Why would a 72 year old man pick a fight with a pro athlete?

[Fight_n_back]

Was Zimmer drunk?

Lets shut up about this already!

[Fixated]

1. .....

Don't say "shut up about it" while fanning the flames.

[Blitz]

2. Um, Yang

If you want people to "shut up about this already," why would you start a new thread about it? Especially when a big, ugly, bloated one already exists.

[Fight_n_back]

3. Cause

I need attention

[wtmusic]

4. Way too honest dude. This is DU.

[JeebusH]

5. well Zimmer ....

actually has a metal plate in his head due to terrible beaning he suffered during his playing days (1950's-1960's) and he claimed that he's sensitive to players being beaned (what some felt Pedro was doing) ... of course if this is true he would have charged at Clemens long ago

[xJlM]

6. Senility?

Don't ask me. I'm only forty two, and I wouldn't start a fight with anyone. Unless they left me with no other choice.

[KG]

7. i ain't got a dog in this fight, but i saw the film today.

looks to me like pedro pretty much put a matador move on zimmer, and zimmer pretty much went down on his own momentum. didn't even really try to hurt him.

really, i like zimmer, but he did something really stupid and thoughtless, and was lucky he didn't get really hurt...

[joeybee12]

8. Too bad it didn't rain yesterday..Zimmer would have slipped before he

could have reached Pedro to try and assault him.

None of this would have happened.

[JackSwift]

9. Sometimes the old dog gets so excited

he forgets how old he is and feels young for a minute. I watched the tape too. Martinez pushed him aside, and it didn't seem excessive. I'm glad Zim isn't hurt, he is one of the all time great coaches. But he should smile at the fun he had and then think about how lucky he is that he didn't really take on a professional athlete at the peak of his powers.

[SiobhanClancy]

10. Maybe next time Zimmer should go after Johnny Pesky(aged 84)

I think Johnny could kick his ass:)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Maybe the cryogenic Ted could take him on!

!!!

[short bus president]

12. er... um...

isn't it technically just a cryogenic Ted head?

Who wins in this fight - the surly old man, or the frozen, disembodied head?

[DrGonzoLives]

20. Wasn't Luis Tiant there?

:evilgrin:

[Braden]

36. I see Johnny in town frequently

he would whip Zimmer. He moves like most 60 year old men.

He too could have just thrown aside the charging fool.

[glarius]

13. Am I the only one who thinks it cowardly that a young 30ish man

would throw a 72 year old to the ground?.....My son and I were watching the game and my son was disgusted with Martinez...He said "why didn't Martinez just hold him off or walk away instead of rushing up to him and grabbing him by the head and throwing him down"...Zimmer is an elderly man and could have been seriously hurt or had a heart attack....Then today I saw Zimmer apologizing about the incident....and not a word from Martinez (unless I missed something)....Sorry but I lost all respect for Martinez!

[Fight_n_back]

14. McCarver jumped to conclusions as well

and he is a payed observer.

Martinez DID step to the side and judoed the Gerbil who then fell because he is out of his element.

[glarius]

15. Sorry, but that's not the way I saw it

And the main point I'm making is that Martinez is about 40 years younger than Zimmer...I found his actions disgusting....I guess we'll just have to disagree....:)

[DS1]

16. because 250 lbs of flab moving at you that fast has too much energy

you don't just stop it, the best you can do is deflect it.

[Fight_n_back]

17. You can't stop it

you can only hope to contain it.

[really-looney]

19. Pedro is always the villan even when assaulted

Zimmer declined to comment on the incident after the game.

"I respect him too much," Martinez said as he left the Red Sox clubhouse after the game. "I would never raise my hand against him. I was just trying to dodge him and push him away

[Cheswick2.0]

35. I agree with you

And it isn't because I am a yankee fan, my fanship is luke warm at best.
Zimmer is an old man who lost his temper after some baiting by Martinez. There is no way I wouldn't correct one of my sons if they had done what Martinez did. Martinez showed an incredible lack of class. He should have deflected Zimmers swing and left it at that.

[glarius]

37. Perhaps because you & I are women is why we see this as a bullying

type incident...There is no way to excuse what Marinez did IMO. He made no effort to avoid the confrontation, from what I saw and he actually threw Zimmer down quite violently....He's lucky Zimmer didn't suffer a serious injury...Broken bones at his age can be serious..Martinez should be ashamed and embarrassed! As far as the game was concerned I'm not a Yankee or Boston fan (I was watching the game with my son) so that had no effect on my feelings about this...

[GregW]

18. Because he is an idiot.

Plain and simple.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. The man can't see too well and was hopped up on Viagra ...

He thought Pedro was his wife.

