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eggwardsThis isn't a column about sports. It's a column about telling the truth.
I've been watching with some interest the reaction to the confession of baseball legend Pete Rose. He was one of the toughest, roughest men to ever play the game. He wasn't the greatest athlete, but he used what he had and eventually broke records and won championships. He went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds, but wasn't as successful in that arena.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 when he was accused of betting on baseball, and worse, betting on his own team. While you can bet on other sports, football, lacrosse, lumberjacking, the one cardinal sin in baseball is gambling on the sport itself. It's like insider trading in the financial industry, you have too much knowledge and have an edge in making your picks.
This comes from the Black Sox scandal of 1918 where players on the Chicago White Sox agreed to take cash to throw the World Series for a gambler. There's a movie about it, Eight Men Out, with John Cusack. Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the players on that team was banned from baseball for life, and was forbidden from the hall of fame.
Pete Rose made a deal with Bart Giamatti, then commissioner of baseball. Rose would accept a ban and be denied the hall of fame, and Major League Baseball wouldn't release whet the findings were, nor proceed with taking Rose to court. Rose accepted the ban without fighting the findings, sort of a nolo contendre situation, not stating your guilty, but taking the sentence, much like paying a speeding ticket.
Taking the ban also meant Rose wasn't going to talk about the situation, either. In most cases, that's happen for the last 14 years. People speculated whether he did or didn't bet on baseball. It was widely known the Pete did like to gamble, and would often be found at a horse track. He even admitted that he had a gambling problem, publicly.
Rose had many people who thought he should be in Cooperstown. He had a tremendous career and was named one of the 100 best players of the century. There was a large movement to lift the ban, but Bart Giamatti died one month after the ban started, the commissioner's office was vacant for years, and then once Bud Selig, former owner, was named commissioner, he refused to lift the ban, but wouldn't or possibly couldn't say why. Fans of Rose wailed, stating that he is the best player not to be enshrined in the hall, which he is.
All of this hinges on the fact that the charges wouldn't come to light. Rose has worked for the last few years on a Florida sports talk station, and betting the ponies. He's been interviewed countless times continuing to infer that he was innocent he had to do so or he'd ruin the popular support that was growing. Even Nike produced an ad that asked, "Why isn't Pete Rose in the Hall?" Just getting baseball to allow his name to appear in the top 100 list was an outgrowth of the popular support he had. Pete Rose is a black spot on the sport. Still, despite it all, a greater number of fans would wish he would come clean, giving the real story.
Apparently the time to tell was now and not for noble reasons. Rose was offered 1 million dollars up front to write a tell all autobiography, with a stipulation that Rose does actually tell all. Rose admits to not only betting on baseball games, but also to betting for the team he was managing, when he felt they would win. A gambler with a heart, he wouldn't bet against his team. Is it the problem of a career gambler or just a manager that needed a little action on the game to help motivate him?
He's admitted he has a problem, but it continues and he doesn't seem concerned about getting help. Strangely he collaborated on an official autobiography several years ago that insisted that he never bet on baseball. Where's the lie and where's the sincerity? It is doubtful that one would just concoct a story about illegal gambling just to sell books, but Rose, seemingly down on his luck again needs to sell books, and will say anything without remorse.
This is a guy with a serious problem. He's obviously decided that he'll never get to Cooperstown, at least while he's alive, so he'll sell out to anyone. The deal he made to be outcast must have seemed temporary when he made it, but apparently after 14 years the lure of book money was stronger than waiting out the actions of old baseball owners that have many more problems than an aging gambler.
Rose's announcement overshadowed the election of two new members of the hall of fame, Paul Monitor and Dennis Eckersley, good players, but certainly not in the same class as Rose. Rose, or as he was called for many years "Charlie Hustle" must have decided to burn any bridges with baseball he could. If there's any left, he might send those up in flames on Thursday's Prime Time Live appearance.
It's sad when someone falls from grace. It's even worse when someone's unrepentant about it. Rose just continues a long line of disappointing figures in public life that will sell their soul for just about anything. plenty of stars have been making complete fools out of themselves lately, just for the sales it hopes to generate (looks at Madonna, Britany Spears, Aston Kutcher et al). Celebrities all seem to be living on a any publicity is good publicity vibe, and sadly, the public buys much of it, if just to watch the train wreck it produces.
Certainly Rose can't be forgiven for what he's done, especially as he continues to look like he doesn't understand what he did. Will he be repentant on for a TV audience? If so, will anyone believe someone who's lied for the last 14 years. It's doubtful that his support will grow beyond the few core fans he has. Many will just watch to have their suspicions confirmed, not to hope for an epiphany.
