Boston Sports Media Watch

Ugh.

Death, Taxes and Boston sports radio. About the only things in life which are completely predictable.

The Bruins take a 3-0 series lead, and then drop game four in overtime. Ergo, since they once blew a 3-0 series lead and lost a series after losing game four in overtime, this MUST be history repeating itself. This is your local radio programming until the Bruins close the series.

Or you’re a columnist who made a boatload of money on some fictional curse involving a local baseball team. What do you do? Naturally you made any connection you can to this situation.

Hagelin hits a Mookie Wilson-esque soft backhander — do I hear Vin Scully saying “Behind the bag! And the Mets win!!”

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) May 24, 2013

The media columns today look at the postseason coverage of the Bruins.

NESN, CSNNE compete for Bruins coverage – Chad Finn.

For Pierre McGuire, rinkside beats the booth – Bill Doyle.

It was also a rough night for the Red Sox, as Terry Francona made his return to Fenway Park as an opposing manager. His Indians walloped the Sox 12-3.

Tribe a tribute to Terry Francona

John Tomase says there are two camps when it comes to Francona.

On one side are those who can’t say his name without intoning that he’s The Greatest Manager in Red Sox History, as if it’s an official part of his title. He won two World Series, nearly reached a third, and oversaw the rebirth of the franchise. It’ll take more than one bad month to undo that.

On the other are those who will never forgive him for the collapse of 2011, the fact that he basically skated on it in the court of public opinion, or for employing the player-friendly style that let it happen. The Sox won on their ridiculous talent, which he managed not to screw up. Beatification proceedings can wait.

I’d be curious to know the percentages in each camp. I personally really don’t know anyone in the second camp, though I know they exist. They’re the ones who mockingly called him “Francoma” when they called in to sports radio. I’d have to imagine it is a very very small club.

WEEI can’t be looking forward to the release of the latest ratings numbers. A sneak peek of April and the first week of May reveals that 98.5 is again #1 in their demo for mornings, mid-days and afternoons, while WEEI hovers between 6th and 7th in those same time slots.  According to the numbers I was given, (which I have not been able to confirm, but I have no reason to believe are inaccurate) the first week of May broke down like this:

May week 1

Males 25-54

T&R 13.3 #1 D&C 5.1 #6

G&Z 8.1 #1 M&M 2.6 #12

F&M 12.9 #1 S&H 4.6 T-6TH

Last year, you’ll recall that WEEI won the afternoon drive in May.

It’s over.

I remember the last time that Rask was part of a 3-0 lead in the semifinals.

— Mark Feldman (@Feldman985) May 22, 2013

I’m always amazed at the ability of some people to immediately hone in on the negative. In sports media, it’s the people involved with sports radio and television who feel the need to create something negative out of a very impressive performance by the Boston Bruins last night.

Whether it is the play of Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly (last night on CSNNE) or Dennis and Callahan and Minihane trying to create some sort of controversy this morning around Brad Marchand and Shawn Thornton (suggesting Marchand should fight his own battles, and that Thornton resents having to come to the aid of a punk like Marchand – a suggestion Thornton himself thoroughly debunked when he appeared on the show in the 9:00 hour.

Enough of that.

Claude Julien’s plans turning to gold for Bruins – I really enjoyed Kevin Paul Dupont’s column today.

The Bruins fourth line was the difference last night, probably to the chagrin of those who complain about Julien’s insistence on rolling all his lines out there with regularity.

Fourth line carries Bruins to win over Rangers, 2-1 – Joe Haggerty says the fourth line showed they are much more than grinders.

Fourth line has first-rate showing – Joe McDonald looks at the energy and offense the unit brought last night.

Bruins go fourth with well-rounded effort – Stephen Harris looks at as good an all-around game as we’ve seen from the Bruins this season.

Merlot Line Proves Worth For Umpteenth Time And Other Leftover Bruins Thoughts – Michael Hurley touches on the officiating and many other items from last night.

Bruins defense a major source of offense in playoffs – DJ Bean looks at the production of the defensemen to the Bruins charge.

Good stuff.

For some reason, I’m a foul mood today. Don’t know why.

It might be what passes for sports radio/TV in this town these days. Nothing but faux controversies and studio-gangsters talking tough. Here’s a partial list of things I’m not interested in these days:

I’m not interested in Dennis and Callahan talking about eating feces, sodomy or Callahan’s questions about why can’t we just blow up tornadoes with a laser.

