Shocking…But That Was The Point

Bryant Gumbel knew his well-written, yet very misguided rant about David Stern and the NBA lockout would garner Hank Williams Jr.-esq attention. Gumbel compared Stern to a plantation owner on HBO’s “Real Sports.”

“Stern’s version of what has been going on behind closed doors has of course been disputed, but his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It’s part of Stern’s M.O., like his past self-serving edicts on dress code and the questioning of officials. His moves were intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place.”

Gumbel ceded the analogy wouldn’t exactly go over well, which was alarming on many levels.

“Some will of course cringe at that characterization but Stern’s disdain for the players is as palpable and pathetic as his motives are transparent,” Gumbel said.

Usually when a public figure makes an off-color remark – whether premeditated or not – it is viewed as a short-sighted moment of self-inebriation. For example – and I’m only using this because it was recent – Hank Williams Jr. stumbled into his Obama/Hitler analogy. He didn’t participate knowing he wanted to get that one-liner off his chest.

Gumbel, on the other hand, acknowledges that the public will “cringe” and said it anyway. To me that suggests this was said to draw the ire of viewers and gain attention. I don’t buy the theory Gumbel was looking for street credibility amongst the black community. Why would he wait until now to use his “Real Sports” platform to espouse his image that way?

I actually caught wind of this on Wednesday, and assumed it would be something fresh for the BSMW readership. To my surprise, “The Big Show” spent a few segments broaching the subject yesterday. It was a nice change of pace. The co-hosts showed good rapport as Glenn Ordway was deferential to Michael Holley on the matter. Ordway and Holley were right to point out the Shaun Powell piece on ESPNNewYork. Powell’s take down of Gumbel’s proclamation was spot-on.

Meanwhile, during the same hour of programming, “Felger & Mazz” teased their rebuttal to the Dan Shaughnessy piece with Red Sox CEO, Larry Lucchino. I’m going to side with Bruce Allen’s media column – this is getting weird.

Michael Felger and (to a lesser extent) Tony Massarotti believe the story is about them. And that’s NEVER a good thing. Lucchino’s notes the media is “misleading” the public. It is transparent Felger is excited to be enthralled in this mess. He hasn’t been this fired up since Shawn Thorton said, “Suck it, Felger” following the Bruins Stanley Cup victory. The duo needs to retreat and start talking about the Patriots defense or the Bruins early season struggles to get back on track. For instance, the Kerry Byrne segment yesterday was a breath of fresh air.

I haven’t said this much, but yesterday was a win for the “Big Show.”

Quick Musings, Links

CSNNE.com has a better design. Still needs tweaking, though.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Gerry Callahan is still awesome in print.

Last night, on my way home from the gym, one of those elaborate “Free Credit Report” songs came on 93.7 FM. It sounded like an actual tune. And for a second, I was euphoric. My credulous attitude led me to believe the “Planet Mikey Show” was tossed in favor of Mike FM tunes. Hope quickly evaporated. Poor John Ryder.

Hated this column by WEEI’s Rob Bradford. He argues captains are worthless in baseball. Just because Jason Varitek was an awful captain doesn’t devalue the title. And yes, I realize only three teams in MLB have captains — but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be beneficial for more teams to appoint a leader.

In fact, I’d argue Varitek’s biggest failure this year was his admission the ‘C’ had no real impact on his role. Way to own it, Jason! Furthermore, this is an example of a column produced in reaction to the collapse. Look, its sports, sh!t happens. Not everything has to be a macro issue. Simmer down.

Colin Cowherd is delusional: He thinks his NFL picks move the lines in Vegas. I don’t listen to Cowherd’s radio show, and have seen “Sports Nation” sporadically — but he seems like a braggart. I can’t believe CBS almost launched a sitcom based off his life and career.

Speaking of ESPN’s Cowherd, remember when he was scolded for ordering listeners to blow up The Big Lead’s server? Feels like 10 years ago…

Now TheBigLead.com is, for my money, the best sports blog on the web. Even after being bought out, Jason McIntyre has maintained the integrity of the site and content has stayed on par. As a Patriot fan, McIntyre’s incessant Jets posts can be carping, but the rest of the country has to deal with ESPNBoston Bill Simmons. It feels like a fair trade. Another aspect which bothers me are the “sponsored posts” — but it’s only a slight mar on an otherwise great site. Here are two good sample posts from this week…

1.) Why did Adam Schefter sit on news of the Carson Palmer Trade?

2.) Stephen Douglas destroys FOX Columnist Bill Reiter. This is really an exemplar of what the blogosphere is all about. Reiter wrote a terrible piece and the ultimate watchdog – IE ‘The Internets’ – cries foul. A tidbit I enjoyed about the piece is Douglas insinuating Reiter knew the blogosphere would kill him for the column…

Before I get into the jackassery -  Yes, I’m fully aware that Reiter likely wrote this column in hopes that blogs would tell him what a jackass he was being. Reiter is “trolling hard,” as they say. You can’t simply say that LeBron James is one of the best basketball players alive. You have to take a hard stance one way or the other. He either is or he isn’t. Get on the train or f*** off. Pick a side and watch those page views grow.

Before I move on, I’m aware Deadspin and The Big Lead overlap with many of their stories. I just find Deadspin’s updated site design laborious to navigate. Plus, I enjoy each of the five regular writers on The Big Lead.

Liked this piece, by Chad Finn, on Scott Zolak’s new role as sideline analyst during Patriots radio broadcasts. I’ve said this about Zo before, but his enthusiasm is infectious. His passion is evident both on his mid-day show and also during game broadcasts. Two things I took away: 1.) Zo’s blunder leaving the mic on during the last Pats touchdown. High comedy; 2.) His reaction to the Tony Siragusa comparison, calling him a “goofball.” Umm, is it me or is Zo a goofball too? His Twitter description includes, “Shake & Bake.”

