Willie, you disappoint me

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Let me start by saying I have always liked Willie Randolph. I haven't always thought he did a great job as the manager of the New York Mets (it is a very difficult job that leads to a lot of second guessing). But I always respected him. I always thought Willie Randolph was a good baseball man. I always thought Willie Randolph was a class act. Now, I have to wonder.

For Mets fans living in a cave the past 48 hrs, here is what Willie Randolph had to say regarding the scrutiny he has received as Mets manager;

"Is it racial?" Randolph asked. "Huh? It smells a little bit."

Asked directly if he believes black managers are held to different standards than their white counterparts, Randolph said: "I don't know how to put my finger on it, but I think there's something there. Herman Edwards did pretty well here and he won a couple of playoff [games], and they were pretty hard on Herm. Isiah Thomas didn't do a great job, but they beat up Isiah pretty good. ... I don't know if people are used to a certain figurehead. There's something weird about it."

Okay Willie, lets look at some facts. First off, with regards to Herman Edwards, who did Okay as a head football coach, and did receive some critisism....(never really won anything though). You seem to imply the critisism was based on race. Fine. Have you heard of Giants coach Tom Coughlin? You may recall, Coughlin was almost run out of town by the media and the  fans, (prior  to  winning the  Super  Bowl  last  season), despite having a better track record then Herm Edwards . Coughlin  led  the  Jacksonville  Jaguars, an  expansion team, to  the  AFC  title  game  in  the  second  year  of  their  existence.  Tom Coughlin led  the Giants  to  a  division  title  and  playoff  appearence   in 2005. He led them to a second straight playoff  season  in  2006, he had a winning record. The New York media and fans were brutal to Coughlin. They couldn't wait for him to be fired!

Next point, Isiah Thomas. Are you kidding? Isiah is possibly the worst GM and coach I have ever witnessed. He, along with bonehead Jim Dolan (yes Willie, Dolan is white and I think he is a disaster), combined to take a proud franchise like the New York Knicks and turn them into a laughing stock. Let me be clear Willie, Isiah wasn't "beat up pretty good" because of his skin color. He was attacked because he was a dismal failure.

You also, in your interview, bring up your old boss Joe Torre, and ask why did Joe never get questioned. Sorry Willie, I remember when Torre first got hired, the back page of the NY Post had a caption referring to him as "clueless Joe". Maybe they thought he was black by your logic Willie? Oh, by the way Willie, Joe did manage to win four titles as Yankees manager and STILL got run out of town. Why do you think that happened Willie?

There is no question that America has a long and sad history of racial inequities that continue to this day. That is wrong and must be fixed. Every time there is an episode, it should be exposed and corrected. But I think the careless remarks by Willie Randolph do nothing to serve any body regarding this issue. By Willie's logic all white managers/coaches in this town who are beaten up by the media and fans must deserve it. Any black coach must simply be getting picked on because of the color of his skin.   

You disappoint  me  Willie.