Will Joe Torre get roasted like Spree?

Yes, It's the fact that Torre was wearing a suit. It has nothing to do with the fact that Sprewell--a guy who once pulled a gun on a teammate, has had multiple reckless driving incidents including one in which he flipped two cars and one in which he threatened a cop, an incident in which he tried to punch a woman who puked on his yacht (which has since been repossessed)... and, um, choked his coach--said:

“I told you I needed to feed my family. They offered me 3 years at $21 million. That’s not going to cut it. And I’m not going to sit here and continue to give my children food while this front office takes money out of my pocket. If Taylor wants to see my family fed, he better cough up some money. Otherwise, you’re going to see these kids in one of those Sally Struthers commercials soon.”

And it has nothing to do with the fact that Torre accomplished way more as manager of the Yankees than Sprewell had as a player for the Timberwolves.

The people on this board are applying a double standard, according to you, and not surprisingly (since you actually believe there is a double standard) you knew they were going to not agree before you even posted something equating two ridiculously nonparallel situations.

 

Joe, I think both of you are missing the point. It is the statement that Sprewell made that got him ridiculed--he said he can't feed his family... The owner is responsible for his kids, because he is not going to feed them now... look for his kids on a Sally Struthers commercials, etc.

It wasn't JUST the fact that he was insulted by the offer. It was the fact that he was insulted when the pay cut was actually justified by just about any measure. He was way overpaid at $14.5 million a year. And his skills were in decline. This is all backed up by the fact that he hasn't been able to buy his way into the NBA since then at ANY price... and they have been repossessing items from him while he remains an unemployed basketball player.

Torre was making twice as much as any manager and even at $5 million plus incentives he would have been making more than any manager. But he is not Sprewell. For him to say that based on his record in NY, a pay cut was an insult is not all that out there. Torre was not an aging basketball player whose skills had declined precipitously. He's as capable today as the guy who took his team to the playoffs 12 years in a row and won four world championships. You might disagree about whether it was an insult, but it's not a ridiculous thing for someone who has achieved that kind of success to say -- and he didn't say it in an stupid way, a la, "I can't feed my kids, blah blah, Sally Struthers."

Unlike Sprewell who might even have trouble buying a ticket to a basketball game at this point, if Torre decides he wants to manage again, there will be a job waiting for him somewhere. He won't earn what the Yankees could pay, but in that same news conference in which he called their treatment an insult, he also said it wasn't about the money, it was about a respect and feeling as if he is wanted.

The two situations, the prospects of each man when they made their statements, and the actual statements, couldn't be more different.