Ha! Great minds think alike. Or soft minds run together... something like that... ;p

"Help Help! I'm bein' repressed, come see the violence inherent in the system!"

Hello Eric,

Well, I do agree with you, but I think Mr. Robbins doth protest, too much. As you said, "I think Robbins' politics are naive, foolish and just plain wrong on almost everything. " Doesn't Dale Petrosky have the same right to be naive and foolish? And what is this about "I donated the uniform I wore to the hall," Robbins said.? I don't know much about movie making, but do actors have to buy their costumes, or do the producers? Was the uniform his property?

Just wondering,
Mark

Shoot,
Rob the Pythonite said it all in sentence!
Mark

Actors are usually given significant wardrobe from movies they work on, and then they do what they want with them. I guess he gave his iniform to the Hall.

I could understand Petroskey wanting to prevent a scene at the Hall itself, but Robbins wasn't even going to speak and claims, anyway, that baseball and politics don't mix. Assuming that this is true, it was wrong to cancel simply to punish him for his opinion, which is what it comes down to.

Petroskey wasn't doing the equivalent of expressing HIS opinion, he was punishing for an opinion expressed elsewhere and in no way connected to the event in question.

I don't care much about baseball, though I enjoyed the movie, and I loved Tim Robbins in Nothing To Lose and Shawshank and a few other films.

So Tim Robbins was a jackass about the war, no question. Not just reluctant about the war, or reasonably anti-war, he was rabid. But I think you're right. Petroskey is the one who really brought politics into the situation by linking Robbins' public (stupid) statements with the film and the event.

Of course, since then, Tim Robbins whined and cried and generally made himself a poor target for sympathy. If he'd kept his mouth shut, there might have even been a groundswell of support. Now? Eh.

The statements I've read have hardly been whining or crying. He said he was just planning on talking about baseball.

And it wasn't surprising he'd speak out against the war. He and Susan Sarandan introduced a panel discussion on media coverage of the Gulf War at the New School I had a small part in organizing early in 1991. And because they are Bianca Jagger were there, cameras showed up.

I hadn't seen anything Robbins was in then, so I didn't approach him when he was outside smoking before the panel. And I didn't see Thelma & Louise until a bit later.

I was impressed by his remarks about the media and he is a good writer which you can see from Bob Roberts and Dead Man Walking. Or this speech he gave on supporting Nader.

He says in this interview, "I'm also a baseball fanatic and have been all my life. It was an opportunity to have that fantasy fulfilled.

And here is the press release on the donation of the uniform:

Press Release — June 21, 1999

Tim Robbins Donates 'Bull Durham' Uniform to the Hall of Fame

Internationally Renowned Film Star Visits Museum, Donates Uniform

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) — The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that it has acquired the baseball uniform worn by internationally recognized film actor and director Tim Robbins in the 1988 baseball film classic, Bull Durham. The jersey, pants and stirrups were placed on permanent display in the Hall of Fame's exhibit, Baseball at the Movies, on May 28th.

Robbins, who played the part of Bulls' pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh in the film, visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame with his son Jack during the summer of 1997, and again in 1999 with his son Miles. After touring the Museum and the Baseball at the Movies exhibit, Robbins donated his uniform to the Hall of Fame. The donation represents the only artifacts from the classic film on display in the exhibit.

"After visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame and seeing its world-class exhibits, I felt that donating my Bull Durham uniform to the Museum would allow visitors to have a first-hand remembrance of that great Baseball movie," said Robbins. "Not only are my sons and I big baseball fans, but we enjoyed the Museum tremendously and are honored to have our family represented with this donation. Since Bull Durham is where our family started, it is only fitting."

"We are delighted that Tim Robbins has made this significant donation to the Museum," said Hall of Fame Chairman Edward W. Stack. "Tim is a world-class actor whose performance in Bull Durham helped to establish that film as one of the all-time Baseball classics. In making this donation, Baseball fans of this and future generations will be able to recount first-hand his star performance as Nuke LaLoosh. It also permanently perpetuates his legacy as a baseball film star."

