I heard on 610 today (at least this is the way I interpreted what I heard) that Wade may have screamed expletives AFTER he had been assaulted by Chacon. F*** Chacon. He's a nobody and I hope his career is ruined. I can't stand immature "I'm GOD" types. I hope the Astros can recoup some of their money. What a punk!!!
Somebody posted this in some deadspin article sent in by an admirer of Chacon's work: Rumor has it the Phillies are going to sign Chacon.
Unless Wade was throwing around racial or ethnic slurs, then there is ZERO justification for what Chacon did. The most shocking thing in this thread are the number of people who think that it is OK to beat up a much older man because he yelled at the guy. Chacon should be pitching in the TDC league.
One thing of note about Chacon is he never knew his biological parents and was raised by foster parents. He said they did a good job of raising him. I'm not sure how that fits into his behavioral issues, however. Something is going on in that mind of his that isn't right. It's still kind of telling that Chacon doesn't even feel it is necessary to offer a public apology at this point...because that would probably go a long way in helping his image right about now. But, it's like he doesn't even care. If I were his parents, then I would make him apologize and offer regret over the incident...instead of talking like everybody must bow down to his will...including those he works for. He lost a screw somewhere in his life. In the end, it's a game and every person that makes up a team has a role on that team. You have to know your place and role...even if you don't like it. That means the manager is going to talk to you in his office whenever the hell he wants.
According to ESPN.com's Jeff Pearlman, Shawn Chacon asked for the dressing down he received by instigating the entire incident from the get-go. "It was 55 minutes before Wednesday night's Rangers-Astros game at Minute Maid Park when I was standing inside the Houston clubhouse, chatting with Drayton McLane, the team's owner. Suddenly, from behind me came screaming. And louder screaming. And louder screaming. The first voice belonged to Shawn Chacon, the disgruntled (and occasionally hot-headed) right-handed pitcher who had been demoted to the bullpen and consequently demanded a trade." Chacon got exactly what he deserved.
I know people who know him very well. He wasn't raised by foster parents..he was adopted into a very loving home very early in his life. According to my sources ( ) those who knew him well growing up said he lived the life of a king....great family with great support and tons of talent which brought him lots of attention.
So first of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge. "Trip, trap, trip, trap! " went the bridge. "Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll . "Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, with such a small voice. "Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.
I don't know if any of ya'll caught it last night, but during the game Bill and JD were talking about Chacon and they mentioned the other day he was asked to throw a bullpen session to which he flat out refused. Then a game or two later he decided to throw a session, on his accord, during the ninth inning when Valverde was on the mound. Wtf? You don't just throw a bullpen session whenever you feel like it, you throw it when the coaches tell you too. Gross insubordination.
Sorry...misspoke on the foster parents. If he has had such a great life, then why is he such an assh*le?
I don't think you have to live a crappy life to be an a-hole. I think there are lots of very privileged, very wealthy a-holes around. A-holeism knows no bounds.
Because in the context of professional sports fandom, they're some of the most worthless douchebags around. They're pathetic. Remember, these are the same people that booed HoFer Mike Schmidt mercilessly. They booed the Eagles and Donovan McNabb at the draft because he wasn't Ricky Williams. They booed little kids one Easter during a team-sponsored egg hunt. They booed Santa Claus. In short, they're a bunch of ignorant dumba$$es. The fact that they hate Ed Wade is to his credit.
This is an unfair, and grossly overused categorization. Philly fans are among the most passionate fans in sports. They booed Mike Schmidt yes, but it wasn't that they didn't appreciate his talent. They have been a city wrought with losing for decades. Whenever their hopes get up they get dashed. Schmidt was in the middle of a lot of that and he got booed because as good as he was, they just couldn't consistently be great with him at the plate. They booed Donovan McNabb at the draft because he wasn't projected to be what he ended up becoming, they needed a running back and there was a great one available. FWIW, McNabb is highly overrated. They didn't boo Santa Claus. Have you seen the special about this? The Eagles owner and run that franchise into the ground and the fans loathed him. At the game in question, they were promised a "Christmas Pageant" or something like during halftime as a way to sell tickets to a pitiful team. But, it was too cold and too snowy so the pageant got nixed by the uppers without telling the crowd. Instead, they brought a kid out of the stands dressed in a cheap Santa outfit and a fake beard. The fans, of course, booed.
I think if Chacon had learned how to properly crease and wear his hat, none of this would have ever happened...
