Guest marlins02 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 makes me laugh when Wayne says he'll always be a marlins fan but i laugh harder when it turns out the dumbass Tribune reporter ASSUMED the man he was talking to was Wayne Posted on Fri, Oct. 10, 2003 MARLINS FAN Huizenga: Go Marlins! It seems Wayne Huizenga was NOT rooting for the Cubs in Game 1, and he's upset his loyalty to the Marlins was questioned. BY KEVIN BAXTER And JASON COLE [email protected] Never mind. Turns out that wasn't former Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga sitting behind the Chicago dugout rooting for the Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Huizenga wasn't even in Chicago -- and promises if he were, he would have been cheering for the Marlins. ''I am a Marlins fan. I will always be a Marlins fan,'' Huizenga said Thursday. ``I'm rooting for the Marlins as hard as anyone can, and I'll always be a big fan. ``It's very disappointing to me that this thing gets blown out of proportion like I'm some kind of traitor or something when I wasn't even in Chicago and never made the statements attributed to me.'' The furor began with a report in Wednesday's Chicago Tribune that quoted a man identified as Huizenga saying ''You have to root for the Cubs, you absolutely have to. . . . I don't care who they're playing.'' But the story, which was picked up by numerous South Florida media outlets including the Herald, was in error, the Tribune said in a story published today. ''A Tribune reporter mistakenly assumed that a Cubs fan with whom he spoke in the Wrigley Field stands before Tuesday night's game against the Marlins was Huizenga, a native of the Chicago area,'' the Tribune said, adding that the reporter addressed the man as ''Mr. Huizenga'' at least twice and was not corrected either time. Tribune publisher Scott Smith apologized to Huizenga for the mistake. ''We're embarrassed by what has happened . . . and wished it hadn't happened,'' said Huizenga, the Marlins' original owner and the man in charge during the team's 1997 championship season. He currently owns the NFL's Miami Dolphins and Pro Player Stadium, where the Marlins will resume their NLCS series with the Cubs tonight. ''It's just a lie, that's what it is. It's just a lie,'' Huizenga continued. ``We weren't there. It's so far erroneous, it's just mind-boggling that we find ourselves in this situation.'' A Chicago-area native whose grandfather founded Chicago's first garbage-hauling company in 1894, Huizenga grew up in suburban Evergreen Park and said in a statement Thursday he ``always enjoyed my trips to Wrigley Field. I certainly know what a winning Cubs team means to that city.'' But he moved with his family to Broward County in the early 1950s and says ``I'm a resident of South Florida and root for all the local teams. It's exciting to see this community rally behind the Marlins, and I hope they continue their winning ways.'' In 1999, Huizenga, frustrated by his attempts to get public backing for a new stadium, sold the franchise to John Henry, who was replaced as owner three years later by the current group headed by Jeffrey Loria. Huizenga still believes a new stadium is essential to baseball's long-term success in South Florida and hopes Loria can succeed where he couldn't -- even if it means losing the Marlins as a tenant. ''We want them to get a new stadium,'' he said. 'We think a baseball-only stadium is what they really need. We feel that the Dolphins' stadium would be better off as a football stadium. I know that's contrary to things I said 10 years ago. But you know what? We've all learned in the last 10 years.'' In the meantime, the Marlins will play at Huizenga's place in front of sold-out crowds for the second consecutive weekend. And for the second consecutive weekend Wayne Huizenga will be rooting for them. ''I was very, very happy to see there were 60,000-something fans in the stadium,'' he said. ``That tells me that it's maybe catching on because we never had that the first time, so that was exciting for me to see that.'' http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sport...all/6977997.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Personally, I was happy to learn yesterday that this story was untrue, not because I'm a fan of Mr. Huizenga, because I'm not, but because had it been true, it would have signalled a war between the WH and the Fish. Sometimes, no news is good news. At the same time though, it quite illustrative of how the Herald operates, which is to print any rumor as fact, to write about things without doing the proper fact-checking (afterall, a call to WH before the story ran would have resolved the matter), and in my mind is one more reason why the sport department's editor, Richard Bush, needs to be fired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBurque Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 hilarious. Journalism at its best eh fellas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marlins02 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 "oh hey its Michael Jordan, hey Mike how are you enjoying retirement?" fan: im not Michael Jordan Reporter: sure, trying to avoid the attention. its cool. so who are you rooting for Fan: im not Michael Jordan Reporter: rooting for those Cubs huh, its been a while Fan: im not Michael Jordan Reporter: it was great talking to you Mike, thanks for the interview Fan: Im not Michael Jordan. he's a bald black man in his 40's and would be sitting in a suite, im a white man in my 60's with white hair sitting in the cheap seats. Reporter: of couse Mike, dont worry your secret is safe with me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBurque Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pubes Beinfest Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Hard to believe it was all just a lie. i think wayne had a couple beers and was caught off guard in chitown. you never know, he probly paid off the tribune to make that story false. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orisha Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 it's funny how he said they never had that many fans the first time. that's totally untrue, in 97 that stadium was rocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pubes Beinfest Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 i dun think in 97 they had 65 thousand in NLCS or NLDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1 FishFan Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I heard this on WQAM this morning....Wayne Huizenga actually called in to The Howard David Show and cleared it up...He also mentioned how much of a pain it is to have the Marlins in JRS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudge Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Man, the Tribune is such an overrated P.O.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishfan Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 i dun think in 97 they had 65 thousand in NLCS or NLDS I got the VHS tape from SI about the Marlins winning in '97 and I believe there was only 50k-55k maybe more, but I know for a fact that it said that it wasn't a sell out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orisha Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 i dun think in 97 they had 65 thousand in NLCS or NLDS I got the VHS tape from SI about the Marlins winning in '97 and I believe there was only 50k-55k maybe more, but I know for a fact that it said that it wasn't a sell out. bro i remember trying to buy tickets for the world series and them being sold out. and i remember having to sit on the last row where i could barely see the game for the NLCS becaus there weren't better seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapeFish Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I heard this on WQAM this morning....Wayne Huizenga actually called in to The Howard David Show and cleared it up...He also mentioned how much of a pain it is to have the Marlins in JRS. Let us have a fair lease so we can win and get out of that hell hole then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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