Source: Castro Agrees to 7/60M Extension (Option Year: 16M)

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I didn't mean to quote myself. But it is a damn good point.

 

No it isn't. The media chews stories up and spits them out on a regular basis. Somebody like Bruce Miles covers most things with a levelheaded "just the facts ma'am" approach that is underappreciated. The more obnoxious members of the media know there will always be another "fun thing to cover" so they don't have any problem ruining one storyline in the pursuit of exploiting it. Their purpose isn't necessarily to run the player out of town, although in some instances it's pretty clear that is part of the motive. Their purpose is to exploit a story and rile up the masses with hate, anger, accusations of laziness and other forms of tearing down the player.

 

Somebody like Kaplan is a jock sniffer that will prop up his buddies while tearing down the guys he doesn't want to try and go on a double date with.

 

I'd ask a favor of you and others. If you have time the next few days, list names of others besides Kaplan who you feel are racist, intentionally or not. I would like to observe them for an extended period of time to see if I sense what some of you do,

[Andy]

I didn't mean to quote myself. But it is a damn good point.

 

No it isn't. The media chews stories up and spits them out on a regular basis. Somebody like Bruce Miles covers most things with a levelheaded "just the facts ma'am" approach that is underappreciated. The more obnoxious members of the media know there will always be another "fun thing to cover" so they don't have any problem ruining one storyline in the pursuit of exploiting it. Their purpose isn't necessarily to run the player out of town, although in some instances it's pretty clear that is part of the motive. Their purpose is to exploit a story and rile up the masses with hate, anger, accusations of laziness and other forms of tearing down the player.

 

Somebody like Kaplan is a jock sniffer that will prop up his buddies while tearing down the guys he doesn't want to try and go on a double date with.

 

I'd ask a favor of you and others. If you have time the next few days, list names of others besides Kaplan who you feel are racist, intentionally or not. I would like to observe them for an extended period of time to see if I sense what some of you do,

I haven't been involved in this so far, but I'll give you Bob Brenly right off the bat.

[El Duderino]

I didn't mean to quote myself. But it is a damn good point.

 

No it isn't. The media chews stories up and spits them out on a regular basis. Somebody like Bruce Miles covers most things with a levelheaded "just the facts ma'am" approach that is underappreciated. The more obnoxious members of the media know there will always be another "fun thing to cover" so they don't have any problem ruining one storyline in the pursuit of exploiting it. Their purpose isn't necessarily to run the player out of town, although in some instances it's pretty clear that is part of the motive. Their purpose is to exploit a story and rile up the masses with hate, anger, accusations of laziness and other forms of tearing down the player.

 

Somebody like Kaplan is a jock sniffer that will prop up his buddies while tearing down the guys he doesn't want to try and go on a double date with.

 

I'd ask a favor of you and others. If you have time the next few days, list names of others besides Kaplan who you feel are racist, intentionally or not. I would like to observe them for an extended period of time to see if I sense what some of you do,

I haven't been involved in this so far, but I'll give you Bob Brenly right off the bat.

 

No question.

[Guest]

Kaplan, Sullivan, and Rozner jump to mind as guys who have been less than partial when it comes to covering certain players. Kaplan strikes me as the most obvious, but Sullivan and Rozner would persistently rag on Zambrano and Ramirez respectively, even at times when it would be unfair and needlessly pot-stirring to do so.

[Guest]

Media members do have biases and allow them to affect their work. Whether some of their biases are ingrained in institutional racism, xenophobia, linguistic or cultural bias, it sure does appear to me that Latin American and black Cubs get the short stick in Chicago, often over trivial matters that their white teammates* don't get similarly called out on.

 

I remember Jon posting that Paul Sullivan was a guest speaker in a class of his and Sullivan said he strongly disliked certain players and would intentionally write more negatively about them (specifically singling out Prior and Zambrano).

 

* And Darwin Barney

[jersey cubs fan]

I haven't been involved in this so far, but I'll give you Bob Brenly right off the bat.

 

No question.

 

I haven't watched a lot of games this year but it seems to me that something happened this offseason to cause Bob to change his tune a bit when it came to this stuff. It still comes out from time to time, but he's been much different when discussing the things that pissed him the hell off the last two years.

[El Duderino]

I haven't been involved in this so far, but I'll give you Bob Brenly right off the bat.

 

No question.

 

I haven't watched a lot of games this year but it seems to me that something happened this offseason to cause Bob to change his tune a bit when it came to this stuff. It still comes out from time to time, but he's been much different when discussing the things that pissed him the hell off the last two years.

 

He went after Brandon Phillips repeatedly the past few games for not running hard all the time, even when he ran hard.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly (Has been deemed not a bad racist or perhaps not one at all in the context that has been discussed)

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

Edited August 14, 2012 by Bryant's Disco Ball

[USSoccer]

The only example anyone would really need to bring up to show the overt, ingrained racism of most of the Chicago media would be Barry Rozner and Dave Kaplan's imbecilic crusade against Aramis Ramirez.

