Comments on: Bonds’ ex-media expert pans Cardinals McGwire plan

By: blingboy

blingboy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:07:01 +0000

The McGwire story is getting juiced again by brother Jay. Interviews (print and upcoming broadcast) with ESPN, new book.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4941099

By: blingboy

blingboy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:49:39 +0000

Checked in with the NYT to see if the li’l ol’ team from flyover country is still getting column inches in the big apple post Tiger. Yes. McGwire/roids related? Yes.

In the Huh?? department :

“On the subject of Pujols — who, fair or not, must deal with pervasive suspicions that follow all major league mega-achievers in the age of cynicism — the question can be raised: has La Russa made it easier for people to doubt his performance, if only because McGwire will be a continuous reminder of baseball’s innumerable performance-enhancement obfuscations? ”

In the Humm department :

“I think I was trusted by our ownership to make the right judgment,” La Russa said, “and I would have been very disappointed if I wasn’t.”

On the whole, a semi-worthwhile article on a tired subject.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/sports/baseball/21larussa.html?ref=baseball

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:08:07 +0000

Then maybe this can be where you and WC find common ground. It is said there is a first time for everything.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:33:15 +0000

Didn’t expect you to be

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:22:27 +0000

Great, then Woods can apologize really sincerely to GM, Nike, Accenture, etc. and pray to God they don’t cut off his endorsement cash fix. The consumers who were actually stupid enough to buy a Buick because Tiger Woods said to are completely and totally hopeless anyway. The good news is that GM was running a 90-day no-questions-asked return policy. The mindless fools can tell the dealer they simply don’t want their Buick anymore because Tiger slept around and gave them a crappy apology. I have no doubt there are Americans who would do it. I just hope they never, ever stumble across this blog.

Sorry CC, but in case you can’t tell, I am not with you on this one…

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:40:58 +0000

I would agree acccept many (not me) think his character is an issue for product endorsements (gives (or shuld I say gave) him credibility). To that extent I think he has an obligation to address that.

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:49:24 +0000

CC, maybe someone else with more passion about this than me can engage, as my take is very simple. Woods cheated on his wife, which has nothing to do with his public job as a golfer. He should be apologizing to his family, not fans through the media.

McGwire cheated in his work place and has now returned to it, albeit in another role. He does owe the fans an explanation as it affected his records. The media is the conduit to have delivered those explanations.

I see the situations as very different.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:40:43 +0000

Some stuff in another thread but here is more appropriate.

Why does the media criticize Mac for not taking open questins yet seems to accept this from Tiger?

Where’s the question about Tiger misleading people with his image (the kind that could trip him up like got Mac got tripped up on whether steroids helped him hit HR’s)?

Why aren’t people calling on Tiger to be banned for life from endorsing products?

I could care less actually, I just want an equal standard.

Also, much like Mac, the fact that he apologized (read a statement) wont make one iota of difference in how much press are at his comeback tournaments.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:39:47 +0000

Wonder when (if?) Jack Clark will surface. The first FSM game is 3/19 I believe.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:13:34 +0000

Get your point CC. All the media ‘church ladies’ will be spewing about a much juicier subject.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:13:37 +0000

Ah, but that’s my point bb. Try to get lost in the shuffle.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:53:05 +0000

Waste of time CC, roids and records can’t compete with that kind of action. Maybe Ari can spice up the story line a little.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:57:42 +0000

Well. Mcgwire should really screw them over and hold a presser on Friday — at the same time as Tiger’s. Tiger will knock him off the front pages for a while!

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:20:53 +0000

Audio from McGwire's 17-minute meeting with the media this morning: link

By: blingboy

blingboy — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:22:12 +0000

Wonder if there is any jostling to be the first to get a photo of Mac in uniform posted. I can imagine guys with cameras hiding under piles of towels and such.

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:05:32 +0000

The Cardinals Twitterverse has been knocked out of orbit this morning by the many scribes on hand tweeting every step Mac takes, followed by many other fans then retweeting the same comments as if everyone didn’t see them the first 20 times. Major overload…

By: blingboy

blingboy — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:58:38 +0000

Let’s see if the little ol’ team from flyover country happens to be on the east coast media radar in the middle of February.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/16/sports/AP-BBN-Cardinals-McGwires-Pupils.html?_r=1

http://www.nesn.com/mlb/

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view/20100217pumped_for_mark_mcgwire/

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4919540

By: WestCoastbirdWatcher

WestCoastbirdWatcher — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:06:37 +0000

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

By: blingboy

blingboy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:56:34 +0000

Field of dreams stuff Westy, I can almost smell the korn.

By: WestCoastbirdWatcher

WestCoastbirdWatcher — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:23:10 +0000

Fleischer flashed.

In other cultures and other times, the cleansing of Mark McGwire might have been more overtly ritualistic and complete. A band of true believers and holy men would have taken him to the baseball river.

