(Disclaimer: I am not here to defend Manny Ramirez. Manny is a cheat and there seems to be a consensus that he quit on the Red Sox. I am not arguing this. I am appalled, however, at Dan's analysis of the whole situation.)
For what seems the 100th time, Dan lashes out at Manny. He lashes out at the softball media in LA. And he lashes out the ignorant fans who cheer Manny on. This has been a recurring theme. For some reason, Dan traveled to LA last month and forecasted that the fans would be cheering Manny on. Low and behold, Dan was right! Now he is back in southern California to recertify his contempt for Manny and the baseball universe.
Given all this, Dan concludes "Nobody cares about steroids." His statement is not qualified or caveated. Dan takes one sample of behavior, extrapolates it across the entire universe, and concludes that this sample represents everything. This is thin analysis. But this is Shaughnessy analysis. It is reckless and lazy journalism.
For once, why can't Shaughnessy move past his venom? Perform some analysis. Is it really the case that "Nobody cares about steroids?" Barry Bonds did not see a lot of love outside of northern California, did he? ARod is sure not receiving the adulation of the masses. Couldn't Shaughnessy simply look at those two cases and then conclude that "Everyone cares about steroids." That would be about as fair of an assessment as his conclusion from looking at Manny that no one cares.
Some analysis, Dan, please? What is different about Manny? Is it strictly his goofy personality? Is it the fact that he lives and plays now in Southern California, the hub of superficiality? Is there roid backlash? Has the coverage hit a tipping point where folks are so numb to it now, that they just don't care? There are many angles here but you have explored none of them. You are so blinded by your contempt of Manny and southern California that you are incapable of extricating yourself from it. Instead, we have your lazy conclusion that "And now we know the fans don't care. About steroids"
And now we know (again) that Shaughnessy is incapable.
Of Analysis.
5 comments:
I agree the column was garbage....but I also agree that for the most part fans don't care about roids....I mean, what's it matter if I care or don't care. There ain't a damn thing I can do about it.
am I supposed to get all red-in-the-face angry??..."D'OH!.....those dirty rotten cheeters!...D'OH!.....it is what it is, I got other things to worry about......PLAY BALL!
YES!....YES!...YES!...you FINALLY GOT IT!...we don't care about roids, it's about freeking time you sports hacks figured it out. We watch sports to have some FUN and be ENTERTAINED. When you get right down to it, none of this stuff is that important, think about it. We are talking about GROWN MEN CHASING BALLS......to sportswriters, steroids is their "Woodward and Bernstein moment" it makes them feel more important to write about it.
"Look at me!..I'm not just a guy who writes about grown men chasing balls, I'm breaking a big scandal here!....I'm like a REAL journalist now!...Why won't you fans pay attention?......ha, ha, ha, ha,....we don't care, Shank.....deal with it."
Here are some of the questions Manny was asked at his comeback news conference: “How emotional has this all been for you? . . . How tough was it for you to sit out 50 games? . . . How bad was this for you?’’
And what was your question for Manny, Shank?
On My Gosh!
The Shank doesn't realize that he is on an island all by himself typing away.
Shank, The World Has Changed. And the Globe Sports keeps on sinking with it's fearless leader.
You gotta give the Shank credit though, he sure knows how to beat a dead horse or is it banging his head against the wall.
g
Interesting how Shank links Torre to McGwire, and presumably to PEDS based on the fact that both were one time players for the Cardinals.
Not quite sure where Dan's logic lies though, considering Torre stopped playing for the Cards in '74 and McGwire did not roll in until '97.
What's next Dan? A Jonas Brother smoking pot because his dad owned a Doors album?
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