[opihimoimoi]

22. If we really look at the tapes, Zimmer threw a Left Hook at Pedro

who then deftly sidestepped and did the Matador thingy.

It was all Zimmer. He was HIGH on sumthin and charged like a mad BULL.

[Shakespeare]

23. I'd love to know if he's on prednisone

You bring up something I wondered about, too.

That's something he quite likely may be prescribed to keep pain and inflammation under control from his joint replacements. Those are corticosteroids, and tend to make one a bit aggressive.

[Fight_n_back]

24. Oh come on!

He is a guy that is of the WWII generation. He went after a guy because he forgot he was old.

[Shakespeare]

25. I'm quite serious about that...

Not sure why you seem so outraged--the combination of his age and his joint problems make it highly likely that he's at least periodically on prednisone (my dad is on this stuff almost constantly for similar problems--I know more than I'd like to about it).

The prednisone, like any steroid, tends to make a person aggressive (or, as you put it, tend to forget his age).

[Fight_n_back]

26. Except that he wasn't acting out of character

he has done that type of thing throughout his career.

[Shakespeare]

27. I don't think he's charged anybody lately, though....

He also has some of the facial characteristics of somebody on prednisone long-term (slightly bulging, watery eyes; goiter-like flesh under the neck; and what doctors refer to as "moonface"). The more I think about it, the more I'd really like to know if he's on that drug. Prednisone does nasty things to someone who has to take it for an extended length of time.

Still doesn't excuse him for being a complete ass yesterday (remember, I'm one of the much-maligned group arguing that Pedro was acting defensively by pushing him aside), but it certainly could've contributed to it.

[Fight_n_back]

28. Moonface

if that is the case then he has been on that drug for fifty years. Zimmer looked like that when he played.

[Shakespeare]

29. You're right, Yang. I have no idea what I'm talking about.

:eyes:

Here's a short list of the side effects of long-term use of prednisone:

<<side effects that occur only rarely, usually with high doses of prednisone, include
· acne,
· increased hair growth,
· thinning of the skin,
· cataracts,
· glaucoma,
· osteoporosis,
· roundness of the face, and
· changes in behavior.>>

http://www.drugs.com/Prednisone/

And from another site:

Bone fractures, bruising, bulging eyes, congestive heart failure, convulsions, distended abdomen, face redness, glaucoma, headache, hives and other allergic-type reactions, increased pressure inside eyes or skull, inflamed esophagus or pancreas, irregular menstrual periods, muscle weakness or disease, osteoporosis, peptic ulcer, poor healing of wounds, stunted growth (in children), sweating, thin, fragile skin, vertigo.

http://www.naturalessentials.com/prednisone_side_effects.htm

My father has been on high doses of prednisone for severe asthma for about 20 years now. Sadly, he deals with almost all of these symptoms, and Zimmer has the same facial peculiarities my dad has developed from the drug.

My question is both valid and sincere (and informed), and as I said earlier, I'd really like to know if he's on that drug. It would partly explain his ridiculous behavior yesterday.

[Fight_n_back]

30. Just because you know about one thing

doesn't mean you know about the other.

I know as much about Zimmer as you do about Prednisone.

So what?

[Shakespeare]

31. This is bizarre....

Zimmer exhibits both the physical and personality traits of someone on extended use of prednisone. I've already detailed what those traits are. That you seem determined to suggest that my question is somehow invalid or without basis is just bizarre in the extreme.

To suggest that because you (claim to) know a great deal about Zimmer that somehow invalidates my question is illogical. That's what.

Tell ya what....a good friend of mine is one of the top sports writers at the Houston Chronicle. I'll send the question his way and see what he can find out from Zimmer's people.

I am absolutely baffled at your apparent need to argue with me over what's really a pretty innocuous (and totally valid) question. Or are you, as you stated earlier in this thread, just looking for attention? Just what the hell is it that bugs you so much about my suggesting he's on a particular drug?

[Fight_n_back]

32. Because you are making a diagnosis

from thousands of miles away based on seeing him on some highlights during Sportscenter and I think it is quite a leap.

Thats why.

[Shakespeare]

33. No, I am not making a diagnosis.

I said I'd like to know if he's been taking prednisone, because the side effects of that drug overlap with what I've seen out of Zimmer. That's not making a diagnosis, that's making a connection, and one I may well be proved right on if my friend can get an answer out of somebody in the NYY office. Whether you think it's a "leap" or not in no way invalidates my observation.

And I didn't see a "highlight"--I watched the fucking game.

[Fight_n_back]

34. Whatever

sorry. My behaviour is erratic because of complications of the heart. Coarrazon Pesado.

I wish it was a "fucking" game. Except I wouldn't want Ccemens there for the fucking part.