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Jerry Remy to sit out rest of season


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Much of Jerry Remy's shtick is the humor and clowning around with Don Orsillo, sometimes to the point of annoyance. Can he clown around in front of hundreds of thousands of local viewers after this brutal murder? The reports that his two other adult children have faced serious, recent criminal charges is also of concern. Ticking time bombs. Granted, he is not their keeper, but what happens with the next arrest?

Although Jennifer Martel's murder may be old news by spring training, the baseball season is very long. What happens when Jared Remy goes to court during baseball season for the inevitable pre-trial conferences, hearings on motions to suppress evidence and then the actual trial? All will be heavily covered by the news. Will Jerry Remy sit out those nights? Given the myriad health and personal problems facing Remy, he should call it a noble career after 25 years. If not, the Red Sox should cut ties.

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who's accused of comitting the murder - his son, who is of adult age, is.

Yet the media sought to introduce irrelevant information to unnecessarily senationalize a case that was already tragic enough on its merits.

And, sadly, the media will bear no responsibility for possibly destroying Remy's broadcasting career for no good reason.

I doubt this is the type of thing the founding fathers had in mind when they crafted the Frist Amendment.

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The OP raises an interesting point regarding a person's "on-air" persona and the world around them. Jerry Remy's son is an adult who singularly committed a horrific crime, as an adult. Nobody disputes that.

The problem is that television is all about creating a "personality" who connects with people - albeit on a mostly artificial level. Off air/familial incidents can often times jar that relationship between viewer and "personality." As this case winds through the courts and various ancillary events/facts are reported, will people become uncomfortable watching Jerry and Don goofing around during that night's 6th inning? Based on past history in this market, I think some will. Remember, in television, such discomfort doesn't have to be overt, it can often times be subliminal and erode the connection between viewer and personality, over time.

The best example we have in Boston was the divorce of Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson. Their divorce had virtually no effect on their competence as anchors. Yet, Channel 5's own internal research indicated that viewers were starting to become uneasy with the prospect of watching two, seemingly happy co-achors who had obviously been through a very public divorce. Some of their research actually indicated that people would tune in to see if they might witness some subtle, or not-so-subtle barbs lobbed at each other between segments. Simply put, the breakdown of their marriage seemed to be incompatible to the on-air relationship that had been marketed to Bostonians for the past quarter-century. It's not far-fetched to say that the crime of the son has a similar effect to the on-air persona that has been marketed by NESN and the Red Sox over the past 25 years.

Toward the end of the Chet and Nat era, ratings began to indicate viewership was starting to slip to 4 and 7. As a result, Channel 5 jettisoned Chet, for no other reason than viewers had become uncomfortable with the achor pairing because of the breakdown of their off-air, non-professional relationship. Television is an unjust world and I'm sure this is something that has crossed the minds of the powers at NESN and the Red Sox.

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A person's relative's actions should have no bearing on his job. I'm sure his employer, NESN (not the Red Sox, lol) is trying to be as supportive as they can be given what an asset Jerry is to them, what a great on-air broadcaster he is, and how tragic and devastating this is for him. There is also no way that his "release" could be backed legally unless there is a clause in his contract stating that any actions of his OR HIS FAMILY that are damaging to the company are grounds for firing. But I have worked in contract law and have never seen a contract that makes an employee liable for the actions of an adult family member.

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Fenway Sports Group (John Henry) is the principal owner of NESN and the Red Sox, LOL. Regardless of semantics, John Henry/FSG/NESN/Red Sox should release Remy. Even if the network and the team weren't owned by the same person, the team would still have tremendous leverage over who calls their games from the broadcast booth. Most contracts have an escape clause for the employer, even if it requires a payout. Remy's absenteeism over the past several years alone would likely be just cause for termination if Henry went that route, which is less likely. Remy has been unable to do the job on a consistent basis. Time to thank him and move on.

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It isn't liability, it's marketability.

As discussed above, if a person proves off-putting to the public, that fact is what it is.

Despite what Mr. Show told us, you can't sue the public for not maintaining interest. At that point, the Sox probably buy out Remy's contract (or make a deal with him) and move on.

I'll bet there are out provisions in there for both sides that they never expected to need to exercise, anyway.

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In Re: "Jerry Remy to sit out rest of season"
Wow! You are an incredible dick Adam. What other celebrities, sports personalities relatives are you concerned about? This is the lamest ploy to bring traffic to your site. I hope Jared finds your house.

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I'll ask him how you were.

Um, really, you're getting mad about a one-sentence link to Remy's own statement, a statement that was subsequently reported by every single media outlet around here, because Remy is a very prominent public figure in pretty much all of New England?

That's what's upset you? Have you filed similar complaints with every single TV station and newspaper in the state?

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And quit being a kook!

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