Survivor San Juan del Sur: THAT article about John Rocker

Written by Tashi from the blog Tashi's TV on 26 Apr 2017
Favourite this post

If you've been wondering what bigoted John Rocker said in the article that got him booted from Survivor this week... wonder no more.

I've just investigated and found the full article which was published in Sports Illustrated in 1999: At Full Blast.
This is an extract from wiki where it's been shortened... he's literally the unedited version of Trump!!!!

...

-----

For a story published in the December 27, 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated, Rocker made a number of allegations stemming from his experiences in New York City and answering a question about whether he would ever play for the New York Yankees or the New York Mets.

I'd retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?[10]

During the interview, he also spoke of his opinion of the New York Mets and their fans:

Nowhere else in the country do people spit at you, throw bottles at you, throw quarters at you, throw batteries at you and say, "Hey, I did your mother last night—she's a whore." I talked about what degenerates they were and they proved me right.

The interview was conducted while driving to a speaking engagement in Atlanta. The reporter, Jeff Pearlman, wrote that during the interview session, Rocker spat on a Georgia State Route 400 toll machine and mocked Asian women. Also, Rocker referred to Curaçaoan teammate Randall Simon as a "fat monkey."[10]

Although Rocker later apologized after speaking with Braves legend and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and former Atlanta mayor and congressman Andrew Young, he continued to make controversial remarks.[11]

For his comments, Commissioner Bud Selig suspended Rocker without pay for the remainder of spring training and the first 28 games of the 2000 season,[12] which on appeal was reduced to 14 games (without a spring-training suspension).

In 2002, while with the Rangers, Rocker again made national headlines for his views after directing slurs towards patrons of a Dallas restaurant at which he was dining, located in the heavily LGBT-populated neighborhood of Oak Lawn.[13][14]

-----

A link to full entry on wikipedia. (Caution: there's a spoiler about his girlfriend Julie under the Movies and Television Appearances section so don't read it to avoid being spoiled.)

Shows in this post: Survivor

Channels in this post: SABC3

2 Comments

wonderlad
28 Apr 2017 10:40

ooh I just got back from a fab holiday in Brazil so only catching up now. Thanks Tashi! What a nasty piece of work and glad he was outed so quickly. It's not surprising how Trump can be elected with people like this as 'heroes'. I wonder the rationale behind the producers casting him.