Hiring John Rocker (Updated)
Posted: June 5th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball, Other Sports | 64 Comments »
So, I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to hear that Fox decided to hire John Rocker as a studio host for their baseball coverage. I mean, here is a guy who has admitted using drugs. Here is a guy who was a loose cannon, who has done so many controversial things …
Oh, wait a minute. Sorry. I got that wrong. Fox did not hire John Rocker.
No, it was NBC that hired Rodney Harrison for their Sunday Night Football studio. Ah. Well, that’s different because Harrison didn’t get suspended for drug use (BR) and, oh, no, wait, he was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season. He apparently ordered an HGH shipment just before Super Bowl XXXVIII. So that’s not too good.
But Harrison wasn’t a loose cannon and, oh, wait, yeah, actually the guy was twice voted as the dirtiest player in the NFL by the players and then again voted dirtiest player in the NFL by the coaches. He was fined $200,000 in his career — some say $300,000 — and was suspended for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jerry Rice. He consistently broke rules and pushed the edge on the field and dove at the knees.
Well, he didn’t SAY bad stuff. He let his cheap shots do the talking. Also that’s football. So it’s a whole different thing.
* * *
Update: Sigh. One of the rules I’ve tried to keep on this blog that I would try not to EXPLAIN blog posts … seems to me that’s a whole lot like trying to tell someone why a joke is funny. It either works or doesn’t. But when numerous brilliant readers don’t get the point I was trying to make, well, that’s probably my fault. So, briefly …
I have nothing whatsoever against Rodney Harrison. He has always been very nice when I’ve dealt with him, and he was an excellent player, and he’s certainly well qualified to be a broadcaster. He has a chance to be a good one. That said, I don’t believe there is any way that a baseball player who was suspended for drug use and was universally known as the dirtiest player in the sport would be hired right off the field as a prominent baseball announcer by a major network. In my original version of the blog post, I used Barry Bonds as my example … but he was never suspended for steroid use so I erased that. I tried Mark McGwire, but he was mostly pretty classy on the field.
Then, I wanted to use Manny Ramirez. But the example didn’t seem to fit for me. I wanted an example even more cartoonish. Something that would be outlandish enough that no one (I hoped) would figure I was serious.
That’s John Rocker. Unfortunately, it seems, people did think I was seriously comparing John Rocker and Rodney Harrison and missed my only point which is: Drug-suspended cheat-shot artists are viewed with much more affection in football than in baseball.
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But to the best of my knowledge, Harrison never publically revealed himself to be a xenophobe, a racist or a misogynist. He also didn’t come out to the media and accuse the employees of his former employer of being on steroids.
It is these crimes–not his failed drug tests or his controversial actions–that will forever keep Rocker from appearing on TV. Well, that and the fact that it’s doubtful he can string two coherent sentences together.
Poorly thought out comparison. Friday afternoon filler.
Grade C-
I kinda liked John Rocker. Not in a “I would want to be around him, or want him to be around my loved ones” kind of way, it was more of a …. I got nothin. Maybe I didn’t like him after all, I just didn’t think he deserved batteries thrown at him.
Well, Harrison treated everyone the same exact (dirty) way. Rocker went out of his way to put just certain groups in the dumps (New Yorkers, etc.)
It’s not discrimination if you do it to everybody, right?
Joe, there was some talk about this exact subject on Twitter-verse last night. Okay, we talked about how the NFL gets a pass on this whole PEDs thing.
Is there a more lame hobby than grading a blog? That has to be a failing grade, 1/10, bombs, or thumbs down. Of course grading a silly comment on a blog is probably lower still…
“Is there a more lame hobby than grading a blog? That has to be a failing grade, 1/10, bombs, or thumbs down. Of course grading a silly comment on a blog is probably lower still…”
Incomplete, incoherent sentences. Questionable punctuation.
Grade: D
Funny post.
When Rodney Harrison is being hired by NBC and Matt Millen is being courted by TWO networks I just don’t understand this business anymore.
