David mentioned Romano's article about Vince Naimoli below but there was also a similar one in the Tampa Tribune today by Joe Henderson.
They both bring up the point that Naimoli was given a lot of goodwill initially and deserved it because of the huge role he played in bringing a team to the area. Unfortunately he has long worn out that goodwill and is now becoming hated by everyone. The good things that he did and does are obscured by the way he has incompetently run this franchise and treated everyone.
I've complained a lot about the coverage by the local papers and the way they shy away from saying negative things about the franchise. I stand by that, particularly the way the writers don't seem to understand how awful of a GM Chuck Lamar is. However, not all of it is their fault, Naimoli is notorious for harassing the media anytime they write/say anything negative. The local papers haven't pressed hard in the past because they've been stuck under Naimoli's raccoon-infested shoe.
This offseason that all changed. The writers started getting tough and taking a hard line with Naimoli. There have been several articles criticizing the job he has done including a five-part series in the St. Pete Times about what went wrong with the Rays. This has been a welcome development and to me signals the beginning of the end for Naimoli's iron-fisted reign over everything. Even if he stays in control the media is starting to show that they won't be his lapdog any longer. They won't be afraid of him, it's to the point where he's too much of a joke in the area and has lost so much credibility that he doesn't have the hold over them that he once did.
The funny thing about these two articles is that Vince brought them on himself this past weekend. If he hadn't publicly made an ass of himself twice then I guarantee both major local papers wouldn't get the idea to write today about his stupid behavior and how he needs to go. Now not only is he doing idiotic things that make him look bad, the local media is showing that they're going to grill him for it when it happens.
The honeymoon is over, Vince. You can't get away with being a jerk in public without the local papers calling you out on it. Before it was just regular people grumbling occasionally about you. It was just the isolated anger of some fans, nothing major in the big picture. Having the major papers join in gives the anti-Vince movement public credibility and soon he's going to realize that things aren't quite the way they used to be around here.
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