Manufactured Rowand controversy

I don't know about you, but I am sick of the bloggers and a few sports writers making a big deal out of the Rowand statement to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times.

The issue is an out of context excerpt from the article:

JC: Thing you miss most about playing for Chicago?

Rowand: Wearing the road uniform. And you know why? Because it said ‘Chicago’ across the front. I got goose bumps every time I would put it on.

JC: Not so with San Francisco?

Rowand: [Pause] Let’s talk about the Bears again.

And this is how a blogger responds to the statement:

Now, my first initial thought? San Francisco is where he works. He doesn’t have to like the city or the fans, for that matter. I’ve never known any sane professional athlete outside of Lance Berkman who didn’t care for SF, but Aaron never struck me as the brightest crayon in the box so I’ll let that pass. Fine. He can prefer Chi-town to The City.

Second thought being Rowand was an intricate part of the White Sox World Series team, something he was far from last year during the Giants run. Okay, so the White Sox ring has more value and merit to him – understandable. Silly, but, I get it.

The story was about the Bears an his childhood affinity for them.  The interviewer asked him about SF compared to Chicago on his jersey and, as he later clarified, instead of saying something that might be taken out of context and upsetting someone from SF or Chicago, he asked that the interview get back on track.

If these bloggers were to ACTUALLY pay attention to the comment IN CONTEXT, he would have read that Rowand was not bashing SF.

It is extremely annoying when people manufacture controversy just because they don't like him or the way he has been playing while in SF, especially when they take something out of context AND go the extra mile to "interpret" the comment for everyone without a basis in fact. Rowand has mentioned several times that his play has been disappointing and that he does not feel like he is living up to his contract. His professionalism, despite his, the teams and the fans frustration; has been exemplary and as a DH, he has been stellar (.325 Avg. per CSN Bay Area)

If I want to get frustrated about anything it's how Sabean can continue to "reward" veterans with asinine contracts that do not make sense. Rentaria, Huff, Rowand & Zito quickly come to mind.  I'll pull some numbers and hit this again in another post.  But, this Rowand controversy, just isn't worth the manufactured weight of the argument.