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No Gray area with Rose
Posted: Thursday October 28, 1999 10:53 PM
What kind of an unholy, screwed-up sports world do we live in where a journalist doing his job is publicly humiliated and forced to apologize while a jerk who threatened the integrity of an entire sport, the very core of our national pastime, is made out to be some kind of hero? Please, someone explain the fallout of the Jim Gray-Pete Rose interview to me. Because from where I'm standing it doesn't make sense. In a land populated with blow-dried, back slapping, lightweight "reporters" posing as journalists, one guy has the guts and integrity to ask Rose the tough questions and somehow he comes out the villain? What would you prefer, Ahmad Rashad hugging Pete and grilling him on the cut of his suit and probing fearlessly into the tough issues, like what he had for lunch? Listen, you have every right to be angry about the exchange, and upset about the line of questioning and the circumstances, but you should be pissed at Pete Rose, not Jim Gray. By his own actions, or lack thereof, Rose has made it so that he can never be recognized for his on-field achievements. He'll always be Pete Rose, a guy banned from the game and the all-time hits leader. Rose, not Jim Gray or the media, has made it that way. So don't blame the guy asking the questions, blame the guy who has done nothing to make that line of questioning go away. I don't understand how people can claim to love the sport of baseball and then, out the other side of their mouths, call for everyone to just give Pete Rose a damn break. What Pete did -- I believe any reasonably intelligent person would concede that he bet on baseball -- could have damaged that sport nearly beyond repair, by casting an everlasting shadow of corruption. And yes, if you're wondering, I'm sorry to say that the way in which he disgraced himself and the game by far outweighs what he did on the field. One reason sports stink nowadays is because the strongest power base, YOU, the fans, has no backbone. Players corrupt the games you love, they spit in your face with gambling, drugs and felonies, and you wipe the loogie off and go, "Gee, thanks, that was cool, can I have an autograph?" And then when someone does stand up to these guys and asks them the tough questions, you attack the messenger. My father, just like yours, taught me how to play the game by pointing to Pete Rose on the TV. But, for me, that fact makes what Rose did even harder to forgive -- not easier. And it makes Gray's line of questioning even more poignant, given the occasion of Rose's first step back onto the field. You do remember that Rose was banned from the game, right? And that he was given a chance to make the whole dirty deal go away by admitting fault, showing contrition and rehabilitating himself and his reputation. Yet, how has Pete responded? By doing nothing. This is a guy who has had 10 years to work on the problems that got him kicked out of baseball and he has responded by staying arrogant, staying stubborn, staying in denial and thus keeping the wounds, and himself, wide open to the very line of questioning for which everyone wants to chastise Gray now. True baseball fans know who's to blame for the Pete Rose-Jim Gray exchange. It's just too bad there aren't many out there. WHYLO OF THE WEEK Matthew Watson sent me a copy of an e-mail he had sent to the Steelers front office. Here it is: "Dear Sirs: The point spread on the game tonight was Steelers by 5.5. Atlanta practically tried to lose, but the defense kept handing them penalties. Stewart refuses to make the easy throw for a first down on the last Steeler possession, instead scrambling short of the first down. The team took a needless safety to win by four. This is blatant point shaving. This is a disgrace. Anyone who watched the game was mystified at how the Steelers suddenly lost control of a game they had in their pocket since the first quarter. I know. Point shaving. This is a complete disgrace." No, Matt, the true disgrace is Steelers owner Dan Rooney , perhaps the most respected man in all of pro football, having to read this e-mail. And I thought I was the only one who dreaded "You've got mail!" From his address I can guess our friend Matt, 1) goes to the University of Michigan and 2) just lost his tuition money on the Monday Night game. People, I will only say this once. If it was possible to win at gambling then