More On Fox And Manny Ramirez

I have already made my opinion of this situation known both here and at Awful Announcing, but I figured I would throw more opinions of more credible, established sports columnists and other blogs that were angered by this outrage.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

From: Ford, Bob
To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Salisbury, James T.
Subject: Mannycam

We're renaming this "Talkin' Sense" this week since Gonzodud is on vacation (although how we will tell he's on vacation is anyone's guess).

I was appalled on Saturday when Fox kept cutting away or small-screening the Phils-Mets game to give extra-special coverage to the at-bats of Manny Ramirez, noted dope cheater just returned from suspension. I was in the press box and the Fox feed was on the monitors. You couldn't see the replays of the Phils' game because Pajama Man was all over the thing. Is "appalled" too strong a word? Your thoughts?

From: Salisbury, James T.
To: Ford, Bob; Fitzpatrick, Frank
Subject: RE: Mannycam

Cutaways should be reserved for milestone hits (500th homer; 3,000th hit) or no-hitters. Fox was trying to capitalize on this clown's controversy-driven celebrity. There's no way they would have done this if he didn't get caught taking mommy juice. Total pimping on their part.

From: Ford, Bob
To: Salisbury, James T.; Fitzpatrick, Frank
Subject: RE: Mannycam

Where's Frank? He must be listening to the game on his old crystal set. I'll send a carrier pigeon over with the message. We are in total agreement on this one, Jimmy, and that's how Talkin' Sense is going to be this week. Reasonable people making reasonable comments. Fox should be ashamed of itself, although I'm not sure that's possible. There couldn't have been one person in America who said, "I think I'll watch the Phillies-Mets game because there might be bonus coverage of Mannyball's historic second game back."

The New York Post

SATURDAY, the Fourth of July, FOX chose not to present the national anthem prior to its Mets-Phillies telecast, but it did choose to interrupt the first inning to show Manny Ramirez's first at-bat in his second game back from a drug suspension, an insert from the Dodgers-Padres game.

But it was the second part -- breaking into the telecast to show Ramirez bat -- that made Tim McCarver stew then spew. And what a magnificent spew.

"It's almost as though Manny Ramirez is being treated as if he'd been on the disabled list for 50 games. ... Why all the adulation for a guy who has served a 50-game suspension when guys like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and A-Rod served no suspensions, yet they're branded?"

McCarver wasn't done. He knew that the answer was in large part right there, surrounding him: TV. TV makes no good value judgments; it just sells anything and anyone, good or bad, worth a ratings point and a buck. Beyond that, TV desperately panders to the worst acts, its executives and voices frightened to risk being called unhip, or old-fashioned, or racist, or, heaven forbid, anything less than "edgy."

And so modern media -- not just TV -- excuse vandals as graffiti artists; the career-long selfishness of a Manny Ramirez is explained/rationalized/admired as individualism.

McCarver next noted that Dodgers-Padres wasn't originally scheduled to be shown by FOX in the New England market, but the return of Ramirez changed that. "We jumped right on the wagon, too."

Apparently, McCarver hadn't received a copy of the plan, the one ESPN and FOX have been working from: We're all supposed to love Manny Ramirez, unconditionally.

The Mets Police

What was the point of showing me Manny Ramirez at bats. It was his second game back, and good job out of McCarver on calling out Fox on hyping the return of someone from susupension.

Lehigh Valley Live

On the Fourth of July, while many Americans were sitting outside with charcoal in the air, ice cold beers in hand and burgers on the grill, Fox Sports was giving Manny Ramirez national coverage in his second game back since being suspended for violating Major League Baseball's Substance Policy.

Did I miss something or wasn't Ramirez suspended 50 games for being a cheater?

It's not like he suffered an injury and everyone was thrilled to have him back in the Dodgers' lineup.

[...]

Fox, which nationally aired the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, did in-game looks at the Dodgers-Padres game from Petco Park in San Diego showing Manny's every at-bat. Even broadcaster Tim McCarver questioned Fox's coverage to his partner Kenny Albert, with neither having an answer.

Manny wasn't one home run away from being the sport's all-time leader, nor was he playing in an unprecedented number of consecutive games, but he was just playing -- hopefully with no foreign substances in his body.

So why the different and preferential treatment in the media and from the fans compared to the others who are basically blacklisted from the sport? You tell me.

Have I made my point yet or do I need to go on even more with this? While I'm pretty sure that all of my wonderful, regular commenters have more than gotten the point, if there is just one person remotely associated with Fox Sports reading this, then it's not enough. They must know what hypocritical, biased, unthinking bastards they really are. I'm not done.

Sports Media Watch

Like so many things in baseball over the past decade, the national curiosity surrounding Manny Ramirez' return from a 50-game suspension appears to have been purely artificial.

Regional MLB coverage, featuring live, national cutaways to Dodgers/Padres during Ramirez' first at-bat, drew a mere 1.7 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, down a whopping 50% from a 3.4 for coverage on the comparable date last year.

Keep in mind that Saturday was the Fourth of July. The last time FOX aired MLB coverage on the holiday (1998), the net drew a 4.2/12 overnight.

The View from the Porch

Phillies and Mets fans were given a common cause on the Fourth of July, when millions must have blurted the same question, in unison: WHY IS MANNY RAMIREZ ON MY TELEVISION? Then, if everyone else is like me, they used the opportunity to spend a penny, pick a tomato, pull a weed, jump in the pool, get a beer, join the party, and missed not only Manny but also an inning or two and a whole bunch of sponsor commercials. Oops.

As the Philly Inquirer noted today, Fox cheated Phillies fans. And Mets fans as well. And everyone else tired of having Manny Ramirez shoved down our throats.

If there is anybody out there who works for Fox or knows someone who works for Fox Sports and ask if they are truly ashamed of their network's coverage? For what happened on Saturday, was beyond media bias, on the same day that Lou Gehrig gave his impassioned speech, Fox trumpets the return of this cheating, rule-bending, media whore. So please, ask them. And if you really want to be my hero, you can email me the results of your conversation at FireAndyReidNow@gmail.com. I promise you that you will remain anonymous. Just let me know that Tim McCarver is not the only one disgusted by Fox's outlandish, ridiculous, absurd coverage of Manny Ramirez.

This paragraph is already quoted in my below post entitled, "Thank You, Keith Olbermann", but it's the best paragraph to end with for I don't want anyone to forget this.

let's take you out to San Diego where Manny Ramirez is just back from a 50-game suspension. For cheating. For cutting corners. For breaking rules. For lying. For deception. For letting down his teammates. For contributing to suspicions against every honest player. For raising a giant middle finger to sportsmanship. For abusing the fans. For risking that for which Lou Gehrig would've given anything - his own health.

[...]

Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez and the others of the PED era did not belong in baseball today, and that they did not show the requisite awareness of their own shame, only makes it worse. Lord, send us a 'roider who has the presence of mind to say: "On this day I do my penance; I don't yet belong on the field even with just the memory of this man, I hope you'll forgive me and I can again earn your trust."

Any and all emails to those I addressed above will be greatly appreicated.