If you’ve ever wondered why so many athletes are suspicious of reporters, or seem hesitant to open up when a camera, recorder, or old fashioned pen an paper are in hand, just look at this article by Boston.com columnist Eric Wilbur.
It was brought to my attention by some upset fans. I’ve included all the content below so that you DO NOT have to go to the site that published it, thus giving them the social media attention they are perversely craving.
This type of acrimonious, cheap shot “journalism” should not invoke any ire amongst San Diegans towards Bostonians, agnostic sports fans against athletes of faith, nor deepen the chasm that sometimes exists between athletes and the media. Instead I think it should simply serve as a reminder to us all that there are self serving jackasses in every walk of life, and that it is always easier for the simpler of minds and weaker of characters to promote negativity and to insight discord, especially when it also serves to self promote.
Adrian Gonzalez is not the first high profile athlete Wilbur has gone out of his way to professionally and personally trash on his way to infamy. Tom Brady was one of his previous victims after a Super Bowl loss, bringing Wilbur radio, and print interviews galore to explain his over the top attack.
As a former professional athlete, and now a member of the media, I have seen both sides of the power of the camera, microphone, and pen. I do believe that part of being a public figure means being willing to take the blame along with the accolades, and that sometimes false idols and scared cows do deserve to be challenged and revealed for what they are. In fact, sometimes it’s necessary.
However, I’ve always found it sickening when the attack becomes as unnecesarily personal and arrogant as Wilbur’s does in my opinion in this rant on Gonzalez, his spiritual faith, and in an ancillary fashion San Diego.
Hey, athlete’s make mistakes, and so do journalists – I’ve made my share as both. Maybe it’s the laissez faire, So Cal nonchalance in me, but this article to me just feels like the the line of journalistic decency has been crossed. Let’s stay classy national media.
Scan
By Eric Wilbur
He is the face of a franchise with no soul.
It’s the perfect role for Adrian Gonzalez.
You can take the man out of San Diego, but you apparently can’t take the laissez-faire SoCal nonchalance out of the player who is quickly becoming the maddening, non-charismatic answer to JD Drew.
Just not in God’s plan, I guess.
Oftentimes, it can be a stretch to criticize a baseball player’s fire and desire, the patient game not exactly on par with the passion exhibited in other sports. But this guy is a wonder.
Has there ever been a more forgettable MVP campaign in recent memory than what Gonzalez gave the Red Sox last season? One-plus seasons into his Boston contract, is it realistic to add the first baseman to the elongated list of colossal Theo Epstein blunders the former GM orchestrated before escaping the increasing disaster that is this franchise?
Yesterday was probably the worst game of Gonzalez’s career, an epic 0-8 afternoon with a pair of strikeouts in Boston’s 9-6, 17-inning loss to the surprising Baltimore Orioles. After the game, the stand-up Gonzalez defended his performance by slinking away, refusing to answer any questions from reporters, just what you want from a $154 million franchise cornerstone, and supposed leader.
For the second time in a week, Gonzalez’s failure to come through in the clutch spoke volumes about the man’s charisma. Think about it. Gonzalez struck out against Orioles DH Chris Davis on three pitches. That’s almost impossible to fathom, isn’t it?
In the end, the Sox fell to 11-16 on the young season, 7 ½ games in back of the 19-9 Orioles. They are just four wins up on the 7-20 Minnesota Twins for the worst record in Major League Baseball.
What a disaster. An unmitigated disaster.
The fact that Gonzalez refused to answer any inquisitions about his failures yesterday is simply the perfect way to sum up what this team has become. It’s one thing to fall apart, it’s something else to not stand up for your actions. The Red Sox are in freefall mode, losers of five in a row, and when it comes time to face the music, their star player plays coward.
That’s your 2012 Boston Red Sox.
They are a completely unlikable failure of a team, a roster built with players few fans can figure out and bloated, overrated egos. Ben Cherington should get credit for attempting to fix the team that collapsed in historic fashion one year ago, but the damage has been done. The Red Sox are in deep trouble, and thanks to ridiculous decisions about Carl Crawford, John Lackey, and yes, Adrian Gonzalez, it’s a sinkhole that doesn’t seem like it’s going to get better any time soon.
Gonzalez is a heck of a ballplayer, and perhaps he’ll even rebound from one of the worst starts of his career.
But he doesn’t belong here.
Not even two months into his second season here, that’s becoming more and more evident. A player’s “comfort” can be somewhat overrated in sports. Each person carries himself a different way, whether or not it’s effective in different markets and lifestyles is another matter entirely.
Adrian Gonzalez is signed through 2018. There’s no way he’s here through then.
One has to wonder if he ever really mentally got here. He’s totally unprepared for what it means to be a team leader in a place like Boston.
He is perhaps the most boring superstar in the game, and now it appears he’s running away from the heat. Maybe he should take a breath and dash for it.
Like back to sunny San Diego.
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