Krause: Rays-Sox war of words is latest example of foot-in-mouth disease

There are times, when someone really steps in it and says something stupid, we say they have “foot-in-mouth” disease.Well, it?s reached epidemic proportions lately. There?s no shortage of dumb things coming out of the mouths of our commentators and athletes. Idiocy abounds. Kirk Minihane must have started a trend.We don?t need to say any more about Minihane that hasn?t already been said. Suffice it to say, he?s a rodeo clown and the station that employs him should be ashamed for waiting until it was shamed into doing something about him before it acted.Then there are the people on the other side, like the columnist from another Boston newspaper, who said Tuesday that she doubted there would have been half the outcry had it been a woman criticizing a male reporter instead of the other way around. Well, duh! No kidding. First of all, what?s the male equivalent of what Minihane called Erin Andrews? Beyond that, there?s such a thing as context. There are plenty of male buffoons all over the airwaves too (such as Minihane) but criticizing them usually doesn?t result in blatant sexism.Let?s not forget ESPN?s Stephen A. Smith, who took a page out of the Minihane playbook in teaching women all over the world how to avoid domestic abuse. He said: “Let?s make sure we don?t do anything to provoke wrong action … we got to also make sure that you can do your part to do whatever you can do to make, to try to make sure it doesn?t happen again.”What does one suppose that means? Where?s the cutoff? I mean, who draws the line? Who makes the call?Another rodeo clown.But I?m here to talk about David Ortiz and Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer, who got into a war of words this weekend that had them both ingesting their feet.First, Ortiz. No athlete whose name isn?t Tom Brady has done more for Boston in this century than Big Papi. Can we agree on that? The man picked up the Boston Red Sox and carried them to a world championship last year, and since he got here he?s been the most exciting hitter — along with Manny Ramirez — we?ve had. If he?s due up in the eighth or ninth inning and the game?s basically over, you?re still not leaving the ballpark lest you miss something special.But he?s become tiresome at the same time. His contract issues, his demands for respect over and above what he?s entitled to get … enough. I don?t have a problem with the bat toss, or the slow trot around the bases. But when asked to comment on it earlier this week, he gave us a chorus of the “poor me?s,” and it was enough to make you choke. All I could think of was the Coasters? song “Charlie Brown.” “Why is everybody always pickin? on me?”This all came about because Archer took exception to the bat toss and re-ignited a fire that we?d hoped had been put out. He accused Ortiz of thinking he?s bigger than the game … which is basically what Tampa Bay pitcher David Price said to justify the fact that he didn?t purposely hit Ortiz.And all I can say to that is “shaaddddddddup already.”Back in 2007, after the Patriots had tap-danced all over his Buffalo Bills during their undefeated regular season, someone asked Dick Jauron if he had a problem with the way Bill Belichick ran up the score.Now, Jauron might have had an issue with it. I?d have had an issue with it too. But instead of saying he had an issue with it, Jauron said simply that as far as he was concerned, it was up to the Bills to stop the Patriots … and not up to the Patriots to stop playing because they were stomping all over his team.Jauron was/is/and always shall be a class act. And perhaps both Price and Archer could take a cue from Jauron. Maybe they should worry more about getting Ortiz out. Then they won?t have to watch him showboat.