A Little Bit Dissapointed

Let me say one thing first. I am a ridiculously biased writer. That said, I am a blogger, not a professional sportswriter. I write my opinions, and that is a big component of this site. However, a site like ESPN is supposed to be a national news outlet, and while some bias is inevitable, remarks like the ones that Peter Gammons made in his interview on WEEI are just disrespectful and rude. We all know that Peter Gammons is a Boston guy and got his start covering the Sox, but his bias here was just dissappointing, as I usually rely on Gammons to be a professional. He said, and I quote, "I don't think Alex (Rodriguez) really cares about communicating with other other players, we know (that) from Derek Jeter." I'm not a big A-Rod fan, but c'mon, how can you say that? A-Rod is a great baseball player, and there is no way a sports reporter can know exactly how A-Rod communicates with his teammates. It isn't like A-Rod gives everyone the silent treatment or something. Watch a game, A-Rod talks to the guys on the team, he doesn't just go silent the whole time like Tiger Woods(note: That's not a hit on Tiger, it's a compliment towards his immense concentration. Golf and baseball are very different).

This next part is what really aggravated me. For those of you who watched Tex's press conference, you know that his wife played a big roll in his decision. I mean, duh, money had something to do with it, but Leigh Teixeira wanted Mark to be a Yankee, and so he became a Yankee. Gammons says "...his wife doesn't like Boston--apparently she doesn't like the stores on Newberry Street or something..." Really Gammons? This woman hasn't made any big public statements, or done anything uncalled for, but Peter Gammons judges her like this? First off, this is a sexist statement as Gammons is acting like, oh she's a woman, she must like to shop. Secondly, he's insulting her and calling her snooty by implying she only wants to shop in the fashion capitol of the world, New York, instead of in Boston. Thirdly, he is too ignorant to act like there might be other factors that drew Leigh to ask her husband not to play in Boston. As a professional, and highly acclaimed sportswriter, Peter Gammons shouldn't be saying things like this. I'm truly dissappointed. He was a guy I used to have a lot of respect for, and I still do, but now that level of respect is most certainly lessened.