I’m not interested in the Dennis and Callahan producer somehow trying to compare Rob Gronkowski with Larry Bird in terms of being a career disappointment.

I fear that kids now may view Gronk’s career as I did Larry Birds.

— Chris Curtis (@_ChrisCurtis) May 17, 2013

If the Patriots win three Super Bowls and Gronk is a three-time MVP and a Hall of Famer, I won’t be disappointed.

I’m not interested in hearing Fred Toucher’s impression of Jaromír Jágr ever again, though I know I will.

I’m not interested in hearing Jon “Bonafides” Wallach get some basic sports fact wrong again.

I’m not interested in counting how many times Lou Merloni says “damn” in a 20-minute segment.

I’m not interested in Andy Gresh’s opinion that Rajon Rondo is the most hated athlete in Boston.

I’m not interested in Scott Zolak’s ham salad sandwiches and coffee that he got at Cumby’s on the way in.

I’m not interested in hearing how Mike Mutnansky can ramble his way into the next break. Example (Courtesy of Scott@PD):

Faced off with Salk, TC, there on NESN, went at it in the Twizzle, Celtics, rebuild, keep the core together, debated that thing, there on NESN, after the post-game show, great job done there on that, followed up with that debate, Salk wants to blow it up, couldn’t defend it, kicked his *ss there on NESN and had no problem doing it, want to mix that thing in there along with your Bruins, Red Sox calls, I see you lined up there, Steve in Fall River, Russ in Walpole, great callers. Ortiz, questions now, on something, see Shaughnessy in the Globe, asking the tough questions, agree, topic worth exploring Lou Merloni, Bruins, a little gamesmanship there on the faceoffs, getting the benefit of the doubt on those things, Michael Holley says now he doesn’t see the Bruins losing another game in this series, interesting, Holley, bold, I had the Bruins losing this series TC, we’ll explore that after this break.

Even so, I’m not interested in the prospect of Jessica Moran (though I like her on CSNNE) replacing Mutt.

I’m not interested in seeing how Dan Shaughnessy can make himself the story this week, and then take a victory lap on Gresh and Zo and on the weekend TV shows and any national outlet that will have him and promote him as the face of Boston sports.

I’m not interested in hearing how Mike Felger can blame Tom Brady for Peter King’s puff piece on him in this week’s MMQB.

I’m not interested in in hearing Tony Massarotti declare that everything SUCKS, unless it’s something that Felger came up with.

I’m not interested in Mike Salk try to “interpret” comments made by a guest such as Danny Ainge and then try to create some sort of story about a rift between Ainge and Doc Rivers. Or talk about how John Farrell really isn’t a clone of Terry Francona, and because of that, is he really any different than Bobby Valentine?

I’m not interested in Michael Holley floundering hopelessly as he tries to save his own job as he realizes that since Salk is Jeff Brown’s guy, Holley would be next out the door.

I’m not interested in anything Mike Adams has to say. (How many Mike’s are there on Boston radio, anyway?)

I’m not interested in hearing the Felger and Massarotti show repeated almost verbatim during the evenings on 98.5 by Adam Jones.

I’m not interested in hearing Larry Johnson tell everyone on the weekends how people like Dan Shaughnessy and Dennis and Callahan and everyone is doing such a great job.

I’m not interested in the Yankee-programming on that same show.

I’m not interested in Jen Royle’s tweets of herself in bed with her dog, and utilizing Butch Stearns as her new radio coach and mentor. Butch Stearns????

I’m not interested in yet another review of the 2009 season on the ESPN Boston Patriots blog.

I’m not interested in seeing the new guy at the Globe retweeting Mike Florio.

I’m not interested in hearing the Boston media fawn over John Tortorella while waiting hopefully for an explosion out of him.

I’m not interested in seeing how Chris Gasper can find creative ways to shoehorn $100 words into his column. Fustigated? Lugubrious?

/Rant over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Celtics (0-1) vs. Philadelphia (1-0)
April 20, 1980
Boston Garden

The Celtics opened the playoffs by demolishing Houston.  After the sweep, Rockets coach Del Harris anointed the 1980 Celtics as “the best team I’ve ever seen.”  The C’s, however, were given a rude awakening in the opener of the conference finals, as Philadelphia used a combination of style (Dr. J), power (Darryl Dawkins), and grit (Henry Bibby) to wrestle away homecourt.  Game Two was a different story, as the Celtics relied heavily on their starting five and fought off every Philly comeback to hold on and win, 96-90.

