Aubrey Huff: Being Told What To Do Versus What Not To Do...

Aubrey Huff. His name either brings scorn or praise; however, for the first two weeks, it's been a lot of the former.

In this week's edition of Press Box, Amber Theoharis thinks we should forgive Mr. Huff for his statments in general on the "Bubba The Love Sponge Show" and his other displays of silly behavior before his infamous statements and thereafter.

Of course, this is not withstanding that the fellow has been nothing short of a jackass before he got to Baltimore, blowing off fans asking for autographs after games and at spring training.

If this were only a only time thing, I'd let bygones be bygones; however, he's not endeared himself to the community or fans in general.

The Orioles are winning. It has been a long time since anybody wrote that line in this town. It feels good -- so why are some fans still holding a grudge? You know who you are -- the fans who booed Aubrey Huff this past week despite the Orioles’ 5-1 record through the first six games and some of the best team ball played in Baltimore in 10 years.

It’s time to stop. It’s useless and counterproductive to the progress the Orioles have made on the field.

The whole situation was sad. Against Tampa Bay, fans cheered when Huff doubled, then went right back to booing when he grounded out -- talk about playing both sides of the fence.

Let’s hope fans display a little more forgiveness next homestand. If not, Baltimoreans risked being shown up by Washingtonians. Sound off the wall?

Hmm, so if he hits his way out of a slump, should we forget what he said about Baltimore.

Of course the way to absolve a person of their stupidity is to of course compare him to another person who committed even more stupid and riskier act.

Her example: Current councilman and former multiple-term mayor of Washington D.C. -- Marion Barry. That's fine and well; however, despite his stupidity, Marion Barry did endear himself to people (that's always subject to interpretation), but people feel Huff has not.

There are several things an 11-year-old can’t comprehend -- world politics, global economy, the fact that “spin the bottle” is always rigged. Preteens simply aren’t big thinkers, and perhaps that’s why my recollection of the 1990 Marion Barry scandal is weird at best. As a bucked-tooth 11-year-old, I remember watching the news and seeing that notorious video of the mayor of Washington, D.C., smoking crack with a hooker. The hooker part of the story confused me because we’d only gotten to Chapter 2 in Mr. Watson’s sexual education class.

I was, however, a proud graduate of the D.A.R.E. drug awareness program and was certain crack was bad. It was clear the mayor of the nation’s capitol had really screwed up.

After serving a six-month prison sentence and just four years after the big bust, Barry ran for reelection in 1994. He won. Now that’s forgiveness.

We can’t forgive a ballplayer who made some dumb comments, but our neighbors to the south can forgive their crack-head mayor?

Huff was booed on Opening Day as if he committed a felony. Did Huff cheat the game? Use steroids? No -- he did much worse. He disrespected Baltimore.

Self-admittedly, Huff made a mistake by making ill-advised comments on an out-of-town radio show about Baltimore’s nightlife. Huff is an honest person whose candid, off-beat personality is the source of a lot of laughs in the clubhouse. He’s the kind of player whose sarcasm and outlandish comments made a long 2007 season bearable for his teammate.

I don't buy he's so much sorry, but he got caught. He said what he really felt that day, and that's fine; however, it's a little bit silly to not expect people to get upset over comments made about a city you spend half the season in.

I'm sure he doesn't have a problem cashing or depositing a pay check with the "Baltimore Orioles" written ink on the upper left hand side.

For the most part, I'm indifferent to booing or not booing him - I just sit there when he comes to bat. We cannot tell people what to do to or what not to do. People will cheer when they want to, and right now, Huff has to live with his statements.

Like I told people before the season -- Baltimore fans have long, long memories (a lot of people are still pissed that the Colts left town a generation ago), and for a group who has enormous pride of their region, Huff's episode as I thought would not be forgotten in the off-season.