Astros fans can sympathize but that's no reason to start booing the player who is pretty much your franchise. I mean just because the rest of the Stros suck should we boo Roy O? I think McNabb has done a lot better in the NFL than Ricky Williams. I never figured football fans could be so worked up over a Christmas pageant.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080629_Bob_Ford__Foolish_Wade_won_war__lost_respect.html Bob Ford: Foolish Wade won war, lost respect By Bob Ford Inquirer Sports Columnist It's funny. When Dallas Green used to confront ballplayers and tell them to "look in the bleeping mirror," very few of them pushed him to the floor and then leaped on top to wrap their hands around his neck. Now why was that? Ed Wade must be wondering that himself, just days after giving the same reflective advice to pitcher Shawn Chacon in the players lounge of the Houston Astros' locker room. There are two versions of exactly what led to the incident, but everyone agrees on the final scene, in which outfielder Reggie Abercrombie lifted Chacon from atop the general manager. It must have been very exciting there at the end, with Wade able to see nothing but Abercrombie and fist. Once he brushed himself off and readjusted the Blackberry on his waistband, Wade suspended Chacon and the team waived the unhappy pitcher the next day for the purpose of giving him an unconditional release. That'll teach him. There's no defending Chacon, who had made himself a problem for management, first for turning his back on the pitching coach during a mound meeting - very impolite - and then for sulking after being demoted from Houston's starting rotation, which isn't that easy to do. Manager Cecil Cooper and Wade wanted to clear the air and get a few things straight, so Cooper summoned Chacon to his office. The pitcher declined the invitation. That brought Wade into the lounge, where Chacon was having one of the seven meals ballplayers have at the park every day. That was Wade's first mistake, but some general managers who made it still wouldn't have ended up studying the ceiling fixtures. If I had to make a choice for that assignment among the current Philadelphia general managers, I'd have sent Paul Holmgren into the room. Maybe Chacon would have pushed him down, too, but Holmgren wouldn't have been the last body on the floor. And they wouldn't have to suspend Chacon, either. He'd have gone directly to the disabled list. Not that violence is the only answer. If Andy Reid, who doesn't have the GM title but does have the same clout, asked for some cooperation from a player, he would get it, because he commands respect in the locker room. Ed Stefanski of the Sixers would have the guy laughing in about 30 seconds, and then they would go to the office and break down tape together for a few hours. Pat Gillick, who succeeded Wade as general manager of the Phillies, is way too smart to get himself in that kind of position. If the manager was unable to get a player to come to a meeting, Gillick would simply fire the manager. And he'd be right. Wade didn't think this through very well, and he let his temper get the best of him. There's no question, knowing how big-league clubhouses operate, that the general manager, not the moody pitcher, lost more respect with the other players that day. According to Chacon, Wade came in and began yelling at him and cursing when he refused to meet with Cooper. Chacon said he kept eating and said, "You're going to have to stop yelling at me." Wade did not, and Chacon asked him again, nicely, according to the pitcher. Still more yelling, and Chacon rose from the table and asked one more time. More yelling. At that point, Chacon went all Sprewell on Wade, and that was the end of the pitcher's career in Houston. He'll get another job somewhere - Derek Jeter vouched for his former teammate, if the Yankees are interested - and life will continue. "Hopefully, it didn't ruin his career," pitcher Roy Oswalt told reporters. "A lot of people say it did, but you never know. Hopefully, he'll get a chance with somebody else." Wade contradicted Chacon's version of the incident, as it was reported in the Houston Chronicle. Wade said he didn't raise his voice or curse Chacon until he was physically assaulted. Not everyone agreed. Infielder Mark Loretta, who was in the lounge during the excitement, said, "I think [the Chronicle story] got it correct." So much for backing up management. These are the kinds of things that do happen when a team is going badly, and the Astros have been awful for the last month. Everyone feels the strain, the manager reads that he is on the "hot seat" - ouch! - and the general manager tries to figure out how to shuffle the deck. Wade let the strain get to him, apparently, and wanted to release some frustration. Instead, he ended up releasing Chacon. Dallas Green should have pointed out, when he was giving lessons to Wade as a young man in the Phillies organization, that you have to pick your spots. You have to decide which guys actually will look in the mirror and which ones will break it over your fool head. And, of course, there's the lesson that general managers who think they have to act like tough guys are merely letting everyone in on the secret that they aren't.
Why is it that these opinion articles seem to look more favorably on Chacon...it's never about Chacon physically assaulting another person and shame on him for that; it's about Wade and what he did wrong. Never about whether teams should take another chance on this guy and hope he behaves or to stay away so as not to reward such behavior; hope that he gets his head on straight eventually. It's about Wade; he had it coming, he didn't act like a man befitting his title, he made poor decisions when calling the meeting, he demonstrated yet another example of a long history of such behavior, etc. Wade used profanity...Chacon used fists....neither are right, but one is definitely worse...probably the one that could land you jail. So let's have some perspective.
