Sacrifice at the PC Altar

If any of you have seen the flap involving Larry Krueger of KNBR Radio and Felipe Alou, the San Francisco Giants Manager, it came to a head yesterday. Alou was up in arms over Krueger's reference to "brain dead Caribbean hitters swinging at slop" and for saying Alou's brain had turned to "Cream of Wheat". Alou immediately branded Krueger a racist and gathered all the latin players together for a meeting. Never mind that Krueger almost immediately apologized, an apology which Alou refused to accept. The fact is, the Giants hitter (latin & non-latin) have been pretty much swinging at slop. But Krueger's reference was to the old saying "you don't walk off the island", meaning that being patient at the plate will get you nowhere. In addition, the "Cream of Wheat" comment was in reference to Alou having to try every conceivable combination of things with the subpar talent he had been provided for so long that his brain was wore out. When taken in the context with the whole quote, it was not derogatory. Alou then went on ESPN and called Krueger a "messenger of Satan". What I will say is that while Krueger's remarks may not have been in the best of taste, they are not enough to brand him a racist. Or as a messenger of Satan. Yet branded he has been. Originally suspended without pay for 1 week, Krueger has now been fired. As a man in the broadcasting industry, he is probably untouchable. I hope he has an alternate career path mapped out.

Also fired was Program Director Bob Agnew and producer Tony Rhein. Rhein made a tape of Alou's comments mixed with Satan jokes culled from the TV show "South Park" and was fired for that. Agnew was fired for allowing it to be played on the air.

I don't know much about Rhien, but I don't see Agnew as being a big loss. Under his stewardship KNBR has gone from being a serious sports talk station to the radio version of Maury Povich with a sports slant. I quit listening to KNBR several years ago as at that time it seemed the callers alternated between Raider Haters and Raider fans, neither of whom were worth listening to.

What about the Giants? They are probably as happy as pigs in slop. Larry Krueger loved the team and pulled no punches in his critique of management and the team they had put together for 2005.