Bob Ryan examined the victory in the pages of the Boston Globe the following morning, a game that saw all of Boston’s starting five in double figures:

There can be no denying that the Boston half of the morning box score is an eyebrow archer.  Boston substitutes accounted for a mere 28 of the 240 playing minutes.  Fitch stayed with his five-man mule team, and nobody will ever be able to convince him he did not do the right thing.

“If,” he said, “I run into a carbon copy of this game anywhere along the line, I’ll do it again. I think this team is as well-conditioned as any in the league.  My players have the right to ask out for a blow, and the substitutes for each player can put themselves in for their man if they think they should. I may run a dictatorship, but it’s with a diplomatic-democratic twist.”

Larry Bird, who played 46 minutes, led all scorers with 31 points and, as evidenced in the video, put his body on the line for the Celtics.  The NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year also picked up 12 rebounds.  Ryan touched on Bird’s play, which ultimately was the difference between victory and defeat.

After missing his first three shots, he sank 13 of his next 15 attempts from the floor, and the variety of his offense suggested a man playing “Horse” with himself.  The level of the 76ers’ defense in this game matched their first-game effort, but this time The Rookie made shots no 6-foot-9 man has a right to make.  It was that simple.

“He made some incredible shots,” conceded Sixer coach Billy Cunningham. “There wasn’t much you could do about it.”

The game was not entirely perfect for Bird.  He accumulated only one shot at the free throw line, delivered only two assists, and turned the ball over an alarming eight times.  Despite the defeat, Philadelphia saw vulnerability in their opponent.  Larry Whiteside’s story from the Globe had Julius Erving’s take on Bird’s 31-point night.

“Let’s face it,” said Julius Erving.  “Larry had an outstanding individual game.  Everybody knows he is capable of doing that on any given night.  He’s got that kind of ability.  But he wound up taking 30 shots, and everybody knows that is not the kind to team game that the Celtics have played all year.  I just don’t know if he’ll have that kind of success if he has to do it every night.  It worked in this game.  We’ll just have to see what happens.”

Ryan touched on the sequence that gave the Celtics their first victory of the series:

The game wasn’t put away until the final nine minutes, or until the Celtics, who had blown a 15-point second-period lead down to a tie at 62-all, answered the final Sixer thrust with big baskets by Cowens (14) and Bird.  Philly was still hanging tough at 76-70 when Cowens responded to a delightful low-post mismatch with Steve Mix by swinging into the lane for a hook with 9:18 left.  Bird then expanded the margin to 10 at 80-70 with a jumper from just inside the three- point arc.  The 76ers were unable to reduce the deficit to less than 10 until garbage time, as the Celtics twice expanded the lead to 13, the second time at 90-77 with 3:41 to play.

The Celtics also reasserted themselves on the glass.  After the Sixers picked up nine more defensive rebounds than the C’s in the series opener, Bird (12 rebounds) and Cedric Maxwell (15 rebounds) shifted the direction of the series by limiting Philly’s second-chance opportunities.  The Sixers shot 48 percent in Game One, yet barely managed 44 percent from the field in Game Two.

“I just went out there with the same confidence that I’ve had all season,” Bird told the Globe’s Whiteside.  “We proved we were the best team in an 82-game season. Now we’ve got to prove we’re the best team in the playoffs.  I didn’t mind the fact that I played so long.  In a game like this, and playing against a talented club like Philly, you don’t really want to come out.”

The Globe’s Leigh Montville, who now writes for Sports on Earth, detailed the scene in the Celtics’ locker room after the game:

“Sloppy,” a man tried to tell Celtics’ guard Chris Ford.  “You won, but you looked sloppy.”

“What do you mean?” Ford fairly shouted.  “Everyone out there is fighting tooth and nail.  Maybe from where you’re sitting the game looks sloppy, but if you’re playing you know the games aren’t going to be picture-perfect because nobody’s going to let them be.  Maybe you can say everyone’s making mistakes.  I say everyone’s just trying like hell.”

The Celtics had not won in Philly since January of 1979.  In order to avoid returning to the Garden facing a 3-1 deficit, the C’s would need to find a way to procure a victory at the Spectrum.  While the Celtics were only seven wins away from a championship, the Boston Bruins had just bowed out of the playoffs after losing, 4-1, to the New York Islanders (who were beginning a run of four straight Stanley Cup victories).  The Globe’s Ernie Roberts asked Harry Sinden his thoughts on the Celtics:

One writer asked Sinden if he thought it unfair that the Bruins had to play eight games in 11 days while the Celtics seemed to have the luxury of a two- or three-day rest between playoff games. Harry grinned.  “I don’t think it is pertinent,” he said, “but who should I complain to?  Mr. (Larry) O’Brien (commissioner of the NBA)?  Actually I hope the Celtics win their title because I’d like to see one championship team come to Boston.”

