Month 2006 Ethics Dunces
Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi
It is admittedly hard to tell the truth when
you don't comprehend the concept of lying, and maybe this really is J.P.
Ricciardi's problem. The general manager of the Toronto Blue Jay's recently
admitted that he lied to the press and the public when he stated that relief
ace B.J. Ryan wasn't pitching in spring training because of a sore back.
After the pitcher's elbow fell apart shortly after the season began and
he had to have major surgery to repair it, Ricciardi came clean. Yes, Ryan's
elbow was always the problem not his back. But his false statement wasn't
a lie, oh no! "There's a lot of things we don't tell the media because the
media doesn't need to know and the fans don't need to know," Ricciardi explained.
"They're not lies if we know the truth."
The Scoreboard has heard all sorts of rationalizations for lying, but
this one is air-tight. If you don't know the truth about something
and say something false, it obviously isn't a lie, because you thought
it was true. And according to Ricciardi, if you do know the truth and
misrepresent it, that's not lying either! Ricciardi wasn't lying, because
lying is impossible!!
Or J.P. Ricciardi is just a Major League Ethics Dunce. That would seem
to be more likely than his theory, don't you think?
