The Miami Marlins announced today that they have suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games following comments he made to Time Magazine where he said he respected Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
And I asked him this: “Who’s the toughest man you know?’’
His response, which took me by surprise: “Fidel Castro.’’
Why?
“He’s a bull—- dictator and everybody’s against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him,’’ Ozzie replied. “Everywhere he goes, they roll out the red carpet. I don’t admire his philosophy; I admire him.’’
This week, Guillen held a closed door meeting with Marlins beat writers apologizing for his comments while the organization was quick to condemn the actions of their controversial manager.
The suspension was something that had to be done considering the vast population of Cuban’s in the Miami area, many of whom suffered under Castro’s brutal regime. Not to mention Guillen’s comments were totally moronic and made the Marlins look like total fools, more so if nothing was done.
The interesting thing though is Guillen essentially said the same thing about Castro in 2008 but nobody seemed to care then.
Joey Cora is expected to take over the managerial duties for the Marlins while Guillen serves his suspension.
Ref: Sports Grid, The Big Lead
