Do Ozzie's antics hurt the Sox?

I love Ozzie! He is a loose, funloving guy. Ozzie brought us home that trophy and he did it being Ozzie. Now why is it that we can suffer Ditka, but not Ozzie? I love DaCoach too! I like Charles Barkley also! I like folks that are firey and say how they feel. McCarthy knows Ozzie too and should have just shut up. NOW he decides to say something. That is a provocation. I noticed how McCarthy didn't say anything about his 2005 season! Had plenty of friends then! I watched him celebrating as if he didnt have a care in the world....why??? Ozzie does not take crap and he shouldn't! Neither does Da-Coach, or Barkley, or Stephen A. I love'm. Dusty is cool as a breeze, but I am looking forward to Piniella!

who cares. I thought these blogs only focused on contoversial topics. No one offended another persons race. No one offended another persons sexuality. No one offended anyones sex. So I guess the most controversial thing is the media trying to make something out of nothing. Geez the cubs are going to suck again, let's talk about that controversy. They should of traded Sammy earlier. They should have traded Zambrano already to help rebuild their farm system. You won't get very far with 9 Matt Murtons on the diamond. Someone needs to go 'Ozzie' on that team and whip those slackers into reality. Lou Vanilla? Seriously.

I lost all respect for this jerk when he went back home to Venezuela and let Hugo Chavez hold the World Series Trophy.I wanted to puke!
Paulo

Well, ozzie likes to take cheap shots at his players in the media after they leave town. Look how he treated Maggs. Knocked rowland some too. Guess he might be insecure or immature or something. Don't think it really matters much except that all his current players have to know that the same thing can happen to them for no reason and nothing that they did except be part of a bad trade for the sox that they have to talk up to make themselves look good. Bad management all round, but what you gonna do?

Ozzie is an idiot, plain and simple. He is one step above T.O. Naw, I take that back, T.O. is talented.

As a Cub fan, I think Ozzie is good for the W.Sox.He is sincere,
and passionate, and is the right manager for that team.He's very colorful, and fun to watch and hear. He's a good manager.

If you look at the Sox record after the Marriotti incident last year you could say that it harmed the team. I don't understand why they have to trash everybody that leaves town. Carlos Lee was selfish, Mags was a piece of SH.., Rowand didn't get good jumps, Freddie didn't pitch well until it didn't matter. And on and on. I read Mccarthy's comments and didn't think they were a big deal. This a big year for Guillen. His team was supposed to get back to the series last year and didn't even get into the playoffs. They are beginning to resemble the 1985 Bears. A team that should have won multiple championships in a three year period, but only won one. If Ozzie doesn't stop the "macho" stuff and focus on what's important, the rest of the country will believe they were right in saying the 2005 White Sox were a fluke.

I've always been a big Ozzie fan ...but Ozzie needs to shut up allready. He's need to respond to every little perceived slight makes him look very insecure and reflects poorly on the Sox organization.

I hope it hurts the Sox, of course I'm a Cubs fan.

leave Oz alone. He and Piniella both speak from the gut. Its gonna be very interesting having them both in Chicago. Wait til Sweet Lou goes into a fit and ask the same thing about the Cubs. I admire both Oz and Sweet Lou because they are throwback managers. They get the job done and there is no doubt who is in charge. I think BOTH teams are better BECAUSE of the managers, which was afar cry from Dusty and Manuel.

ozzie had one fortunate year with the Sox when everything came together in spite of him; last year he showed his philosophy of playing subs so often didn't work; even mackowiak knew he didn't belong in there; I'm tired of his act, he needs to focus on teaching the team to advance runners, bunt, the fundamentals he keeps saying they will emphasize but never seem to be able to. I don't think he is a good manager, can't handle pitchers, will never win another pennant, and needs to realize that spouting off all the time doesn't help his players focus, he needs to control what he says and realize he isn't being cute; it ain't all about the OZ;

I like Ozzie & feel Id do the same in his shoes! McCarthy shows how classless he is. Ripping his old team ! Maybe Mac should look at that WS ring & think about his comments? McCarthy major poor effort in 06..That's one trade I'm behind 100% especially after hearing his comments!Hopefully sox won't forget his words when they face him ? The way McCarthy pitches Id probably be able to hit him now!

