Texsox

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:56 PM) Again, if you don't like and especially can't handle the act like a 15 year old atmosphere and sophmoric humor, don't follow sports because that is what it is like in every locker room there is. This certainly is a topic that merits discussion, and it can merit disagreeing with what was done. But to take this to the extreme that people like TexSox and Carol Slezak are is pretty ridiculous, you'd swear rape and sodomy were committed on an actual woman when a stupid joke involving a blow up doll and a bat to try and loosen up a team is what really happened. It's extreme to expect adults to act in a manner that the youngest fans can view?

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:55 PM) so let's just say, for the sake of hypothetical discussion, that you were a member of the white sox and you came into the clubhouse before the game that sunday in toronto and you saw this mock shrine devised to "charm" everyone's bats. What would've been your reaction? I would have said something along the lines of we have to take this s*** down before some reporter sees it and we have a s*** storm to deal with.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:49 PM) Because people have the right to be stupid in our fine country, even if we don't agree with it. Nobody is being hurt or threatened by having a stupid blow up doll in the locker room with some bats to try and bust a slump. If people want to interpret it as this terrible thing, that's fine, but in reality it's not. It's just another case of pro athletes being what they are (pigs), and if that bothers you, that's fine, just don't follow sports. That was the argument in the 1970s and 1980. Guys will be guys and no one is really hurt when an off color joke is told in the workplace. No one is really hurt when we comment on a coworkers breasts. No one is really hurt when the boss asks an employee out repeatedly. Like it or not, an employer or employee cannot draw a circle around part of the workplace and say laws do not apply. The fact they were in Canada only means Canadian laws apply. And yes, some industries have special exemptions.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:45 PM) You can sodomize a doll, something of which isn't a living thing? As I've said, I personally wouldn't do something like this, but your just going way over the top with your literal look at something that involves an inflatable doll. I don't think anybody was promoting sodomy here, they were trying to do something stupid to loosen up an obviously tight clubhouse. It obviously didn't work, and it was not something I'd do, but your just going way over the top with how big a deal this is. I've been saying simulating and depicting, I may have not typed it one time. But that is what it is. Someone decided to loosen up the club house, they decided to bring in an inflatable doll and someone also decided to stick a bat up the butt. They knew it would be viewed by reporters and possibly be made public. The vast majority of Sox fans defend this display of simulated sodomy. The image people will have of Sox fans from this is that Sox fans defend displays of simulated sodomy of a woman with a baseball bat.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:41 PM) Since it is an unfortunate reality that reporters are allowed in the locker rooms... and having read the arguments here... I am going to have to agree with Tex, in that the team really f***ed up here leaving that out in view. If they want to do that palling around by themselves, then stick it in a closet before the press arrives, I think that's fine. But the idiots that run MLB have decided that the locker room is an OK place for non-players/coaches to hang out, so, it should probably be treated like the dugout, for that time period. It is a 100+ year tradition that has to go. Have an interview room off to the side.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:39 PM) Declining fan base? Baseball is on pace to set an attendace record this year for the 5th straight time, after having an all time record for spring training attendance this March. This all despite a recession in the American economy right now. OK. I guess sodomy with latex dolls is in

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) Nobody here has said that is the image Sox fans want or support. You take things to such extremes. The players are depicting the sodomizing of a woman with a baseball bat. The majority of Sox fans defend that. Fair enough?

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 6, 2008 -> 03:29 PM) Well you guys are definitely in the minorty....at least according to sports reporters, as well as callers...men and women, I have heard on the radio. I'd rather be on this side, then defending the need to simulate perverted sex acts in a sport that has a declining fan base, especially among children. If that's the image that the majority of Sox fans support, it's really sad. I hope they recreate it for Bring Your Daughter To Work Day!

And I thought I should toss this in. If this was at some party, away from work, I would think it was really stupid, and wish they had not done it, but would cut them all the slack. Bringing it to work, where they knew reporters would be around, is inexcusable, and (I thought) indefensible.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:22 PM) Because the normal definition of a slumpbuster just isn't safe in this day and age. I actually applaud them for going an alternative route.I'll give you that. This is starting to sound like an Office skit. Everyone sitting around the office, brainstorming ways to sell more. Ideas? Anyone? Well if we were big league baseball players we could bring in a latex doll and stick bats up her butt!

So why is it that baseball players have to be able to simulate perverted sex acts with an inflatible doll to do their jobs?

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:06 PM) Im curious, are male reporters allowed in female lockerrooms, whether they be professional or college teams? male and female reporters are granted the exact same access. Which has been the point all along. Equal access. Keep reporters out of the locker room and provide an interview room woulod make the media happy. But this is a baseball tradition that makes the clubs money.

Scanning my hard drive, sorry dude, nothing on those topics. you know, just sayin'

men get lonely when they are locked up for a long time and they have certain urges . . . Relax. It will probably be a bunch of guys like yourself. The county jail down here has inmates that perform community service during the day and are locked up at night. I've had them helping on several projects and it sucks to be locked up, but it shouldn't be violent.

