Jared Max: Reds Manager Bryan Price Is My New Hero
By Jared Max
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Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price is my new hero.
While so many public figures are so scared to speak their minds -- fearing arrest by the officers of the "GOTCHA" Politically Correct Police Department -- Price planted his flag Monday night on the PCPD's front lawn.
During a pregame meeting with reporters, Price detonated a dirty-mouthed bomb at the media — unseen in Major League Baseball since Lee Elia belittled Cubs fans in April, of 1983.
Confronting the Cincinnati Enquirer's Trent Rosecrans about why many reporters feel a need to share information that could hinder a team's progress, Price unloaded a verbal artillery that may win him an endorsement for Dial or Dove. For five-and-a-half minutes, the Reds' manager pleaded to have his mouth washed out with soap as he dropped 77 F-bombs and, as Rosecrans wrote, "11 uses of a vulgar term for feces (two bovine, one equine)."
Price's protest stemmed from the media sharing sensitive information that he believes should have been embargoed.
The Reds manager's trust within his clubhouse was compromised because the public learned that catcher Kyle Skipworth lost his job to Tucker Barnhart -- and was sent down to Triple-A Louisville -- before the player knew himself.
"We don't need to know that Tucker Barnhart's in the f****** airport when we haven't spoken to Kyle Skipworth. I think we owe that f******* kid the right to be called and told that he's going to be sent down as opposed to reading that Tucker Barnhart is on his way from Louisville. I just... I don't get it."
Me neither, skip.
Just as I believe it is counterproductive for news reporters to ask political leaders questions that, if answered, could compromise national security, I question the motives of sports reporters who believe their job is to dig without regard for unnecessarily striking gas lines. While few sports reporters entered their careers to become professional hall monitors, many, it seems, fall into this lazy trap.
Like freedom at the mercy of terrorists, like walls of a clean roadway underpass begging to be tagged with graffiti, to reporters, interview subjects are easy targets. Causing destruction is not a badge of honor, though. The challenge for today's journalist is to resist omnipresent, low-hanging fruit, asking oneself, "Does this story help anybody? Does it advance any cause?"
Despite what the PCPD would like the world to believe, Price was right Monday night, winning his showcase showdown with reporters. As the machine tried to roll through the Reds' clubhouse, the manager jumped in front of the tank. He climbed atop it with a megaphone and demanded the PCPD take pause and personal inventory.
Has it always been this way where we just tell f****** everybody everything? So every f****** opponent we have has to know exactly what we have. Which f****** relievers are available, which guys are here and which guys aren't here, when they can play, and what they can do. It's nobody's f****** business. It's certainly not the opponent's business. We have to deal with this f****** b*******." (Read the full transcript here.)
Of course, this language is not appropriate for children. Oh, the precious children! They hear cuss words at home, on TV, online and at school, but God forbid such filth comes from the mouth of a public voice. This is why Price's diatribe is so powerful. Not only did he turn the tables on those who cover his baseball team, but he also thumbed his nose at members of the PCPD who believe their jurisdiction serves everywhere beyond the barbed wire that surrounds their glass houses.
Many fans and reporters may jump on soapboxes to argue, "Yeah, but we have a right to know!"
Question: Do you think you could perform your job to its maximum potential if you were confronted by reporters every day -- before, during and after work?
Nearly 15 years ago, prior to traveling to Tampa for Yankees spring training, I prepared several questions for players and manager Joe Torre. One common question was, "Do you think that all-access media coverage impedes the team's potential progress?"
Knowing they were being recorded, no Yankee seemed comfortable to respond as Price did Monday night.
While the PCPD's strongest defense against truth is propaganda that says, "These are not times for the bluntly honest," Price declared war on this dangerous mentality. Not only did he stop the presses by speaking in such unbridled fashion, but he conjured the four-letter-word spirit of Elia — along with Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin — delivering an important message while saying, "Kiss my a**!"
Jared Max is a multi-award winning sportscaster. He hosted a No. 1 rated New York City sports talk show, "Maxed Out" — in addition to previously serving as longtime Sports Director at WCBS 880, where he currently anchors weekend sports. Follow and communicate with Jared on Twitter @jared_max.
