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AE: Do you think they avoid the issue of homophobia?
GC: A lot of journalists won't get into the issue. The beat writers avoid it issue because they don't want to burn bridges with players or coaches. We've had only two openly gay players in history and there is a reason. There is an anti-gay atmosphere in sports clubhouses in general and reporters know it. If they were to write about this they would be cut off from sources--players, Guillen, everybody.

AE: Have you had any feedback from players?
GC: No.

AE: Why don't you talk about how the incident unfolded.
GC: Guillen has said a lot of strange things over the years, including what he said last year. [He referred to someone as homosexual and a child molester--equating the two.] Nothing has ever stuck to him. During the press conference I wrote about last Wednesday, he started railing about Mariotti. He said a lot of terrible things, but then he called him a “f***ing fag” which he emphasized several times saying, “He is. He is”.

I couldn't believe it. I took him aside after the game telling him I was going to rip him
over his choice of the word fag to describe Mariotti. I asked if he wanted a chance to explain it.

AE: What did he say?
GC: [Laughing] Again he started ranting about Mariotti. I told him I didn't care about that. I wanted to know why he used the word fag. He started explaining how it meant something different where he's from. [Venezuela.] It just means weak and not brave and it wasn't an insult to gay people. He said he has a gay friend. That turned out to be his hairdresser. He said he went to a Madonna concert and was going to the Gay Games. I looked over at his public relations person thinking, “Aren't you going to grab him and get him to apologize?” But they didn't do anything.

AE: What made this incident stand out for you? Surely, this isn't the first time you've heard the word “fag” used as an insult in baseball.
GC: I don't know. When he said it, it shocked me. I didn't think, “Oh, think there's my column.” There was dead silence for a moment as other folks noticed.

AE: But no one else wrote about it.
GC: Actually, two other columnists did mention it. Phil Arvia of The Daily South Town and Mike Naddell of The Copley News Service.

AE: But you write for a major Chicago newspaper, plus you called for Guillen's suspension. So it was your column that got all of the attention and really raised the issue.
GC: I suppose.

AE: Do you think Guillen understands what he did wrong now?
GC: No. His apology was so weak: “I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'm sorry if anyone took offense.” I'm sure he didn't, but that's not the issue.

AE: And it's basically a non-apology apology. “I'm sorry if you're so sensitive that you're offended by this, but I didn't really do anything wrong.”
GC: Yeah. I told him, “Ozzie, you've been in this country for 25 years. You know you can't use that word.” He even used air quotes when saying those I “offended”. Then he laughed when asked about sensitivity training. He doesn't take it seriously. He recently told ESPN Deportes he wasn't going to sensitivity training.

AE: How do you think the White Sox handled the incident?
GC: Masterfully. They effectively used the media to turn it into an issue about Mariotti, and the media and fans went along with it. On the website for the White Sox, the media relations guy briefly writes they don't condone this language, but then talks about Mariotti!

The rest is just a precursor to what they really want to talk about which is about Mariotti. Then CEO Jerry Reinsdorf comes out and says Marriotti is garbage. It was all a calculated maneuver by the Sox to turn the issue away from Guillen's words. For several days, Kenny Williams, the general manager, disappeared. But in the past couple of days he has finally stood up and said that Ozzie didn't understand how serious this issue is.

He's the only one in the White Sox not trying not to change the subject. He's handling it right. He even brought up the idea that this could lead to the end of Ozzie [with the White Sox]. He said, “I hope I don't have to go down to his office one day and say we have to make a change.” He's the only one who has made this serious for Ozzie.

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