Ozzie Guillen (GETTY IMAGES)
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It didn't take very long for the White Sox to draw the ire of Cubs fans, with the annual cross-town rivalry set to begin Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
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Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has always stated his hatred for the three games played in Wrigley, with John Danks jumping on board last year and insisting that the entire place "smelled like urine."
Guillen continued his pile-on over the weekend, and actually explained why Cubs fans should respect his opinion, rather than hate him for it.
"Oh, I don't care if they hate me, they don't feed my kids," Guillen said of the Cubs faithful. "They hate me, that's cool. People, no matter how famous you are, they hate you or they love you. I see the other day they asked (Joe) Crede about the rats (in Wrigley), at least I have something that people can read and write and listen to, but I never put the Cubs' fans down, I've always admired the Cubs' office, I always made my feelings known about Cubs' players, about the manager, about (manager) Lou (Piniella) now, (general manager) Jim Hendry and the way I respect them, a lot, a lot, but Wrigley Field? I puke every time I go there. I'm just being honest.
"If the Cubs' fans don't like the way I talk about Wrigley Field... I don't say anything about their fans, but Wrigley Field? They have to respect my opinion because that's the way I feel. A lot of great people are working there, the clubhouse people working there -- I wish they had a better clubhouse, but besides that, it's exciting when the game starts. Of course it's exciting because that's one of the best, it's always crowded. But besides that, it's terrible."
Guillen went on to say that if he was singling out Cubs personnel or the color of the uniform, that would be different. Then he would understand why Cubs fans dislike his comments. But an old building?
"I'd rather have somebody say you hate the place you live, rather than the people who live in it," Guillen said. "I never say I hate the players, the organization or the Cubs' uniforms, then it's something bad.
"Every time I walk to Wrigley Field, people treat me like a king. The people that work at Wrigley Field, like the front-office people, the security guards, the people who work there are very honest and treat me well. I just hate the building."
--The Sports XChange
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