Kirk Cousins has been playing well lately after a rough start. He's being talked-up as an MVP candidate, but I see him more as a ticking time-bomb of derp.
I’m on vacation this week, so I’ll be brief, which is fine, as this is a “Quick Pick” column.
This week’s theme is, “Guys… don’t… just DON’T!”
Last week, I talked a bit about basketball. This week, I’m leading off with baseball.
During the Astros’ ALCS celebration, assistant GM Brandon Taubman yelled, half a dozen times, to three female reporters, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f——— glad we got Osuna!” On a systemic problem, in Houston and across the league: https://t.co/8zyVwG2Lpo
— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) October 22, 2019
For those of you who don’t know, or forgot (like the Astros and MLB would like you to), Roberto Osuna is a filthy woman-beater (allegedly), who was suspended by MLB for 75 games, and who was picked up by the Astros, mostly due to the fact that many other teams wouldn’t touch him. Brandon Taubman is the assistant GM of the Astros, who apparently thinks that working for a top team gives him impunity to attack female reporters. Here’s an excerpt from the story:
And in the center of the room, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!”
The outburst was offensive and frightening enough that another Houston staffer apologized. The Astros declined to comment. They also declined to make Taubman available for an interview.
Taubman's timing was odd.
Closer Roberto Osuna had allowed a two-run home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth. He had been, by Baseball Reference’s calculations and any intelligent observer’s assessment, the least valuable Astro that night. So why would Taubman choose that moment, to taunt that demographic? It’s not hard to figure out.
Taubman should be fired. Not fined. Not suspended. Fired. And the Astros organization should be punished severely for its handling of the situation.
Back to football, it seems that yet another player has been charged with domestic violence-related crimes. This week, it’s Pittsburgh LB Anthony Chickillo, who used his time off last week to partake in a bit of casino gambling, which naturally led to roughing-up his girlfriend. He’s now on the “commissioner’s exempt list” which means he can’t play, practice, wave a terrible towel, or whatever bullshit, kid-gloves treatment the league sees fit to impose on these nitwits. Of course, Pittsburgh released the standard “we’re cooperating” statement, while the team and fans are probably (definitely) more worried about the LB depth for their next game.
.@RonCookPG: Stupidity knows no bounds, in life or in sports, and Anthony Chickillo and Brandon Taubman prove it. https://t.co/fIs1ojJzU0
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (@PittsburghPG) October 22, 2019
And finally, guys, don’t do this. Just…DON’T!
Some assume being on camera is glamorous. Sometimes it’s not.
— Erin Kate Dolan (@erinkatedolan) October 23, 2019
I laughed off this fan trying to kiss me at MNF, but I was PISSED! I’m not the first broadcaster to experience this & I won’t be the last, unfortunately.
I truly love what I do, but this field can test you. pic.twitter.com/4kjTDqzd4G
Thursday Night
Washington at Minnesota
I’ll be skipping this one, as I generally do when Washington is playing. It’s bad enough watching a bunch of cosplaying, chanting racists at KC games (while guys like Cris Collinsworth giggle at how “charming” the whole grotesque spectacle is); it’s quite another thing to have to listen to an actual racial slur be repeated over and over by professional sportscasters who, really, ought to know better. At any rate, Minnestota should win this one handily, even without Adam Thielen. And if they don’t, blame Thursday.
Winner: Minnesota
RSS Feed