Last I checked he was suspended for the HGH, not for a positive test. Also last I checked John Rocker was never the best player on the field for a championship team. Although the number of guys who are going straight from the field to being analysts is getting out of control. A lot of the best analysts weren’t the best players. They should have to work their way up from doing segments on regional sports networks and ESPN News and prove themselves before they get major network airtime.
Re: Grammarian ….#1
While never a fan of the absurdly ignorant Mr Rocker, to assign his mental and intellectual shortcomings the label of “crimes” seems ridiculous.
The hiring of Harrison…a negative renegade representing the worst the NFL has to offer, suggests that NBC’s disconnect from what is the mainstream “norm” is now being promoted in all aspects of their business…..not just politics and political commentary.
What a sad comedown from a vaulted position held by that once pristine brand
Joe, are you sure this isn’t really the plot of the second season of Eastbound and Down?
I thought John Rocker had his own sitcom on HBO.
In a league that has more than it’s share of people who carry concealed weapons, or hit women, or abuse recreational drugs, or kill their teams with a “me-first” attitude, Rodney Harrison represents the worst the league has to offer? 20 years ago, the way he hit was par for the course for an NFL safety. Players like Ronnie Lott and others have stated as much. Harrison is a lot more about what is right about the league versus wrong about it.
So that brings the total of NBC studio on-camera people to, what, 47?
chuck –
Convicted killers and other felons run amok within the league with nary a mention and Rodney Harrison is the worst the NFL has to offer? Really?
Maybe Joe Pos can get off his high horse and write something about his favorite game employing cowardly men like Bobby Cox who smack their wives around before we take his criticism of a violent man playing a violent game even remotely seriously.
As for Harrison, maybe during the Cardinals highlights on a Sunday night, Costas will say something like, “Rodney, Kurt Warner owes his big chance to you because of your cheap shot on Trent Green’s knee in the preseason a decade ago.”
But I doubt it.
One of the few times I can remember strongly disagreeing with Joe Poz. Like Nitpicker said, you need to get off your high horse about Harrison.
In fact, Baseball Tonight employs someone who was in the Mitchell Report (Fernando Vina). Michael Irvin (who has been arrested multiple times on drug and assault charges) was employed by ESPN.
Harrison wasn’t a “loose cannon.” He played the game hard all the time. The comparison between him and John Rocker is laughable at best, and you’re better than that.
“Well, he didn’t SAY bad stuff.”
But that’s the point, JoPo. You don’t worry that your studio host is going to shoot up or crown a guy on camera. You worry that he’s gonna wax poetic about the 7 train. Totally respect your right not to like Harrison, or want to see NBC hire him, but the analogy doesn’t work.
I think you guys are missing the point. It’s not Harrison he’s taking issue with specifically. It’s the double-standard applied to MLB vs. the NFL, which gets a free pass for its drug-addled stars, who then are even hired (and praised for it) as analysts after their career. Meanwhile, in baseball, the best players in the league become social pariahs for their transgressions.
Fox did not higher John Rocker.
Attack of the homonyms!
Free pass from who?
I think it’s a reflection of how well the two leagues are run and how out of touch the baseball media are vs. the football media – even when they’re largely comprised of the same people.
Merriman gets suspended by the NFL and it’s a small story that goes away. Manny gets suspended by MLB and every writer in the world feels the need to comment on it. Blame them for thinking there’s some moral element to baseball that needs defending and proselytizing.
@Chardon Jimmy:
If that’s the point, he should’ve made a different comparison.
Why is the headline Rocker hired, if it was Harrison. Proof that writers just mail in blogs for a quick check. Did Whitlock write this under Posnanski’s name? Seriously.
Maybe I’m not well enough informed on the subject but I think Chardon Jimmy is correct about the missing point.
My other question is why will viewers not accept Matt Millen back in the booth? Because he was a lousy GM? That’s like not accepting me to be your designated driver because I mix a lousy martini. Millen was excellent in the booth a decade ago; Unless he’s had a lobotomy I assume he’ll be a good, useful and possibly even more interesting analyst now.
@Keeping it real:
Yes, that’s exactly what happened. How did you recognize Whitlock’s elegant prose so quickly?
