I am hereby starting an official war against Jerry Callahan. For those of you who don’t know who he is, Callahan is a Boston Herald columnist, the author of “Tunnel Vision”, and the co-host of the WEEI morning show along with John Dennis. Now, while his ignorant republican viewpoints that he spews during his radio show annoy me, my present irritation is not political in nature.
Jerry Callahan, in his most recent column and his recent morning shows, has started ragging on Manny Ramirez. He depicts our beloved new star as an oblivious player. While it is not, in of itself, unreasonable to depict Manny as oblivious, Callahan does so in a way that also depicts Manny as stupid and ignorant.
To say the least, I’m outraged. Jerry Callahan created the concept of “loserville” in Tunnel Vision, which subjected all of New England to more whining and crying about the lamentable situation of the Bruins and the Celtics. As much as I hate Ted Serandis and his “everything must be positive about Boston sports” attitude, I must side with him against Jerry Callahan. Jerry Callahan is a very influential figure in Boston sports. He writes a major column for the Boston sports newspaper, the Boston Herald, and controls the airwaves of WEEI, Boston’s all-sports radio station, for the most important time schedule, the morning 6-10 am show.
I’ve watched my share of Manny Ramirez games in the past. While he screws around in Spring Training and in practice, he is Darren Lewis-esque during games: completely focused and intense. He enjoys the game, and has fun doing it. Does that mean that he’s stupid or naïve since he doesn’t take it as seriously as you, Jerry Callahan? He’s insecure as it is, especially with his supposed “lack of command” of the English language. Pedro Martinez assured Manny, when the Red Sox were still courting him, that the press wouldn’t be so negative, and wouldn’t be so harsh.
And yet, I still haven’t mentioned what exactly pushed me over on this issue. Bryce Florie pitched batting practice against Manny Ramirez as his first live pitching off the mound since his accident. Manny Ramirez hit a line drive at Florie, which was luckily stopped by the protective screen. Jerry Callahan in his column, mentions a question, a supposedly anonymous person asked another onlooker:
“Do you think he [Manny] knows the significance of this?”
“Probably not.”
I don’t care how isolated position players are from pitchers, I’m sure that Manny has met everyone. I think it’s impossible that Manny didn’t learn about Florie’s accident, no one is that isolated.
So, Jerry Callahan, if this article ever finds you, here’s the basic message:
Boston sports have many problems, but the biggest one is you. You use your position in the media to spread a blanket of misery over the city. If that’s what you must do, fine. But, if you’re going to be negative, at least don’t be willfully ignorant. Don’t insult Manny Ramirez’s or the rest of the Boston community’s intelligence. Continue to spew your uninformed republican “values”, fine. Continue to write your puerile crap in the Boston’s armpit newspaper, fine. But someone had to stand up to your willful ignorance and your creation of imaginary negativity in Boston just to get ratings, and I might as well be the first.
And to any and all readers, regardless of political affiliation, stop supporting Jerry Callahan. Listen to his radio program and you’ll notice that any political claim he makes, whether supporting a republican or besmirching the reputation of a democrat, is not supported by any tangible evidence. He makes boundless claims, simply spewing out his biased opinions with a closed mind, not listening to reason, blindly following his political affiliation. Read his column and listen to his radio program, and you’ll begin to notice that he always will take the most negative position possible and mock anyone who retains any hope.
If Jerry were the mayor of Boston, he’d place a sign on every entrance to the city:
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
But that’s the problem with his philosophy. Sports, and most things in life, are not predetermined. What makes sports great is the way upsets happen, and intangibles always play into the equation. Why do Boston fans hate the Yankees? Because they take away hope from other teams. Hope is the reason people watch sports. Why do we watch the Celtics and Bruins? We watch to see the players grow individually and as a team. It isn’t any fun to cheer for a guaranteed winner, like the Yankees of several seasons ago. It’s fun to cheer for a team like the ‘99 Red Sox, a team clearly overmatched against the Yankees, but who put up a valiant fight.
So Boston fans, hold on to your hope, and continue to dream…
Because Pedro promised a World Series…
And we’ve got Manny!