When a prominent sports figure takes on a prominent sports journalist I tend to react like a mother bear protecting her cubs.
Thus did I call Ian O'Connor last night to get his take on Willie Randolph's assertion that he thought their controversial conversation Sunday was "off the record."
It would have been much worse had Randolph said he explicitly told O'Connor the interview was off the record. Instead he admitted merely to assuming it, something he acknowledged was a mistake.
In a part of his WFAN comments that did not make into the above-linked article, Randolph said, "I was just happy to see him. We were just talking. We were in the middle of the clubhouse just kind of shooting the breeze and stuff . . . I just let my guard down there for a second, but that’s still on me. That’s my responsibility.’’
Randolph this week referred to O'Connor as a "friend," apparently a reference to the fact the columnist publicly has been supportive of him in the past.
Fine. But other reporters who saw O'Connor and Randolph talking in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium said it looked like a formal interview.
Perhaps the tape recorder in O'Connor's left hand was a hint.
(Triple WatchDog kudos to the first person to identify the trial pictured.)
Comments (10)
Aaron Burr
No.
Hint: It has something to do with media.
OJ Simpson Trial
That was ALL ABOUT the media
Umm . . . no.
Zenger FTW!
This isn't basketball, so I can't say [Stephon] Marbury v.[Oscar] Madison.
MSW: Congrats! We have a winner! Triple kudos to you.
Mr. Best,
First, Ed Coleman was there (waiting to interview Willie) and said he didn't see the tape recorder that you apparently saw - oh, you weren't there; could it be that Ian O'Connor told you it was out in the open?
Does ANYONE doubt that Willie Randolph has come up against racism during his years in baseball; especially during all of those managerial interviews, he went on? Now, I don't think he feels the Wilpon's are racist but does anyone question that Willie's been undermined in the clubhouse?
Race questions don't just pop out of thin air - there's something in between what O'Connor and Willie have publicly said which leads to (and makes sense) Willie being happy to see him. Ian hasn't been covering the Mets - or the Yankees (until today) but he has known Willie for many years and maybe that's why Willie would think he was just shooting the breeze.
O'Connor wasn't the only non-Met beat writer around that stopped in to chat with Willie - none of them wrote any stories like this.
One does get the feeling O'Connor doesn't like the NY teams/ managers to be comfortable in their jobs.
Mr. Best, are you part of the O'Connor, Posnanski group?
Mr. Best,
First, Ed Coleman was there (waiting to interview Willie) and said he didn't see the tape recorder that you apparently saw - oh, you weren't there; could it be that Ian O'Connor told you it was out in the open?
Does ANYONE doubt that Willie Randolph has come up against racism during his years in baseball; especially during all of those managerial interviews, he went on? Now, I don't think he feels the Wilpon's are racist but does anyone question that Willie's been undermined in the clubhouse?
Race questions don't just pop out of thin air - there's something in between what O'Connor and Willie have publicly said which leads to (and makes sense) Willie being happy to see him. Ian hasn't been covering the Mets - or the Yankees (until today) but he has known Willie for many years and maybe that's why Willie would think he was just shooting the breeze.
O'Connor wasn't the only non-Met beat writer around that stopped in to chat with Willie - none of them wrote any stories like this.
One does get the feeling O'Connor doesn't like the NY teams/ managers to be comfortable in their jobs.
Mr. Best, are you part of the O'Connor, Posnanski buddy group?
I have heard amazingly racist and sexist stuff out of very prominent people in sports and sports media, but never with a tape recorder running and never in a formal interview. It's a weird, weird world and a dicey situation. But you're right, Willie, I was not there, as Ed was.