Medias Blancas

South Florida is being discussed as a possible destination for what is currently Tropical Storm Isaac. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Tropical-Depression-9-Forms-in-Atlantic-166865816.html

The question is whether or not the Cuban exile community and its environs will let it die. This issue may have diminished from 790 the Ticket and 'QAM, but is Radio Mambí still talking about this?

Most people outside of South Florida do not understand the passion of the Cuban exile community.

790 the Ticket just reported that Guillen has been suspended 5 games.

where's Neil Rogers when I need him... Uncle Neil's comments over this would have been priceless. I remember vacationing in South Florida at the height of the Elian Gonzalez saga, and Neil brought his A game.

Castrogate has reached epic proportions. * Ozzie Guillen is front page news in today's Miami Herald. The newspaper has page to page coverage of the scandal. * Local news is starting out with news updates about Castrogate * WIOD (the biggest radio station in S. Florida) has stopped short of calling for Ozzie to be fired. They have given him a lot of heat. * Spanish radio stations are calling for Ozzie to be fired, and people have been calling Radio Marti (710AM) which is the biggest Spanish talk radio station in Miami, for 3 hours nonstop. Hundreds of callers are asking for Ozzie to resign, saying they will boycott the Marlins, and some even suggesting Ozzie better watch his back. *Several Miami-Dade Commissioners are calling for Ozzie to resign or be fired. * Miami mayor asked the Marlins to make amends to the community (whatever that means.) None of this surprises me, and I'm in the Chicago area.

Unfortunately I won't be able to listen to the telecast. Any idea where I may be able to hear it in its entirety?? Do you think 790the ticket? The Ticket said they're airing it live. I presume QAM might as well.

This is not the first time Ozzie expressed admiration for Fidel Castro, it turns out. In today's Chicago Sun-Times, sports columnist Rick Telander recalls a 2008 interview for Men's Journal magazine in which Guillen, then of course with the White Sox, told him that Fidel Castro is the toughest man he knows. When asked why, Ozzie said this: “He’s a bull---- dictator and everybody’s against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him,’’ Ozzie replied. “Everywhere he goes, they roll out the red carpet. I don’t admire his philosophy; I admire him.’’ The full colulmn is here. This received no attention at the time, September 2008, in which the White Sox were competing for the AL Central title which they eventually won in a playoff. In Chicago, most people don't care what Ozzie thinks about Castro. Chicago has a huge community of Latinos, most of whom are of Mexican descent and don't have the passion for this issue that South Florida's Cuban community does. Hence, Ozzie took no heat for it. But now... I say there is a 50/50 chance that Guillen does not survive this.

I don't think Loria gives a ****. Given how quickly the Marlins put out that statement, are you sure about that?

Given how rash Loria can be, could he bow to pressure from the exiles and fire Guillen?

It looks like this is a dominant topic on South Florida sports talk radio this morning. I am sure it's even bigger on exile radio this morning.

Sorry to say it isn't going away. Cubans in SO FL according to channel 7 are very upset, calling for his firing, boycotting the Marlins, and planning a protest rally from Versailles restaurant to the Park on Tuesday in morning. The group that is boycotting the Marlins and doing the protest rally has 63 likes on their facebook page. I don't think they are entirely representative of the Cuban community in Miami. I would venture to guess that this particular group is fringe compared to other exile groups. Right?

Of all the things Ozzie Guillen has said and done in Chicago, none of them have generated the furor his Castro comments did in South Florida. With several radio stadions dedicated to anti-Castro programming 24/7, I am sure this will not die any time soon. It'll be interesting to see how his sons, Ozzie Jr. and Oney, react to this on Twitter. Oney especially is vicious on Twitter.

Here in Chicago, I can tell you in South Florida for sure that Marlins baseball will never be boring or irrelevant as long as Ozzie is managing.

Here is the latest from the Sun-Times: