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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2000)
Reliever is off his Rocker Ws at a jackass! That is, more or less, what you thought when you first read or heard about the now-infamous John Rocker com ments in the Dec. 27 issue of Sports Illustrated, right? Those disparaging comments with which, if you haven’t yet heard, Rocker loudly denounced minorities, immigrants, people with AIDS, women, homosex uals and New Yorkers. Your initial re action: Idiot! Jerk! What was he thinking? But now you’re sick of it. Enough, right? The reaction to the Atlanta reliever’s ignorant, mean-spirited, racist — and they were racist — comments has been overwhelming. Extra ordinary. Phenome nal. Newspapers from Atlanta to Seattle, from Los Angeles to Toronto are still tossing the subject around nearly a month after his words first appeared. You’re probably aware that Bud Selig, major league base ball’s commissioner, has or dered Rocker to undergo psy chological treatment — and, not surprisingly, that’s been a hot topic of debate as well. An NAACP official called for Atlanta to release Rocker: “Not only are we outraged at the state ments attributed to Rocker, but insult is added to injury by the fact that the [Atlanta] organiza tion has al lowed this situation to fester for so long with out taking swift and decisive ac tion.” All sorts of legalities have been brought into question. Can the Atlanta organization fire someone solely on the basis of his public state ments? And wouldn’t that in fringe on his First Amendment rights? On Tuesday, about 75 peo ple, carrying signs reading “Fire John Rocker” and “Shame on Baseball,” gathered" in front of CNN’s headquarters in protest of the lack of action by the Atlanta organization against Rocker. Presidential candidates Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Bill Bradley have both called for At lanta to take action. His teammates and peers are disgusted. Third baseman Chip per Jones was quoted as saying that he wouldn’t want to be in the same county as Rocker: "... in all honesty ... I really fear for his safety at certain points.” Even the band Twisted Sister has asked Atlanta to stop using its song “I Wanna Rock” when Rocker enters the game. Gui tarist Jay French: “We’ve got Hispanics in this band, Italians in this band; people are Polish and Russian. We’re all immi grants ... this is our way of say ing his comments were not ac ceptable.” It’s been headline material for Mirjam Swanson weeks. But the original backlash has unleased a new backlash. People across the nation have had enough of this Rocker hyste ria. Stop it already, they’re say ing. And they’re voicing it in print, with letters to editors. Like these: “Please. Does pro sports now consider anyone who harbors, say, anti-black or anti-gay views, to have a problem?” “People have been saying hurtful things since time began. Where does the NAACP get off demanding that Rocker be re leased?” “Political correctness be damned! I was under the im pression that I lived in the Unit ed States of America, not the So viet Union ... I was not aware that ‘reeducation and banish ment’ was the law for speaking one’s mind.” “If a person wants to express his or her opinion, no matter how vile, it is their right to do so without fear of punishment. As far as press coverage, this story was overkill of a nonevent.” “At least the man said what most of us think but lack the courage to say. Good for you John.” Frighteningly, this obviously is not just a stop-because-we’re tired-of-hearing-about-it type of thing. This is a stop-because-it’s-not such-a-big-deal, weTe-all-bigots anyway type of sentiment. Uhhh, no. We’re not. Rocker’s comments were wrong. Calling a black teammate a “fat monkey” is wrong. Con demning others — homosexuals, young mothers, people from oth er countries — because they’re different than he is is wrong. Prejudice, discrimination and racism are wrong. The decision about whether such ideas — which he certainly has every right to have — justify psychological treatment or the termination of his contract be longs to baseball, and to the At lanta organization. But props to the media for blowing this thing out of propor tion. Thank you for making such a spectacle out of this guy’s idiocy — something that certainly Bryan uixon tmeraia wouldn’t have happened 25 years ago. Sure, he has the right to ex press his beliefs. Just like the media has the right to lay into him for doing it. The message has been sent, loud and clear, that anyone who comes out blaring prejudice to day is gonna get slammed. Big time. And good. That’s right. Mirjam Swanson is sports editor of the % Emerald. She can be reached via e-mail at mswan@gladstone.uoregon.edu. i SCREEN PRINTING EMBROIDERY 344-72&S triangle@pond.net Not all t-shirts are created equal. ducks ,7h“orldPamv VS* mac c°ur* huskies WBB T-Shirt Giveaway The 1st 700 fans through the gates will receive a free t-shirt, courtesy of the Pac-10. Be there pregame for the unveiling of the 1999 Pac-10 Championship Banner Message boards: Your forum for dialogue on topics from student government to entertainment. WWW.dailyemerald.COin You access the Internet from home and school... So why keep your bookmarks on JUSt 0116 Computer? BLINK -» upload your bookmarks to a secure free web site *♦ access your bookmarks anywhere on Earth -> organize your sites with drag-and-drop simplicity -> find new sites: tap the knowledge of millions of other bookmarks UNLEASH THE POWER OF TOUR bookmarks BOOKMARKS WITH BUNK! 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