no one would have to work, we could all just bet for a living. Just look at what it's done for Pete Rose. So say it with me now, Matt Watson, WHO HELPED YOU LOG ON? As the final judge and jury on who is a Ramwagon jumper and who isn't, I hereby declare these Flemfilers acquitted on all charges of bandwagonitis. You may proceed to cheer for the Rams with a clear conscience. Robert Mitchell from Los Angeles : "Flem, I'm out here in L.A. where I have been a true suffering Rams fan for three decades. I wore a Merlin Olsen jersey to school at least once a week from first to third grade. I watched Preston Pearson trap a touchdown catch to keep the Rams out of the Super Bowl. I watched many NFC championship Games games lost on the Frozen Tundra of the Old Met in Minnesota. I watched Tom Dempsey's game-winning field goal blocked by Paul Krause and returned 90 yards for a touchdown. I wept with joy when Lawrence McCutcheon (the team's all-time leading rusher before Eric Dickerson) -- threw the only touchdown pass ever thrown by a Rams player in a Super Bowl. And yes, I was the biggest Vince Ferragamo fan on planet earth. So thank you for explaining to people that they cannot just jump on the bandwagon and root for my Rams. It just isn't fair." Will Milano, from Boston : "I grew up out west, a Rams fan since 1978, and I found your article on Ramfanitis amusing but true. While I'm enjoying the Rams' return to respectability (and possibly more) very much, I'm just waiting for all those fans to jump on board. You know them, the ones who started walking around in Bucs and Falcons gear over the past couple of years. I loved the Rams of the past -- Jack Youngblood, Lawrence McCutcheon, Vince Ferragamo, Dennis Harrah, Jackie Slater, Nolan Cromwell, Jim Collins, Mel Owens, Henry Ellard, and the others that sent them to the playoffs 14 times (eight division titles) in 17 years from 1973-1989. I wrote Vince Ferragamo a letter of condolence from my third-grade classroom when they narrowly lost Super Bowl XIV, and still have the autographed picture he sent me in response. I finally met him in 1996 at a Rams' event for Lamar Lundy in L.A. Jump on, David. See you in the playoffs, and maybe, just maybe, Atlanta in January. I have to be optimistic." Bill Hale from St. Louis : "Can I get an amen my brother ... the bandwagon IS FULL in St. Louis. Let me tell you I have gone to at least six games a year (not counting preseason) since they moved here. Last year I was at seven of them and ended up going to the Atlanta game alone because I couldn't GIVE away my extra ticket. I have been here watching stuff like Roman Phifer pick off a Carolina pass and zoom toward the end zone for a win only to be stripped of the ball at the 1-yard-line and lose (again). The year before the Rams had 1st-and-goal vs. the Panthers, down by four with just over a minute left, only to watch them get stuffed four downs and lose. This year I bought my ticket out front for the Atlanta game for 20 bucks! Now I see Rams tickets going for $500 or more!! I always knew the Rams would be good and the bandwagon would fill up, leaving true fans like me out in the cold ... I just didn't think it would be this soon!!" Brad Visokey, from New York : "Hey Flem! Thanks for the great article on bandwagon jumpers -- the lowest of the low in the sports-fan world. As a long-suffering Rams fan (my friends claim that I once declared that Dieter Brock had Pro Bowl potential and that Jim Everett was among the top ten QB's of all time, though I categorically deny the allegations), I would like to strangle all those posers who are now cheapening our glory. So to all you new Rams fans out there: We don't want you. Go put your Cowboy jerseys and your Air Jordans back on and hang out with all those "lifelong" Yankees fans who think that Willie Randolph never played anything but third base coach and that Rafael Santana is the guy who sings Oye Como Va. " And finally, for Adam Tate , who wrote in to explain his lifelong loyalty to both the Expos and the Bengals, I give a 10-year grace period. Adam may jump ship to any front runner he wants. Just as soon as they let him out of the asylum. Sports Illustrated staff writer David Fleming explores the sometimes weird and wacky side of sports every Thursday. Click here to send an e-mail to Flem, or address it yourself: flemfile@aol.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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