Rogers To Face Charges

[SwtwtrMstngs04]

Rangers pitcher turns himself in on misdemeanor warrant
July 18, 2005

Photo
AP - Jul 6, 3:06 pm EDT
More Photos
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers turned himself in to authorities Monday on misdemeanor assault charges stemming from his tirade against two cameramen.

Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said Rogers faces a charge of assault with injury in the shoving of KDFW cameraman Larry Rodriguez. She also said police will mail an assault citation to Rogers' attorney for shoving Fox Sports Net Southwest cameraman David Mammeli.

The assault charge involving Rodriguez is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. The other charge is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Neither the Rangers nor Rogers' attorney returned telephone calls seeking comment.

Gilfour said Fox Sports -- which owns the camera Rogers damaged in shoving Rodriguez -- has declined to press criminal charges.

Rogers is free on $1,500 bond. He's appealing a 20-game suspension and $50,000 fine for shoving the cameramen June 29.

Rogers lashed out at the cameramen as they filmed him walking to the field for pregame stretching. The episode led to Rodriguez being treated at a hospital after the camera was ripped from his hands and thrown to the ground.

[gonnawin05]

those stuckup reporters should have gotten out of his d*mn way i mean how would you like it if some stuckup reporter came up to you and wouldnot get out your way im so p*ssed off:foul: :foul: :mad:

[Phantom Stang]

Originally posted by gonnawin05
those stuckup reporters should have gotten out of his d*mn way i mean how would you like it if some stuckup reporter came up to you and wouldnot get out your way im so p*ssed off:foul: :foul: :mad:
It looked to me like Rogers changed his path to jump the guy.

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by Phantom Stang
It looked to me like Rogers changed his path to jump the guy. yeah he did.........

[rockdale80]

I dont think what he did was right, but I do have a strong point to make about this. As a member of the press it is their paid position to heckle celebrities. They meddle through their lives in every facet, and scrutinize it publically. Everything is in the eye of the public, from personal idiosyncrisis, to family problems. Having said that, is it not acceptable to finally get fed up, and unleash? It takes alot to get me mad about something, but when it does happen it is not a good thing for anyone causing my frustration. All I am saying is atheletes, actors, and musicians are people too...and even they can lose their temper. This was Rogers first offense, and he didn't completely maul the guy. 20 games, a big fine, and criminal charges....Isn't that a bit harsh?

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by rockdale80
I dont think what he did was right, but I do have a strong point to make about this. As a member of the press it is their paid position to heckle celebrities. They meddle through their lives in every facet, and scrutinize it publically. Everything is in the eye of the public, from personal idiosyncrisis, to family problems. Having said that, is it not acceptable to finally get fed up, and unleash? It takes alot to get me mad about something, but when it does happen it is not a good thing for anyone causing my frustration. All I am saying is atheletes, actors, and musicians are people too...and even they can lose their temper. This was Rogers first offense, and he didn't completely maul the guy. 20 games, a big fine, and criminal charges....Isn't that a bit harsh? I know I am in the minority, but I don't think it's EVER EVER acceptable to hit or push someone, and just because he is a celebrity, he doesn't, in my book, get any allowances for bad behavior. That said, I don't think the press should be in his face off the field, but on the field, he is fair game for reporting.....he's there doing his job and the reporters are there doing their job.....his actions were unacceptable.

[kaorder1999]

Originally posted by rockdale80
I dont think what he did was right, but I do have a strong point to make about this. As a member of the press it is their paid position to heckle celebrities. They meddle through their lives in every facet, and scrutinize it publically. Everything is in the eye of the public, from personal idiosyncrisis, to family problems. Having said that, is it not acceptable to finally get fed up, and unleash? It takes alot to get me mad about something, but when it does happen it is not a good thing for anyone causing my frustration. All I am saying is atheletes, actors, and musicians are people too...and even they can lose their temper. This was Rogers first offense, and he didn't completely maul the guy. 20 games, a big fine, and criminal charges....Isn't that a bit harsh?

nope...that isnt harsh at all. If a normal person on the street would have done this then they would have been arrested on the spot. And if arrested a normal person would peobably lose their job.

Professional atheltes have to work with the media every day. He has NEVER been one to cooperate with the media. What he did was wrong. Its is totally unexcusable. He's lucky he's not still in New York. He would have reporters at this door step daily after this incident

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by kaorder1999
nope...that isnt harsh at all. If a normal person on the street would have done this then they would have been arrested on the spot. And if arrested a normal person would peobably lose their job.