The Celtics traveled to Philadelphia for Game Three.

 

It was a good night for the locals, as the Bruins beat the Rangers in overtime to take the first game of their conference semifinal series, and the Red Sox rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Rays.

Brad Marchand goal lifts Bruins past Rangers in OT – Steve Conroy has the Bruins doing a good job turning the page from their electrifying game seven win over Toronto.

Marchand finally looks himself with Game 1 goal – Joe Haggerty has the Bruins winger getting himself back to form last night.

Young blueliners don’t look green – With the Bruins down three veteran defensemen, Joe McDonald looks at the fine performance by the trio of Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton last night. Kevin Paul Dupont has more on the young trio.

Nobody bigger than Zdeno Chara – Mark Daniels has the Bruins stalwart playing an immense 38 minutes last night.

Bruins fans made CSN studio scary – Chad Finn’s media column looks back at the scene in the Comcast SportsNet studio outside TD Garden after the historic game 7 win over the Maple Leafs.

So, let me get this straight, Mike Felger was scared, not of bodily harm, but about the quality of the broadcast? That’s why they called 911? Also, since when has Felger been worried about the quality of any broadcast?

Finn also mentions the Entercom employee satisfaction survey.

Jack Edwards’ winning Bruins call gains notice – Bill Doyle’s media column has Jack Edwards talking about his call of the winning goal in game seven.

The Red Sox were down 3-1 in the ninth inning, and the Rays had their closer on the mound to start the inning. The same closer who had struck out the side on Tuesday night. The Sox loaded the bases, and with two outs and two strikes, Will Middlebrooks emptied the bases, giving Boston a 4-3 lead which they held for the win.

Red Sox rally on Will Middlebrooks’ bat – Scott Lauber looks at the important win for the Sox.

Shane Victorino toughing it out for Red Sox – Nick Cafardo look at how important the outfielder has become to the Red Sox.

Bard’s control issues big concern in Double A – Sean McAdam looks at the struggles for the formerly dominant reliever.

Red Sox steal drama trick from Bruins – John Tomase looks at this one as a win that the Red Sox can build on.

Just how ridiculous (and transparent) is Mike Florio?

Patriots’ decision to cut Love looks like disability discrimination

Jaguars help Patriots, in a roundabout way

From the latter:

The Patriots’ apologists suddenly have gotten very quiet.

OK, so no one is defending the team any more. Then:

The team has not responded to a PFT request for comment, and no amount of off-the-record spin being espoused by writers covering the team regarding concerns such as Love’s performance slipping in 2012 and the addition of other players who may be better than Love changes the fact that the Pats cut Love not because of his performance or his competition but because of a medical condition.  We know this because the team released Love in the immediate aftermath of his diagnosis with the “non-football illness” designation.

So are the apologists quiet, or are the apologist writers covering the team actually making excuses for them?

While the Patriots may suffer no consequence or reprimand for a fairly blatant violation of Love’s human rights (because, you know, they’re the Patriots), the Jaguars deserve to be praised for ignoring a condition that can be treated and controlled. Many people operate successfully with diabetes, and every diabetic should be a fan of the Jaguars moving forward.

Excuse me, Mr Florio, but your slip is showing. What does this even mean? Is he saying they won’t be punished because the league looks the other way on the Patriots, or is he saying the Patriots make a routine habit of violating of the human rights of their employees?

On the matter of spin coming from the local media, I’m not seeing it. Tom E Curran wrote about it – More to Pats’ release of Love than meets the eye but Florio’s line seems to be more about retaliating for being called out than actually debunking anything Curran says. I’m not seeing other Patriots media rush to the defense of the team as Florio indicates is happening.

Then Florio runs this last night:

Krafts catch flak for favoring Patriots over Revolution

Included is this paragraph:

Still, a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous players pegged the Krafts as the worst owners in the MLS, and players like Thierry Henry and David Beckham have balked at playing on the FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium.

Seriously?