Love the way he mixes Jewish and Christian metaphors. This is sports writing Brian. I can almost smell his cigar.

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:00:53 +0000

Great question, bb. I don’t know the answer, but I see two general possibilities. One is that the wording was loosely chosen – just the fact that Mac will arrive in camp tomorrow and will be in the presence of the media will be a step forward. The other possibility is that this was a quiet signal that McGwire will have one more talk. That seems inconsistent with public comments from both Mo and TLR. If they were to do it, they would likely want to provide no advance notice to keep the audience a bit more under control. Guess we will see soon, but those hoping for revelations either way are bound to be disappointed.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:48:45 +0000

I guess Ax doesn’t like that guy.

Here is a statement from the Chicago Sometimes article that i’m wondering about:

“Instead, on Wednesday, in his first significant media interface since the cherry-picked confessionals last month, McGwire will step forward at the spring-training camp of the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.”.

I hadn’t realized McGwire was definatly going to arrive tomorrow or that he was going to step forward and have a media interface. Is there a chance this guy actually knows what he’s talking about?

By: Axcion

Axcion — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:17:55 +0000

Good for Blake Rhodes, I’m sure no one in the history of the game has coached a player to lie more then he with Barry Bonds. No doubt he would have had Mark lieing through his teeth the whole time. Here’s a thought you sanctimonious phoney; how about you get Baroids to man up and tell the truth instead of all the B.S. he’s been slinging at the media.

No, I didn’t think so. I doubt there’s a media member in America that would believe one word out of your mouth…whichever side you’re talking out of. So my advice to you Mr. Spin Doctor is to shut your hypocritical trap and crawl back into your whole until Barry needs some more lies for you to conjure up.

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:16:23 +0000

Bernie reacting to Fleischer reacting about the media’s reaction to McGwire’s reaction: link

By: JumboShrimp

JumboShrimp — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:30:44 +0000

I like what Mo said to USAToday. McGwire has answered 250 questions, reached out to reporters. Mo and Jumbo on the same wavelength! Surprise.

Bud Selig does not want McGwire doing a daily press briefing about muscle helpers a decade ago. MM confessed, as the price for doing what he wants to do, coach. Hitting coaches do not give daily press briefings. Even President Obama went 6 months without a press conference (though he did a lot of gabbing in other venues).

By: JumboShrimp

JumboShrimp — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:19:14 +0000

Rhodes is in business for himself as a media consultant. In these tough economic times, he needs to advertise about what a clever chap he is. Nothing wrong with that, imo.
But there are massive differences between the Bonds situation and McGwire. Barry was an active player, chasing Hank Aaron’s record. In contrast, McGwire retired 9 years ago. Snore.
Barry was going for the biggest pinnacle in pro ball, and yet he was being investigated for using muscle helpers and allegedly being less than fully honest to a grand jury. This investigation even overshadowed the homerun chase. Is anyone going to be investigating McGwire for serving as a batting coach? Snore.
In 2009, did hordes of reporters follow Manny or A-Rod around, asking their team-mates what they think of their use of muscle helpers? If so, this distraction did not stop Manny and the Dodgers from sweeping the Cards. A-Rod helped win a world series.
Also nowadays there are fewer dollars for reporters to travel, since newspapers are dying daily. What editor wants to spend money chasing McGwire around, for what purpose?
The best strategy for McGwire is to stick to his job and decline to answer more questions about the past. He spoke out. Its over. People can like it, they can dislike it, but Mark is paid to coach batters, that is it. He is not paid by reporters.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:43:27 +0000

If this post-season is like last I think BD gets uninvested real fast. When that much talent underperforms that bad, there’s nowhere to hide. Like Tony has said in the past, “when we suck its because I suck”.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:03:27 +0000

No way BD pulls the rug out from under Mac w/o Tony’s blessing. BD is too invested in Tony (emotionally?) to risk upsetting him. And upset him it would. Not because it was Mac but just because I’m pretty sure Tony’s always had his say in who his coaches are. Changing that would be as good as opening the door for Tony on his way out. And as much as Westie would like that (and I wouldn’t strongly object) it isn’t going to happen in that manner.

By: WestCoastbirdWatcher

WestCoastbirdWatcher — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:40:57 +0000

Hitting coach that is.

By: WestCoastbirdWatcher

WestCoastbirdWatcher — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:25:57 +0000

Ari got allot of money I would guess for doing exactly what he was asked. C- might be right where the treasure is buried. He does have a history. There are precedents.

I wonder. If things heat up April May, and BD makes a decision concerning MM, does Tony understand or object. I wonder if that starts looking like 9/11 after a while with the whole thing coming down. Sure doesn’t seem like Albert is going to be in the spotlight much. Especially considering he isn’t known for needing a pitching coach.