No really, he was scheduled today in the approval ratings prior to the Matt Walsh statement from last night…
Tomase is the beat reporter covering the New England Patriots for the Boston Herald. He is a Tufts grad, and joined the Herald in 2005 after covering the Red Sox for the Lawrence Eagle Tribunefor a number of years. He is the main blogger for the Herald’s Point After Patriots blog, and makes appearances on Comcast SportsNet from time to time.
He is in the spotlight now, of course, for the article he wrote the day before this year’s Super Bowl, where a source in his article claimed that the Patriots had filmed the Rams walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. The article brought Tomase national attention…whether that was his aim or not…and with yesterday’s revelation that Walsh has no such tape of the walkthrough and was not the source of Tomase’s article, speculation will likely renew as to who was that source.
Tomase is no stranger to controversy, having written a scathing piece in June 2005 on Manny Ramirez while working for the Eagle-Tribune. The piece claimed the the Red Sox themselves were sick of the slugger and that Ramirez was “robbing the Red Sox and more than indirectly contributing to the cost of baseball’s highest tickets.” He made the rounds of the radio stations after that article, getting his name out there, and possibly leading to his promotion to the Herald.
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A warning shot - take it easy in the comments, folks. Anything deemed inappropriate, offensive or overly personal is subject to removal.
Popularity: 23% [?]
My biggest fear is that because he’s not welcome in Foxboro and probably won’t bring much to the Herald’s coverage of football, they’ll have to put him on the Bruins beat.
Draft DelZotto!
“Disapprove!”
Looks like John Popper writes like Patricia Smith - Disapprove!
Ya know, there’s a large part of his work that isn’t all that bad. But that part isn’t large enough. Dis.
Has morphed from a decent young writer into a practitioner of the worst kind of yellow journalism.
Running a false story about the SB walkthrough based on a single unnamed source? Check.
Calling Manny Ramirez gutless for taking a game off the day after being hit in the helmet with a pitch? Check.
In a way, it’s a shame. Tomase was doing diligent work on the Pats beat this year and I thought his work had improved. But his latest actions have revealed him to be the bottom-feeding muckracker he truly wants to be. Congrats, I guess.
Disapprove. Most strenuously disapprove!
victim of circumstance. tried to play the game the big boys play but failed to realize the big boys were a pack of miscreants.
After consulting with a single, unnamed source….DISAPPROVE!!!!
Even forgetting the spygate thing- the Manny article was ridiculous- a blatant attempt to make a name for himself. He relies too much on questionable sources. Disapprove!
DISAPPROVE!!!
Should have gotten a second source for the story. The Patriots will be forever scarred by it.
Timing couldn’t be better. Was fine when he kept a lower profile, but soon settled into the fat and lazy mode and went for sensationalism, the easier, quicker way to get multiple gigs on Boston Media outlets and become just another in a lengthening line of media whores we have in our fine city.
The Walsh story should send him to pasture, but it won’t as so many of his comrades love to hang on to the slightest glimmer of hope that the “walkthrough” tape exists. I find more credibility in the famous “Sasquatch” tape.
My brother in-law went to high school with him and said he was a fat dumpy kid that never played a sport in his life. He was stunned the first time he saw his name in print, and later, his doughy, John Popper-esque, kisser on TV.
Often looks like he smelled bad cheese or curdled milk, and appears to have the personal hygiene traits of a spotted hog (or Pete Sheppard…take your pick.)
This guy is a real stinker.
DISSAPROVE 100%
When you try to be the story rather than report the story you actually invite the abuse you get.
How in the world the St Louis spygate lie would be your choice as the story to run with the day before the most historic Super Bowl game your readership will ever see is so amazingly self-absorbed, so remarkably incompetent and so glaringly petty that it begs the need to question the motives and qualifications of the writer.
Can blame a reporter for trying to get the story, on the whole think he does a good job with the Pats, I approve!
Why all the yellow seats,Dale…I mean, Where are the tapes, Tom?
Too bad, he’s not a bad writer.
The kid has talent.
Sure, plenty of these young reporters know how to throw together an angry screed and grab the attention of the local talk show hosts. But very few have the ability to write a poorly-sourced hit piece rife with inaccuracies and conflicts-of-interes, much less have the impeccable timing to run it on the eve of a Patriots Super Bowl.