 

Rozner STILL bitches about him. And what did he do in his time here? Had a solid 2nd half of 2003, was pretty much the best player on the team in 2004, was good in 05 and 06 despite being hurt for parts of those years, was good in 2007, was ridiculously good in 2008, got hurt in 2009 and was good in 2010.

 

He was arguably the best offensive 3B in team history. Never once was it reported that he was difficult in the clubhouse, "cancerous", etc. His worst offenses were being quiet, occasionally jogging out routine groundouts and mugging after a few home runs.

 

His reward has been a constant stream of invective hate and moronic accusations of laziness by Kaplan, but especially Rozner, who acts as though Ramirez raped his family, lit his house on fire and pissed on the ashes before posting it on Youtube and Reddit.

 

If his name had been Aaron Ramsey and had been a good quote, there would have been an insurrection in the media once he was not resigned.

 

EDIT: In Rozner's case, it's almost certainly related to an indifference towards him shown by certain players. If you aren't a good quote, play ball with the media, etc, you're going to get torched. Prior would be an example of this as well.

[Tracer Bullet]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

 

Yeah no. I don't mind Brenly in his current role. He's not the greatest but he fits well with Len. The only thing that bothers me about Brenly is his racism. And he's a great example of a guy who doesn't seem overtly racist but boy he can't help ragging on minorities, deserved or not. His handful of positive comments about Soriano don't undo all he's said in the past and continues to say.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

 

Yeah no. I don't mind Brenly in his current role. He's not the greatest but he fits well with Len. The only thing that bothers me about Brenly is his racism. And he's a great example of a guy who doesn't seem overtly racist but boy he can't help ragging on minorities, deserved or not. His handful of positive comments about Soriano don't undo all he's said in the past and continues to say.

 

Interesting, because there is an argument to be made that his favorite player on the team this season is David DeJesus. Just ask him how much he loves his approach to the game and his at-bats.

 

But, again, don't let his positive comments about minority players get in the way of his negative ones.

 

I continue to realize that no matter what examples I give, people are just going to see it the way they want. I'm certain they could say the same about me in this instance.

 

You can't see that maybe Bob might not like a lot of things about Alfonso and says them not because he's racist but because that's how he feels from a baseball standpoint. But when he sees something he likes from the same player from a baseball standpoint, well, that can't undo all the things he said he didn't like about him.

[Tracer Bullet]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

 

Yeah no. I don't mind Brenly in his current role. He's not the greatest but he fits well with Len. The only thing that bothers me about Brenly is his racism. And he's a great example of a guy who doesn't seem overtly racist but boy he can't help ragging on minorities, deserved or not. His handful of positive comments about Soriano don't undo all he's said in the past and continues to say.

 

Interesting, because there is an argument to be made that his favorite player on the team this season is David DeJesus. Just ask him how much he loves his approach to the game and his at-bats.

 

But, again, don't let his positive comments about minority players get in the way of his negative ones.

 

I continue to realize that no matter what examples I give, people are just going to see it the way they want. I'm certain they could say the same about me in this instance.

 

You can't see that maybe Bob might not like a lot of things about Alfonso and says them not because he's racist but because that's how he feels from a baseball standpoint. But when he sees something he likes from the same player from a baseball standpoint, well, that can't undo all the things he said he didn't like about him.

 

You said if I liked Bob I'd see it one way (your way) and if I didn't like him, I'd see it another way (racism). I generally like Bob except I tend to think he has some issues with often calling out a lack of hustle among minorities, for example. In the times I've listened to him, it seemed like the most frequent targets of his criticism, esp as it relates to hustle, are Latin or black players. He was very vocal about Aramis in this regard. That suggests some underlying racism.

 

Though I'd also say guys like Kaplan and the folks TT mentioned are 'worse' on my list, though that may be bc I haven't listened to the cubs as much as read about them this year.

[hawkeyecub]

I'd also put Brenly in a different category. He just really hates lack of hustle and calls it out whenever it happens. He was critical of Theriot for boneheaded baserunning and has had plenty of minorities that were his favorite players.

[CUBZ99]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

 

Yeah, I'm sure Brenly calling out players during the telecast doesn't have anything to do with the fact that they were doing something that they shouldn't have been called out for. One instance that was mentioned earlier was the Rizzo getting doubled off last week while not paying attention. Did anybody actually watch the game? Len and Bob sounded disgusted when it happened and were speechless. Is it possible they didn't dwell on it because he had only been with the Cubs for 30+ games and hadn't made similar mistakes?

 

I'm surprised so many people also missed Bob railing on Theriot time after time for trying to hit too many balls in the air for HR's instead of sticking to his game. Or Tony Campana for sliding head first into first base. This week he railed on Shark relentlessly when he broke a bat over his knee after striking out, calling it "stupid" and going on about how selfish and immature it was. He was all over bad Randy Wells for not pitching in the zone and questioning whether he listened or not. He has not been kind to Volstad, the list goes on...

