Papelbon says Ramirez was a 'cancer'

[HoustonGM]

Who? Its been all over espn tv and radio and I read a piece in cnnsi asking if paps was breaking a clubhouse rule. Mike and mike in the morning dedicated over an hour to it. Its not a story, its something already known but the media is trying like heck to make it one. And as I said, the fact the media and others can criticise players for talking with clichés and the criticise paps for not following a cliche is a joke. That's what I was saying.

When does the mainstream media criticize players for talking in cliches?

[Alloutwar]

FYI: the piece was from an interview in December. It's just out now, unfortunately, but it's old news and old comments.

"I think that it's the truth and I'm not afraid to speak the truth about anything," Papelbon told The Associated Press. "I mean, everybody knows what happened. There's no secrets here. So I'm not coming up with some new big hidden secret that nobody knows about. This is something everybody's known about, and it is old news. But I know those comments just came out today from a magazine [interview] that I did in the first week of December. But there's no secrets here. The writing is on the wall."

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/ar...=.jsp&c_id=bos

[haveacigar]

When does the mainstream media criticize players for talking in cliches?

Yeah, usually the groups are pretty well-defined. Players like to see the "clubhouse sanctity" upheld and guys not trash each other in the press. Fans like to see players talk because it's fun, thus they like when players don't talk in cliches.

The media likes to see players go back and forth too because it gives them more storylines. However, some media members are also former players, in which case, they prefer to see things stay in the clubhouse, despite their having a media job. Columnists and radio hosts like Bill Simmons or Jim Rome are basically just paid fans, so they obviously want to see the players rip each other.

Point being, there's nothing hypocritical about it. If Jim Rome says "I want players to get rid of the cliches and rip on each other," and John Kruk says, "I think that kind of stuff should stay in the clubhouse," who is being hypocritical exactly? You can't just say "the media," because "the media" includes hundreds of people. Why should one media member be accountable for something another media member said?

[Arctic Blast]

When does the mainstream media criticize players for talking in cliches?

I would say the general public is more critical of that than the media...I know I am. I get sick and tired of utterly pointless interviews with athletes acting like trained cliche spouting robots.

[ragecage]

I would say the general public is more critical of that than the media...I know I am. I get sick and tired of utterly pointless interviews with athletes acting like trained cliche spouting robots.

We need more Jim Moras and Dennis Greens in the world.

[Arctic Blast]

We need more Jim Moras and Dennis Greens in the world.

Agreed. I would much rather hear more "They are what we THOUGHT they were!" comments than "We just need to give it 110 percent, and make the most of our opportunities."

[kenny1234]

I would say the general public is more critical of that than the media...I know I am. I get sick and tired of utterly pointless interviews with athletes acting like trained cliche spouting robots.

I agree, but I blame the media, not the athletes. Just stop interviewing the guys that have nothing to say - and if you do the interview and the guy doesn't say anything, just cut the interview from your show.

[JayC]

I agree, but I blame the media, not the athletes. Just stop interviewing the guys that have nothing to say - and if you do the interview and the guy doesn't say anything, just cut the interview from your show.

And stop asking stupid questions that the guy has answered a thousand times, and those that can't even be answered by using anything other than a cliche.

[Arctic Blast]

I agree, but I blame the media, not the athletes. Just stop interviewing the guys that have nothing to say - and if you do the interview and the guy doesn't say anything, just cut the interview from your show.

The problem is, oftentimes the teams make the dull interviewees the team captains, and of course the team captain is going to be interviewed.

Both sides are at fault. The media should stop interviewing the dullards of the sports world, but many of those guys have had any and all personality bled from them by years of 'media training'.