I'd like to think that most of what Ozzie says to the media is for motivating his clubhouse, but it's hard to tell if he's really that smart. He obviously forgot his slap on the wrist from the Mariotti incident, and one of these days his mouth is going to get him in trouble. If the White Sox are in jeopardy of losing their manager, even if just for a suspension, then they will no doubt be hurt by his antics. He's entitled to his opinion of players, ex-players, journalists and whomever, but he doesn't always have to vocalize those opinions. I can't stand when people backtrack and try to explain that whatever stupid comment they made was either a joke or misconstrued somehow. (Jim Mora Jr., anyone?) You'd think after two decades here he would know what the phrase "I really hate him" means.

I LOVE OZZIE GUILLEN. I wish people would just leavehim alone and let him be. Was it just me or did anybody else notice that the Sox's second half slide started right after Guillen went to his "sensitivity training", and everyone started getting on him for calling Mariotti a name. He loves his team and has an unbridled passion for the game. There should be more managers like him!!! GO SOX!!!

I like Ozzie for the same reason I like Lovie; his players love to play for him. In this age of ridiculous contracts, ever changing players, spoiled premadonnas, and gangbanger still wannabes, it can't be easy to maintain a balanced keel in any clubhouse. As for his media mouth; Ozzie insists he's just being Ozzie. But anybody in their right mind has to question some of the things he spits out. I honestly feel he either loves the attention or his mouth is just a loose cannon without thought at times. His worse to date brought out the worse of two worlds when he joked about a player being gay and a child abuser. Ozzie? What a poor choice of kidding. Every person on this earth reserves a right to be their own person (within legal and righteous motives, right Ozzie) and as a father, calling anyone a child abuser in any spotlight just lacks class and good judgement. Then again, some of the moves he made in '05 had me shaking my head so much I had no need to blow-dry my hair after some showers! Thank God we got HOT at just the right time and things fell into place. To make matters worse, in my eyes as a father, a sportswriter went right at Ozzie about the gay bashing as he should have but failed to drive Ozzie against the wall for the abuser comment. The two were equally offensive yet the article, with the exception of the first note, failed to mention the child abuser comment the rest of the way. The other lack of class and poor judgement in my aformentioned two worlds. Do it right fellas; you're both supposed to be professionals?

McCarthy is the classless one???? Did he call a reporter a homosexual slur? Did he threaten a WS player after they went to another AL Central club (after being non-tendered)? Does McCarthy piss and moan about the coach of the cross-town rival? If you take a look at McCarthy's comments in their entirety they were pretty insignificant. Most likely we won't get to the WS in the next two seasons, and Ozzie will have put his foot in his mouth too many times to save his job. He'll be out after the 2008 season for embarrasing the organization again with his petty, vindictive diatribes. While I like people that speak their mind, tact is just as important. Ozzie speaks his mind and sounds like a first class idiot.

would peole chill out OZ speaks his mind deal with it if someone pretty much says your bad at you job wouldnt you be pissed. i hope the cub loving suntimes gives lou as much crap for what he says.

I am so sick of everyone complaining about Ozzie, whether about him going to Venezuela (He has that right, that is his homeland), to his tirades about former players. (Maggs kept complaining about leaving Chicago, and McCarthy talked about how Ozzie was negative.) Seriously, do you baseball fans really want Jerry Manuel back? Finally, about everyone thinking 2005 was a fluke, 2004 was a fluke, 2003, 2006, 2002, shall I go on? It doesn't matter, the White Sox won, and we're still waiting for Cubs to win, hopefully soon.