(/sarcasm)
Joe:
Great stuff. To completely change the subject, I interviewed Rocker for CBS Radio News following a postseason game in Atlanta in ‘99. They were about to go to New York to play the Yankees. I think he wanted to punch me. And it would’ve hurt. I’ve never been more frightened during an interview. Fox should hire him as a bodyguard for O’Reilly.
Did someone hack into Joe’s blog an post this?
It’s a violent game. He played by the rules, and when he didn’t he was penalized and/or fined. He’s paid for his transgressions and admitted his mistakes. He played hard, practiced hard and was always prepared.
He knows football and is well spoken. I suspect he’s going to be a good analyst. I can’t belive one of the networks actually hired smoeone with a personelity instead of the latest high profile, bland retiree that adds nothing to the production.
I think the Rocker comparison is completely off-base
[...] This post was Twitted by drunkenhopfrog – Real-url.org [...]
I recognized something that took 30 seconds to write. It didn’t seem like Joe
Call godaddy, there’s been a security breach. Plaschke has hacked into Joe’s blog and left a post.
Point #1 –
Football: not statistically obsessed. Obsessed with “smashmouth” and “slobberknocker” and plays, drives, and games as a whole.
Baseball: statistically obsessed and hold sacred anything that messes with numbers.
Point being, steriods impact the numbers in baseball and we care, they may impact the numbers in footbal but we do not care about football numbers.
Point #2 –
Rocker – irrelevant dumbass who could not form a coherent opinion and we would not care about it if he did.
Harrison – you may not like him, but will be opinionated and make cohesive points and arguments even if you do not agree with him.
Point being, one makes for good sports TV, while other is b-level reality TV.
Point#3 –
Joe is trying out for Around the Horn and is running a few things up the flag pole.
Point being, this is not saluted.
RE: The update
A noble second draft. Misspellings continue to bring down legitimacy and depth of content.
Final Grade: B-
To: The Grammarian
Re: Your obnoxious posts
A terrible third comment. Lack of humor continues to bring down stature as a “brilliant reader”. Instructor recommends remedial work at Deadspin.
Final Grade: F
I actually liked Rocker. It’s nice to have somebody be the anti-role model.
And DF, I believe Joe has said in the past that he would never do Around the Horn.
“Adam | June 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pm [#31]
To: The Grammarian
Re: Your obnoxious posts
A terrible third comment. Lack of humor continues to bring down stature as a “brilliant reader”. Instructor recommends remedial work at Deadspin.
Final Grade: F”
Excellent work. Parodying “The Grammarian” gimmick was witty and well thought out. Extra credit was awarded for the clever “Deadspin” comment.
Grade: A
The problem with using the Rocker example is that Rocker is far too controversial a character to do anything but distract from the point you were trying to make.
Rodney Harrison has been hired to talk about football on TV, and from the numerous interviews I’ve seen and heard with him over the years he’s going be good at it because he’s intelligent and thoughtful and cares a great deal about the game. He wanted to become an NFL referee at one point and might still do so.
John Rocker was a virulent racist meathead. No one will ever hire him to talk about baseball because he’s a bigoted moron. That’s why this column doesn’t really work, Joe.
McKingford – do you mean homophones?
I just love the fact that NBC has a million former players doing the pregame for ONE football game a week. Here’s hoping they add Rae Carruth to the mix (via satellite of course).
I assume that you’ve seen the “debate” and poll on ESPN over greatest lefty. I know it’s just a stupid poll, but I cannot fathom how people pick Koufax as the greatest lefty. Not for one season. Not for best peak. But greatest lefty ever. Johnson and Grove are so much better as pitchers in so many ways. I love Koufax and his mythology… but this is driving me nuts.
I need to not care so much, I know. And I’m trying. But still…
Grammarian, you write in sentence fragments and do not understand the difference between a hyphen and a dash. You also have poor understanding of the use of conjunctions to top off an inexact command of any of the rules of writing in English.
You calling yourself a grammarian, let alone “The” grammarian, is akin to competitive eaters calling themselves athletes.
Grading you would be pointless. Ask for a blindfold, the nearest wall, and a final smoke instead.
i understood you, joe…
Unbelievable hostility on the comment board today. Joe threw a change-up today, most people missed it (myself included), and apparently the world ends.
