Wednesday, August 24, 2005.
Blue Taboo  Milton Bradley vs. Jeff Kent So the big story going on right now with the Dodgers is the feud between Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent. Bradley has recently said that Kent doesn't know how to deal with Black players. (Click on the link for that story) Also Bradley is getting some heat
for what he said to a Los Angeles reporter. Some people are taking
offense to it. So I'm going to give my personal opinion on what Bradley
meant.
When Bradley told a reporter,
"I'm always OK. As long as I'm Black, I'm fine", he wasn't being
racist. If Bradley was racist, he wouldn't be loved
in the clubhouse. What Milton meant was that as long as he
stays who he is, he will be fine. Nothing more nothing less. He
wasn't trying to say that any other race was better than the
other. Was his comment something he should of said? Probably
not. Bradley has a long way to go to fix his image. And comments
like that won't help. I understand what he meant but I think a lot
of people did not.
I was talking to one of my
friends (who happens to be White) about what Bradley said. My friend
asked me what if a White guy said, "As long as I'm White all be
fine." I told him that he would probably get a lot of heat for saying
that. A great deal more than what Bradley is getting. But that is
because comments like that were used by racist in the past. Which was a
very dark period in American history. Some people cry foul about
not being able to say certain things, while other races can. Someone
told me its been this way for about 20 years. That might be true, but
just think how bad it was before then. And how long that period lasted.
I'm not saying that makes it ok, I'm just saying that life isn't always
fair.
Milton has had some anger issues
in the past. But lets give the guy some credit. He has tried to fix
that. The fact that he went to Jim Tracy to talk about his problem
with Jeff Kent instead of fighting the second baseman proves that.
People don't know the whole story about what Kent said to
Bradley. And neither do I. I'm not going say that Bradley
overacted. And I'm not going to say Kent said something wrong. I
just don't know. All I can do is look at the history of each
player. And to be honest, both of these guys have made mistakes.
Kent has a poor reputation
in the clubhouse where he is known for a quick temper and
isolationism. And don't forget what he did to the Giants. He claimed he
hurt himself washing his car (so he would still get paid), when several
people believe he hurt himself doing tricks on a motorcycle.
Milton Bradley is also known for
his tempter on and off the field which has hurt himself and the
team. Last season he was suspended for the last 5 games for losing
his cool when a plastic bottle was thrown at him after he made an
error in the outfield.
The point I'm trying to make is
that both of these guys have a shady past. So until more information
comes forward, nobody should say who is right and who is wrong.
That's all I have to say. |