 

But, hey, have at, continue to selectively listen to games and pick and choose portions you want to hear.

[CincyCubsFan]

Agreed. I never got the impression that brenley's rants were racially motivated.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Potentially racist media people listed

 

Bob Brenly

David Kaplan

Paul Sullivan

Barry Rozner

 

The Brenly one I don't need to research too much since we all listen to him every game. Here might be a great example of people hearing different things. Bob is a man who obviously is paid to give his opinions, much like a newspaper columnist. If you don't like Bob, you are probably going to hear it one way. If you like him, another.

 

He tells it like he sees it, whether I agree with all his opinions or not. But I don't believe he is a racist in any term you may want to use it in.

 

Example: He has ripped on Soriano in the past for things he saw out of our highly paid superstar that he did not like. Yet, I can't turn on two games in a row this season without Bob saying, "I'll say it again, Soriano has been great on defense all season. He has gotten to every ball. He put in a lot of work during the offseason to make himself a good fielder."

 

He may blast Alfonso when he doesn't like something he sees, but I don't have a problem with that. For example, Alfonso threw to third base a few times this past road trip when he didn't have a chance to get the runner, letting the man from first get to second. He called him out for it.

 

Final take on Bob Brenly: He calls it the way he sees it as a long-time baseball man. We may not always agree with him, but his intentions are pure.

 

Yeah, I'm sure Brenly calling out players during the telecast doesn't have anything to do with the fact that they were doing something that they shouldn't have been called out for. One instance that was mentioned earlier was the Rizzo getting doubled off last week while not paying attention. Did anybody actually watch the game? Len and Bob sounded disgusted when it happened and were speechless. Is it possible they didn't dwell on it because he had only been with the Cubs for 30+ games and hadn't made similar mistakes?

 

I'm surprised so many people also missed Bob railing on Theriot time after time for trying to hit too many balls in the air for HR's instead of sticking to his game. Or Tony Campana for sliding head first into first base. This week he railed on Shark relentlessly when he broke a bat over his knee after striking out, calling it "stupid" and going on about how selfish and immature it was. He was all over bad Randy Wells for not pitching in the zone and questioning whether he listened or not. He has not been kind to Volstad, the list goes on...

 

But, hey, have at, continue to selectively listen to games and pick and choose portions you want to hear.

 

Thank you.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

 

That's fair. Let me ask the question in another way.

 

Do you see Bob as part of the crowd that allow racially tinged stereotypes color his view?

[USSoccer]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

 

That's fair. Let me ask the question in another way.

 

Do you see Bob as part of the crowd that allow racially tinged stereotypes color his view?

 

I think, like all people of all races and ethnicity, it's intellectually easier to fall back on racial stereotypes when criticizing someone different than you.

 

Brenly may not do it malevolently, but to say racial stereotypes don't, in some way, shape or form, influence anyone's opinions on any level is naive.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

 

That's fair. Let me ask the question in another way.

 

Do you see Bob as part of the crowd that allow racially tinged stereotypes color his view?

 

I think, like all people of all races and ethnicity, it's intellectually easier to fall back on racial stereotypes when criticizing someone different than you.

 

Brenly may not do it malevolently, but to say racial stereotypes don't, in some way, shape or form, influence anyone's opinions on any level is naive.

 

Damn, then we are all racist. Blacks. Whites. Hispanics. Everybody.

[CUBZ99]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

 

Or more what you selectively choose to read and hear.

[CUBZ99]

Brenly calling players out has everything to do with hoping that if he acts meatbally enough, some meatball owner will give him a job.

 

So, you're not in the camp that thinks Brenly is racist, no matter which way the racism is implied?

 

Enough with this whole "this person is or is not a racist" duality. It's more complicated than that.

 

Many people in the local media allow racially tinged stereotypes to color their views. It's more intellectual laziness than it is outright hostility toward people of non-white races.

 

That's fair. Let me ask the question in another way.

 

Do you see Bob as part of the crowd that allow racially tinged stereotypes color his view?

 

I think, like all people of all races and ethnicity, it's intellectually easier to fall back on racial stereotypes when criticizing someone different than you.

 

Brenly may not do it malevolently, but to say racial stereotypes don't, in some way, shape or form, influence anyone's opinions on any level is naive.

 

I think everyone would agree with that. But that is not the argument that is being made.

[USSoccer]

 

I think everyone would agree with that. But that is not the argument that is being made.

 

Brenly is pretty low on the list of media racists; he's the least of the problems. His was the question I was trying to answer. However, I suppose the flipside is that he's the one, more than the others, who yields the most influence as the color guy.

 

Kaplan and Rozner are the worst; they might as well be Father Coughlin clones, and Rozner just hangs on to vendettas. Rogers is just an idiot, Sullivan is a lazy, cynical writer.

 

Miles is by far the most objective of the bunch.