Professional atheltes have to work with the media every day. He has NEVER been one to cooperate with the media. What he did was wrong. Its is totally unexcusable. He's lucky he's not still in New York. He would have reporters at this door step daily after this incident

So a normal person would get fired, criminal charges, fined 50,000, and a civil suit to follow? Most likely not.


The most he can receive is

CLASS A MISDEMEANOR. An individual adjudged
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one
year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.



So if we are going to talk about him like a normal person then think about this. If you are a guy in your late 30's to early 40's, clean record, and family...then how hefty do you think your fine will be? Everyone says that he is an athlete and shouldn't get preferential treatment, but they want to take his status into consideration and make the punishment worse because he is. Sort of contradicts itself.

[lostaussie]

i think its time to let this die. i think rogers has been humbled quite a bit by his stupid actions and deservedly so. but the press needs to let it go. probably won't happen though.

[Phantom Stang]

Originally posted by rockdale80
So a normal person would get fired, criminal charges, fined 50,000, and a civil suit to follow? Most likely not.


The most he can receive is

CLASS A MISDEMEANOR. An individual adjudged
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one
year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.



So if we are going to talk about him like a normal person then think about this. If you are a guy in your late 30's to early 40's, clean record, and family...then how hefty do you think your fine will be? Everyone says that he is an athelete and shouldn't get preferential treatment, but they want to take his status into consideration and make the punishment worse because he is. Sort of contradicts itself.
Do you really think that the "average Joe" could attack someone in his workplace, without having to fear losing his job, getting arrested, and being sued??:rolleyes:

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by Phantom Stang
Do you really think that the "average Joe" could attack someone in his workplace, without having to fear losing his job, getting arrested, and being sued??:rolleyes:


I think an "average joe" would get fired and maybe arrested. You are missing the point though. If you say that because he is a star and deserves no preferential treatment, but you want him to be punished more severely because of his status then you contradict yourself. The punishment should fit the crime. That is all I am saying. I dont think I have heard of an average joe being fined 50,000 bucks by his job either.:rolleyes:

Just want to add that I do not believe what he did was right at all. I think he should be punished, but not in excess because he is a pro athlete.

[LH Panther Mom]

If he were an "average Joe", none of us would ever have heard about this. ;) The criminal punishment should fit the crime. The punishment the league assesses, should be considered separate.

[Old Tiger]

good he deserves it!

[gonnawin05]

:tongue: :tongue:

[Bandera YaYa]

Ha....Rogers was mouthing off to reporters at the jail, when he was turning himself in....geezzzzzzz what a LOSER!!! I never believed his apology was sincere...not for one second....i hope he makes another "mistake" and gets the book thrown at him.....arrogent, smug SOB!!!

[gonnawin05]

do you hate him because he plays for texas or do you hate him because kens 5 hates him:foul: :eyetwitch

[kaorder1999]

hes just an idiot. Kenny Rogers has always been an idiot

[Bandera YaYa]

amUOTE]Originally posted by gonnawin05
do you hate him because he plays for texas or do you hate him because kens 5 hates him:foul: :eyetwitch [/QUOTE] Uh...I don't HATE him....I AM sorry he is representing a Texas team....he's an embarrassment to his team and his fans....he needs to learn to keep his arrogant and obscene mouth shut. Ha! ..like he's gonna do that!!!Any chance he can be traded to some northern team???? say the Yankees, perhaps???? :D

[Old Tiger]

He is not that good of pitcher anyways :rolleyes:

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by Tiger WR
He is not that good of pitcher anyways :rolleyes: ...and I have always believed that you catch alot more bees with honey then with vinegar..... :D :D

[Old Tiger]

Originally posted by Bandera YaYa
...and I have always believed that you catch alot more bees with honey then with vinegar..... :D :D :confused:

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by Tiger WR
:confused: hhahaha.....you are obviously too young to have heard that expression!!!! :p :D

[rockdale80]

I would bet if it were an athlete you liked you would sing a different song.

[Old Tiger]

Yea...the only thing I know about old school is Chuck Taylors :p

[kaorder1999]

Originally posted by rockdale80
I would bet if it were an athlete you liked you would sing a different song.

wrong....