Rose doesn't belong in the hall, and it's not because gambling is the foulest sin of all, in baseball at least. Certainly there's drug users, wife beaters and worse in the hall. Babe Ruth wasn't a saint and he is regarded as the greatest of all time. Charlie Hustle's ruined a wonder of a career by destroying the public trust, lying, scheming and showing that the truth is all about what gain it can bring you. Sadly, even that is another gamble.
I've been watching with some interest the reaction to the confession of baseball legend Pete Rose. He was one of the toughest, roughest men to ever play the game. He wasn't the greatest athlete, but he used what he had and eventually broke records and won championships. He went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds, but wasn't as successful in that arena.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 when he was accused of betting on baseball, and worse, betting on his own team. While you can bet on other sports, football, lacrosse, lumberjacking, the one cardinal sin in baseball is gambling on the sport itself. It's like insider trading in the financial industry, you have too much knowledge and have an edge in making your picks.
This comes from the Black Sox scandal of 1918 where players on the Chicago White Sox agreed to take cash to throw the World Series for a gambler. There's a movie about it, Eight Men Out, with John Cusack. Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the players on that team was banned from baseball for life, and was forbidden from the hall of fame.
Pete Rose made a deal with Bart Giamatti, then commissioner of baseball. Rose would accept a ban and be denied the hall of fame, and Major League Baseball wouldn't release whet the findings were, nor proceed with taking Rose to court. Rose accepted the ban without fighting the findings, sort of a nolo contendre situation, not stating your guilty, but taking the sentence, much like paying a speeding ticket.
Taking the ban also meant Rose wasn't going to talk about the situation, either. In most cases, that's happen for the last 14 years. People speculated whether he did or didn't bet on baseball. It was widely known the Pete did like to gamble, and would often be found at a horse track. He even admitted that he had a gambling problem, publicly.
Rose had many people who thought he should be in Cooperstown. He had a tremendous career and was named one of the 100 best players of the century. There was a large movement to lift the ban, but Bart Giamatti died one month after the ban started, the commissioner's office was vacant for years, and then once Bud Selig, former owner, was named commissioner, he refused to lift the ban, but wouldn't or possibly couldn't say why. Fans of Rose wailed, stating that he is the best player not to be enshrined in the hall, which he is.
All of this hinges on the fact that the charges wouldn't come to light. Rose has worked for the last few years on a Florida sports talk station, and betting the ponies. He's been interviewed countless times continuing to infer that he was innocent he had to do so or he'd ruin the popular support that was growing. Even Nike produced an ad that asked, "Why isn't Pete Rose in the Hall?" Just getting baseball to allow his name to appear in the top 100 list was an outgrowth of the popular support he had. Pete Rose is a black spot on the sport. Still, despite it all, a greater number of fans would wish he would come clean, giving the real story.
Apparently the time to tell was now and not for noble reasons. Rose was offered 1 million dollars up front to write a tell all autobiography, with a stipulation that Rose does actually tell all. Rose admits to not only betting on baseball games, but also to betting for the team he was managing, when he felt they would win. A gambler with a heart, he wouldn't bet against his team. Is it the problem of a career gambler or just a manager that needed a little action on the game to help motivate him?
He's admitted he has a problem, but it continues and he doesn't seem concerned about getting help. Strangely he collaborated on an official autobiography several years ago that insisted that he never bet on baseball. Where's the lie and where's the sincerity? It is doubtful that one would just concoct a story about illegal gambling just to sell books, but Rose, seemingly down on his luck again needs to sell books, and will say anything without remorse.
This is a guy with a serious problem. He's obviously decided that he'll never get to Cooperstown, at least while he's alive, so he'll sell out to anyone. The deal he made to be outcast must have seemed temporary when he made it, but apparently after 14 years the lure of book money was stronger than waiting out the actions of old baseball owners that have many more problems than an aging gambler.
Rose's announcement overshadowed the election of two new members of the hall of fame, Paul Monitor and Dennis Eckersley, good players, but certainly not in the same class as Rose. Rose, or as he was called for many years "Charlie Hustle" must have decided to burn any bridges with baseball he could. If there's any left, he might send those up in flames on Thursday's Prime Time Live appearance.
It's sad when someone falls from grace. It's even worse when someone's unrepentant about it. Rose just continues a long line of disappointing figures in public life that will sell their soul for just about anything. plenty of stars have been making complete fools out of themselves lately, just for the sales it hopes to generate (looks at Madonna, Britany Spears, Aston Kutcher et al). Celebrities all seem to be living on a any publicity is good publicity vibe, and sadly, the public buys much of it, if just to watch the train wreck it produces.