You made me proud, kid. APPROVE!
Tomase, come out and be accountable. DISAPPROVE
Tomase is figuring out what happens when you take you cues trying to be “objective” from the likes of Felger and Borges. Objective suddenly becomes delusional.
Disapprove
Keeps the paper moving along…. NOT
DISAPPROVE!
As Steve said above - Started out as a decent young writer, then tried to make a name for himself.
What’s That?…..It’s PAT!
John Tomase is in Jason Blair/Mike Barnicle territory and really ought to walk the last few inches of the gangplank. Not only has Tomase alienated his readers (he allows no comments to his columns), but he has likely alienated the Patriots as well. What’s left over after two gutter balls like that? The world of sports journalism in Boston comprises every sort of bad human characteristic you can name. Indeed, the whole sports media cabal here has become a caricature. And being the worst of that sorry lot—as Tomase clearly is—certainly isn’t a badge of honor. I figure the next step for Tomase is loading bags onto Southwest Airlines jets down in PVD, or being a Wal-Mart door greeter.
He has chosen the career path of throwing unsubstantiated controversial crap out there just to make a name for himself. It’s worked so far, unfortunately, as people know who he is today when they would not have known him in the recent past.
In keeping with that goal, he’ll be THRILLED to see his undboubtedly heavy negative rating today. In his mind, it will make him “edgier” and more “controversial.”
Step away from the dark side, Jabba.
Disapprove.
I hope it’s true that Kraft has ordered NO ONE to cooperate with Tomase now and in the future. I seem to recall that Tomase was warring with Belichick all season, and he may have seen his 2/2 story as a way to “get even.” Just a disgrace.
Disapprove! Tomase started off nicely at the Eagle-Tribune but then he had dreams of making a name for himself and unfortunately flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami.
Let this be a lesson to Hector, don’t venture out beyond the cozy confines of Bill Burt’s playhouse. People will actual notice how stupid you really are.
My guess is that he’ll be the Herald’s new boxing writer before the next football season is over.
The Globe had no choice but to put Borges on the boxing beat, exclusively, for years after he wrote about the Patriots’ drug scandal in the aftermath of Super Bowl XX against the Bears. The Pats pretty much froze him out of the lockerroom after that and the Globe had to reassign him. He only got back onto the Pats’ beat again after Kraft bought the team if I recall correctly.
So the boxing beat may in fact be Tomase’s future destination.
The good news for John is that there are tons of excellent and cheap buffets out in Las Vegas, where the majority of big fights (if any such events still exist today) take place.
DISAPPROVE….get corroboration for that single “unnamed” source next time big fella.
Yup. And you get free junkets to Vegas paid for by HBO. Free Don King Vellore jumpsuits.
That’s “velour.”
Of course, Borges’s story was accurate.
Agreed.
That was before Borges turned his personal dislike for Belichick into a Scarlet Letter that would ultimately destroy his journalistic credibility.
Disapprove based on the Manny hatchet job…. but the bulk of the Ramsgate fiasco fallout should be borne by his editors at the Herald. Preventing insufficiently-sourced news from hitting the printing press IS THEIR ENTIRE JOB DESCRIPTION. Tomase is just doing his job, albeit badly; it was the editorial board of the Herald that appears to have completely shirked their journalistic responsibility/integrity.
the nick cafardo of generation whatever. uninspired & booorrrrrrrrrring.
Bruce, what if I have some inappropriate, offensive and overly personal comments but I can back them up with a source??
I can’t tell you the source, and if you threaten to sue the source he’ll tell you he wasn’t my source.
Simply the worst. He owes the Patriots an apology for printing his lie-filled story the day before the Super Bowl. If the Herald was a news organization when any sense of ethics, he would have been fired.
The fact that a moderator had to ask people to take it easy before a single vote was cast speaks volumes about Tomase.
He is soon to be irrelevant in this town. He has forever lost the trust of his readership. Borges was an unapologetic asshole and eminently dislikable, but even he never reached the level of professional disrespect from his audience that Tomase now faces. Not to mention the fact that if he were drowning, the team he covers would probably throw him a cinder block.
