Rocco: "I'm not frustrated at all"

[IndianaTwin]

Semantics. Folks get hung up on the word "frustrated," like it means the same thing to every person.

 

When he says, “I do not sit here frustrated at all," he in no way says that he's not disappointed at all. He just quickly spins (term used intentionally) the question to frame his comments in the context of the entire season. His very next sentence is, "I am extremely happy and extremely proud of everything that we just went through over the course of this season." And I think he should be.

 

But later, he says things like...

• "We got beat, and there's no way around that."
• "We were outplayed for three games."
• "I was figuring things out on the go, and I found it very challenging."
• "They pitched better, they swung the bats better, and they defended better than us."
• "The Yankees played well. We got beaten by a team that played better than us."

If there's a word that I'd use to consistently describe his responses in interviews it's "measured." Others have commented that he's rarely, if ever, going to throw players under the bus, particularly by name. In contrast, when things go well, he's quick to name people.

 

If you're wanting to see him get agitated, the ones to be frustrated with are the reporters, who really didn't ask him any tough questions. But even if they had, I don't think Rocco would have taken the bait.

 

And my hunch is that we can probably get used to this kind of response from managers. I doubt there are going to be many Billy Martins and Earl Weavers for a while. My sense is that front offices that value analytics are also going to value even-keeled managers.

 

EDIT to add: The Astros just got thumped 7-0 and outhit 13-3. A.J. Hinch’s quote was, “It’s important not to overreact to anything and credit the Yankees for having a good first game.” Should AstrosDaily be concerned that he didn’t express enough frustration?

[ewen21]

 

 

EDIT to add: The Astros just got thumped 7-0 and outhit 13-3. A.J. Hinch’s quote was, “It’s important not to overreact to anything and credit the Yankees for having a good first game.” Should AstrosDaily be concerned that he didn’t express enough frustration?

 

You were doing well until this.

 

Why are you drawing a parallel to the first game of the ALCS?  

1. It is game 1 of he series

2.  Houston has won in the very recent past

3.  They beat the Yankees

4. We have lost 13 post season games in a row to the Yankees.

5. We were swept three times in a row by them

6. Who cares what they would say on AstrosDaily if it existed?

7. Get the picture?

 

Sorry.  I just don't like the comment after being swept out in the first round.  Did he not have hopes of accomplishing more?  What is wrong with a little frustration?  Cop to it, acknowledge, hitch up your blue jeans and soldier on.  Just feels like he is lying and I don't the freakin point in it.  That is all,.

[BD57]

 

More than just opinion. Like many words, "frustrated" conveys a wide variety of meanings for different people. We see that all the time on the Internet, with people talking past one another because they mean different things without realizing it.

 

When I hear someone talking about their job, and they use that word, I expect they are about to say they are thinking about quitting. Too many obstacles not of their own making, poor support from the management above them, caught between a rock and a hard place... "frustrated" goes beyond disappointment and resolve to conduct a post-mortem to see where things went wrong.

 

When I do a Google image search for the word, I see pictures like these as the first choices, and this lines up with my understanding of the word. I frankly don't want the manager of my team feeling like this, after the heat of the moment during the game. It would be someone not cut out for the job.

 

"I'm not frustrated" does not mean "I am satisfied." We're really nitpicking his words here. Rocco's a leader, in my book, and he demonstrated that in the post-game remarks. Sometimes your troops need a kick in the pants, and other times they need a pat on the back.

 

 

"Winner."

 

I wasn't looking at us as anything but "long shots," even with 101 wins.

 

I don't like losing one bit.   I don't like seven "one-run" innings in a playoff series.  

 

However, being "angry" or "frustrated" with it isn't going to change anything.  

 

And anyone who thinks Rocco or the front office is satisfied with how things ended ... well, I'm sorry, you've either never played or you've forgotten a lot since you did.

 

NO ONE LIKES LOSING.

 

True professionals do, however, learn to deal with it, because it's going to happen - and "learning to deal with it" means "OK, that happened ... what are we going to do so next time, we take the next step?"

 

I don't need my manager having a tantrum.  Sorry if some do.

[ewen21]

 

 

 

I don't need my manager having a tantrum.  Sorry if some do.

I give up.  Nowhere I have I stated I would prefer an angry outburst.  I just don't need to hear him say he isn't frustrated at all.

 

I guess you did not read anything I wrote and that is OK, but you are sorely mistaken if you think people who don't appreciate the comment would rather him get angry.  It is actually a common and somewhat ridiculous assumption that gets made.  Not sure how or why that is.

