OUR FEMINIZED SOCIETY CATCHES UP TO JOHN GIBBONS: OR, TOO BAD IT ISN'T 1975

From the "Gee, you think?" department, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told The Fan 590 today he "overreacted" during his clash with Ted Lilly. Fifty-seven percent of respondents to an ESPN.com poll say Gibbons should be fired; just less than 19% say no disciplinary action is needed.

What really grinds a lot of people's gears was that Gibbons' first instinct after the game -- the Star's Chris Young makes note of this -- was to act ike Ron Burgundy did in Anchorman after he said the F-word on the air. He didn't seem to realize at all what he'd done.

Everyone seems to want to get their two cents about this debacle, even if the kindest words they've had about the Jays all year was along the lines of, "No matter what, they still won't beat Boston or the Yankees."

(Nice attitude. Hopefully you possess a little more optimism when it comes to your own life.)

Yours truly has been watching the Jays since the age of eight. Stuff happens when you put 30 players and coaches with different backgrounds, different temperaments and massive egos together for seven months. So learn to deal.

This has gone to show how much sports and the larger society has changed in the past few decades. Not to sound like Grandpa Simpson, but back in the day, managers and players having it out happened all the time. Just look at how Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver feuded for years in Baltimore -- and both ended up in the Hall of Fame. Or look at Billy Martin and, well, pretty much anyone who played for him except Rickey Henderson. (Somehow, those two understood each other, even if no one could understand them.)

Nowadays, our society is more feminized, so anyone who throws fists is automatically a knuckle-dragger. Even in the Cro-Magnon world of pro sports, you get less respect these days by throwing fists.

The reality is that the world changed on John Gibbons and he apparently didn't notice. That doesn't let him off the hook. Only a total meathead would think that a coach or manager who physically challenges his players would ever win their lasting respect.

If Gibbons had cooled off, let everyone sleep on it and talked with Lilly today, then yes, that would have probably esteemed him more in the players' eyes. Now it's really hard to imagine that the Jays would want him as manager in 2007, although it's not unreasonable to think he could go to Triple-A with some other organization and work his way back to the majors.

LAST THING

For this true fan, it's a little annoying to see the Jays become such a negative lightning rod. It is news, it must be reported on, and it's hard to resist wanting to have your say, but considering the source, it's all kind of hypocritical when it comes from a media and a general public who love to pounce all over the Jays.

Their subtext is that it's always far better to commit to nothing, jump all over the Blue Jays (as well as the Raptors and Argonauts) for every little thing and downplay their (admittedly minor) triumphs. It does take less energy to be cynical. Oh, but if the Leafs manage to win a first-round playoff game, well then, where is the parade starting?

(DIGRESSION: To show you what kind of asshole I can be about this, this afternoon I visited a hockey blog I check regularly and found the writer had a post about the Jays. It annoyed me -- not what he said, which was spot-on -- but that he was commenting on the team now. A quick search revealed that he hadn't mentioned the Jays in a post in 4½ months, since the start of the season. The reason there's no name and link here is that I don't want this this paragraph to come off as a slam on the writer, when it's really about how childish I can be about the Blue Jays.)

So, at the risk of being unpopular, this author is putting the blame squarely on you. Just kidding. Short of being fired right away, Gibbons deserves whatever ripping he gets. Besides, it's only human nature to want to stick a shiv in someone's side when you get a golden opportunity like this one.

OTHER BUSINESS

• More Deadspin goodness: Jesse Barfield's son, Josh , whom you'll remember was arrested for allegedly pushing his ex-major leaguer dad down a flight of stairs -- thus inspiring the New York Post headline Yank Son Makes 'Pop' Fly -- has a MySpace page where he actually calls himself "J-Barf." When you visit the page, your cursor turn into a tiny flag of Texas. Could someone who isn't from Texas and isn't a moron please explain to Josh Barfield again why you don't see a lot of black tourists at the Alamo? There's an awfully good reason.
• SI.com's Pete McEntegart: "Kobe Bryant will appear on the cover of Sony's NBA '07 video game. Kobe was considered perfect for a game in which one player controls an entire team."
• Make sure you say Roy Shivers, fired yesterday by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is the first African-American ex-general manager in pro football history. "Former African-American general manager" has an entirely different connotation.
• Only 25 days until the annual Queen's Homecoming riot. It probably wouldn't do any good to tell students they should only riot if the Gaels win the football game. One has very little to do with the other.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.