On Friday night, during my own ball game, I got a tweet from Vegas Geoff.
Alex Rios swears at a fan. Just for you, @TorontoMike http://bit.ly/8AMYd
I watched the video that night, actually felt bad for Alex Rios, and tweeted the following:
@Vegasgeoff If I had 5 strikeouts, I'd swear at my own mother.
I didn't even blog about it, because I'd just defend Alex Rios and nobody wants to see a multi-million dollar athlete defended when he's swearing around young fans. He really should have showed some restraint, but he's slumping. He's slumping really good, and he had five strike-outs that day. As a guy who loves playing ball and plays about three times a week, I meant what I tweeted to VegasGeoff. If I had five strikeouts in a game, I'd swear at that guy outside the ROM as well. Whether it was a rec league softball game or a pro game for which I was a paid a mountain of money.
Mike Kic, a member of my comp division softball team, wrote me this morning asking why I haven't posted the video. Kic thinks Rios is a classless bum. I say Rios doesn't have to sign every ball handed to him outside a charity event and his response to the heckling wasn't drenched in Halladay-like class, but doesn't warrant a communal lashing by guys like us. I'm almost happy to see he gives a damn that the fans are demanding more.
We expect more from Rios and he expects more from himself. He's apologized for his tirade and that's good enough for me. What do you guys think about Alex Rios' profane tirade outside the ROM?