He’s done as a legitimate sports journalist in Boston but he’s still young, so maybe he can move on and salvage his career in another town. Too bad for him, he really screwed up a good gig.
Tomase will find employment at the New York Times. He was used by the Times and its Boston rag, the Globe, to spread a lie. His Judas-like devotion to the Times and the Globe will result in the death of the Herald. But Tomase will be paid his pieces of silver by the Times/Globe where all good Socialists go to write. Tomase who is the source? Who paid for Walsh’s lawyer? How many teams taped opponents coaches? Are you going to work for the Times/Globe or ESPN? Did you enjoy feel the emptiness that all of Boston felt on Super Bowl Sunday? Your pain cannot be enough for me.
ok, but he seems to like sports
get a grip.
Your therapist called. You missed your last appointment.
WHEN DID ERIC GAGNE START WRITING FOR THE HERALD?!?
Best beat guy, writer or columnist in Boston.
How is he better than Reiss?
I like him, but he certainly has some explaining to do. The question is why do so many of you people take this thing so personally? The Pats, and Belichick specifically, cheated (and I love the Pats). That’s where this whole thing started. He did not make this thing up out of whole cloth. He has a source. The source got it wrong. He deserves the hit he taking. Every other reporter in this town gets it wrong occasionally if they have the guts to break stories that the hometown fans might not find appealing. His job is not to route-route-route for the home team. Too many of you people don’t seem to understand that.
Any journalist with half a brain and even a smidgen of ethical sense does not use ONE ANONYMOUS SOURCE as the basis for a story of this magnitude. If Thomase had used multiple sources, or at the very least two who agreed to go on the record, not even the most ardent Pats fan could have a problem with it.
One source who refuses to go on the record is not a source at all. Even if Thomase didn’t have the sense to do so, his editor should have spiked the story instantly.
It doesn’t mean you’re breaking a story if you write it up when your grandma tells you she saw Elvis down at the Shop & Save. That’s essentially what JT did with this Rams tape bullsh.
Char, exactly correct. All I have ever heard about journalists and their stories is that you have to verify your sources. I’m sure that more intelligent and respcted journalists have gotten “scoops”, but when they tried to receive some sort of confirmation somewhere else, it couldn’t be found, and thus the story never went to print. It’s like during a trial; if you only have one witness saying, “X,” and the defendent saying, “X is incorrect,” it’s called hearsay. Tomase just wanted to make a name for himself. He wanted to be the next Borges/Felger. Look where it got them - Borges is gone, and Felger writes once every 2 months for the Herald, and he’s on a radio station that can’t be heard more than 5 miles from Charlestown.
I’ll take your word that you had this planned, but this seems a little bush league. It’s not like his approval ratings would have been any different if you did it last week or a month from now, but to do it today seems a little too perfect. You’ve been going with people who are “in season” so I’m wondering why Tomase was up today? I won’t judge it though because Guregian, Felger, Reiss, Gasper et. al. surely will be up in the next few weeks.
Guregian has already been up.
And if his ratings would’ve been the same whenever I did it, why is today bush league?
Good point; NAY! Excellent point. Joe = sound of crickets
Because it’s today, the day this story hit the fan? Like I said, seemed a little too perfect. I already accounted for the fact that ratings wouldn’t have been different, but it’s just funny that earlier today I thought to myself wouldn’t it be wild if Tomase was the name today. And then, what do you know?
IMO he should have a post on his blog today addressing this but doesn’t:
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/
Surprised anyone would call his body of work anything other than poor. Is the writing in this area that bad? Regardless of his Feb 2 article, he’s shown through his other work to be lazy, sensationalist and more “stir the pot” than contribute to Patriots coverage. His prose is inner city high school - at best.
Every year before and during training camp he would pop up some awful controversy. Troy Brown, Bruschi anyone? Not sure how much blame his editors get for calling for those type stories but he’s a major willing participant.
Out-worked, out-written and out-analyzed in every way by Mike Reiss, Gasper and Karen G. I suspect he’s hit his peak professionally and will disappear into the cesspool of oblivion soon - where he belongs. The quicker this talentless bottom feeder disappears the higher the level of Patriots coverage will be recognized and not just because of Reiss. I’m sure Reiss thanks his lucky stars every day this hack is his competition.
Should be writing obituaries - beginning with his own.