"There's one thing about Ozzie Guillen: Ozzie Guillen is never negative." Ozzie Guillen.

Much of what pro athletes see as being wronged is a clash of cultural issues, outlooks and language. When Ozzie Guillen says a player is negative when he makes a statement about his time in Chicago, that isn't necessarily what the player said. But now that Ozzie had won the big one, any player who doesn't is a loser and a liar. The liar cannot fit on a balanced structure created by the last of the honest men, he is either a liar or needs to stop and take a look himself and come back to Ozzieism. It's time Ozzie looked at his own statements and explored what he is trying to say.

I think Ozzie has become a huge embarrassment to the Chicago White Sox organization. He's such a big mouth I think he was a distraction to the team in 2006. Of course no player will say anything against him for fear of retribution. He shows no respect to any of his players as he keeps referring to most of his plavers as "kid". He has a huge ego problem as he keeps saying "my" staff and "my team and "my" this or that when most good Mangers refer to their team as "we".But the last straw was when he draped himself in the Venezuelean flag at the 2005 celebration. I flat out wanted to puke.

Ozzie is another Ditka, a lucky loudmouth who won a championship. Ditka couldn't produce with the same players without Buddy Ryan. Ozzie couldn't produce with the only change in center field. Mr. Bigmouth and Mr. Cheapskate GM used a utility infielder in center for the big push. Between the two, it goes to show that anyone can win one championship. Now for two....

Maggs was upset because he felt the Sox were trying to lowball him. Hell, they offered 9 mil a year and they still couldnt even get a medical report. As for Mariotti, he refers to Ozzie as the Blizzard of Oz everytime, so yes he had that coming

Roman responds: I like the "Blizzard of Ozz" nickname, and I'm an Ozzie fan.

Some journalists are just jerks...The questions they ask are done so to get a reaction...Maybe Ozzie should do what the rest of us have to do...Count to 10 or just don't answer the question...Every team has a different personality...The Sox have a bunch of guys who are low key...Ozzie needs to just take it down a notch or maybe have a little speaker in his ear and hire a comedian to feed him lines...His antics do affect the team but I think it is a language thing...Ozzie was a great teamate...You need a player like him to lighten things up...He's a manager now though and to be perfectly honest. I don't think he has the personality, at times, to handle that part of the managerial duties...He knows baseball and how to handle his players...Maybe one of the coaches can talk to the media...I don't know what the answer is...Jay Mariotti needs to let it go...If you have a hard time with someone who calls you what you are then don't tell everyone what you are...Move to the Bay Area Jay...It's always all about you Jay...ALWAYS...Even on "Around The Horn" you make it all about you...You come off to me, Jay, as a competetive person who doesn't like to lose...Fine, Jay, then play a sport instead of writing about one...How about golf Jay???...You would have nobody to blame except yourself if you play badly...Ozzie has a "street" personality...You two don't get along...Leave it at that...And Ozzie. You don't have to answer every question like it's a personal attack...Answer within the baselines of the game.

Roman responds: I'm not denying some journalists are jerks, but Mike North wasn't even trying to get Ozzie to talk about McCarthy's comments on the other day. Ozzie went off on the tangent unprovoked.

The players should focus on playing, coaches and managers should focus on coaching and managing, the GM should focus in bringing in talent and signing the players he wants to keep, the owner should focus on making the organization profitable. I would think that Ozzie's antics causes a distaction for everyone and makes it more difficult for them to keep their focus. Lets focus on baseball and winning.

Can everyone get of this Ozzie comment and focus on baseball? 20 years ago this isn't even talked about. Today, everyone's an expert. All I know is the Sox won 13-2 and tomorrow's paper will say "Is Lou mad at Ozzie for scoring 13?"

Ozzie should just keep his mouth shut, we all know he lost more than 10 games just by the way he manages. he was cute when he won in 2005, but it gets old fast.

