to have done less execusable. I’m only glad he didn’t pull out the old standby and tell us his agent is Jewish.
Repoz
Posted: May 05, 2012 at 08:41 AM |
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1. ajnrules Posted: May 05, 2012 at 09:20 AM (#4124037)I guess Matt Bush might not count, but he was on the 40-man roster.
Young is a ballplayer, he is not in jail, there is no reason at all for him not to be playing(except that he sucks).
Or perhaps Rocker's comments were spoken on the record to Sports Illustrated. That's been known to bring attention.
Good point. But having dealt with an Antisemitic loon at work, I was shocked at the casual acceptance of his views by some here who would otherwise be screaming about racial injustice.
But is this an example of anti-Semitism being more acceptable to people, or people just being more willing to rail against racists not actually in the room?
BS. Retarded BS. I am as anti-PC as anybody you are likely to find on here. But this isn't a contrary opinion. And it's not a casual use of a 'bad' word, which happened to offend somebody. It's assault and verbal abuse. And sports leagues have been imposing penalties on off the field conduct that makes the league look bad, since forever.
Must be Eduardo Nunez's people.
For me the difference is that Young was dealt with promptly and decisively. He was arrested (for the physical assault) and suspended seven games (probably a combination of the physical and verbal). I think had Young not been punished immediately the outcry would have been similar to what it was for Ozzie who was not immediately disciplined if I remember correctly.
So how did you confront this Antisemitic loon? Did you tell him to his face to STFU?
"Strikeout" is anti-Semitic?
Are Brett Myers and Ugueth Urbina not recent memory any more?
Does an essay in the faculty newsletter count? Otherwise, I quit speaking to the person.
If you have three of them together, it's anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-Catholic.
The David Duke special!
Nothing interesting about it at all. The minds of most brain-dead sheeple in this country are controlled by the so-called "mainstream media". John Rocker is a white redneck; to the lowlifes in the media, guys like him are already half criminals simply for existing, even before they have said or done anything wrong.
Delmon Young on the other hand is African-American, which means that the media will always treat him like a child. Therefore, he will always get a pass from the gatekeepers regardless of anything he says or does. Look at Mel Gibson if you really need any further proof.
If you think Anti-Semites ate getting a raw deal in the labor market, go ahead and hire as many of them as you like. It's a free country. You can choose to associate with whatever kind of people you want, just like anybody else.
I was not aware that Mel Gibson was an African-American. The things you learn on this site!
Alfredo Simon shot his cousin 15 months ago; I guess Heyman's recent memory expires in a year or less...
I think it's more that the public sees this as a "ballplayer acts like a drunken ass at 2:30 AM" story than an antisemitic incident.
Interestingly, Boras isn't the agent for any of those mentioned above. Phil Isaac is Simon's agent, Craig Landis represents Myers, and Peter Greeenberg is Urbina's guy.
I guess Heyman isn't too chummy with Young's agent, Arn Tellem.
In vino veritas.
Or, just possibly, it's a case where the alleged anti-Semitic comment may or may not have actually happened, and people are calmly and reasonably waiting for a full account of the facts before forming a judgment.
...
Ha ha, just kidding. That never happens, of course.
And if so, would he then be the only man in baseball allowed to use the N and K words with impunity?
"Jew-y?"
I think a big part of it is that whatever Delmon said was considered too insulting to print, so hardly anyone knows exactly what he said.
Everyone would have known that he had converted to Judaism just for the jokes.
Or maybe it's just that people can tell the difference between genuine bigotry and a single word directed at a single individual during a drunken rant. If Young had given a sober, thought-out, and scrupulously documented statement that being around Jews bothers him and he hates them all, I think people would be reacting quite differently.
That's my take too. I think there's a genuine difference between simply uttering a slur, which many, many people have done at some point, and opinions about a group. It doesn't make the former acceptable, but I don't think they have to be treated identically.
I dunno, it hasn't been shut down, but OTOH they keep making us login. It's a conspiracy!
It might look that way too you, but in reality, we are all communicating in code, in order to talk smack about Kobe.
I would agree that John Rocker is probably a more bigoted person than Delmon Young, but Rocker just stated his opinion (no matter how misguided one may find it).
Young assaulted somebody, and has a history of violence. Doesn't that deserves more condemnation, and a harsher punishment, than non-violent bigotry?
But you couldn't put your finger on it?
I find it hard to argue that any player should be suspended by the league simply for having certain opinions, no matter how repellent.
Now, teams are perfectly free not to employ that player, and I'm fine if no team ever signs Young again b/c of his anti-semitism, but I don't see any grounds for suspension based on what he said.
Now, if you want to suspend him for assaulting somebody, go ahead, but should should probably suspend all the DUI guys too.
If they want to take that tack, they should probably put it in the basic agreement, and the standard player contracts.
The problem I have, I guess, is where do we draw the line between controversial and unpopular, and unacceptable? How mainstream does an opinion have to be to be tolerated?
If there was a fundamentalist Muslim player, and he said, all women should be forced to wear a burqa, could they suspend him? If a fundamentalist Christian said he thought all non-Christians were going to hell (and you know there are guys who think that) could they suspend him?
Well, there was a fundamentalist Christian player who compared gay marriage to marrying animals. He made a couple of All-Star teams and about $50 million after he said that.
I think it's an entirely relative thing. I think that someone in 2050 who makes a comment like Smoltz's will get suspended just as Young and Guillen have this year, for bigotry. Someone in the 1880s would not be suspended for an attitude like Cap Anson's toward black opponents. Tempus mutantur ...
For a second I saw the headline and I finally thought the ink-and-paper set was realizing that Delmon Young is a historically terrible ballplayer, but then I remembered his stupid racism scandal. Oh well.
Rod Carew?
No, but Elliott Maddox might.
Nobody's college professors ever told them that. At least try to come up with plausible and/or original strawmen for gratuitous mockery of liberals out of nowhere.
Whether Pokey ever made it to college himself is an open question, but the unfortunate truth is that at least for a while BIT(NS)GOD, there were more than a few people, including some professors, who actually did believe that sort of thing. The general idea (and I can quote it verbatim because I heard it so many times) was that "people without power can't be racist", which according to their circular definition exempted all blacks. It was a variant of the rhetorical trick used by bogus "conservatives" who claimed that their devotion to "states rights" was their motivation for opposing federal civil rights laws.** The common thread between these two groups is bullshit pure and simple, even if some of the bullshitters actually believe their own bullshit.
**Even when there was no evidence that they'd ever opposed state segregation laws when they were in effect.
Sounds like Jon Heyman has never been stuck walking in NYC behind a tourist.
No, as a tourist himself, Heyman's afraid of being tackled.
http://m.deadspin.com/5880206/
I had my very first no-tip cab ride last week. I told the cab driver that I was in a rush, and he said "I'll do my best." He drove in one lane behind another painfully slow cab, while other lanes were wide open. He missed at least three lights that he could have made without speeding (we're talking about a 2 mile cab ride). And then he turned on the wrong street. The ride was about $3-4 more than it should have been even with no tip.
I doubt if you'd tell that to Babe Ruth.
(BTW if you haven't seen this, it's one of the greatest two minutes in movie history. The Babe enters at the 0:28 mark-----"If I ever want to commit suicide I'll call you.")
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