Defending the Truth

Report: Rocker calls sensitivity training a 'farce'ESPN.com news services

Ozzie Guillen was ordered to attend sensitivity training for a homophobic slur he made about Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti. According to John Rocker, Guillen won't get anything out of it.

"This is a free country. If he wants to use a lewd term, he should be able to use a lewd term. Can't you use a lewd term in America if you want?"
John Rocker on Ozzie Guillen

When Rocker was ordered to attend similar training after the former Braves reliever made offensive remarks in a Sports Illustrated story published in 1999, he left shortly after showing up, he told the Chicago Tribune.

"The guy told me when I got there I had to show up to make it look good for people, so after about 15 minutes I left and walked right out of the room and it satisfied the powers that be," Rocker told the newspaper.

Rocker was a teammate of Guillen's with the Atlanta Braves in 1998-99 and said he considers Guillen a friend. He defended Guillen's right to speak his mind.

"This is a free country. If he wants to use a lewd term, he should be able to use a lewd term," Rocker told the newspaper. "Can't you use a lewd term in America if you want?"

Guillen also was fined an undisclosed amount of money for his profanity-laced tirade against Mariotti.

On Friday, Guillen ruffled more feathers when he said he did not actually expect to attend the sensitivity training class.

"I don't think I'll be going, I don't think that'll happen," Guillen told ESPNdeportes.com in an interview at U.S. Cellular Field. The interview was conducted in Spanish.

"I think the commissioner ordered that in order to calm things down, but, obviously, to attend one of those, I'll have to take English lessons first," he added. "I'll do what I have to do, at least when I have time, but I don't think I'll take those sensitivity lessons."

A few minutes after leaving the interview room, Guillen said through a team spokesman that he would undergo the training.

Rocker was banned from baseball until May 1 by commissioner Bud Selig, who also imposed a $20,000 fine and ordered Rocker to attend sensitivity training for the remarks he made to Sports Illustrated, but an arbitrator reduced the suspension to the first two weeks of the season, cut the fine to $500 and allowed Rocker to report to spring training on March 2.

In the SI article, John Rocker said he would never play for a New York team because he didn't want to ride a train "next to some queer with AIDS". He also bashed immigrants, saying "How the hell did they get in this country?" He also called a black teammate a "fat monkey," spit on a toll machine and mocked Asian women.

"It was a farce, a way for the scared little man, Bud Selig, to get people off his [backside]," Rocker, speaking to the Tribune, said of the sensitivity training.

He also told the newspaper that he didn't pay any of the fine levied against him by Selig. Rocker was fined $20,000 for his comments, but that was reduced to $500 after appeal.

"I never paid a cent, a lot of players never pay a cent," Rocker told the newspaper. "It's just a front to look good and the way Selig cowers to pressure."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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First of all, I think Rocker is a dick.

But, he's a dick that should be able to exercise his freedom of expression.

On the other hand, any organization has the right to say, "You can't say that here".

So... Rocker pretty much has to choose between being a huge dick and being a professional baseball player.

I agree, Rocker is a dick. I also agree he should be able to express himself. I also agree the organization has the right to say "you can't say that here".

It also looks like it's a farce. It looks like either enforce it or drop it.

People also love the spotlight, but I'm sure John Rocker or Ozzie Guillen would never tell you that.

I think the sensitivity training is a joke too. Either suspend him or fine him. Rocker is just a moron. He said racist things at the same time while claiming not to be a racist. Guillen just called Mariotti a "fag" because he hates the guy with an angry passion. People let political correctness slip when they are angry enough, not all people, but definitely some of them. I think this is just one of those cases. Although, it is funny that he basically said it's a word they use in Venezuala. I don't know...I just think that's funny. Ozzie Guillen is who he is because of the United States (and it's economy) and baseball.

I believe I agree with you two. Rocker does not sound like a good person, but he should be free to say what he likes.

While the baseball commission is able to create standards about what these players can say, I don't really know that I agree with the standards they've created. Censoring what players say to Sports Illustrated feels like censoring what they say even when they are not on the job.

They didn't censor anything, it's about them doing something about it. Fining people, sensitivity training, suspension from play, that sort of thing they DO have a right to do.

Censoring him and "doing something about it" are the same thing. For example, if I own a television station, and I say that no shows can contain nudity, I am censoring the shows on my station. Then, if one of my shows displays nudity, and I do something about it, I have enforced my censorship.

I do not deny that the baseball commission has the right to fire someone, demand sensitivity training, or instate some other punishment for this player. As I said, the baseball commission is able to create these standards, I just don't agree with them.

For example, imagine if your employer said that no one can make racist comments, not only at work, but also outside of work. I do not consider what employees do outside of work any business of the employer. I feel like this is the same thing with this baseball player. A player's interview with Sports Illustrated isn't really part of his job, and he isn't speaking for his company. I do not believe that companies should start censoring their employees outside of work.