It’s official now- The Chicago White Sox have released Manager Ozzie Guillen from his contract. The greatest consistent soundbite in recent Chicago sports history has moved on.
Base Coach Joey Cora will serve as interim manager for the Sox final two games. Where’s Ozzie going now? Broadcasting? Seems to be a natural fit for opinionated, loquacious public persona.
More likely it’s going to be managing the Miami Marlins. It’s the city Ozzie loves (but “yo I heard the rainstorms ain’t nothing to mess with”)
Ozzie loves the heat as much as he loves chatting with the media. And all the attention he, and his controversial comments elicit will certainly be good for a franchise starved for publicity. And since current Marlins manager Jack McKeon is retiring, (he is older than Yoda after all) the position will be open.
But Guillen was the star of this team, he was the face of the 2005 World Series Champion team. Yes, Paul Konerko was the best player on that team- but Guillen was the star.
And we’re fortunate that he departs in a situation that seems devoid of bitterness and acrimony. It’s comforting that the man who lead the team to the end of the 88 year title drought is given a chance to move on in peace. From 2003-2011, Ozzie led the team on the Southside, winning it all in 2005 and the AL Central in 2008. It’s a shame that 2010 was such an utter train wreck, and Ozzie’s final year was a disaster. it wasn’t his fault.
“All in”?? Uhm yeah, so much for the afterglow of that ABYSMAL 11-22 start. But Ozzie was still ready to stay in for the long haul. And this is how it went down.
Ozzie didn’t want to manage for just one season, he wanted an extension. He gave an ultimatum weeks ago that he wanted his extension to be resolved before he left to go on holiday in Spain. His vacation begins a couple days after the season ends. He met with the Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf today at the United Center. No agreement was reached.
And now we’re living separate lives.
We’ll have more on this.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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