What kind of rodeo clown has a BLOG and then turns the comments OFF? That’s like starting your grill and then not having any steak or burgers.
steve silva.
Tomase can’t carry Albert Breer’s jock and his blog proves it. It really suffered after Breer got a gig in Dallas. Gets WAY too excited interviewing players about their favorite video games…especially if the topic turns to Tecmo Bowl. Was a dink the one time I met him. I’m glad he’s off the Red Sox beat…shorter season and I can just ignore him and read Mike Reiss instead. Disapprove
prob of the ugliest ppl ive ever seen, he is a terrible writer and he did get promoted for his ramirez piece to the herald…
i cant believe he would come out with that article day before superbowl, talk about an ass
as much as i hate him, where is meter approval ratings, bruce??
i cant wait for meter!
Who keeps approving of this clown? At this rate he won’t pass Butch Sterns as the least liked Boston media personality.
Just remember, Tomase is not unique in journalism. All too often, journalists give a free pass to people whom they like and lash out at people whom they don’t like. All too many journalists nowadays seem to believe that corroboration doesn’t mean a second source, it means hearing a story that fits into your preconceived notions and prejudices.
A drive by journalist. This tactic got him the Herald job. He obviously thought this was the way to bigger and better things. Knowledge of the walk through tape story’s existence predated knowledge of the signal taping. Felger has stated that employees of both the Herald and Globe had been in contact with Walsh over a couple of years - contact Walsh initiated sometime after he was fired. Tomasse wrote up the rumor when no other media outlet would touch it. He evidently never considered telling his editor’s that it was unethical to go with the story. In an effort to sell papers that the Herald can no longer give away to commuters (and the added bonus of sticking it to the the Patriots organization ) the decision was made.
He wanted the notoriety. Now he has it. Enjoy Big Guy!
Look kid, you got Moxie, but knives in the back on the eve of a playoff game are my gig see?
Really solid reporter and creative writer. If there is fault on the Walsh story, I think it’s the fault of the newspaper for running it with only one source. They should have told Tomase the story wasn’t strong enough to go with. Other than that, I don’t think he did anything wrong.
RAMONE!!!!!!!!!!! THIS GUY IS THE NEW RON BORGES!!!!!
Horrible, horrible individual for trying to destroy the Patriots the day before the Super Bowl. If you hate the team so much, get the hell out of Boston.
You have got to be shitting me.
I’d just as soon not see the terms “homicidal lunatic” and “loyal Pats fan” switched out so causally.
DISAPPROVE…When he first started out at the Herald he was pretty good, pretty objective, but I guess he wasn’t getting enough TELEVISION and RADIO time because all of a sudden he decided to turn into Ron Borges…. I mean, it was so OBVIOUS. His writing started to scream, “LOOK AT ME!…LOOK AT ME!”….well, he bit off more than he can chew (is that possible for him?) this time. His credibility is SHOT. How can anyone believe what he writes now?…. He is now the BIGGEST JOKE in the Boston media, and that’s saying something.
Complete disapprove. AOB said pretty much my thoughts exactly. Could have had a nice gig covering the top team in the NFL, and rose quickly, like Mike Reiss has. But that wasn’t good enough, good luck John, you’ll need it.
Tomase tried to make a name for himself by having the “courage” to write the piece the day before the Super Bowl. And it blew up in his face. What’s most pathetic is the Herald not having the balls to keep the “comments” section on afterwards.
Journalist, my a$$. He’s a sports writer. There’s a huge difference.
Tomase does a decent job on the Point After blog and game coverage during the season. I haven’t seen the blog much in the offseason. He does a fair job on the Patriots beat. Although the Herald editors share a bigger part of the blame than Tomase for the the Patriots-Walsh story, he always tried to take shots at the teams/people he was covering. Some subtle, some not so subtle. He could have redeemed himself by talking about what has happened over the past couple of days. Even something as sorry as defending his hatchet job would have also been acceptable. The very fact he didn’t do anything speaks volumes about his credibility and also of his editors at Herald. Overall I have to say disapprove. He does have the talent to become a good reporter but too often takes the easy road of writing hatchet jobs.
