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To the dismay of most of us, after two weeks of silence on baseball, Richard Griffin has poison-penned a new column. To our surprise, there's only one feeble shot at J.P. & Co. in the latest bird-cage liner:

...the sophomore GM, in learning the job's ABCs, still seems stuck on the A's.

Hey, a clever play on words! Too bad the premise is so flimsy. The appropriate letters for the game's sharpest front office -- yes, including Oakland -- are PhD.

Stay tuned for a day or two; I think he's working up a head of steam. The anticipated attack based on the "Cruz for Nothing" theme is merely postponed; this one mentions the "slick little scheme" of the Expos' impending move, Pete Rose's "embarrassing" qualifications for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Yankees' "nutty" signing of Jon Lieber. (The latter was actually smart, if you have the cash lying around). Rich wants to get his loyal reader caught up on events, but when he's not inventing lies ("rumours", in this case) or distorting facts to advance his anti-Jays agenda, he's just boring.
Posted by Coach on Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 08:15 AM EST.
Gruff Griff Quiet on Cruz | 11 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_Jordan - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 08:54 AM EST (#97841) #
I love the "sophomore GM" line; last year, JP was a "rookie GM." Does this mean he'll be a senior in 2005 and turn pro at the end of the season? And was he red-shirted at some point? Dink.
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Dave Till - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 09:29 AM EST (#97842) #
Griffin's latest diatribe confused me. I don't understand the following sentence:

Nothing major is likely to happen, since the rumour is that the Rogers-owned Jays, not wishing to promote the enemy, have forbidden GM J.P. Ricciardi to make a trade that might be called a "blockbuster."

I have no idea how making a big trade promotes the enemy, or even who the enemy is. What's Griffin talking about here?
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_Ryan Adams - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 09:33 AM EST (#97843) #
Dave,

If the Jays make a blockbuster trade, the terrorists will have won. :-)
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_DS - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 09:50 AM EST (#97844) #
I think Griffin meant Blockbuster Video. It's still a stupid, stupid comment that is completely irrelevant, by a man who's trying to be funny, but isn't.
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_Mick - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 10:01 AM EST (#97845) #
They don't come more blockbuster than acquiring Cory Lidle. Nosiree.
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Dave Till - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 11:53 AM EST (#97846) #
Oh, I get it. Blockbuster Video. Wacka wacka.

Anyone want to organize a whip-around and buy Griffo a copy of "What Colour Is My Parachute?" The man is obviously unhappy with his job, and in desperate need of a mid-life career change.
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Gitz - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 02:35 PM EST (#97847) #
The man is obviously unhappy with his job, and in desperate need of a mid-life career change.

I know you're joking, Dave, at least a little, but to be fair to Griffin, changing careers from a "journalist" to "anything else" is, shall we say, "impossible." Why it's about as difficult as finding a job if, say, you have a "BA" in communication studies and an "MA" in English. Or so I've been told ...
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_Jordan - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 02:48 PM EST (#97848) #
Wacka wacka.

A Fozzie Bear reference. I thank you.
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_jason - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 03:29 PM EST (#97849) #
In his article he laments that J.P. is forbidden to make a blockbuster trade, as if this is something that should be done. Has Griffin learned nothing from the Gord Ash era?
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_Matthew Elmslie - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 04:30 PM EST (#97850) #
Well, there are good blockbusters and bad blockbusters. At the moment I don't think that the Jays have any blocks that need busting, but who knows, if the right deal came along.

Anyway I think that whole 'rumour' was invented by Griffin for the sake of the joke. Not what we're used to out of him, but not something I object to either.
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Coach - Wednesday, January 29 2003 @ 06:24 PM EST (#97851) #
This was the calm before the storm. Lame jokes that missed, and three non-Jays topics. He's working up to another rant. Cruz will be prominently mentioned, probably connected to the idea of a World Series ring. Cat, Myers, Bordick and Sturtze will be denigrated or omitted.

Has Griffin learned nothing from the Gord Ash era?

Sure. He's learned that the phrase "the Blue Jays" can be used to distort truth whenever he wants to make J.P. look bad. He's learned that the club, as opposed to the current front office, should be blamed for mistakes. I used to complain about the nature of his cheap shots at Gordo, even though I believe the criticism was mostly deserved. Knowledgeable Jays fans are enjoying a revolutionary era, with success around the corner, but Griffin hasn't seemed to notice, making his style all the more annoying.
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