Why such disdain for the media

[Benign Despot]

It occurs to me that some of our out-of-town visitors might wonder why we Patriots fans have such disdain for the local media and what appears at first glance to be a slavish devotion to Bill Belichick.

Courtesy of Boston Sports Media Watch I'd like to offer up a few bon mots which might help explain our belief that Coach Bill knows just a little bit more about football than the media wretches.

With all due respect to John Hannah, Adam Vinatieri heads to Indianapolis as the greatest player in New England Patriots history. - Hector Longo, Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 03/22/06

I guess Hector has never heard of Tom Brady, Richard Seymour, Willie McGinnist, Andre Tippet or countless other actual football players

And the tone is being set by the coach. Troy Brown at nickel-back on defense? Dan Klecko, the starting fullback? This is not an attempt at flexibility in the 53-man roster. It is mocking the NFL, the opposition and the fans, - Hector Longo, Lawrence Eagle-Tribune 8/14/04

Boy that Hector is a real football savant, huh?

Belichick will not be so lucky. He doesn't have (Jimmy) Johnson's personality, which can be as jovial and charming as a snake oil salesman's. Worse, this Patriot team isn't going to win two Super Bowls any time soon... - Ron Borges, Boston Globe, 11/22/01

Ronny proves both his bias and his ignorance with every word he writes

Could it be that future generations of Patriots fans will be telling their grandchildren about their team winning their lone Super Bowl back in 2001, only to banish their best player to a divisional rival less than two years later, thus initiating Milloy's Curse? - George Kimball, Boston Herald, 9/11/03

I'll bet Kimball went out and registed a copyright on "Curse of Milloy" and was PISSED when it didn't work out for him

There's an alarming whiff of negativity surrounding your New England Patriots, defending Super Bowl champions despite last night's preseason-opening win over Philly, 24-6. Maybe Benjamin Watson knows something, and that's why the rookie first-round pick has stayed away. - Hector Longo, Eagle-Tribune, 8/14/2004

Hector is a real Nostradamus, please tell me he's picking the 'fins for the division title this year

On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second-best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon. - Ron Borges, MSNBC after 2001 Draft.

My all time personal favorite - Ronny it's better to be vague when you make predictions

But that didn't make up for the fact that the Pats bollixed up that first pick like amateurs. - Kevin Mannix, Boston Herald, 04/25/05, After the Patriots selected Logan Mankins

Remember this one RG?

[Sir Otilc]

How does Borges write that crap, which was about as wrong as you can get, and still keep his job?

Is the Globe that hard up for writers?

[mikiemo83]

Originally posted by Sir Otilc
How does Borges write that crap, which was about as wrong as you can get, and still keep his job?

Is the Globe that hard up for writers?

no they just hire booze bags, ssit them in a room and type out their moronic rants and call it an article - it's almost like they copy the news and Bob Lobel

[RoadGrader]

some say the root cause of some Boston writers being super critical started with the Ted Williams era

Ted had a very honest relationship with most of those who covered him in Boston." Brown said. "Ted, remember, was the one who called the Boston reporters 'The Knights of the Keyboard.' He had a great, great way with words when he wanted to use them. He just had his enemies, who he felt were out to rip him anytime they could."

Longtime "Boston Record" (now "Boston Herald") columnist Dave "The Colonel" Egan headed that list.

"That was a long, sometimes ugly running feud," Brown said. "Dave set the tone for the way many columnists criticize today. He felt that Ted was cocky and arrogant and needed to be criticized instead of being put on a pedestal.

"Certain writers like Dave didn't like Ted from the start because he would say something brash and then be right. The fact he was right and then was still confident I think caused a lot of the writers to hold a grudge a long time."

Full Article Referenced Here

and to think I majored in Journalism and was interested in sportswriting.

I could have been God-like in this Town had my IQ not gotten in the way

[TipRoast]

Can someone post the paragraph where Kevin Mannix referred to Belichick as "duplicitous pond scum" - thanks.

[RoadGrader]

Originally posted by TipRoast
Can someone post the paragraph where Kevin Mannix referred to Belichick as "duplicitous pond scum" - thanks.

The following season, the Patriots signed safety Rodney Harrison in the offseason, and people wondered where they would play him, as they already had a top player at that position in Lawyer Milloy. The week before the Patriots regular season opener in Buffalo against Bledsoe and the Bills, Belichick announced that the team had released Milloy after failing to come to a contract adjustment. The critics were all over this. Kevin Mannix led off his column the next day in the Herald thusly:

Bill Belichick is pond scum again. Arrogant, megalomaniacal, duplicitous pond scum.