DISAPPROVE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE
He just needs to quit now because the first Patriot to talk to him will most likely be cut by Belichick. Running a story with one unsubstantiated source is muckraking 101. Ironically, the best thing that could happen to him is if the Patriots attempt to sue him.
Time to pack up, move to North Dakota and cover Slamball.
I live in Florida and read the Boston papers to get my daily fix on Patriots and Red Sox. I am dissapointed in Tomase and the Herald because I thought they would give me the straight skinney on Patriots matters. To put it out to the nation that there was a video of the Rams practice without any credible evidence, should be cause for removal. Tomase has lost all credibility. I will now read the Globe with my morning coffee (now that that idiot Borges is gone).
Bruce, is Tomase italian for Templton?
Is it fair to slam Tomase based on one story? Well, when you do it once (base a story on an anonymous single source), you leave us wondering what other unscrupulous scullduggery you’re been a part of, and in what other stories you’ve given us short shrift.
So, yes, it is fair. Because once is all it takes to have your credibility called into question. And in this business, if you have no credibility, you have nothing.
Tomase and anyone else at the Herald who had his or her paws on the “Walkthrough Tape” story should be ashamed of what they’ve done to the craft.
Worse yet, no one at the Herald is holding himself or herself (or being held) publicly accountable.
This isn’t about the Patriots. This is about shoddy journalism. This is about making it harder on everyone else who is trying to do it the right way.
(Wow, the view is nice from my ivory tower.)
“Journalist, my a$$. He’s a sports writer. There’s a huge difference.”
Tim, you’re absolutely wrong.
Sports writers are obligated to follow the same ethics and standards as news reporters. Sports stories still need the same fact verification, the same corroboration of sources, and still must meet the same standards of fairness and accuracy. And they are subject to the same standards of libel. (This was POUNDED into my head when I was a green sports writer at a major midwestern daily.)
Unfortunately, however, this isn’t always the case. It has been my experience that too many sports writers view the sports section as a playroom with different rules. Too much opinion, too much emphasis on the funny line or the “gotcha” story. And that is what causes problems and why many sports writers and sports sections have credibility issues. Blogs have further blurred the lines of good judgment.
That said, I don’t think this applies to Tomase. I think he (and I’m guessing here) just got caught up in a chance to beat the competition on a story and let his standards slip. But what a bad, bad mistake. And the Herald dropped the ball with him.
And all it will take is one high-profile libel lawsuit, one “open your checkbook” verdict to change all that. And that day is coming.
Disapprove. Rushing his “Big Story” to seize the media glory, without adequate fact checking, is wrong. Hell should have a special holding cell for his kind of reporting.
Having read the last few comments I wonder if Tomase’s rationale behind the Walsh story was to take a gamble that it was legit because he knows he has to compete with Reiss in this market for Pats readers. Maybe he felt he couldn’t just report day-to-day stuff because Reiss already does that too well.
With the deteriorated degree of access that Tomase is getting and will get from the Patriots it seems essential that the Herald replace him on the Patriots beat before training camp if the Herald expects to supply any original Patriots info to its readers.
Grubbing for “the big story” at the expense of accuracy and integrity. Horrible “reporting.” Tomase should be ashamed. Go work for the Jets, traitor!
DISAPPROVE!
He put his yarbles on the line with this cockamamie story. Now he can enjoy life as a Boston sports eunuch. Hiding out and hoping this all blows over is a good start.
Disapprove.
If you want get this out to as many people as you can!
Please take time to review the petition that I have created. If you support my cause then feel free to sign it and pass it on to anyone you may know. I am not looking for anyone to get in trouble. I just believe that an explanation must be given by the Boston Herald and Mr. Tomase as to why it was reported in their newspaper (which has been credible in the past) that a video tape existed of the St. Louis Rams walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVIII. Hopefully, this will begin to put closure to the Spy gate issue. The New England Patriots violated a rule and should have been punished as they were, but this story has gone overboard for months.
http://www.petitiononline.com/5808NFL/petition.html
P.S. Lets now move onto real football talk!
The lowest of the low. This guy’s behavior is ugly, and his newspaper - if you can call it that, is third rate. But the sorry truth is that this is now the nature of the media beast. Get noticed, say or do something outrageous and get yours while you can. Twenty years ago the story would not have seen the light of day, and Tomasse would be selling hot dogs.