After last night’s game, Blue Jays manager complained about a call being properly overturned on reply by suggesting that his team should just wear dresses. The comment was completely sexist, offensive, and completely uncalled for. Most people expected a simple apology today, and we would all move on. Instead, Gibbons decided to double down on his idiotic comments.
“It was meant as a little humor,” Gibbons said. “My mom, my wife, my daughter found it kind of funny. They know me. I do think the world needs to lighten up a bit. So, I’ll move on from that.
“I cannot understand how that would offend anybody, to be honest with you, if it doesn’t offend my mother, my daughter and my wife, who have a great understanding of life.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect that,” Gibbons said. “I understand there’s an uproar, I don’t get that; it’s not the way I think. Try to inject a little humor into an intense situation. That’s kind of who I am. You guys know me, that’s who I am. No ill intent, but I do think we need to lighten up the world.”
That’s like saying I didn’t mean to be racist, and because I’m not a racist person I can’t understand why someone may take that very racist statement to be racist, but really, you need to suck it up and move on. I made the same racist joke to my black friend, and he didn’t get offended, so clearly it’s not racist. The fact that you can’t possibly understand why anyone would take offense with your moronic, sexist and possibly homophobic comments shows to me just how out of touch you are in today’s society. When you offend someone, you don’t tell them to lighten up. You fucking apologize and try to learn just why you offended them, you insufferable jackass. (I didn’t mean to offend you Mr. Gibbons, I was just joking and you need to lighten up.) See how that works?
Fan Interference 
I just read Baer’s post and I quote, “allowing players and coaches to make casually sexist comments and go unpunished makes their current effort to combat domestic violence — which overwhelmingly affects women more than men — look contradictory”. That’s spot on and the real meat of the issue. It’s undermining MLBs transition into not being a Chauvinistic Asshole Club (or CAC).
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The fact that Toronto’s PR department didn’t have a conversation with Gibbons before the game, and give him a short prepared statement astounds me. I doubt MLB will suspend him, but I do expect a hefty fine.
Remember, all of this could have been fixed with a simple “I’m sorry I offended people, my comment was not thought out properly and I should take better care in the future.”
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If Gibbons is fined, though, it’ll be for disrespect of the officials, not for misogyny.
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How we double the fine and call it for disrespecting humanity
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Why would you hope that the Toronto PR department would have provided him with an artfully vacuous, fake little statement to recite?
Wouldn’t you rather know what he actually thinks?
Usually when people use the “I’m not politically correct” defense it’s because they said something stupid and mean and need an all purpose escape hatch. This time I’d excuse Gibbons from using it.
Hears how I hear him: ‘yeah I know I say stupid shit sometimes because I’m a guy and sometimes that what we do. But the women in my family love me because they know that I love them, so they actually think my stupid shit is kind of cute, so would you cut me some slack and move on?’
I like loveable idiots. I hope I’m one myself.
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i suppose. I suppose I would like him to say that, and then go on, and say that he understands now how his statement was offensive and won’t do it again
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What his statement said to me was that the women in his family are accustomed to and accept his casual misogyny. They may love him anyway, but that makes me sad for the women in his family.
What’s more, he had a great chance for introspection….many people bungle along in their lives maintaining the same causal racism, homophobia, and misogyny without many chances to think about what they think, what they say, and how they act….he had a change to reflect and make changes for the better, and he turned away from that chance.
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Neither does 90% of the readership at HBT judging from Bill’s post. Now, Bill does frequently come across as preachy with this topic (You should have seen the flak he got after criticizing Mike Schmidt for using the phrase “throwing like a girl” in a Crashburn Alley post), but he’s not wrong.
And what you found spot on Bravo, other readers found bewildering. I’m sure Gibbons isn’t some misogynist creep, but he doesn’t realize that he grew up in a very sexist world which is still pretty sexist even if standards have improved. He is so immersed in it it’s like a Fish that doesn’t notice the water it’s swimming in. He can’t grok it.
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This.all of them s, especially the veiled homophobia. Because real men wear pants, and therefore…
So its either you’re a bunch of girls, or you’re gay. OK. Either way, that’s a slur.
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You comment like a girl.
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Well, I are one. 😉
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Lies, here’s the rules of the internet:
If it’s says it’s a man, it’s a man
If it’s says it’s a girl, it’s a man pretending
If it’s says it’s a 15 year old, it’s the FBI
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@citation
we had a cop back in the my space days that would friend taggers posing as a 15 y/o girl to “rap” about tags. he busted so so so many of my juvi clients.
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That’s a great compliment!
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“I have to apologize? What kind of queer would even get offended by that?”
-John Gibbons in response to this uproar*
*Probably
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You said it all, Scouts. Apparently Gibbons is a fool.
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It’s just ridiculous.
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He’ll probably let this marinate for two or three days. Then we will get a grudging apology when management tells him to.
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I love the rationalization. Hey, all my close female relative are used to my misogyny and so inured to it that they don’t even recognize it for what it is.
My second favorite part is how he says it was supposed to be funny….but, you know, fails to explain how his suggestion could possibly be funny in any way that isn’t a slam against women.
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it didn’t sound like he was trying to be funny
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Of course not. Nonetheless, that is what he claimed.
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He’s not related to me. I would have torn him a new orifice when he got home from the office.
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Next up on Gibbon’s itinerary: John explains how saying “get your cotton-picking hands off of my stuff” is not racist and in no way is it meant as an insult by comparing the person to a slave or poor black share-cropper in the Southern US. Nope, it is totally innocent and funny, and all his black friend [singular on purpose, hat tip to Amy Schumer] thinks it’s funny because he’s used to John’s racism..
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His comments seem not politely Canadian. What’s wrong in Toronto all of a sudden? Maybe the new PM (PM-Dreamy?) needs to explain it to him.
Also, what do you think are the odds that Gibbons didn’t ask his female family members if it was offensive? They probably just didn’t bother to say anything to him, and he assumed that meant it was cool.
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Yeah, the chances are better then 50/50 that he didn’t ask family members if it was offensive and that they decided that keeping quiet was the easiest way to go, but maybe that’s because he isn’t really that bad a guy.
I still dissent from the idea that we should be getting up in arms over this. In the overall scheme of things if too much is made of this rhetorical cover is given to ignoring that someone who said Megyn Kelley had “blood coming out of wherever” went on to win the New Hampshire primary.
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Why couldn’t you guys stop me from going over to fkaHBT to do a little damage?
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Too late.
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I briefly browsed the comments.
What a goddamned cesspool that turned into.
I’m sure Craig’s big bald head is beaming with pride.
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Hahahaha
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Whatever. This article is so stupid I don’t know where to start. I agree with Gibbons 100% and I’m not even a Blue Jays fan. People need to chill out. The comment wasn’t meant to be insulting to women at all. And we should be glad he stood be his comment instead of turning into a sniveling wanna be like everything else. Speak your mind and don’t apologize for it.
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Nice!! Welcome aboard. You get the Official First Dissenting Opinion Award. We have been waiting for you–a troll. We have officially made it! Woooooo!! High fives everybody!!! Nice work, nice work.
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The comment wasn’t meant to be insulting to women at all.
There’s no way you can justify that and still be intellectual(ly honest).
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I do agree with one part of that comment….
Indeed. I like when people broadcast their stupidity. Makes it easier to avoid them in the future.
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