Here's what happened (hat tip to Was Watching for the link.) Swisher overheard Andrew Marchand asking his teammates about Lee. Swisher responded:
With the Yankees facing Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis in Game 6, Swisher did not take kindly to a reporter asking teammates a couple lockers down about Lee.OMG, a ballplayer cursed! Twice! What is the world coming to? What about the children? (And yes, I'm being sarcastic here.)
You guys are talking about Cliff Lee?" said Swisher out loud in a room full of reporters. "[Expletive], who cares?"
As he walked off, Swisher said, "I can't wait to hit against his [behind]."
The story continues:
Later, when asked about saying this out loud with reporters present, Swisher cut off a question when the words "Cliff Lee" were uttered.
"I'm not talking about Cliff Lee," Swisher said. "I don't give a [expletive]."
A few points:
* Whenever you hear a writer refer to what "a reporter" said, nine times out of ten, "a reporter" is really the reporter writing the story. I don't know why sportswriters keep with this silly, passive convention; it does not serve the reader. And indeed, it is the case here; Marchand's ESPN colleague Wallace Matthews confirms that Marchand was the one to ask the question. Matthews also writes that Swisher was openly tired of the Cliff Lee questions as early as last Saturday.
* As for Swish's response, what's the big deal here? Swisher's response is exactly what I want to hear from him. And I don't give a bleep that he cursed to reporters, and offended their delicate sense of being (yeah, because we all know that the harshest word any sportswriter will say is "gosh darnit"!) What is Swisher supposed to say? That he's really, really scared to face Lee, and the Yankees are just terrified? C'mon now.
* Why don't the reporters worry about Game 6 before raising the OMG! Cliff Lee Is Pitching Game 7 specter? Then again, they raised it after Game 2, so that would be too much to ask for!
What do you think? Tell us about it!
I think Nick Swisher has the right (bleep)ing attitude. He's my kind of guy: He plays hard and plays to win no matter who the (bleep)ing opponent is.
ReplyDeleteCliff (Bleep)ing Lee? So the (bleep) what? As Herman Edwards taught us, "Hello? You play to win the game!" So let's get the (bleep) out there, win (bleep)ing Game 6, and then get the (bleep) out there for (bleep)ing Game 7, shock those (bleep)ing inbred right-wing redneck Texans, and kick Cliff (Bleep)ing Lee's (bleep)! Let's beat the (bleep)ing (bleep) out of the Texas (Bleep)ing Rangers! (Bleep) yeah!
And then on to the Philly Guidos or the San Fran Hippies.
Of course, Lisa, the preceding rant about Texas and its (bleep)ing residents does not refer to the University of Texas Longhorns. The fact that the rest of Texas hates them anyway, calls them "tea-sippin' lib'rals" (a favorite line of Texas A&M) and other, more bleep-worthy things, kind of gives me a soft spot for them.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad someone injected some passion into this (i.e., Swisher). Enough of the Cliff Lee worship. By the way, is it just me, or is Cliff Lee pretty much all they talk about on TBS? I can't take it anymore!
ReplyDeleteI got this link from Yardbarker and was going to post that whoever wrote this has to be a Yankee fan with the complete bias. I then realized the name of the site so clearly you are. Cliff Lee is the biggest story in baseball. Yes, I understand Swisher not wanting to talk about it but to bash on the reporter for asking questions about Lee is just idiotic.
ReplyDeleteI got this link from Yardbarker and was going to post that whoever wrote this has to be a Yankee fan with the complete bias. I then realized the name of the site so clearly you are. Cliff Lee is the biggest story in baseball. Yes, I understand Swisher not wanting to talk about it but to bash on the reporter for asking questions about Lee is just idiotic.
ReplyDeleteahh ain't that sweet. oh ny by the way Cliff Lee is pitching game #1 of the WS. where are y'all ohh that's right y'all lost. YANKEES SUCK
ReplyDelete