Baseball At The Movies was established in 1994 as part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library expansion. Thirteen trailers run continuously in the exhibit, giving fans the opportunity to see clips of their all-time favorites. A list of all the baseball movies to have been made since 1915 is on the exhibit wall, along with several movie posters and pictures. The exhibit also currently contains artifacts from many different baseball movies including, among others:

Geena Davis' uniform from A League of Their Own
Ray Liotta's jersey from Field of Dreams

The uniform and warm-up jacket worn by Robert Redford in The Natural, plus the "Wonderboy" and "Savoy Special" model bats utilized by Roy Hobbs in the movie

The jerseys worn by Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones in The Bingo Long All-Stars and Traveling Motor Kings

The jerseys worn by Tab Hunter and Gwen Verdon in Damn Yankees

Mrs. Lou (Eleanor) Gehrig's personal copy of the movie Pride of the Yankees

first of all, if robbins has the right to state his opinion (which he does) doesn't the HOF guy have the right to cancel an event in his organization for whatever reason he wants?? it's seems a little hypocritical to say that robbins has the right to say what he wants, but HOF guy has no right to hold whatever events he wants in his organization.

He certainly has the right. And we have the right to say he shouldn't cancel something for whatever reason he wants because he represents all of baseball, not just the views of an ex-Reagan administration official.

And it has backfired because it just drew more attention to the views of Robbins and Sarandan and prompted further protest.

If he hadn't cancelled it, the ceremony would have been covered on Entertainment Tonight and in the sports or entertainment sections of papers and perhaps Rush and Savage would have gone into a lather over it. But it would have been a blip.

Instead, he says their very American right of dissent "could put our troops in even more danger."

The difference is it's a person (Robbins) vs. not just another person, but against an organization. Petroskey isn't the organization himself, he's just the president, and as such he has no right to impose his own personal view on the organization. He's politicizing a non-political event and a non-political organization. That's the problem.

And this from the Washington Post:

Both Kevin Costner, who co-starred with Robbins and Susan Sarandon, and Ron Shelton, the movie's writer-director, came to Robbins's defense yesterday. "I think Tim and Susan's courage is the type of courage that makes our democracy work," said Costner, a Republican. "Pulling back this invite is against the whole principle about what we fight for and profess to be about." Shelton said, "The Hall of Fame's position is ridiculous, plain and simple."

it seems mr. robbins and the dixie chicks live in a country where its citizens may be punished by some authority for merely speaking out about their beliefs... sound familiar?

Petrosky has every right to disagree with Robbins and Sarandon, and even though he is a public figure, the right to go on Fox news or whereever, and express that disagreement. That would be neither more nor less than what Robbins and Saradan have done, but that is NOT what he did.
In canceling the Bull Durham event, he acted totally irresponsibly. His action of imposing his own political agenda is wholly inconsistent with the long tradition of political dissent in this country.
The Hall of Fame is most probably a non-profit organization with no political orientation set forth in its charter or by-laws. If, as I assume, the purpose of the organization is purely to honor the history of baseball, then Petrosky (and any collaborators in this action on the staff) should resign their positions immediately.

Entertaining as it is, In the amount of opinion with those of us that enjoy the Freedom that this United States has to offer, do any of these opinions reflect the true oppression of the Iraqi people. I did not think so! Publicity and Headlines with no accountability and certainly no consciousness of unity and support. I support Dale Petrosky but not for the reasons most would think.

hold on curtis, you're comparing a boycott of the dixie chix to saddam's regime???? let me stop laughing for a second.

the dixie chix have every right to say what they want (what would have happened if they were an iraqi group and said that about saddam a few years ago, yeah that's it) they weren't thrown in jail or audited (which they would have been under clinton had they spoken out against him). but their fans have every right not to give them their hard earned money if they disagree with them. should they be FORCED to buy DC cd's so they can protect natalie whatever's right to free speech????

by the way, the DC are a group with a COUNTRY fanbase, who insulted a SITTING president, on FORIGN soil, during a time of WAR!!!! they should be boycotted for stupidity alone.

The Bill of Rights guarantees that we will not be thrown in jail for what we say. It does not guarantee against financial and social consequences for what we say.

exactly todd. i'm from Washington DC. let's say i was a big time musician and said on stage that i was ashamed that so many black people were from DC. would i have every right to say that? yes. woiuld i be boycotted? damn right. would people have every right to boycott me?? of course, in fact they should boycott me if i said that. what's the difference? people were offended by their statements and have every right not to give them money.

Slackmfer, the DC's weren't attacking a race, they were attacking a businessman who invaded iraq for oil and money for him and his friends (they've been planning to do this well before 911, just read cheney's think tank proposal) and using the american publics money to do so.