All about Kenny

"The Club" finally premiered on the MLB network last night. The documentary supposedly showing an insider's view of the White Sox front office was announced last spring, right around the time that manager Ozzie Guillen conveniently got himself in some well-publicized hot water with his presence on Twitter.

The show promotes itself as a look at the tense, curmudgeonly but ultimately mutually-appreciative relationship between Guillen, GM Kenny Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf. By the looks of the first episode, which relived a bit of the Twitter saga, while also exploring topics that ranged from sprint training decisions to Williams' son Kyle experiences on NFL draft day, the show will be more about the GM than anyone else, and he'll be happy with the admiring tone.

"The Club" confirms the impression most fans probably have of Williams as an aggressive, powerful and somewhat humorless character--and one who likes his cigars as much as he likes to offer advice (One scene featuring Williams giving advice to his son is styled like something out of "The Godfather" with the GM dramatically sucking a stogie between bits of wisdom.) Though if it is all about Williams, who cares? He has earned the attention with a World Series to his credit, and some gutsy trades. If you're a Kenny fan, you'll like "The Club."

If you're an Ozzie fan, you still may like it. It predictably delivers some wacky Ozzie moments, and strives in the first episode to set up the battle of egos and emotions we already have heard too much about this year. Still, Guillen's got panache, and he's fun to watch even if some of what he says is stuff we've heard before.

Reinsdorf only lurks in the background of the first episode, mumbling through a few scenes, including a lunch with Bud Selig that seems staged only to emphasize that Reinsdorf is tasked with controlling Ozzie while Selig lurks not far away, ready to punish him for some potential offense.

There are worse ways to spend a Sunday night, and I will give "The Club" kudos for effectively telling the spring training stories of how Sergio Santos and Randy Williams made the team, and how closely Daniel Hudson missed making it. There was some good insider stuff from always-entertaining pitching coach Don Cooper, too. I can do without the Kenny-at-home scenes, but we'll let the GM have his showbiz moment.

Off the field: Twitter and "The Club"

The Tribune reports this morning on the controversy over White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen's new Twitter account (I tried to search for it on Twitter this morning, but the "find people" function was temporarily overloaded--with Ozzie followers, to be sure).

Sox management is concerned about Ozzie saying things that he shouldn't, going too far and talking off the cuff about matters best kept private--you know, basically being himself. I doubt the Sox need to fear Guillen saying much more than he alreay says publicly, which of course means that occasionally, he will say something, or say it in a way, that attracts a lot of controversy. But, that's just life with Ozzie.

Another interesting off the field tidbit that we haven't yet talked about: Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny illiams and Ozzie, among others, are set to appear on the new MLB Network series, "The Club," this season. The series takes a close look at front office activities, though the Sox get to review the content, so presumably nothing at all will show up on the screen that embarasses the team.

Could off-the-field pursuits like Twitter and "The Club" prove to be unnecessary distractions? The Sox seemed poised for a solid year, possibly their best year since they won the World Series. If they fall short somehow, we know doubt will question anything and everything, including how much time management spent polishing their public personas.

Meanwhile, if you want to help me polish my public persona, you can find me on Twitter under "Doshea14" (Yes, the connection to Ernie Banks and Paul Konerko is intentional.)