It sure is tough that Sox just aren't strong

The White Sox, like a lot of sports figures, confuse tough for strong.

Tough is Sox manager Ozzie Guillen publicly venting over his general manager's failure to fix the offense.

Strong would be to dummy up, gather emotions, and resume trying to solve the problem.

Tough is Sox GM Kenny Williams responding by pointing out how he has protected Guillen.

Strong would be to consider the manager's erratic nature, issue a no-comment and resume trying to solve the problem.

Hey, fellas, what happened to expressing differences in private? How would you feel if pitchers publicly started blaming hitters and hitters fired back?

Yes, the latest flap is just Ozzie being Ozzie, Kenny being Kenny, and the Sox being the Sox.

Together they're reminiscent of the allegedly creative tension Dallas Green employed with the Cubs during his New Tradition days of the 1980s.

Friction can be fun when a team is winning. But the Sox are in first place and the noise is getting old, or let's say older than ever.

The Sox -- from Williams to Guillen on down -- try to project a culture of toughness, but it doesn't always reflect strength.

That didn't matter when pieces fell into place for the Sox to win the 2005 World Series. It wasn't so fine the last two flawed seasons or during 3 straight losses to Tampa Bay over the weekend.

Apparently the Sox want to portray themselves as combative, which is an external trait, rather than durable, which is internal.

Real men aren't just tough, though they can be. They are strong, which they must be.

The two characteristics are muddled sometimes, especially in the macho world of sports.

Tough is being confrontational, intimidating, loud, even profane. Strong is resisting the urge to start a fight, which Guillen should have done Sunday, or walking away from one someone else starts, which Williams should have done.

"I'm pretty strong," Guillen was quoted as saying last month. "I took all kinds of punches last year and I'm still up."

The punches toughened Guillen, but the way he talks and behaves indicates they didn't strengthen him. Strength is facing adversity with grace and accepting criticism with class.

Sox players seemed to believe last month that being strong is propping up female blowup dolls in the clubhouse to break a hitting slump.

No, that's not even being tough and certainly isn't being strong. Strong is behaving professionally even in the clubhouse.

Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera was tough enough to call the official scorer during a game to protest fielding errors.

But he wasn't strong. Strong is disregarding individual statistics and focusing on team goals.

Tough is Guillen talking like a longshoreman, with F-bombs liberally sprinkled around despite women being present.

Strong is realizing this is the 2000s and adjusting to the fact the same language used last century is no longer acceptable.

A good lesson is that the Sox didn't win the '05 World Series just because they were tough. They won because they were strong, too.

Playing the martyr and whining about circumstances is neither tough-guy nor strong-willed. It's more soft-skinned and weak-minded.

Williams and Guillen are good guys but maybe they don't think that wins games, instead buying into "good guys finish last."

That's a tough way to look at baseball but not the strong way.

mimrem@dailyherald.com