[IndianaTwin]

You were doing well until this.

 

Why are you drawing a parallel to the first game of the ALCS?  

1. It is game 1 of he series

2.  Houston has won in the very recent past

3.  They beat the Yankees

4. We have lost 13 post season games in a row to the Yankees.

5. We were swept three times in a row by them

6. Who cares what they would say on AstrosDaily if it existed?

7. Get the picture?

 

Sorry.  I just don't like the comment after being swept out in the first round.  Did he not have hopes of accomplishing more?  What is wrong with a little frustration?  Cop to it, acknowledge, hitch up your blue jeans and soldier on.  Just feels like he is lying and I don't the freakin point in it.  That is all,.

Ewen21, I should have given a couple of your posts a like, particularly 117 and 121, which I found helpful. I considered quoting some of those in my response. I thought both you and Ashbury had statements that complemented each other well and get to the issue of nuances on how we think of words and how we control our responses.

 

I’m married to a public school teacher, so I resonate with the challenges you face on a regular basis and I can appreciate how you are motivated to act on them. You describe those as frustrations (or perhaps more accurately, you describe a part of your commitment to excellent teaching as acting out of your frustrations at the “system.”). We could turn this into a debate on education, but I don’t want to do that. The language from my wife would probably identify the challenges that come with a lack of resources for education, the socioeconomic challenges kids face, etc. I’m sure you could add to that list and I suspect you and her would have a lot in common.

 

You used the language of “frustration,” and I’m cool with that. My general use of the word “frustration” is at least a bit closer to how Ashbury used it, so I used “challenges.” I don’t know Rocco, obviously, but I sense that he may be using more in the Ashbury manner than in the manner you did. I think either way of using the word is fine, and the key is context.

 

Another way of thinking about is to suggest that Rocco is smart enough to know that anything he says is going to get misinterpreted by some folks. With his measure responses, he seems intent on having his comments err on the side of understatement rather than overstatement. And then, in his elaboration with the other comments I referenced (and others from the nine minutes that I didn’t reference), he tried to highlight his own disappointment in the final result and an acknowledgment of how it happened (all phases, including his own managing), all while putting it in the context of a season that was overall very successful and a huge step forward. And I think his later points did get to the point of saying that they would indeed “cop to it, acknowledge, hitch up their blue jeans and soldier on.”

 

My point in referencing Hinch was just to highlight another “measured” response. In The first version of my post, I’d actually thought of naming Hinch and Dave Roberts as two other guys that I think of being pretty measured with the media. Even Aaron Boone comes across as more measured with the media than he does on the field. I just think we’re moving in the direction of “measured” being the standard because of the regularity in which comments get blown out of proportion.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I give up.  Nowhere I have I stated I would prefer an angry outburst.  I just don't need to hear him say he isn't frustrated at all.

 

I guess you did not read anything I wrote and that is OK, but you are sorely mistaken if you think people who don't appreciate the comment would rather him get angry.  It is actually a common and somewhat ridiculous assumption that gets made.  Not sure how or why that is.

Ewen, just walk away. You've said you piece and said it well, just let it go.

[ewen21]

Ewen, just walk away. You've said you piece and said it well, just let it go.

I will

[Major League Ready]

 

You were doing well until this.

 

Why are you drawing a parallel to the first game of the ALCS?  

1. It is game 1 of he series

2.  Houston has won in the very recent past

3.  They beat the Yankees

4. We have lost 13 post season games in a row to the Yankees.

5. We were swept three times in a row by them

6. Who cares what they would say on AstrosDaily if it existed?

7. Get the picture?

 

Sorry.  I just don't like the comment after being swept out in the first round.  Did he not have hopes of accomplishing more?  What is wrong with a little frustration?  Cop to it, acknowledge, hitch up your blue jeans and soldier on.  Just feels like he is lying and I don't the freakin point in it.  That is all,.

 

These are your frustrations. Why should Rocco share them? He had absolutely no ties to the organization when these things happened. He was the competition for part of it. Why should he have any frustration with the Team’s past? He would have been wise to say something like … I understand the frustrations of the fan’s who have endured a lack of playoff success. However, from his perspective, the team went from 78 to 101 wins. He should be disappointed with the playoff performance but why should he be frustrated with a season that started with many questions and ended with 101 wins? Seems to me you want him to share your frustration and that makes no sense. He did not live through your frustrations as a Twins fan.