I've always been a huge fan of Ozzie since I was a little kid and he was my favorite player. He was very likeable as a manager as well even before helping end the drought on the South Side. Now that he's won it all, he has a chance to become one of the most famous coaching figures in Chicago history if he can keep his job and the Sox can sustain their success. But that may be a big "if".

But with that said, I am getting tired of Ozzie going out of his way to make these outbursts and I think they need to stop. On occasion they may be warranted. But most of the time, it's been situations he should have been easily capable of resisting his urge (ie. Mariotti comments). The more outrageous Ozzie gets, the more he ends up sounding like an idiot. My loyalty to the White Sox runs scary deep. But don't confuse loyalty with blind faith. Barring major injury, if the Sox struggle again this year and miss the playoffs, it needs to fall on Ozzie, especially if he's creating needless distractions. I didn't think he did a good job last year but he got a free pass coming off the World Series. Not this year.

I'm a big Sox fan and baseball junkie, but I have no further interest in the Oz and his big mouth. I do think it is a bit of a distraction, but most of all it is just trashy and beneath what the Sox organization stands for. I have better things to do than listen to Ozzie butcher the language with his foul mouth, zzzzzzz. I would rather he turn his crazy energy to the task of winning games. I am hoping for a big season, but if he should stumble or go out in flames, I hear Joe G is still looking for a gig.

I think Lou is the best, I expect he will turn the Cubs around and you know he will not go down without a fight. Lou will not settle for losing, what with the talent and money the Cubs have on hand (unlike Tampa).

To say Ozzie is a bad manager is kind of funny, I thought he had achieved something pretty special. I know most Cub fans are far more intelligent than that- after all, there is plenty of room for both teams to do well.

When a person does something and the response is "That's just __ being ___" ,you know that there are a bunch of enablers and we are asked to accept them for who they are. Yeah, Ozzie run off at the mouth and go off at the slightest things but by now we expect it. It only hurts the team when they least expect it. Ozzie take a lot of heat off guys and he causes distractions that put the spotlight on him. That can be viewed as good and bad. Eventually he will do something or say something that even his staunchest supporters will not be able to defend. Then he's out of here. I think he'll leave Chicago by being fired because of something he'll say,never because of his results on the field. He's a get-it-done type but he doesn't have a shutoff valve. He thinks that everything is a battle,even slight insults.

When a person does something and the response is "That's just __ being ___" ,you know that there are a bunch of enablers and we are asked to accept them for who they are. Yeah, Ozzie run off at the mouth and go off at the slightest things but by now we expect it. It only hurts the team when they least expect it. Ozzie take a lot of heat off guys and he causes distractions that put the spotlight on him. That can be viewed as good and bad. Eventually he will do something or say something that even his staunchest supporters will not be able to defend. Then he's out of here. I think he'll leave Chicago by being fired because of something he'll say,never because of his results on the field. He's a get-it-done type but he doesn't have a shutoff valve. He thinks that everything is a battle,even slight insults.

In the PC world, the truth is always refreshing, even if it is a tangent or expletive laced tirade. What Ozzie does is part of his genious/skill. When folks are looking and writing about Ozzie, no one is looking and writing about his players. A little slight of hand misdirection and poof, the Sox are in first place. ATHLETES should do all of their talking on the field. The Media is the most dangerous place for an athlete. While Ozzie's antics are hard to stomach at times, I cringe to think about what a reporter could get out of some of these players if they interviewed them long enough or enough times. These EXPERTS - go in knowing what to say to goad and bait athletes. There are some with the intergrity to know when to shut off the mike or stop an individual, but far too many are trying to make a name for themselves. Imagine some kid like Tyrus Thomas in front of Microphone blabbing away??? A few key questions from an expert interrogator (that is probably jealous of his salary or talent), and voiala! Got him! Thanks SUCKER! Ozzie keeps the focus on Ozzie and lets his players play. Its gotten to the point where reporters ask players about Ozzie instead of vice-versa. One of our biggest stories of 05 was about a big time reporter and a hall of fame announcer who bleeds WhiteSox like Ozzie does. While everyone watched them go at it, the players played...all the way to the top! You gotta love it!!!