Happy Friday.
So, looks like tonight it’s Greinke trying to prevent one of the 8 game loosing streaks you talked about last year in late may. A few readers felt that Santana probably helped with twins avoid the streak, looks like Greinke has prevented 2 such streaks already this year. Interesting to think about win or lose.
Juan Pierre in the best pure hitter poll? Now that’s funny!
I got it Joe – no need to explain.
Totally unrelated to this post, but I just heard on the Royals pregame show that Coco Crisp’s shoulder injury limits his ability to throw the ball. Given that his arm stinks when he’s healthy, I’m wondering if he’ll have to roll the ball into the infield.
i have to agree with sjh. comparing harrison to rocker makes no sense whatsoever.
Coco Crisp hasn’t had a shoulder injury his entire career? Huh….
OK, Joe is now just being condescending. Like we are five year olds (OK, we are).
I think the difference between steroids not altering our view of Football versus Baseball is purely because of the high regard with which we value baseball statistics. Football has nothing remotely like this. Steroids have no statistical impact on Football and if it did, we do not really care about those numbers.
As further proof that its the stats we care about, people treat steroid users differently when they are breaking a significant stat. No one really cares that Jeremy Giambi was on roids, but McGwire was chasing HR records. We do not care as much about the lesser roiders. But a roider reaching a sacred stat, that is outrage.
And, Joe has publicly mentioned he would not go on Around the Horn. But secretly, in places he will not talk about, he wants to go on as guilty pleasure. He would love to do battle with Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti & Bob Ryan. He envisions himself crushing them with his superior sports intellect. I do not care how much he denies it. I do not belive him. Admit it, you’d all watch and the ratings would skyrocket.
“Grammarian, you write in sentence fragments and do not understand the difference between a hyphen and a dash. You also have poor understanding of the use of conjunctions to top off an inexact command of any of the rules of writing in English.
You calling yourself a grammarian, let alone “The” grammarian, is akin to competitive eaters calling themselves athletes.
Grading you would be pointless. Ask for a blindfold, the nearest wall, and a final smoke instead.”
Limited comprehension skills. Abject and gratuitous use of violent imagery. Poor to nonexistent sense of humor.
Grade: D-
Coco Crisp? The same Coco Crisp the Tribe traded for Andy K-Marte?
How can the Royals stink when the rest of the division excepting the Tigers… is aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwfffuuuuuuuulll?
Think Hafner will make it the rest of the year? It’s exciting to know he has an extension thru 2012.
Josh Barfield is not old enough to play second, so Tribe is starting Jamey Carroll.
Season over. Bye-bye wedgie !
Clint Hurdle vs. Eric Wedge – Who do you like better? Rockies made that daring run in 2007 26-1. Tribe made their daring run in 2007. Up 3-1 against Red Sox in 2007, Tribe loses 3 straight. Tribe had two 19 game winners, Rockies had Holliday and a some others. Hurdle just got fired. Think Wedge won’t get fired this season?
Both were hired near the same time.
As a plus, one is a hurdle …the other a wedge!!!
So how about Zack giving up 9 of his 19 runs against the Jays? And 2/2 of Homers? :- )
As a Patriots fan I’m glad we finally have someone from our team in the media. The ridiculous anti-Belichick garbage would never have gotten so out of control with one reasonable ex-Patriot voice in the media.
Oh you poor baby. Must be tough having to root for Patriots.
Not tough cheering for the Pats. Just annoying listening to the nonsense.
The problem with players like Harrison is that if they are on your own team they are “hard nosed” ,if not they are “dirty”.
Joe, I am not sure if Harrison played on the Chiefs for the 5-6 years and helped them win a Superbowl you’d be writing this stuff. I don’t want to put words in your blog
, but you’d have just wished him good luck, or something like that.
It’s no different then a hockey network hiring an ex-goon and no there is no comparison between a cheap-shot football players and a baseball player. Let me add Harrison was not just dirty but also one of the best in his era. All all-pro as voted by the writers who know very well he did have his share of cheap shots. Usually baseball hires the good-looking, articulate, outspoken players usually on baseball. Kruk is lucky he applies to the latter or he would make no sense whatsoever as an analyst.
