I just wanted to say "thank you" for pointing that out here on this great site. Too often, players are taken out of context or prodded to say a certain thing only to have their words twisted. Most of the time, I believe that a player gets what he deserves when it comes to the words that come out of his mouth. But there are times when the media is to blame, and this is one of them. Again, thank you for your honest stance and being one of the only places that I've seen address this issue.

www.funderbeans.blogspot.com

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One of the things that keeps coming to mind as I read the various comments that the Red Sox have made since winning the WS is how "second place" their thinking and their comments seem to still be.

Apparently, winning the World Series wasn't enough to shake their inferiority complex.
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The swing form lovable losers to arrogant "1st time in 86 year winners" has been quite dramatic.
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Regardless of the problems that the Yankees have had this off-season, they have, for the most part, taken the high road when it comes to the Red Sox. For example, the idea that Jeter would take time
out to criticize the child-rearing habits of a Red Sox is unthinkable, he simply would not lower himself.

Meanwhile, the Sox seem to still have to personally attack the Yankees. It is as if they need to try to invalidate the Yankees in order to validate themselves.
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A World Series victory should have elevated them above most of this crap. But rather than act like champions, the Sox are becoming a tired, cheap act.

They handle themselves in such an unprofessional
manner, rarely take the high road and keep losing respect.
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Yeah, as much as the reporters are to blame for asking the same question about ARod over and over and over again, the Red Sox players are to blame for acknowledging the questions with a response. Even after the Sox win the World Series, they can't stop talking about the Yankees. The Yankees lost devestatingly and you don't hear them utter word one about the Red Sox. It all goes back to David Pinto's Harvard/Yale comparison. The one that feels inferior always talks about the one that is deemed superior. Even though they won the World Series, they still feel inferior to the Yankees.

Before Trot ignited it, Arod ignited it by giving an inter-
view in which he made some of his now characteristic
totally rude and egocentric remarks, trying to put down
ballplayers with children for no reason. Prior to that, Alex
surprised me by making public statements about Schilling
& whether he cried or not, etc. Schilling can say whatever
he wants, he's a talker. But, I saw no reason for Alex to
open his trap for 1 second until he got to the field. After
the humiliating way he ended the year, you'd think he'dve
kept his own counsel, as he said he was going to do after
the last game. I don't recall other Yankees making these
kinds of off season remarks before, and for no reason.

wow. what a hypocritical statement. It's okay for Schilling to say stupid things, but A-Rod is not supposed to talk? I am neither a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan, and I seldom feel like sticking up for the Yankees. But all this makes me hate the Red Sox all the more. The Yanks may have lost horribly, but they are so much classier that in should be an embarrassment to the city of Boston.

re:
Schilling can say whatever
he wants, he's a talker. But, I saw no reason for Alex to
open his trap for 1 second until he got to the field.

I think what's most unfortunate in these types of stories is how selective the quotes are, and how out of context everything gets taken. It goes to show how much the media controls our perceptions of players' characters, and how their only real goal is to drum up stories to sell. It's easy to forget that the media is a business. They're not really motivated to tell the truth so much as they are motivated to write a story that will garner advertisement dollars. "BoSox trash talk A-Rod? Sweet! Let's smoke out some non-answers, give 'em a little spin, and make some dough. We'll get play all year, and Joe Buck may give us a nod when he puts together his 'Armageddon XII, Yanks vs Red Sox' segment before the season opener..." It's all about the bread. Remember the tsunami and all its play last month? Those poor people in Asia are still just as, if not more, screwed than they were a month ago, but the media ain't interested because it won't sell ad-time to Chevy and Ford any more. The same logic applies to sports...pre-season baseball is no good unless there are some good, inflamatory comments being coaxed out of players.

Re: Schilling can talk, etc., you may be unaware
that Schilling has a reputation for ongoing repartee
in the media. Does Alex go around calling up radio
stations, etc, all year? No. Never in the past 10 years have I heard of a Yankee making statements
in the press that Alex did this year, effectively put-
ting down other players, unsolicited. You may not be aware how Alex ended his first season with the
Yankees. It did not foretell making such statements
to the press. I'm surprised that someone would
come to this site and call names. You usually only
see that on the team boards. If you follow the facts,
nothing I've said is inconsistent. And, I'm not a
Red Sox fan.