Again it is a different environment -- REPORTERS ARE THERE! Reporters are there, out in the open. They even dress differently then the players so the players can tell the difference. This is not their bathroom at home. Why is that such a difficult concept for people to get? The reporters are there because MLB and the Sox WANT THEM TO BE THERE! They help the team to sell tickets, get people to watch the television, and helps the players to earn millions. It comes with the territory and the players have lived with it forever. This is like the morons that stand behind reporters on live feeds and jump up and down and flash signs.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:44 PM) What is worse Tex, the plastic blow up dolls that are an obvious joke, or the amount of penis that they may see during a walk through after the game. They both are bad. The obvious joke because someone had to go buy the doll, position the doll, and stick the bats. Players have been fined for flashing reporters. And in a world that people are tortured and murdered everyday, should we really use the lowest denominator to determine what is acceptable behavior? Why prosecute stealing when other people are murdering? Why prosecute stealing a stereo when other people steal cars? It's a terrible argument to make.

At this point, it is a complete mystery to me. As I said probably at the same time last year. Coaches should be changed during the off season. I dislike seeing shake ups like that in the middle of the season. We are probably stuck with him again, but please make a change next off season.

So those that believe violent video games and such does not affect young minds, and it has no adverse affect on adult minds, what does affect your mind and personality?

I am sitting here trying to understand the logic If you are a company where the public will never see your employees, blow dolls with bats in the butts is bad. If you are a company where this will be publicized all over the world, which spends millions marketing to families and young kids, it's ok? This may be the first time Sox fans have really surprised me. To defend that kind of image for our team just doesn't make sense.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 6, 2008 -> 11:49 AM) Because its not to see who the overall top two are. Its to see who the top Dem. and Rep. (and other parties) are. In your situation, the "winners" would have a small percentage of the vote since the "pie" would be shared with more people. You'd almost need automatic run offs (3 pts for first choice, 2 for second, 1 for third type voting). OK, then still run one ballot and take the top Dem, top Rep, top Green Party, whatever. But drop the pretense of being the members selecting who they want to represent their party.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 6, 2008 -> 01:39 PM) They arent even close to the same thing, which is why making a big deal out of this is ridiculous and is an obvious outlet for the frustration of losing. Clubhouses and locker rooms do many things that arent even close to what are acceptable in a working environment, thats because they ARENT THE SAME THING. no they AREN"T THE SAME THING. There are reporters coming in who will publicize what they see and hear. Who thinks employees should be smart enough to act in a manner that reflects positively on the organization? Who thinks they should act in a manner that demeans the organization?

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 6, 2008 -> 01:00 PM) Everyone's thresholds are different. Some reporters may be very offended by certain curse words. Some may be offended by certain music...so by certain movies. What you find acceptable others may not. Clealry we can see that by this thread. I think there does need to be a line and after it's drawn then we can see what side positioning a blow up doll with a bat is on. You act like these players did this with the White Sox or MLB's image in mind. They didn't think abotu that. It was done for each other....done for a laugh...done to stay loose and that's all. It had no meaning. It was immature and childish, but it wasn't done for the reporters and it wasn't done for the public and it's a shame reporters felt the need to discuss it. I think the clubhouse is their domain...I think they see it as that... The entire second paragraph shows why this was so wrong. For a hundred years for male reporters, over thirty years for female reporters, the locker room has been open to reporters. If after all this time, the players still think it is their private domain, they are the stupidest people on the planet. How could they possibly think it was private with all these strangers in there? For their entire major league career reporters have been walking into their locker room and reporting on what they see and hear. Now you are proposing they never knew this could happen? The lines has been drawn, players exposing themselves to women reporters have been fined. Reporters acting inappropriately have been banned from clubhouses and locker rooms. Society has talked about sexual harassment for over a decade. How many more lines have to be drawn for these guys? Here is an easy line to draw. If marketing will use this to sell tickets = good. If marketing will scream, fans will be outraged = bad. It's their employer. It's their paychecks. These guys understand the marketing of the sport.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 6, 2008 -> 11:26 AM) You self-identify with your party of choice. This round of primaries has brought out some flaws in the current system, namely that disingenuous voters can cross over and vote solely to cause disruption. More often than not, however, that is not the case. Republican voters picked the Republican candidate. A closed primary tries to get around disingenuous voters but has the potential to exclude independent voters who may be genuinely interested in a certain candidate. And that becomes the circular problem. As noted earlier, the primary is for party members to select a candidate. By definition an independent is not part of a party, yet they are voting. So if it is just to see who the top two vote getters are, why not just list all the candidates and go from there?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2008 -> 12:36 PM) Most players are assholes. What the White Sox did with those dolls and bats was wrong. What was your reaction when Ozzie called Marriotti a f**? If you did that in an office, there's a good chance you're headed out the door or at the very least to the HR dept. I thought OZ was wrong, and took one more step towards the door. Oz will lose his job for costing the team fans not games.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ May 6, 2008 -> 12:27 PM) Idd still like to hear how this is even close to as bad as the kiss cam IN the stadium? If the problem with this is "harassment, making girls feel uncomfortable in the locker room or putting girls in an awkward situation" how is this even remotely close to as bad as the kiss cam? You dont think the kiss cam could very easily make a girl feel uncomfortable? Imagine if this was your business. You have tens of millions invested. Tell me you want to see your employees, the guys you pay over $100 million a year to, creating a display with a latex doll and a bat shoved up it's ass. Who is that going to sell more tickets to? Whose jersey will sell more because he finds latex dolls with bats up their ass useful in breaking out of a slump? And for the record, I think the kiss cam is a terrible idea.