Why Ellen Is Wrong And Manny Is Right

Looks like we dodged the bullet on the storms last night. There was some tornadic activity north of here. We did get a little bit of hail and some heavy rain for about fifteen minutes around midnight.

I’m going to talk about a couple of things that are in the news today. Neither are important on the grand scheme of things but I’m interested in the over all tone of how they are being covered.

First, is this story about Ellen DeGeneres adopting a dog, then deciding that she didn’t want the dog, then disregarding her arrangement and giving the dog to someone else.

I can’t think of many things sadder than someone who does something for a noble cause but then decides that the responsibility involved is just too much of a burden. DeGeneres has and continues to act irresponsibly.

She adopted the dog and the dog didn’t get along with her cats. Who doesn’t see that coming?

When she adopted the dog, she signed a contract saying that she would not give the dog away. Either she didn’t read the contract or ignored it. Pick one, doesn’t matter, either way it’s highly irresponsible.

Upon finding out that she broke the contract, she went on her show a gave a tearful appeal to force the adoption people to disregard the fact that she had broken the contract and given away the dog.

As a result the people who run the dog adoption place are saying that they are getting death threats from Ellen’s fans. Probably not a scary as getting death threats from say, a group of Megadeath fans but, a death threat is a death threat.

All through this, DeGeneres seems most concerned with the fact that the people she gave the dog to have bonded with it. That the little girls are sad because the dog was taken away.
This shows me that DeGeneres didn’t have concern for the dog in the first place. If she did, she would have read and abided by the contract. If she read and abided by the contract, the dog would be better off, the little girls wouldn’t be sad and nobody would be getting death threats.

Ellen, meanwhile, feels the need to continue acting irresponsibly. This is from “Good Morning America”.

I think this is the last time I’m talking about this,” she said. “Unless I’m lucky enough to say one day to you, ‘Iggy has returned.’ As of today, as I’m talking to you, Iggy has not been returned. And, in fact, I think we were told it was given to another home.

Unfortunately, Ruby, the little girl, doesn’t want another dog. She wants Iggy. It’s not a toy that’s broken that you can replace. It’s a dog.”

If Ellen had not treated this dog like a toy that she would tire of playing with, none of this would have happened.

Next up is Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox slugger has long been thought of as eccentric. Baseball men would use the word “flaky”.

I was watching ESPN this morning and the wonks are all a twitter over Mann’y latest remarks. Here’s what Manny said regarding the fact that the Sox are now down 3-1 against the Indians.

“Why panic?” Ramirez said. “If we don’t do it, we’ll come back next year and try again … If it doesn’t happen, who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not the end of the world.”

Sports guys hate talk like that. They think that this kind of thing could harm the team; that Manny is throwing in the towel or as Wade Boggs says, “rolling over”.

I think they are all nuts. Manny is hitting .429 with four home runs in the playoffs. Would the Red Sox even be alive if Manny wasn’t pulling more than his weight?

Manny may look like he hired Peter Tosh’s disgruntled hairdresser. He may look like he’s roller skating in pajamas when he is in right field. I think that Manny is close to being a Zen master. I think he is close to comprehending the laws of Karma and attaining Realization.

I think the fact that he realizes that this is not the most serious thing going, that it is a game, is precisely the reason that he is loose and the reason that he hits. He isn’t a worried man. Maybe Alex Rodriguez should try some of this approach.

This is Manny being a leader and if the Red Sox follow his lead; loosen up and just play the game, they still have a chance.

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Tags: Ellen DeGeneres, Manny Ramirez