MLB suspends Winters

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by jkumpire

1. If Bradley does not hurt his knee, is this a big deal for more than 24 hours?

2. If Winters is being grooved for a crew chief job, why would this take him out of it?

3. If the Pads were not in the playoff hunt, would this matter at all?

You see my point? This situation, and his suspension, has been moved only because the 1B coached accused an umpire of racism, which always gets some media people fired up. It's also big because the Pads are in the playoff hunt.

I have had an opportunity to watch a lot of ESPN lately and I can tell you that the "racism" part of this story was not even a major blip on the screen for most of the media. There was more focus on what Winters said and the "baiting" of Bradley than any part of what the 1B coach claimed.

This story had legs more because the media likes to constantly rip on officials and highlight when they get in trouble. Just like when the situation with Joey Crawford took place. There is this position the media takes that officials do are not held to the same level of accountability as everyone else. This of course is not at all true, but that is the impression. It is funny how people that are so informed about things in sports never have a clue about any level of officiating. I have not even heard much about this part of the story that Bradley was the one that confronted Winters that started this whole thing. It is just a sexy story to blame the ump as usual.

Peace