Rodger McDowell is a moron

[GrantDawg]

Why? The team is just starting to put things together. By all accounts, he has done a good job as a pitching coach. He is well liked and respected by the players and coaches before this incedent. Why do you throw it all away and do something this stupid? You have been heckled before, right? You are a grown man, right? You do know you can't threaten someone with a baseball bat in front of his kids and not face conseqences, right? RIGHT? Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid.

Is there any way under God's green earth that he keeps his job? I just can't think of one, and really don't want him to. It just sucks, because this was an unnessecary distraction right now. Stupid moron.

In case you don't know the story: Braves pitching coach accused of hurling gay slurs *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-pitching-coach-accused-927447.html)

[JonInMiddleGA]

How about we find out what he actually said first. I'm not exactly inclined to take Gloria Allred's word for anything. Her presence in this alleged case so quickly makes the whole thing stink to high heaven frankly.

[GrantDawg]

How about we find out what he actually said first. I'm not exactly inclined to take Gloria Allred's word for anything. Her presence in this alleged case so quickly makes the whole thing stink to high heaven frankly.


Multiple witnesses makes her apperance unimportant. She is just there because there are cameras.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Multiple witnesses makes her apperance unimportant.

I'll still wait to find out how credible those witnesses turn out to be. This whole tale still seems more than a little fishy, Allred got there too quickly, even for a publicity whore.

[GrantDawg]

I'll still wait to find out how credible those witnesses turn out to be. This whole tale still seems more than a little fishy, Allred got there too quickly, even for a publicity whore.


Seriuosly? It happened Saturday, she was there on Wenesday. Not really that fast. Blood was in the water, and she wanted her taste. Rodger's apology proves he did something, so there is no deniability. The best he can hope for is damage control, and not much hope there.

[Sun Tzu]

No way, a professional athlete said a gay/racial slur?

BAN HIM 4 LYFE!!!

[Butter]

I could've told you he was a moron before this incident happened, if that's what you were looking for.

[Easy Mac]

So throwing banana chips at a teammates head and calling blacks/latinos animals = Hilarious!

Responding to heckling fans in an admittedly stupid way = fireable.

So he already apologized. Did he direct the slurs at the Quinn family, or at other fans? And what did the fans say? I've been near bullpens/dugouts, and fans say things far worse than that well within earshots of children.

We were at a Braves game in early April. On the Jumbotron, they showed people dancing. One of the fans decided to simulate a BJ on his male friend. The stadium laughed.

[Logan]

Did they dump a beer on his head? He was the second spitter on the gravelly road.

BTW, I blame Aaron Rodgers for this thread title.

[GrantDawg]

No way, a professional athlete said a gay/racial slur?

BAN HIM 4 LYFE!!!


Honestly, the gay slur gets the play, but that would have probably just got him a fine. That was just the start. Any one thing here was bad enough for a fine/suspension, but all together spells doom. I count about five things:

To the three hecklers:

Gay slur: Fine/suspension/sentivity training
Sexual gesture toward stands: Fine/suspension

Bad. Didn't need to happen. He could have called security to have the guys removed, but instead he acted like an idiot. This he could have weathered with his job. But then he doesn't stop there.

The father that tells him chill out in front of his kids:
Statement "Kids don't belong in the fucking ballpark": That statement alone probably should get him fired.
Threatening to knock his teeth out in front of his kids: Again, probably enough to get him canned.
Picking up a bat: Pretty much done.

[Draft Dodger]

yeah the stuff with the guy and his kids is the bad part, IMO

[JediKooter]

The word on KNBR this morning, from some other fans that witnessed the incident, is that the father of the kids and the other hecklers aren't as innocent as they are portraying themselves to be. I didn't get a chance to hear the rest of it as I had to get into work. I'm sure I'll hear more about it on the drive home tonight.

[EagleFan]

I'm sure that the hecklers aren't the good guys here either but what he did went over the line. If any one of us picked up a weapon and threatened one of our company's customers (no matter what that cutomer did) we would be out of a job on the spot and that would be if it wasn't in front of other customers. Add the public aspect of it and there would be no discussion, we would be done.

[GrantDawg]

The word on KNBR this morning, from some other fans that witnessed the incident, is that the father of the kids and the other hecklers aren't as innocent as they are portraying themselves to be. I didn't get a chance to hear the rest of it as I had to get into work. I'm sure I'll hear more about it on the drive home tonight.


Sure they aren't, but it doesn't really matter. He can have security kick them out of the park with a wave. He can't do what he did. He has spent more tthan half his life in ballparks, most of them in bullpens. I know he has been heckled most of them. He has to know better how to handle this. He did everything wrong, especially as a coach. If he were a player, that would be one thing. But he is a coach. He is a proffesional representative of the team. That is why this is just beyond the pale.

