King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers beats up a cameraman. Tough week for the media. Plus: Hey, Marquette, what's wrong with "Warriors"?
Read more: Sports, News, Salon News, King Kaufman, Sports Daily
June 30, 2005 | "It's been a tough week for Kenny Rogers," said ESPN's John Buccigross on "Baseball Tonight" Wednesday.
Rogers missed a start Tuesday because of a broken pinkie incurred when he punched out some water coolers after being pulled out of a game June 17, poor guy. Then he had an "altercation" with some TV news cameramen before the Rangers-Angels game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday night. That is to say, he attacked them.
Tough week for Kenny Rogers? How about a tough week for the Fourth Estate?
First we have the Supreme Court consigning a couple of reporters to jail for not selling out their confidential sources in the interest of pretty much nothing.
Then we have a 40-year-old toddler sending a photog to the hospital and wrecking his work tools after first shoving another photog, and before threatening still others with the same thing. This was in the service of Rogers being "frustrated" over his self-inflicted booboo and the losing of some baseball games.
Rangers manager Buck Showalter used that word, "frustrated." Showalter said, "Kenny just wants to win and be a contributor." It's easy to see how knocking photographer Larry Rodriguez's camera off his shoulder to the ground, twice, and sending him to the E.R. for a treat and release accomplishes those goals, isn't it?
After all, the media -- you know, the people who provide Rogers' employers with acres and tons of free publicity every day, directly leading to his being a millionaire -- disobeyed his command of the previous night, "Get those cameras out of my face!"
Imagine the cheek. Disobeying commands like that. Don't they realize this is Kenny Rogers? Not the singing chicken guy, the other one.
This is the second time this year a baseball player has roughed up a TV cameraman. What's up with these clowns? You don't go beating people up for doing their jobs, even if you're "frustrated" or "dealing with some anger-management issues" -- owner Tom Hicks' words -- or whatever other excuse your enablers come up with to make it seem like it's sort of OK or at least understandable for you to treat people like they're nothing.
Rogers was sent home an hour after the incident. Hart said the Rangers would "probably not" suspend Rogers. That doesn't mean Major League Baseball won't, though.
Rodriguez, who left the stadium on a stretcher complaining of neck, back and leg pain, filed a police complaint. I hope they throw the book at Rogers. Or the chair, a popular thing to throw where the Rangers are concerned. Or how about throwing a TV camera at him.
Hart said Rogers told him that he was frustrated over people calling his integrity and toughness into question because of the missed start Tuesday.
Kenny Rogers, I think you're a jackass who has no integrity and isn't tough. Maybe that's not a fair thing to say, but hey, I'm frustrated. It's been a tough week for my line of work.
