Shea Hillenbrand vs. Terrell Owens

OK, so who's the bigger asshole? I almost posted this yesterday when I read that Hillenbrand was upset partly because no one in the Jays' front office congratulated him on adopting a baby. Shades of T.O. whining that the Eagles didn't celebrate his 100th career TD.

Then last night, manager John Gibbons calls Hillenbrand out in a team meeting. Hillenbrand doesn't go on the bench during the game; the Jays basically cut him during the game.

Turns out, according to to Geoff Baker of the Toronto Star, it was much more than Gibbons calling out Hillenbrand. MUCH more. Hillenbrand says Gibbons challenged him to a fight in front of the team, calling him a cancer and a coward.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153389186027&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064

This all sounds much more dramatic than when T.O. said if Brett Favre were the Eagles' QB, they'd be undefeated, and that McNabb threw up during the Super Bowl.

It will be interesting to see if the Jays implode just like the Eagles.

 

I hate to threadjack so early, but here's what blows my mind about the Hillenbrand situation: the 31-yr-old and his wife applied to adopt a baby in June. It's July and they just got a newborn.

Given the typical wait to adopt a child, especially a newborn from this country (adoption took place in California), plus the fact that young couples are usually shoved down to the bottom of the list, this situation smacks of preferential treatment.

 

Implode? I say its more likely to Jays go on a tear by ridding themselves of Shea Hillenbrand and his sour attitude. He certainly seems to have an inflated sense of self worth......

Congrats on the adoption Shea......how long before he starts comparing himself to Angelina Jolie?

 

i read the story on espn.com. amazing stuff. i understand - although i don't condone - this sense of entitlement athletes have but this is absurd.

how anyone with a newborn baby could spend an ounce of emotional energy being upset that no one in the front office congratulated him on his adoption is beyond me. i like gibbons' quote in the espn piece: "this will make our clubhouse better" or something like that.

 

Really interesting stuff, and very nice coverage from the Star.

 

At least he hasn't called anyone a faggot on the way out. Yet.

 

He called Epstein a faggot before the trade.

 

I wouldn't be so sure. Cutting Hillenbrand might be more a symptom than a cure. This is a team whose GM blasted them in print for their play in KC a couple weeks ago, then had to apologize.

This parallels the Eagles of last year except for the fact that it was mostly injuries that derailed the Eagles' season. Pretty much everyone's healthy for the Jays right now, save Alex Rios. But I wouldn't be surprised if they went in the tank.

 

CORRECTION: Shea Hillenbrand called Theo Epstein a faggot before the Red Sox traded him to Arizona. damien_sappington regrets the error.

 

So why isn't Shea Hillenbrand being villified in the media for racial epithets and for trying to sabotage his team because he is mad about being made DH? Instantly talk goes to how the Angels and Padres want him.

Last year the Eagles put T.O. on the suspended list and told him to go fuck himself. Of course, they fucked themselves in the process. But they were already on the downward spiral and probably knew it.

That would be something to see the Blue Jays do that to Hillenbrand, who it appears has done things much more egregious than T.O. saying stupid things in interviews.

 

Why hasn't he been villified? Good question. He should, by all means.

 

Because he plays in Toronto and he's a middle-of-the-road hack.