May 11 - Loser Of The Week - Curt Schilling

This week’s LOSER OF THE WEEK is CURT SCHILLING.

Schilling is a Boston Red Sox pitcher.

Schilling, in his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" show, was asked if baseball fans should hold their noses while watching Barry Bonds's pursuit of Hank Aaron's all-time Major League home run record.

"Oh yeah. I would think so. I mean, he admitted that he used steroids," said Schilling. "I mean, there's no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner [Bud Selig] trying to figure out where to be. It's sad.”

After a day of reflection - undoubtedly encouraged by Red Sox management and probably Major League Baseball - Schilling wrote on his blog,

"Everyone has days and events in life they'd love to push the rewind button on; [Tuesday] was one of those days. Regardless of my opinions, thoughts and beliefs on anything [regarding] Barry Bonds, it was absolutely irresponsible and wrong to say what I did. I don't think it's within anyone's right to say the things I said [Tuesday] and affect other people's lives in that way."

Here is my beef. Why apologize? BE A MAN, CURT SCHILLING, AND STAND BEHIND YOUR COMMENTS.

Barry Bonds has more of a backbone, albeit one strengthened by steroids, than Schilling. Bonds has never apologized for any of his transgressions.

In January 2006, GQ, listed the top 10 hated athletes.

It featured ten groin-kicking, preening, backstabbing athletes. Interestingly Schilling was #4. The top three were:

3. Kurt Busch
2. Barry Bonds
1. Terrell Owens

Per GQ: One reporter who has covered Schilling. “But outside the white lines, there’s a huge gap between the man and the image he projects.” Take, for instance, Schilling’s self-glorifying display during Congress’s steroid hearings in March 2005 or his absurdly patriotic open letter to America on ESPN.com after 9/11, for which his teammates mocked him on a late-night bus ride with a chorus of “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.” He wears on people.”

On days he doesn’t pitch, Schilling is notorious for striking TV-ready poses on the dugout stairs. (His manager in Philadelphia, Jim Fregosi, dubbed him Red Light Curt.) “He’s somebody who’s always positioning himself in terms of what’s best for Curt Schilling,” says ESPN’s Pedro Gomez, who described Schilling as “the consummate table for one.” (Speaking of which, Schilling also has a reputation for sneaking into the clubhouse late in games to get a head start on the buffet.)

So avid is Schilling’s longing for the spotlight that some of his peers raise doubts about his now legendary turn in the 2004 postseason, when he pitched on an ankle tendon that had been sutured in place. During Game 6, cameras cut repeatedly to the bright red stain on Schilling’s sock. It was blood, right? “The Diamondbacks people think he definitely doctored that sock,” says the sportswriter. The ex-teammate laughs: “All around baseball, people questioned that. It was funny how the stain didn’t spread.”

Curt Schilling, you an attention grabbing LOSER.

Curt Schilling, you are MY LOSER OF THE WEEK.