BSN'S JACKASS OF THE WEEK!
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I highly considered Michael Vick this week to be the BSN Jackass of
the Week for his third time, but I decided to cut him a break this time.
I've decided that this week's winner goes to someone in the media.
Once again, these guys continue to try to BECOME the story as
opposed to just staying in the back and reporting it correctly or better
yet, not opening their mouths at all. Gary Thorne, the Orioles
broadcaster opened his mouth on a subject and made a fool of himself
last week. If you're not familiar with this yet, let's recap. We have to
start in 2004. As many of you know, Curt Schilling had ankle surgery
during the playoffs that year but decided to pitch anyway. He famously
bled through his sock during the World Series while leading the Red
Sox to victory. He became a hero and it's something that will be folk
lore for all time, much like the Babe Ruth "called shot" in the World
Series. Well, last week during the Red Sox/Orioles game, Gary Thorne
brought up the story and said "The great story we were talking about
the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they
finally won, the blood on his stocking. Nah. It was painted. Doug
Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR." You sound pretty
confident there Gary. He then added "Go ask Mirabelli". Naturally, the
media went and asked Mirabelli, his response: "What? Are you kidding
me? He's [expletive] lying. A straight lie, I never said that. I know it was
blood. Everybody knows it was blood." So of course everybody wanted
to know, which one of the two was lying? Why would Thorne make up a
story like that, but why would Mirabelli every SAY something like that?
The next day, Thorne and Mirabelli met and afterwards Thorne released
the following statement:
"During last night's game broadcast I made reference to a years-old
conversation with Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli. In the aftermath of
Doug's post-game comments, I felt it was important to talk to him
directly and called him this afternoon. Doug and I discussed the fact
that we had spoken some time after the 2004 World Series while I was
covering a game in Boston. We recalled at the end of that
conversation, I asked Doug a question about media speculation
regarding the appearance of the sock. Doug's response - about the
significant publicity the matter had generated - led me to believe he
was saying it had been painted for public relations purposes. After
speaking with Doug this afternoon, it is apparent that what he intended
to say to me and what I inferred from that conversation were honestly
different. He said, in the jocular and often sarcastic atmosphere of a
clubhouse, where players needle one another routinely, this may be
understandable. In deference to Doug, I certainly accept his position.
Doug and I have clarified our misunderstanding, and we feel that there
is nothing more to add to this matter." Thorne clearly reported the
story wrong. How can you "misunderstand" something like that? Do
you not get sarcasm? It's certain that players will be very cautious from
here forward when speaking with Gary Thorne as he has thrown all of
his credibility out the window, but that's what anyone who's associated
with the Orioles does anyway. For misunderstanding a story, reporting
it with arrogance and utter confidence, telling people to "ask the
player" and then coming back and admitting he was wrong after all,
Gary Thorne won this week's BSN JACKASS OF THE WEEK!