Boston Sports Media Watch Article

[TipRoast]

Grazie, RG.

[Benign Despot]

Originally posted by RoadGrader

I could have been God-like in this Town had my IQ not gotten in the way

Why was it too high?

[Hawg73]

I've been doing a little homework on Ronnie for a little thing I'm working on, but I ran across this classic slice and dice from a few years back.

November 1, 2004

PITTSBURGH -- Whatever the Patriots practiced last Friday isn't likely to be the topic of Bill Belichick's news conference today.

Belichick went to some lengths to offer up unsolicited last Monday how the Patriots had practiced two days earlier "exactly the situation" his team faced the previous day against the Jets just before halftime, when it marched downfield for what proved to be the winning touchdown. This was not the first time Belichick had talked after a victory of some prescient moment he'd had during one of the team's closed practices a day or two before a game. Always, it seemed, whatever they'd practiced miraculously came to fruition when it counted.

Well, unless they practiced picking their quarterback up off the ground last Friday, there couldn't have been much they worked on last week that had anything to do with what occurred yesterday at Heinz Field, where the Steelers manhandled the previously undefeated Patriots, 34-20.

This came at the conclusion of a record setting winning streak and yet Borges couldn't wait to pounce on BB and accuse him of, basically, self-glorification and lying.

And people wonder why we get pissed at him?

[bideau]

Hector Longo has been trying to make a career out of slinging $hit against the wall and seeing what will stick. The fact that he's employed, even by a 2nd tier rag, speaks very poorly of the current state of the profession.

[JamesLavin]

Originally posted by Hawg73
..."This was not the first time Belichick had talked after a victory of some prescient moment he'd had during one of the team's closed practices a day or two before a game. Always, it seemed, whatever they'd practiced miraculously came to fruition when it counted."

This Borges rant doesn't even make LOGICAL sense!

Belichick didn't claim that everything they ever practice happens in every actual game. He claimed that some things they practice happen in some actual games. Is that really so "miraculous"? Is that really such an unbelieveable claim? And is it really so surprising he would mention the times when preparing for something specific helped?

How often does Mr. Borges brag about all the money he lost last week at Foxwoods? And are his colleagues so dense that they misinterpret his occasional bragging about winning at Foxwoods as a claim that he never loses?

--James

P.S. I have no idea whether Mr. Borges gambles. I'm asking the question rhetorically.

[dchester]

Originally posted by JamesLavin
P.S. I have no idea whether Mr. Borges gambles. I'm asking the question rhetorically.

I have no idea if he gambles either, but I've heard that he enjoys beating up elderly cripples.

[O_P_T]

Originally posted by JamesLavin
This Borges rant doesn't even make LOGICAL sense!

It's even more absurd if you look at the set of circumstances that BB was refering to: a two minute drill.

Gee, how about that, they practiced their two minute drill and it actually happened in a game!

I've been to enough TC practices and seen enough DVD footage to know that situation awareness is something that BB stresses, so I'll go out on a limb and suggest that BB brought up the topic because a few plays happened where people reacted in just the right way to execute the two minute drill: Get out of bounds, run up to the line for the next play, etc.

[Hawg73]

That's why that quote I referenced cracked me up. We won, I don't even remember now-- 21 straight games or something and in many of those games situations BB made sure were covered in practice probably occured.

The players are always saying how well prepared they are and BB and his staff are the reason for that.

Late in a game when something happens that is unexpected, other teams tend to get nervous or hesistate, where the Pats don't miss a beat.

The team and yes, the coaches SHOULD get credit for that, not some half-assed sideways dig.

[BradyGirl]

"Pond Scum" Kevin Mannix: cut from the Herald, cut from WEEI's pregame football show.

Ron Borges: whenever I see him on TV, I think of a slick snake oil or used car salesman. Ugly dude with an everpresent smirk. He tries to say some good things about the Pats to 'balance' things out but his insincerity oozes out. Freddie looks like a genius next to him on Sports Final.

Hector Longo: sounds like a Grade-A jerk to me.

Boston Sports Media has complained about the trend in media to be contrary just to be contrary and stand out from the pack. How about writing some good stories? That might make you stand out!