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I would gather a large portion of the general public doesn't care .... I would even hazard that a large portion of the people in the city he coaches in doesn't care
However, the small bit that does care carries an incredible amount of weight in that city
It was clearly a business move. The Marlins did not want to anger the Cuban population any worse then it already has now. A boycott from the Hispanic community in South Florida would have devastating revenue losses for the Marlins organization. If I were Ozzie Guillen, I would be constantly looking over my shoulder when walking through the streets of the Little Havana section of Miami. You never know who might've taken that statement to the extreme offense.
I'm sure you are able to explain the details on the financing of the stadium - do you know what tax payers are getting "raped"
Pretty good point up until that completely unneeded and unfounded cheap shot..........
Really? The Marlins club contributed 155 million toward the construction, the City of Miami tax payers put up 13 million, and the Dade County tax payers were hit for 347 million bucks. There have been numerous studies made over the past 15 or so years examining the claims of pro ballclubs about the economic boost a communiuty will receive from the contruction of a new ballpark, and without exception all of the studies have determined that there is no such benefit, that new jobs are added, but nearly all of them are minimum wage or part time employment. The people who get the big benefit are the folks running the stadium....the ballclubs.
Further, the clubs love to blow smoke up our butts and try to mislead us about the situation. For example, the Marlins when campaigning for the tax boost, stressed the fact that the new taxes which would come into being to finance the stadium were mostly ones placed on tourism, making it seem like the burden would be carried by out of towners. Of course that utterly ignores the obvious reality that that same collected tax money could be spent on the Dade County infrastructure or schools, regardless of whether or not it is tourists forking it over. Instead it is going into the construction of a profit generating venue for folks who are already zillionares.
The Giants AT&T Park is the only stadium built in the last three decades entirely by private financing. So it is fairly appropriate to reference nearly all of the ML parks as "Tax Payer Rape Stadium."
Early on, Castro was a hero to Cubans. He kicked out the American Mafia who ran most of the gambling and prostitution rackets in Havana where the gang had untold numbers of Cuban girls working (forced?) in the bordellos. He got rid of the corrupt dictator (Bautista) who was just a puppet of our State Department who'd let his nation rot and people live in despair. Then Castro provided health care where there had been none.
The USA could've helped Castro and had him for an ally, but our brilliant leaders sided with the Mafia and other interests who wanted the status quo to remain. It was the era of Banana Republic dictators and is a stain on our nation that we were involved in such meddling in Central America for decades.
Of course, Castro went on to become a bitter enemy, especially after our government's backing of an amateurish invasion that resulted in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Our government was so rabidly anti-communist at the time that we'd stoop to anything to fight them. What followed was years of Cuba and Castro being used by the USSR as a proxy in the Cold War, and Castro's track record of horrific human-rights abuses is well known.
That same anti-communist zeal of the U.S. government is what got us into war in Vietnam.
The bad blood between Castro and the USA runs deep. We've been behind hundreds of attempts to assassinate him; all failed. IMO he has moles inside our government agencies; how else would he thwart all those attempts.
After all these years, it's a damned shame we haven't been able to put old hatreds aside and do what's right for Cubans, both in Cuba and here in the USA. How nice it would be to have a MLB team in Havana and see the old man throw out the first pitch as the Cuban Tabaqueros open the season against the New York Yankees.
We can have trillion dollar trading with communist China, but not Cuba? Something wrong there....
so in a few short years he accomplished something that neither party in this country has been able to accomplish in 250 years...
(quoted in full b/c it's worth reading twice)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandstander
I think people often confuse "outspoken" and "has something worthwhile to say."
no , you're just so used to politically correct, robo-speak from everyone nowadays, including athletes and coaches
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
Not only do I understand what he meant, I even agree with him, to a degree.
But ... I didn't read the Time story with his comments about Castro in it, but I don't imagine they had much to do with baseball. That was my point about context; perhaps Ozzie should stick to talking about baseball -- or, at the very least, sports in general.
he can speak on whatever he likes, this is America, or is it Amerika?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwillyfromphilly
It was clearly a business move. The Marlins did not want to anger the Cuban population any worse then it already has now. A boycott from the Hispanic community in South Florida would have devastating revenue losses for the Marlins organization. If I were Ozzie Guillen, I would be constantly looking over my shoulder when walking through the streets of the Little Havana section of Miami. You never know who might've taken that statement to the extreme offense.
really, the Hispanic community is Miami and their wasn't a butt in every seat on opening night. Wait a year and a half: Caucasian Elephant
It's America AND Amerika Badger. Depends on who is speaking. Its rabid by now with people feeling they have some right to tell another what to think just because they disagree. Sad but true.
Ozzie is a great manager and an outspoken man. And he has to kiss the cow and eat the crow??!! Big Whup.
I think some folks need to give the Bill of Rights a fresh read.
No crime has been committed and no legal judgement handed down, because the First Amendment does not apply here.
If I am quoted in a magazine giving an opinion my private employer does not like, my employer has every right to discipline me. That's exactly what the Marlins are doing.
Like I said. It's business. The fact that people just naturally state that an employer has control over a person who is employed is what IS formidable.
I think some folks need to give the Bill of Rights a fresh read.
No crime has been committed and no legal judgement handed down, because the First Amendment does not apply here.
If I am quoted in a magazine giving an opinion my private employer does not like, my employer has every right to discipline me. That's exactly what the Marlins are doing.
you're employed by your employer to do a specific task during work hours, the rest is your prerogative
you're employed by your employer to do a specific task during work hours, the rest is your prerogative
Sorry, you are absolutely right. I should have further qualified that statement.
If I'm quoted in a magazine representing my company in an official capacity, then my company has grounds to discipline me.
If I'm quoted in a magazine as Jane Doe Citizen, then no, my company does not have reason to discipline me if I'm not representing the company when I made the remark. But that was clearly not the case with Ozzie.
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