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"We think the phrasing is just right, it shows empathy and understanding that a change was necessary without placing blame directly on the relieved party." (ed. note - "DC GM Mike Rizzo and President Stan Kasten explain the derivation of the "New Voice" method of management turnover). (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

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Huh? And here I thought it was particular to baseball...

In explaining the New Jersey Nets' decision to fire Coach Lawrence Frank from his position with the (amazingly?) 0-18 team, Nets' President Rod Thorn is quoted in Newark Star-Ledger Staff writer David Allesandro's article entitled, (cleverly), "Frank Dismissal", stating his belief that perhaps a new voice is all that's needed in New Jersey:

"...sometimes the same message from a different voice can change things."

Hmmmmm? Where have I heard that before?

That's right, it was DC's then-Interim Manager Jim Riggleman's introductory press conference as covered by MLB.com writer Bill Ladson, who quoted Manny Acta's successor in an article entitled, "Riggleman introduced as Nats' skipper", saying that his plans for the team didn't involve any attempt to, "reinvent the game," in fact, he was deternined to "pound the same message" Acta had:

"Maybe coming from someone else, maybe they will respond, maybe they won't. We have to try it."

Not close enough to the Nets' Rod Thorn? How aboot this one...

DC GM Mike Rizzo answered a few questions from Washington Post writer Mark Viera immediately after the decision to replace Manny Acta was announced in an article entitled, "Mike Rizzo Quotes On Acta And Riggleman", wherein Mr. Rizzo responded to a question about the differences between Mr.'s Acta and Riggleman by stating: 

"I just believe the team is better than what they've shown, so maybe something in a different voice, a different way of presenting possibly the same material, could have an effect."

Or was it when Jim Riggleman replaced John McLaren as the manager of the Seattle Mariners in 2008, and told MLB.com writer Guy Curtright in an article entitled, "Riggleman feels for ex-skipper", that he understood what the man he'd one day hire as his own bench coach in DC was going through since he'd been there before himself:

"'As I said when I was let go by the Cubs, a new voice needed to be heard. It wasn't that the message was wrong. It was just the way things go...'"

Is there a manual somewhere? Or...Do Riggleman, Rizzo and Thorn all have the same publicist? Is this something I should look up on corporatedictionary.com? (A corporate version of urban dictionary? Should I have purchased that url before including it in that joke?)...Is this the same thing as saying "I'm sorry for your loss," at a funeral?