Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

"You remember some of those despotic leaders in World War II, primarily in Russia and Germany, where they used to take those pictures that they had ... taken of former generals who were no longer alive, they had shot 'em. They would airbrush the pictures, and airbrushed the generals out of the pictures. In a sense, that's what the Yankees have done with Joe Torre. They have airbrushed his legacy. I mean, there's no sign of Joe Torre at the Stadium. And, that's ridiculous. I don't understand it."

--Tim McCarver, July 17, 2010(He has since apologized for using World War II as a reference to this situation)

When will people ever learn not to compare everyday life to war or 9/11? Just like football players should not use the term "in the trenches" to compare playing a game to fighting a war. It is too cringe-worthy and sports are too trivial to compare to war or devastating events.

Dwyane Wade made the same mistake this weekend, in comparing a couple Heat's losses to the World Trade Center coming down. This was mostly taken out of context, and Wade meant nothing malicious by his statement. Just saying the words "World Trade Center," or casually mentioning 9/11 will create a media storm. It was a slip of the tongue, Wade apologized, and my issue is not with him.

It is with McCarver.

Let me preface this rant by saying I am completely biased against McCarver. I simply can't stand to listen to him and Joe Buck. I think they are the worst commentators to listen to while watching a game. This is because 99% of the time they are wrong all of the time.

During the All-Star Game, McCarver mentioned that the Yankees would need two new momuments, following the deaths of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard. Both certainly deserve monuments for the years of service they provided the team. He failed to do his research though, because Bob Sheppard already has a monument in Yankee Stadium.

Regarding Joe Torre, I understand that McCarver is defending a friend. The Yankees tried to lowball him with a 1 year, $5 million contract, 2 million less than the previous year. Since turning them down, the only contact Torre has had with the club was facing them as manager of the LA Dodgers a few weeks ago.

McCarver failed to mention that, while 2 million less than the previous year, the contract offer was still 2 million more than any manager in baseball was receiving. In addition to that, Joe Torre wrote a book, "The Yankee Years." In it, he basically blamed Brian Cashman and upper management for the Yankees failures following last World Series win in 2000.

Yankees management holds grudges. It is what they do. Ask Billy Martin, (fired 5 times). Ask Dave Winfield, (was privately investigated by Steinbrenner). Ask Yogi Berra, (after being fired, was not asked back for 14 years.)

Sure, the Yankees should have had Torre back for the closing of their stadium. They were too bitter at the time. Torre will be welcomed back eventually, unless he keeps up his writing career. The Yankees will hold a grudge against another fan favorite. All will be right in the world.

Except McCarver and Buck.