Ozzie is as good as his on field decisions.

When he can't pick the right guy for the right situation, get rid of him.

When you have a SS you play him as long as he makes the outs for you, same is true for a manager. It is a function of winning games.

He did that in 2004, 2005 and 2006; getting to the World Series is a gift. Look at St. L, they should have won so many years before but didn't, then in a year they can't even come out of Chicago alive, they are World Champions. Why? They keep winning year after year.

If Ozzie wins this year, 90 plus plus in the toughest division in baseball why complain, its about winning, stupid.

Chicago can't stand winners. Every time a team wins all we hear about is the negative petty stuff. We have two great baseball teams in this town. We got two fiery managers. We almost won the super bowl. Lighten up. Enjoy what we got. Or did you forget: Manuel and some other forgettable names. Ozzie sells papers. They love him. He's who he is: A World Series Winner......We got Lovie, we got Savard. We got the best. Enjoy it or did you forget when Jordan retired and the dark days came. Enjoy it guys, we're living high right now.

The guy is a total punk. Enjoy your last year in Chicago, Ozzie.

Every week it seems like another Ozzie incident. Even theplayers appear to have turned him off. With a slow start Ozzie will say something stupid and that hopefully will give KW the chance to show him the door. I'm really sick of the guy!

Totally different issue:

Does anyone know why they are not selling the new hugh performance Gameday MLB hats yet.

Are they trying to move the old wool inventory first?

NEWSFLASH: Ken Harrelson is an embarassment. Sometimes Jay Mariotti is. However, a man with such ethics and morals as Ozzie Guillen, is not (unless we are talking about his ability to hit the ball ).No doubt, sometimes his emotion gets the best of him and his tongue slips. That does not make him embarrasing.
I would never miss a chance to bash the WhiteSox(thanks for leaving that '5hole' thread open for me Mr. Modrowski), but if we are going to bash...let's get our facts straight.

Wisconsin - Leave the Hawkeroo alone. Now you don't hear us dumping on Brett Farve do you? Leave our Hall of Famer alone and we'll leave yours alone. Hawk is that last of his kind, a John Wayne type figure. You hate him or love him, and I choose the latter. But he is a man with a pair of brass and he knows baseball. He commented on all of the Sox's successful moves before Mr. Williams made them. He knew we had a championship team before the team did and called it. He knew Ozzie was the man for the job and called it. And he knew that the Sox could pick up a Jim Thome, and called it. I won't get on the subject of biased announcing because THEY all do it. You cannot call yourself a Sox fan and not like the Hawkeroo. Must be a Hollywood Cubfan. Just go up north, but don't hate on Hawk.

My comments to this blog were incorrectly posted. My text was associated with the following author:

Posted by: Ralph Ortiz | March 4, 2007 08:04 PM

I wouldn't go out my way to clear this up if it were not for the fact that the comments credited to my name in the blog entry were nothing even close to how I feel about Ozzie, The Sox, or the Cubs. If there is a way to correct this mistake, I would appreciate it.

Roman responds: The poster's name is beneath the comment. It's done automatically.

hey Keith. In case your not informed(which as a sox fan, of course you are not), I HATE the Packers...and you can rip on Brett Favre all you want. I am a lifelong southsider...'cept I don't live there anymore, but at least I REMEMBER also when Ken Harrelson was the GM, and he didn't make any right calls. So the rest of the world has a message for you. Ken Harrelson is a P-I-G
PIG! not even a wuss like Tom Paciorek could stand to work with him anymore...One day his tongue will slip, and he will say something racist and sexist just like the P-I-G PIG that he is.