Certainly Rose can't be forgiven for what he's done, especially as he continues to look like he doesn't understand what he did. Will he be repentant on for a TV audience? If so, will anyone believe someone who's lied for the last 14 years. It's doubtful that his support will grow beyond the few core fans he has. Many will just watch to have their suspicions confirmed, not to hope for an epiphany.
Rose doesn't belong in the hall, and it's not because gambling is the foulest sin of all, in baseball at least. Certainly there's drug users, wife beaters and worse in the hall. Babe Ruth wasn't a saint and he is regarded as the greatest of all time. Charlie Hustle's ruined a wonder of a career by destroying the public trust, lying, scheming and showing that the truth is all about what gain it can bring you. Sadly, even that is another gamble.
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Wow ...an insightful post!
Date: 2004-01-06 10:54 pm (UTC)*bangs head on desk*
Hugs!
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 11:25 pm (UTC)This is more a PR stance, for getting into the Hall, for selling his book. It has nothing to do with him being sincere.
Still, sadly, baseball is poised to let him back into the game's good graces. Memories are awfully short. And don't even get me started on Shoeless Joe Jackson, who apologized to everyone and anyone for his part in the Black Sox scandals of almost a century ago. He tries to atone, and he's banned. Rose gives a bunch of half-assed mea culpas in interviews, doesn't even apologize, and baseball's ready to welcome him back.
It's a statement of sorts on our culture. Trying to do the right thing with some kind of honor and a lot of remorse gets you nowhere. Being half-assed and insincere gets you rewarded. Pathetic.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 04:35 am (UTC)Rose was a great player. And if pro baseball wanted to say that the game was purely about athletic talent and success, and that's the only criterion for the Hall of Fame, I'd give it to them. But baseball cultivates a mythos of heroism ... when I was at Cooperstown, there was an obelisk memorializing ballplayers who were military vets.
What Pete Rose ain't is a hero. Bart Giamatti is the hero of that situation, if anyone is. I've always felt that having to crack down on a player of Rose's caliber, for a man who loved the game as much as Giamatti did, and who probably wanted his heroes as much as the rest of us, has a lot to do with why he had the heart attack. Bart had to pull the trigger on a great player because Bart's job was to uphold the standards of heroism.
I don't require too many heroes in my life ... which is why I'm okay with people like Madonna, who aren't pretending to be heroes. If they come out and say "my game is entertainment, nothing more," they're not setting themselves up on a higher standard, I can forgive a lot of silliness.
Maybe Rose never wanted to be a hero, either ... but he was in a game that sells heroism. Tough luck, for him, because I will not have a fake hero crammed down my throat and just take it. I don't think anyone else should settle for that, either.
I don't like liars, but I especially don't like liars who pretend they're on a pedestal. Pete Rose gets a lot of affirmation from people who don't know better. Let that be his reward.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 01:34 pm (UTC)And your commentary is as good as anything I've ever heard Frank DeFord do on NPR (if you're into that sort of thing :-) ).
no subject
Date: 2004-01-11 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-12 08:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 09:14 am (UTC)Being the non-sports guy that I am, I usually tend to tune out the news when it veers into sports related territory, but even I have been interested in this story. And I agree whole-heartedly with what you've said here. His latest confession seems much too opportunistic to be anything but just that. I don't understand how anyone can take it seriously.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-11 04:40 pm (UTC)Yes, this story has more to do with Character and less with the actual occupation. Others who get caught lying on the job get dealt a similar fate, usually with fewer chances for redemption, and they say that fame doesn't get you special privileges?
Many people have come forward in the last week to show Rose has continued to lie about the details of his gambling, and still gambles today. He shows no sign of trying to fix the problem, just using the confession to say, "see? Haven't I done what you wanted?"
no subject
Date: 2004-01-12 08:06 am (UTC)In 1989, he said he didnt bet on sports, then it changed to --well, i did bet on sports, but not on baseball. A short time later, it was - ok, i did bet on baseball, but not on my team. Now he admits that he did bet on the Reds while he managed them, but never against them. And he stated last week that he never placed bets from his manager's office. Several "runners" came forward on Friday and called him on this lie.
When will it stop and why should anyone believe him now?
Last I heard was that if he were to be reinstated now, he would still have 2 years eligibility to have the sports writers vote him into the Hall. After that if would fall to the veteran's committee to vote him in.