Ozzie Guillen, Castro, and Free Speech

Although plenty of other news sources have covered the Guillen situation, I feel compelled to add my two cents.  For those of you who avoid sports news, the short of it is this: Ozzie Guillen, manager of the Florida Miami Marlins, uttered the phrase, "I love Fidel Castro."  Everyone went berserk, and the Marlins suspended him for 5 games.  Large numbers of Cubans and Cuban-Americans have understandably expressed outrage and promised to boycott the team while Guillen remains at the helm.  I have no problem with them using the power of the purse-string to make a strong statement of disapproval.  What I do have a problem with, however, is the reaction of both the Marlins organization and Hypocrite-in-Charge MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

Let's put aside for a moment the fact that, when looked at in its full context, Guillen was clearly expressing admiration for Castro's ability to remain in power and never expressed support for Castro's politics or practices.  The bigger issue is that executives chose to suspend Guillen for what was perceived (rightly or wrongly is irrelevant) as a political statement.  This isn't the case of Ben Roethlisberger, suspended for allegedly committing immoral practices.  I had a problem with that suspension, as it was not based on a conviction or any sort of formal hearing of any sort, just King Goodell holding court and deciding on a whim that a person not even charged with a crime should be suspended for six games.

Rather, this is a suspension designed solely to appease (or try to appease) the Cuban-American population that Miami hopes will form a loyal fanbase (also of note: the sparkling new Miami stadium, financed with taxpayer dollars, sits in the middle of Little Havana).  Now, as I said, that population has every right to express anger over Guillen's statements.  I think that anger is misguided, but again, I support their right to exercise free speech and use their money as they see fit.  There is nothing noble or even justifiable, however, in the reactions of the Marlins and Bud Selig.  The Marlins organization could respond by reiterating the fact that Guillen does not speak for the organization, that people in the organization feel differently, etc.  It could even fire Guillen, should it be of the opinion that its business was sufficiently in jeopardy and that a new direction was needed to maintain/expand its fan base.  A suspension in this case, however, is worse than firing.  Firing could potentially be done as a business/PR justification.  A suspension, on the other hand, signifies improper behavior.  And when it comes to suspending people because of their political speech, the risk of a slippery slope is not just academic.  Honestly: would a player be suspended for wearing one of those hipster Che t-shirts?  Maybe, in Miami, he would be.

Bud Selig, meanwhile -- I have nothing to say about him other than the fact that he's a huge hypocrite (picture of him, on the right, hobnobbing with Castro).

Despite the fact that Guillen is often a moron and says the wrong thing, let's just lay to rest the notion that this suspension and the MLB Commissioner's support of it is anything more than mere grandstanding.