[dawgfan]

Sure they aren't, but it doesn't really matter. He can have security kick them out of the park with a wave. He can't do what he did. He has spent more tthan half his life in ballparks, most of them in bullpens. I know he has been heckled most of them. He has to know better how to handle this. He did everything wrong, especially as a coach. If he were a player, that would be one thing. But he is a coach. He is a proffesional representative of the team. That is why this is just beyond the pale.
Bingo.

[Solecismic]

Sure they aren't, but it doesn't really matter. He can have security kick them out of the park with a wave. He can't do what he did. He has spent more tthan half his life in ballparks, most of them in bullpens. I know he has been heckled most of them. He has to know better how to handle this. He did everything wrong, especially as a coach. If he were a player, that would be one thing. But he is a coach. He is a proffesional representative of the team. That is why this is just beyond the pale.

I agree with you.

I also hope that McDowell stands up to the fan in court (he'll have plenty of time now) because too many so-called fans make themselves nuisances seemingly solely to provoke this type of incident.

Ballplayers are paid an enormous amount of money to play a game. I don't begrudge a penny of it because I figure they're being paid to sacrifice being human and for putting up with a loss of privacy and being heckled.

However, this "in front of the children" thing is hypocritical. He's subjecting his little girls to television cameras and he's acting like a professional victim. He's doing far more damage to them right now than a moment near an angry, stupid ballplayer who didn't actually swing the bat.

Roger McDowell's idiocy makes me a little sad, because I sometimes hope our society can advance past blind prejudice. This clown parading his little girls in front of Allred makes me see-red.

[GrantDawg]

I agree with you.

I also hope that McDowell stands up to the fan in court (he'll have plenty of time now) because too many so-called fans make themselves nuisances seemingly solely to provoke this type of incident.

Ballplayers are paid an enormous amount of money to play a game. I don't begrudge a penny of it because I figure they're being paid to sacrifice being human and for putting up with a loss of privacy and being heckled.

However, this "in front of the children" thing is hypocritical. He's subjecting his little girls to television cameras and he's acting like a professional victim. He's doing far more damage to them right now than a moment near an angry, stupid ballplayer who didn't actually swing the bat.

Roger McDowell's idiocy makes me a little sad, because I sometimes hope our society can advance past blind prejudice. This clown parading his little girls in front of Allred makes me see-red.


I agree with you on that, too. I have a feeling GLAAD was behind the Allred being there. He would have been much better off just sticking with his intial complaint than the whole press conference thing. He reported to the stadium, who brought in the police, and someone in the process alerted the politicoes to make hay as well. He is being used, but he is willing to hope to cash in, and the kids will be hurt in all this much worse in the process.

[stevew]

McDowell does have an established history of spitting on fans that disagree/heckle him. His problem was that he didn't do it from behind the bushes this time.

[JediKooter]

Sure they aren't, but it doesn't really matter. He can have security kick them out of the park with a wave. He can't do what he did. He has spent more tthan half his life in ballparks, most of them in bullpens. I know he has been heckled most of them. He has to know better how to handle this. He did everything wrong, especially as a coach. If he were a player, that would be one thing. But he is a coach. He is a proffesional representative of the team. That is why this is just beyond the pale.

I don't disagree with you at all. I'm not defending anything McDowell did one bit, however, you do have to take things with a grain of salt though any time The Gloria gets involved. The point is, these hecklers may not be the innocent people they are portraying themselves to be regardless of McDowell's actions But, with the "Defender of Hurt Feelings" in on it now, smells like a shake down for money should be soon to follow, which I completely disagree with.

[stevew]

Bigger Whore: Gloria Allred or Gloria James?

[Easy Mac]

Probably Gloria Allred and the dad. I love how his kids were scarred from the bat gestures McDowell made, but then he and Allred do the exact same thing with his children seated right next to him. i'd much rather have McDowell hit me with a bat than watch my dad and Gloria Allred two hand a bat.

[RainMaker]

Threatening the Father is much worse than the slur in my opinion. Pretty sure that's a crime in and of itself.

That's not condoning what he said, but having gone to a ton of games in my life, I've heard horrible stuff heckled at players, coaches, refs, etc. But if one of them dares say something back, we need a press conference and sensitivity training.

[saldana]

McDowell does have an established history of spitting on fans that disagree/heckle him. His problem was that he didn't do it from behind the bushes this time.

back....and to the left...back....and to the left

[GrantDawg]

The word from the Braves is coming today, but in other grgeat news, Derek Lowe was arrested for a DUI last night. When exactly did the Braves become the Cinncinatti Bengals?

[GrantDawg]

They placed McIdiot on admin leave today pending further investigation. I wouldn't put a whole lot of cash on his return to the team.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell given fine, 2-week ban - ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6460840)

Hopefully that'll be the end of this tempest in a teapot.

[Sun Tzu]

Damn right JimGA. There's no room for homophobia in this world. You tell'em. We all know it start out as Adam & Adam anyway, not Adam & Eve. Crazy assholes.

[jeff061]

What makes you think it wasn't Eve and Eve.

Misogynist.

[Sun Tzu]

Now you're just talking crazy.