COLIN LINNEWEBER
Big City Bias Without the Bullshit

Manny Ramirez Is a Thug

Boston Red Sox left-fielder Manny Ramirez physically threw the team’s traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, to the ground in Houston Saturday before a game against the Astros after Mccormick informed Ramirez that he may not be able to amass the 16 tickets that he had requested for that night’s game. Following his assault on McCormick, 64, the 9-time Silver Slugger Award winner did his best Avon Barksdale impersonation as he menacingly screamed “do your fucking job” at the elderly club executive.

“Whatever happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse,” Ramirez said before Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “I talked to him and everything is fine. He’s going to continue being my friend.”

Saturday’s incident was the second altercation last month that Ramirez was involved in with a member of the organization that he is employed by. On June the 5th at Fenway Park, Ramirez and first baseman Kevin Youkilis had to be separated from one another after tempers flared between the teammates in the Sox dugout.

Ramirez, a village idiot who is skilled at swinging a wooden bat and striking a leather ball, is often granted a pass with the nauseating phrase “It’s just Manny being Manny.” The native of Santo Domingo should not be provided such ridiculous leeway in this instance. Manny was just a thug and, if the Red Sox don’t reprimand their star, they are just as yellow as he is.

Shawn Chacon Is a Criminal

Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was placed on waivers last week one day after he assaulted his former General Manager, Ed Wade, in the team’s dining room. According to accounts of the incident, Wade approached Chacon (2-3, 5.04 ERA), 30, and insisted that the right-hander go to Manager Cecil Cooper’s office for an internal discussion with his skipper.

“I sat down to eat, and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, ‘You need to come with me to the office.’ I said, ‘For what? I don’t want to go to the office with you and Cooper.’ And I said, ‘You can tell me whatever you’ve got to tell me right here.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, you want me to tell you right here?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ I’m not yelling. I’m calm,” Chacon recounted.

After Chacon defied Wade’s request, dialogue quickly deteriorated between the two and took an ugly turn in the direction of violence.“He started yelling and cussing,” Chacon said of Wade. “I’m sitting there, and I said to him very calmly, ‘Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said, ‘You better stop yelling at me.’ I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, ‘You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.’ So at that point I lost my cool, and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him, because at that point I wanted to beat his (behind). Words were exchanged.”

In the aftermath of the barbarism, the reactionary from Alaska was asked if he regretted administering a Kane-like choke slam on his boss.

“If there’s any regret, I just wish they had left me alone.”

Only in the world of sports and professional wrestling can an individual attack their superior and not be charged with a crime. Shawn Chacon is an average hurler and he should feel blessed that he’s not donning an orange jumpsuit in a “Lone Star State” prison because of his deplorable actions. In the pen, Chacon would have ample hours to spend time “alone.”

Hank Sings “How’s My Ass Taste?”

Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings Wednesday night as the New York Yankees trounced the hapless Pirates 10-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Chamberlain (2-2), 22, who is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA since being promoted from the bullpen in early-June, struck out 7 Bucs en route to earning his first career win as a starter.

“Joba has the ability to pitch games like this,” said Yankees Manager Joe Girardi. “That’s the kind of stuff he has.”

Presently, the choice to transition Chamberlain into the staring rotation appears ingenious and no person within the Yankees organization urged the move more aggressively than did their owner, Hank Steinbrenner. As “Hankenstein” notoriously said about Chamberlain before he assumed his new role, “you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a set-up guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.”

In lieu of Chamberlain’s early success, one can expect reports to surface of Hank carousing around the Bronx singing Shaquille O’Neal’s newest poetic lyrics, “How’s my ass taste?”

Frankly, Hank can do whatever he desires. After all, he’s not an “idiot.”

Pacman Should Focus On Himself

WABC-AM shock jock Don Imus is again the center of controversy after making racially insensitive comments about Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman”Jones on his nationally-syndicated talk show Monday morning.During the broadcast, Imus and sports announcer Warner Wolf began discussing Jones, 24, and his troubles off-the-field that resulted in the former West Virginia University star being suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season.

“What color is he?” Imus asked Wolf about Jones.

“African-American,” Wolf answered.

“There you go. Now we know,” deadpanned Imus.

Imus, who was fired from MSNBC and CBS radio last April for referring to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s,” defended his remarks and claimed that he was making a point that blacks are treated unfairly by authorities.

“What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason,” Imus said Tuesday. “I mean, there’s no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once.”

Imus’ Co-host Karith Foster, who is black, came to the rancher’s defense during Tuesday’s broadcast, saying, “People who interpret what you said as racist clearly didn’t hear the whole thing, and they don’t know who you are and what the program is about — and they obviously haven’t been listening.”

Jones told The Dallas Morning News in Tuesday’s editions that he’s upset by Imus’ comments and that he plans to pray for the radio host.

“I’m truly upset about the comments,” Jones said. “Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I’m upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him.”

Honestly, I don’t know if Imus is a racist or not. But, I am positive that something is horribly off-kilt when a man of “Pacman’s” stature feels compelled to pray for anyone. Jones needs to focus on only one man and that man is himself and not Imus.

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