DON'T MESS WITH MACK

Ken Hoffman calls out a radio host's lame Twitter attack on Mattress Mack

Ken Hoffman
Nov 4, 2019, 2:55 pm
Photo courtesy of Gallery Furniture

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.

When you shoot your mouth off, especially on Twitter, it'd help if you knew what, and who, you're talking about. You could catch a lot of hell.

Witness fool radio host Clay Travis, who's known for being purposely outrageous and controversial. Many times, I'll give it to him, he's on the money.

This time, though, he really stepped in it. Here's his misguided Twitter take from a few days ago:

"I find myself rooting for this Mattress Mack guy to lose all of his money because I'm tired of hearing about him. Marketing genius but I want this guy to go bankrupt. I wish he would lose $100 million."

Houston responds

To say he caught some blowback would be putting it mildly. You don't mess with Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale in Houston, Texas. (He has reportedly lost millions on betting on the Astros.) Perhaps a friend in the press box should have told him to lay off Mattress Mack. Travis would have been on safer ground attacking Mother's Day or military vets.

Some first responders:

"I know multiple families who lost their homes and belongings during Harvey. He let them sleep on beds in his stores, fed them hot meals and made sure their children had clothes. That's what he's done for this community."

"What the F have you done for yours?"

"It's going to happen to you for wishing it on him."

"Oh, look who has another trash take."

"Do a little research and you might feel differently. Our world needs more Mattress Macks."

"Clay, this ain't it. Mattress Mack is a legend."

"This is the wrong take. One of the biggest philanthropists in Houston."

And the one who said it best:

"You're wishing bankruptcy on the man who bought 100-plus tickets so veterans could go to the World Series, who opened his store to those who needed escape from Hurricane Harvey, regularly supports community charities, provides furniture to families in need. I could go on and on and on. GFY."

(You'll have to google GFY.)

Continue on CultureMap to read about the time Ken Hoffman has a similar fail.

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IN DEFENSE OF FIERS

Ken Hoffman jumps to the defense of Astros whistleblower

Photo Courtesy of Say.

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.

Former Astros pitcher, Mike Fiers, might not have been the right person — but he did the right thing.

Voices on radio and social media are complaining that the Astros were unfairly singled out by Major League Baseball's lowering the boom and suspending manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow in the sign-stealing scandal, followed by team owner Jim Crane firing both of them, preceded by the owner firing the assistant general manager and demoting the team president.

Assistant general manager Brandon Taubman was dismissed after he made vulgar comments to female reporters. Astros president Reid Ryan was demoted because, well, that's an owner's prerogative.

I don't understand why anybody in the media or Astros' fan base is furious at Fiers for squealing on the Astros, or Major League Baseball for punishing the Astros so severely. They're screaming, "the Astros got screwed!"

No they didn't.

Don't be angry at Fiers — be angry at the Astros. They cheated. The Astros broke the rules on their way to winning the 2017 World Series. This was after they, and every other team, were warned not to use technology to steal signs.

The Astros aren't denying it. Hinch has apologized for it. Former pitcher Dallas Keuchel said "apologies are in order … for everyone on the team." What's hard to understand what happened? Fiers doesn't have clean hands in this saga. He played for the Astros in 2017, didn't go public about the cheating back then, and took the bonus money and glittery ring for the Astros championship.

None of that changes the facts about the Astros wayward ways. The argument — "everybody does it" — is a weak excuse. Didn't your mother ask, "If Billy jumped off the Empire State Building, would you?" Agent Scott Boras' claim – "the players just did what they were told" – is historically inexcusable. I cheer for the Astros, but I am disappointed that they cheated.

The sad part is, they probably didn't have to. The lineup was loaded with amazing players. I'm also surprised that ESPN announcer Jessica Mendoza and Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez believe this entire cheating scandal should have been dealt with in-house by MLB. That's not how things get accomplished. In-house is how problems get buried. In-house is how problems get fixed with settlements and non-disclosure agreements.

Continue on CultureMap to read why Ken Hoffman believes whistleblowers should be honored.

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