The REAL issue about Curt Schilling.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

Curt Schilling is a member of a union with an airtight labor contract. That contract guarantees a handsome reward for his productivity as a ball player. This union worker with an airtight contract will be out SCHILLING for the most anti-union, anti-labor president in American history. That is the real issue...that is the REAL story and THAT is what Dems can sieze upon without it looking like sour grapes that he is not out SCHILLING for us.

[Hobarticus]

1. Damn, you are good...

That's the best perspective I've seen on this yet.

[aldian159]

2. I second that

Pro athletes should all get down on their knees and thank the Democratic Party that we supported labor for so long. Without unions, players make pennies, and yet a few don't seem to get it.

[Hobarticus]

3. Good thing the players' union guarantees him a pension...

If that ankle doesn't heal, he'd be out on the street with nothing to show for it.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. nsma is one of our best! eom

[Anakin Skywalker]

20. I agree. This poster is damn good!

[tomfodw]

4. Ballplayers are "unionized" in the way that PATCO was in 1980

PATCO backed Reagan, then he destroyed them when they had the nerve to strike. So-called "unions" of very highly paid professionals (MLBPA, ALPA, etc.) are hardly like the unions most of us think of, such as the UAW or the Teamsters. They're more like professional associations, although they do engage in collective bargaining. They have nothing in common with real unions.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. True..but when push comes to shove..ball players operate under the

same labor code in almost every state as the rank and file workers when they are injured.

The main difference between a ball players union and a typical labor union is American ball players haven't seen THEIR jobs outsourced YET.

[omnithrope]

5. F*#% shilling. Who cares what he thinks?

Why would I listen to want a man who throws a ball for a living thinks?
Why would anyone?

Sheesh.

[Bake]

12. Exactly why Jim Bunning has to GO from the Senate! (Ky.)

Precisely.

Bake

[GDoyle]

6. Not really a union

And not certified as a union, they are an "association." They still negotiate contracts individually. I have no respect for the MLBPA as a union, as such.

GDoyle

[NewYorkerfromMass]

19. they function as a union- COLLECTIVE bargaining

same difference. ZERO.

[louis c]

7. His Union is not a Union

it's an association.

He is not affiliated with any international or the AFL-CIO.

It's not a Union, but a group of millionaires.

They crossed the umpires picket line, and would cross any others, because it is only a confederation of millionaires.

They suck, and he sucks.

[faithnotgreed]

14. hey louis - did you hear john kruk last night talk about schilling? wow

i was surprised, though kruk isnt exactly shy

so last night after the sox won, they were talking about schilling and what it meant for the sox to get him over the winter
so kruk says he knows schilling, and that there was one reason only that schilling wanted to come to the sox. it was so that he would be the one people pointed to on the street, as the one who won them the world series. that schilling wants to "be praised" by everyone he meets

i hadnt heard people rip on schilling like that but once i started thinking about it, and this was before i heard schilling was for bush today, i thought it made some sense. that i had heard rumblings about curt before from other players. that he talks a little too much...

and having heard schilling over the past week more than i have in some time, it made sense. poor guy. guess he is insecure like a lot of people.
wonder what his backgorund was like?

but he usually backs up the talk with his performance, no doubt

[theboss]

22. Everyone who watches baseball knows that Schilling is an attention-whore

It's been his defining characteristic since his Philly days. The most dangerous place in the world is between him and a camera. And his wife is just as whacky. If he'd known the attention it would have gotten him, he would have hacked off his ankle tendon in 2001 too.

What makes him so special though is that he says he wants to be the guy who ends an 86-year-nightmare and does it. He says that Mystique and Aura are the names of strippers, then goes into Yankee Stadium and shuts them down. He is the living embodiment of "It ain't braggin' if you can do it" and I would love to have him on my team.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. Sure thing, a union where the "workers" get paid millions of dollars

That clown can certainly afford to shill for the chimp, entertainment is probably one of the hardest things to outsource.

Furthermore, I hate it when these guys try to act all sincere and pretend to have team spirit with dog piles and tears. This is all show business devoid of all heart and soul. Fans who get wrapped up in any of it are in to pure fantasy.

[Thrill]

9. What an idiot

screaming vote for Bush playing for a New England state. That Kerry is from. And the owner of the Red Sox supports Kerry. That idiot better not say that shit at their parade

[October]

11. Excellent! eom

[theboss]

13. It's not really a Union

It's an Association that sets the parameters for bargaining. But the players negotiate their contracts individually.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Do they or do they not strike when it suits them?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

21. You're right. They function as a union

and establish minimum pay for all members- amongst other union-like measures.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. It's silly enough to address logic when dealing with religion or politics,

but it's truly ridiculous on the subject of sports.

It's just more of the big tough-guy male crap that fuels much of conservatism: if you have any troubles with the extreme selfishness of conservatism, you're just a lazy defective. Waste no pixels on it and smile benignly.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. You and your flowery fucking posting prose

:evilgrin: :hi:

[Anakin Skywalker]

26. Your Adjectives are Welcomed!

You are good too with your analysis. I agree with your points. I have "debated" shallow rightwingers on some contemporary cultural issues including sports and have observed that most of the right are enamored of jocks and are very contemptuous of those they see as physically weak. The following sounds too ridiculous but it is true. I heard a guy actually saying that smaller males must all be gay! I was laughing at his idiocy and bigotry but inside I was seething mad. How can we have people who are this bigoted in a civilized society? This goes beyond superficiality. I am trying to find some adjectives or some academic terms to describe this type of belief that might suit it better than merely "shallow". All contributions are welcomed.

[leftofthedial]

23. bingo nsma

and he and his despicable kind do it all without a trace of irony

[DancingBear]

24. Schllling is not stumping for a Republican - he is stumping for Bush

A man, who, if given a second term, will destroy this country for years to come.

He is using his celebrity status not to stump for a man, but for a demon. A true bastard who is hell bent on starting his very own new millennium. A man who is literally looking to destroy democracy.

"What if he said 'vote for Kerry' - how can one equate the two? Suppose it was '96, and he said 'vote for Dole'. No harm, no foul.

But this ain't your fathers Oldsmobile, kids, and we're not dealing with Politician A vs. Politician B. We've got a certifiable madman at the controls, and a guy one day removed from killing the demons out there with him, riding shotgun and telling the world he's A-OK.

What should be done? - I can't say, for the emotions that some carry today are not with me. I am a lover of the game, to be sure, and thoughts of my late father welled up inside when the final out came. I do know, however, that an athlete of Schilling's caliper and (now) hero status can do damage far greater than any win or loss can overcome. To let him slide by simply because he helped end The Curse is dereliction of duty - that duty being to do everything in your/our power to rid the world of George W. Bush. if that means taking on Schilling in whatever form you see fit, then I believe you have every right to do so.

If he tips the scales to Bush then come opening day all of Red Sox Nation can cheer him on - maybe even GWB will throw out the first pitch.

Won't that make it all worth while...

[against all enemies]

25. Curt Schilling, religious whore, I now hate the red sox. Go Cubs!!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

27. I'd trust this guy ONLY with the ball

not my ballot!