Poz, you have it wrong. Even at Harrison’s worst nothing was as stupid as what Rocker did since it had nothing to do with baseball but uber-malevolent racism/xenophobia/homophobia. If ESPN/FOX/CBS/NBA/NFLN hired anybody who said such things then yes it would be news.
If this is a PED debate among the two sports, football writers know that it is widespread but also that there is no way of testing it. Baseball writers are acting outraged now which just comes off as shrill and hypocritical considering they profited off writing books and other materials on the sport when it thrived with steroids.
If you want to make a Harrison comparison, ESPN still has Fernando Vina working and he was on the Mitchell Report. I am sure there are a lot of local RSN that also employ players on that list as well.
Wow, some really slow people read this blog.
Harrison is a disgrace to the game and I will not be watching him on TV.
Wow. Dialogue on this blog is usually of a higher order. Who let the pr###s in?
Joe – with comments like these you might need to go all
FJM and turn them off…
Tampa Mike-
Rodney’s retired therefore he “was” a disgrace to the game. I find it ironic you write that after questioning the aptness of the commenters because they happen to disagree with yours. Matt Millen’s a disgrace who is homophobic on top of setting the floor lower for any bad GM. Steve Phillips was literally caught under the desk with his secretary on top of being a bad GM. Jim Bowden flat-out cheated with team finances but he is calling college baseball on ESPN.
Personally I think Harrison is a jerk but I admit that if he were on my team I would love him. When did any baseball fan not like a guy on their team who was not caught red-handed or was dirty? Giants fans loved Bonds, A-Rod got cheers from Yankee fans, fans are apparently still voting for Manny in droves, and Russ Springer got a standing ovation from Astros fans after being thrown out for purposely trying to hit Barry Bonds. Now those guys may not have a future in broadcasting but I love how Rodney Harrison all of the sudden represents the hundreds of NFL analysts in the business. I could type that baseball is far more accepting of pot smokers because of Rex Hudler working for the Angels and Fox, but that would be a mass generalization.
Would that Joe would require all readers to register in order to comment. In doing this, I feel the inane, immature, and idiotic postings would be more easily identified and eliminated. I know some may say “if the comments annoy you so much, stop reading them,” but self-control is a virtue that I lack.
For what it’s worth, I spotted the tongue bulge in your right cheek before reading the end of the article. I thought it was a fine point. But in fairness, I also think that Rodney Harrison was a much better player of his sport than Rocker was of his. I mean, Rocker only had four good years. Harrison was good for much much longer. Bonds would have been a better comparison, but he still thinks somebody will call him out of retirement. In fact, I have no idea why nobody was willing to take a flyer on him last year. The Angels sure could have used a high OPS guy at DH.
To the Harrison fans out there, let’s not get carried away, he was never the best player on a championship team. One of the best yes, but in 2003 (which is the year I assume was referenced), he wasn’t better than Brady or Bruschi or Seymour or even Ty Law.
I would venture to say that the greatest impact he ever had on a championship season was 1999, and that was because of a dirty hit he made in preseason that year.
“I think the difference between steroids not altering our view of Football versus Baseball is purely because of the high regard with which we value baseball statistics. Football has nothing remotely like this. Steroids have no statistical impact on Football and if it did, we do not really care about those numbers.”
Sounds like “we” are the problem then. “We” should stop regarding baseball statistics so highly, since they are just meaningless numerical markers that “we” choose to give meaning to.
Apparently “we” don’t care about the Super Bowl, since players on steroids have won Super Bowls, but when it’s found out, no one cares. I guess “we” value obscure baseball numbers more than “we” value Super Bowls. (TV ratings and media hype indicate otherwise.)
Personally, I believe that “we” are all a bunch of hypocrites, since “we” are all outraged at dirty Barry Bonds tarnishing and disgracing his sport, but not the least bit outraged at Rodney Harrison or, say, good ol’ Terry Bradshaw for disgracing and tarnishing their sport by winning Super Bowls on steroids.