Facing their own ghosts of the past, the Bruins just gave up last night, meekly submitting to the Toronto Maple Leafs as Boston completed its collapse from a 3-1 series lead. Appropriately enough, the Bruins were done in by Phil Kessel, as the former first round pick of the Bruins scored to make it 3-1 two minutes into the third period and then assisted on the final Toronto goal three minutes later which made it 4-1. The Bruins had no energy, could not generate scoring chances and at times appeared disinterested. Look for coach Claude Julien to pay for this epic collapse with his job.

How many columns with sentiments similar to the above do you figure were in the process of being written during the third period last night?

The Bruins instead pulled off a historic comeback, scoring three times in the third period, including twice in the final 90 seconds to force overtime and then won on Patrice Bergeron’s wrist shot in the extra period (Dave Goucher audio) to take the series four games to three and move on to face the New York Rangers.

It’s hard to imagine two more different scenes than the one right after the fourth Toronto goal, and immediately following the game. Dirt was being shoveled onto the Bruins grave, and then fans had Mike Felger calling for backup and fearing for his safety in the studio across the street from the Garden. There was also an F-bomb dropped on the air coming in from a break as they wondered if the window was going to be broken.

Bruins Win Overtime Thriller, Toronto Left Staring Into Nothingness  – Deadspin has the NBC video, the NESN video and reaction from the Toronto crowd. For some reason they also do a finger wag at NESN (New England Sports Net Switches To Toronto Feed In Ultimate Dick Move) for briefly showing the Toronto crowd. What Deadspin seems to miss is that NESN was showing those Toronto crowd shots all night long, especially after Maple Leaf goals. Many complained on Twitter after the game winner that NESN didn’t show enough of the Toronto crowd after things went bad for them.

Hope Was Lost Until The Bruins Restored It – Kevin Paul Dupont compares this game to Carlton Fisk’s home run in the 1975 World Series. (Except here, Patrice Bergeron  played the role of both Bernie Carbo and Fisk.)

Bruins display heart of champions in comeback – Joe Haggerty looks at the unlikeliest of game seven comebacks.

Bruins pull off epic turnaround – Joe McDonald has the Bruins making history again.

Bergeron delivers in face of mounting criticism – Stephen Harris has Bergeron delivering after his line had been criticized all series.

Leafs endure heartbreaking collapse in Game 7 overtime loss to Bruins – From North of the border, Bruce Arthur is as good as they come.

A snide comment from Kevin Paul Dupont last week suddenly looks prescient as the Bruins, once up 3-1 in this opening round series, find themselves fighting for their playoff lives tonight in game seven against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Bruins have lost wiggle room – Joe McDonald says that the formula for the Bruins is simple, they need more shots, more traffic, more players in front of the net to cause havoc.

B’s flaunting inconsistency to the end – Joe Haggerty says that based on this season, we have no idea which version of the Bruins will show up tonight. Haggs also notes that this band of Bruins are familiar with the pressure of a game 7.

Tuukka Rask hopes for best – Stephen Harris has the Bruins goaltender putting the 2010 playoffs out of his mind as he readies for tonight.

Undying loyalty to Seguin, Marchand might lead to Bruins’ early demise – Matt Kalman thinks that Claude Julien’s loyalty to his young duo might end up costing him his job.

Toronto got the better of Boston twice yesterday, as the Blue Jays pounded Ryan Dempster and the Red Sox 12-4 at Fenway Park. Boston has now lost eight of ten.

The Red Sox’ reality: The lineup’s problems, and potential solutions – Rob Bradford looks at how the Red Sox can turn things around as they now face a nine-game road trip through Tampa, Minnesota and Chicago.

May has brought lots of problems – Tony Lee notes that since the calendar switched from April to May, it’s been all bad for the Sox.

It’s getting to be a grind for scuffling Sox – Ron Borges looks at how things have faltered for the Sox as of late,  suggests they take  a lesson from the Mayans, and has a new nickname for Dan Shaughnessy.

David Ortiz is 1-for-17 since The Cooler asked him to defend himself because apparently 40 allegedly negative drug tests for performance enhancers weren’t good enough.

How much longer Ortiz struggles is anyone’s guess, but you don’t have to know much about baseball to understand he wasn’t going to continue to hit .450, because if he did, The Cooler wouldn’t be the only guy asking him questions about how that was happening.

Not bad, not bad. Whenever things are going well, we can count on Dan Shaughnessy going in to insert himself into the equation and foul things up however he can.

Of course, “the Cooler” is a phrase that Shaughnessy himself had some fondness for, as he used it in at least three different columns as a nickname for Adrian Gonzalez.