June 05, 2009

Keeping it Classy

After his epic five strikeout performance yesterday afternoon, Alex Rios was in an ornery mood. To say the least.

Check out the following:




It's always great when one of the faces of the Blue Jays franchise refuses to sign an autograph, and curses ("Who gives a fuck? Fuck you! Fuckin' idiot.") in front of the children.

Well done, Rios. Keep up the great work on the field, and on the streets of Toronto.

If that was me, I'd have simply yelled "Hola Alex!"

And a hearty tip of the hat to Sports And The City reader Josh for sending the clip over to my inbox.

UPDATE: An asshole, yes. But he's still our asshole.

22 comments:

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

I'm with you, Drew. I've had a few rough weeks at the office. Equivalent to, say, five strikeouts on breaking balls. I wouldn't want to hear that holier than thou shit, either. But he still should have signed the autograph.

The J.P. Ricciardi haters are going to out in full force thanks to the "Who gives a fuck!" comment.

Somewhere, Adam Dunn is smiling.

Anonymous said...

I think the only reason the guy said anything to Alex at all was because he acted like a total jerk in refusing the autograph. Signing a single autograph for a lone kid is the least a pro sports player can do. I think Rios is a bum for that fact and the fact that he'd start swearing in front of kids (and other people) for no reason (fat heckler guy didn't use any profanity).

Having said that I do realize calling him a bum based on one five-strikeout performance is a bit much. Maybe we can agree he's just an ass.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

I'm with most everyone on this: the guy who said that bullshit to Rios is a clown, and good on Alex for letting him have it. The kids, well, they swear a lot younger than they used to. I'm sure it wasn't the first time. It would have been nice had Rios held his tongue, but good on him. He cares. ALEX RIOS LOVES BASEBALL.

Anonymous said...

I still think Alex Rios doesn't love baseball - he just doesn't seem to have a lot of heart in any aspect of the game. Remember Cal Ripken spending hours and hours after baseball games until everybody who had lined up in the stands got an autograph? Rios sure ain't no Ripken.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

But you've got to admit, he's got a nice car.

Archi said...

With with the rest of you. Within the confines of a baseball stadium, it is expected and is part of the experience of a ball-game. On the street? That's just two human beings on equal footing. If you're going to hurl insults, don't be surprised when someone throws them back. The game had been over for hours. If you're so upset about the outcome of a pretty meaningless game that you feel it necessary to track one of the players down on the streets and yell at them, you need something better to do with your life. If someone came up to me and told me "You suck at your job" my response would be "Go Fuck Yourself."

SL said...

I like it, he should be pissed off right now, he was shit-awful yesterday.

Zack said...

I think he was just mad cause he probably just found out he doesn't get an actual platinum sombrero for earning the "platinum sombrero".

bkblades said...

Uh anon, where in the handbook does it say heart = signing autographs? I guess if Rios stays well after the game and ink his name on some merchandise people wouldn't give him a hard time. That's ridiculous.

William J. Tasker said...

Yeah, Anon, heart is definitely keeping that personal streak alive rather than doing what is best for the team. The consecutive game streak was the single most selfish act ever committed in baseball. Shame on his managers for letting it happen.

Matt said...

I'm with the folks that think Rios was wrong here. The heckler didn't search out Rios to heckle him, it was a reaction to Rios not signing the autograph.

I hope I would have said something (clean and clever, like this guy) had I been present there.

I don't believe that whoever said he was a bum was the same guy. I could be wrong, but I don't think it was. And that guy is an idiot.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, good call William. Who knows how many world series the Orioles would have won if their third baseman had taken a day off three or four times a season? Probably all of them.

Johnny G said...

I'm backing Rios, I would told the guy to Fuck Off too.

And while it sucks he didn't sign the autograph for the kid Im backing him there too. I know Athletes are role models and all of that but I refuse to believe that they need to drop anything and everything to sign something for someone. It doesn't matter if that someone is a kid or whatever. I guarantee you had someone seen Rios stopping to sign something for the kid someone else would pop up asking for a shirt or something else to be signed. And even if they didn't it looked like this was somewhat late at night, after a ball game and a charity event? I imagine he wanted to get into his car and get home and relax...

I don't blame Rios at all.

Go Jays Go and Wells do me a favour and do something so Eyebleaf can lower the advisory system... I hate seeing it up in the red...

William J. Tasker said...

Hey Anon, no offense, but get your facts straight. Ripken was a shortstop during the World Series year and he was good then. What I was talking about was the last 20% of the streak when he was no where near as good and the manager didn't have the option of giving him a seat on the bench when he was struggling and other options would have helped the team.

Anonymous said...

Hey William, get YOUR facts straight. Ripken played third base at the end of his streak, keeping the mighty Ryan Minor out of the line up.

Calling the streak the most selfish thing in sports is just dumb.

C. Riddle said...

This is one far out blog. Makes me wish I lived in Toronto. Or something like that.

I was a Jays fan in 1989, at the time just before they won it all in 1992. I like 'em now, but in all fairness I couldn't call myself a real fan, not anymore. Having said that, here's my two cents:

1. Lind is fo rizzle. (isn't that what the kids say?)

2. Snider is gonna be special.

3. Hill better enjoy the power surge, because it's probably his peak. Of course, when someone hits a fair amount of doubles there's always someone who pops up to say, "hey, that's burgeoning home run power!", or something semi-intelligent like that. I just don't see it. Not this time.

5....oops, 4! Halladay will move; it's just a matter of time. Nice and vague, eh?


Anyway, Go Jays, and so forth. As long as you don't beat the Red Sox, I'm down with it. Keep up the good work, fellas.

Anonymous said...

I love it when fat Jonah HIll look alike fans talk shit about somebody's athletic accomplishments.

Anonymous said...

Are you freaking kidding me? The dude who called Rios a bum is entitled. Eevn if he worked at Mickey d's and was a burger man he should be called out if his burger making abilities suck. Rios also should have signed the autograph for the kid. It would have taken him all of a "fuck you" and he could have possibly walked away with some dignity

Anonymous said...

Hecklers are part of the game, here's the deal. When your a very well paid athlete, figure of the community and roll model there are some things that are part of the job good and bad. Players should never forget those fat guys calling you a bum and those kids waiting around are paying for that fancy dinner you just had and that expensive car your jumping into. So Ignore the Idiot's, make a kids days and above all show some class. GO CARDS !!!

Anonymous said...

As a former professional athlete I don't blame him for not signing. People can be (often actually) real jerks when it comes to autographs.

As for cursing at a fan... out of line... he knows better. He also knows how much he is struggling and doesn't need joe blow telling him so. Either way he shouldn't acknowledge any negative comments from the public. Get in your car and go home. That guy makes 7.50 an hour and has nothing better to do. Give thanks you been given your talents and say a prayer for that idiot.

I'm on both sides of the argument.

Anonymous said...

Not anymore he is.

Anonymous said...

He's a public figure and for the money he makes due o that it wouldn't kill him to sign the kids paper. For not doing that he is a bum!