Major League Baseball was in the process of getting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to contribute to a website to go along with his Twitter and Facebook accounts. That is until Kenny Williams and the rest of the front office shut it down. Williams has not been fond of the White Sox skipper embracing social media even though there are cameras rolling from MLB Network to document the behind-the-scenes going on with the White Sox. This social media bicker between Guillen and Williams has been getting a lot of publicity in Chicago and some have even suggested this is more than just fighting over social media. I've already talked about why Twitter is a great tool for Guillen to be on, but I want to dive into this fight and see what's good and bad about it.
The Good: Now this is definitely the minority opinion of media members, but I'm leaning on the side of this fight being a good thing. Through this whole time frame that is coming up on a month, have you heard anything on the actual players on the team? I can't think of much besides the occasional piece on Jake Peavy, and that's exactly what Guillen wants. Guillen would rather have the attention on him over his players not because he likes all the attention, but by the media not focusing on his players, the players can go out there and perform their best. There are a ton of stories that could be told about the players going into this season (Carlos Quentin's comeback from injury, Buehrle strengthening his arm, etc.) and now instead of having to answer questions, their play can answer those questions.
Another reason this type of fighting is good is that it keeps everyone in check. As Guillen or Williams, you wouldn't want to be surrounded by people who agree with everything you do all the time. A little disagreement is a great way to keep things in check and prevents people from going crazy with power. It's a great way for people to bounce ideas off of and receive great opinions that are good to hear.
The Bad: While I said disagreement is a great way to keep everyone in check, it is up to a point. When you're constantly disagreeing with someone, you just might not be on the same page. There is no doubt there is questions with the White Sox offense this year. Guillen wants a rotating DH with Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, Mark Kotsay, Paul Konerko, and Carlos Quentin, Williams wanted to go after a big power type hitter to be the full-time DH. As of right now Williams is letting Ozzie's experiment run, but you can bet that if there is no production, Williams will be working the phones to acquire a big hitter. This is bad because this disagreement is coming from two guys who are responsible for winning baseball games and right now they don't have the same view as to how this team will be successful. That is a scary thought and one that might lead to either Williams or Guillen being fired at years end.
In the end I think these disagreements are a combination of good and bad but leaning more towards good. I can't wait for the regular season to start so these types of discussions are put aside by the media, that is unless the Sox start losing and the blame will be looked to be placed on either Guillen or Williams, starting another fight most likely.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dave, in my humble opinion, i've thought the same thing throughout this process. I don't understand why all these media outlets, mostly our hometown sports radio stations, consider this such a big deal. In shouldn't even be a news item. That being said, our manager is the infamous Ozzie Guillen, a man of 3 languages (Spanish, Broken English, and Cursing), and he is the sole reason why this is news. If Ozzie and Kenny weren't both so stubborn in their ways, then this would be handled in an orderly fashion like most business's handle things. The bottom line is, Kenny is Ozzie's boss, and what Kenny says should go. If Kenny doesn't want Ozzie to have his twitter and facebook, he should put his foot down. Kenny put his foot down on Ozzie's website venture, but Ozzie should easily comply with whatever Kenny says regarding off the field actions. This should never be news, it should stay within the organization.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the make-up of the team, once again Kenny is ultimately in charge, but Ozzie knows his players, so this so-called "battle" between the two guys is a good one. Put their heads together, like in 2005, and we can see some magic happen.