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by rockdale80
I would bet if it were an athlete you liked you would sing a different song. I LOVE Manu of the San Antonio Spurs....but if he was out there acting like that..(which he wouldn't, because he is a classy classy and grateful of what celebrity he has earned...) I would be appalled and would be cussin him too! You just don't get it......has NOTHING to do with if I like the person or not....... violence is just not cool with me! geeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by rockdale80
I dont think what he did was right, but I do have a strong point to make about this. As a member of the press it is their paid position to heckle celebrities. They meddle through their lives in every facet, and scrutinize it publically. Everything is in the eye of the public, from personal idiosyncrisis, to family problems. Having said that, is it not acceptable to finally get fed up, and unleash? It takes alot to get me mad about something, but when it does happen it is not a good thing for anyone causing my frustration. All I am saying is atheletes, actors, and musicians are people too...and even they can lose their temper. This was Rogers first offense, and he didn't completely maul the guy. 20 games, a big fine, and criminal charges....Isn't that a bit harsh?
:clap: :clap: :clap:

As a member (well, former member) of the press I pray everyday that someone will do something to coattail the turn for the worse that the profession has taken. The press influences people's opinions more than anyone cares to realize and they can make a bad man look like a saint (Babe Ruth) or a good man look like a killer (Kenny Rogers.... yes, he's a good guy, I've met him a copule of times... has never beaten his wife or killed anyone).

The worst thing to happen to sports journalism in the past century was Sportscenter expanding their show to three hour-long programs every day. I don't know if anyone remembers this, but back in the 80's SC was only 30 minutes long. Then they expanded to an hour-long program one day a week during the late 80's/early 90's. Of course there was a market waiting for them... at least half of America loves sports. A study by Syracuse University (the top journalism school in America) done back in 1979 said that 1/3 of everyone in America picks up their newspapers EXCLUSIVELY for the sports section. On top of that, nearly 5/7 of the country bought papers primarily for the sports section. That was when the industry realized that your average joe cared more about the life of an athlete, someone they could relate to, than about the life of a movie star.

But back on track, during their run through the early- and mid-90's of only one hour-long show a week, Sportscenter started becoming the staple news program of the entire industry. Surely enough, there was enough of a market there to make all their shows an hour long, but there wasn't always enough content. There still isn't enough content. But they did it anyways, and in the process lead the regression of the entire industry back into a new age of yellow journalism.

For those of you who don't know what yellow journalism is, it's basically a form of writing that became en vogue in the late 1800's as it embellished and played off of the truth. Writers would exaggerate that truth and make a story completely off the wall. In today's profession, instead of publishing completely off-the-wall stories, outlets such as ESPN will "force" stories. They'll badger athletes into saying something stupid and then run with it, giving it a life of its own.

A perfect example was the most recent Terrell Owens debacle. Now I'm not saying that he's the greatest human being in the world, but if somebody's going to turn his life into a tabloid it should be a true depiction of his life, not a forced picture of what a couple of writers think of him. I wonder how many people saw the whole interview in which T.O. said that he wasn't the one who got nervous and crashed during the Super Bowl, referring to teammate Donovan McNabb. Most people only saw, heard or read that little clip. If you saw the whole thing, you'd see Owens being badgered into making a stupid comment. All year long the media wanted just a small clip to set T.O. up into this big QB-hating WR who would wind up just as pissed off at McNabb as he was at Jeff Garcia. He never gave them any ammo until then. The reporter started drilling Owens with comments about him taking plays off, that playing the Super Bowl with a broken leg was stupid and that it could've ended his career, that everything about Owens was one huge contradiction. Owens finally hit his melting point, albeit in a cool way, with the Super Bowl comments and blurted out all that.

Whoever said that it's the media's job to heckle these guy, you hit the nail on the head. It's the new form of yellow, crappy, get-a-story, just any story,-any-way-you-can type of writing.

Maybe the cameraman wasn't doing anything wrong, but I can completely understand Rogers' frustration. After 20 years of putting up with it, I can't promise I wouldn't have blown my top either.

Who knows, maybe someone on this board is patient enough and just a good enough person to put up with that for that long. Not me. I've been there, I've been a part of it (not proudly), and I've seen what they go through. It's as easy for someone sitting on their couch on Monday morning to talk about his football team's lack of preparation as it is for someone sitting on their couch any day of the week to critisize Rogers. Yes it was wrong, yes he should be punished. But after seeing the punishment, it doesn't fit the crime. Period. Unfortunately, the general public has a different opinion of the whole situation.

But then again that's just another day at the office for some media hound who's managed to make this seem like the worst thing since Ike Turner. After all, isn't it their job to influence opinions......errrrrr..... just write the unadulterated truth.