Putting Out the Fire

Michael Felger called his implication of Heidi Watney into the Red Sox mess “regrettable.” I thought it was wrong for Felger to talk about the alleged Watney/Varitek affair, and wrote as much yesterday. I understood his larger point: If the Red Sox are going to air out Terry Francona’s dirty laundry, then lets take a look at everyone’s issues.

Felger has also been riding the “Where were the media while Beckett & Co. were eating KFC, drinking BLs, and playing Halo in the midst of an epic collapse?” bus. And, to his credit, Felger didn’t fully concede his point. He stuck to his guns saying Watney is a team employee; therefore, should be subjected to some deal of scrutiny. Moreover, she was part of the aforementioned media who failed to serve the public on what was going on in the clubhouse.

To a degree, Watney perpetuated the scarlet letter stigma by going on WEEI’s “Planet Mikey” show last night. She had already said her piece on “Toucher & Rich” and the issue was cut and dry — Felgy was in the wrong.

One odd angle to the ordeal is Felger’s reaction to Joe Haggerty getting involved. He seemed perplexed his fellow CSNNE personality decided to give his two cents. Maybe Haggs saw it as an opportunity to kick CSNNE’s competition, NESN, while they were down. Or, maybe, the answer could have to do with their new partnership on “Sticks & Stones.”

Names Will Never Hurt Me

First they produced “Celtics Now.” Then they came out with “The Baseball Show.” Lastly, the largely successful “Quick Slants” debuted last fall. This week came the last of the “Big Four” sports franchises to have a program dedicated to it via CSNNE, as their new hockey show, “Sticks & Stones” debuted.

The show itself features host, Michael Felger, talking Bruins hockey. The show has an interactive twist with fans (a la “Quick Slants”); a player interview with Shawn Thorton (Think Jerod Mayo with Tom E. Curran. Again, a la “Quick Slants”); a national segment where Felger spars with writers in different cities (Sort of like his “Sports Sunday” segment, I think named, ‘Conference Call’); and finally a portion named, “Offsides with Joe Haggerty” — where Felger and CSNNE hockey insider, Joe Haggerty, dish with one another.

(Presumably, not about Heidi Watney. Though, that isn’t confirmed.)

The show will be fine. Another smart move by CSNNE for a few reasons:

1.) The NBA lockout creates a massive hole in programming for the network. Thus, coverage has to be allocated to other teams.

2.) It shows a committment to their “news gathering” agenda. The move also shows that CSNNE is serious about covering all four teams equally.

3.) After basically earning a draw in coverage after the Bruins Game 7 Stanley Cup victory with NESN, CSNNE has found a niche. This show will further explore how much of the Bruins fan-base the network can captivate (sans in-game coverage, of course).

4.) NBC & Versus own national coverage of the NHL. CSNNE , being a sister station, is wise to dedicate programming to hockey as it helps pool resources and bolsters advertising on both national and local scale for the product.

5.) The simulcast of “Felger & Mazz” on both 98.5 The Sports Hub and CSNNE is ideal. “The Sports Hub” was a major part, along with the team’s success, in the Bruins renaissance in recent years. “Felger & Mazz” and the rest of “The Sports Hub” line-up talk a great deal about the team since the station carries the games. “Sticks & Stones” reinforces continuity and synergy in the growing relationship between the radio station and cable network.

Things I’m Reading

Chris Gasper

I thought this was the best column I’ve ever read by Chris Gasper. Enjoyed the “Horrible Bosses” line and liked the sarcastic use of “magnanimous.” The only road I won’t travel with Gasper is his comparison of the Sox recent struggles to the Patriots playoff win drought.

The Red Sox won 89 and 90 games the last two seasons. The Patriots were 14-2 last year, and are 4-1 this season. Yes, neither team have done much in the way of post-season success — but the Patriots have sustained a Super Bowl contender in a league which eats, sleeps, and breathes parity. On the contrary, the Sox play with the second-highest payroll and can’t even make it to the dance.

Still, I really liked the piece.

Michael Schur

The Grantland scribe wonders how things would have been different if the Sox had won one more game here or there; then hypothesizes Boston is headed back to the good old days of pain, suffering, and negativity.

Ty Duffy

Duffy – who SI’s Richard Deitsch noted as rising star in a recent column – reaches a bit here, but questions ESPN’s influence on conference alignment and in particular Boston College.

The Last Something That Meant Anything

(I usually write about the media here. Like Tito did at the infamous presser, I’m going to deviate a tad. Please don’t pull a smear job on my way out)

I became a baseball atheist around 2008. The reason? Do you care? In that case..

1. The game moves to slow.
2. There are to many games in the season.
3. The players aren’t relatable.

Don’t get me wrong, I still watch the Sox. I suppose this is (mostly) for two reasons: 1.) I write about sports; 2.) Sports in general are great conversational talking points — If you are at a bar or forced into conversation a great ice-breaker is “Did you catch the game last night?”

But, for the most part, baseball is monotonous to me. It’s NPR. And, worse off, things like Jack McKeon’s mandated bathroom pass with the ’03 Florida Marlins doesn’t even phase me.

(And that should phase me. What other profession requires a bathroom pass?)

The other three professional sports teams in the Hub? I’m all-in on. I watch the Patriots every Sunday with the intensity of a 20 year-old girl watching Kim Kardashian’s wedding special on E!. Same goes for the Bruins and the Celtics.

When thinking of why the vigor became indifference in terms of my fandom of the Sox, I think of Pedro Martinez leaving. Shortly after, I recall Keith Foulke turning from Godsend to the jerk that called the “Dale & Holley” show once a week. Then I think of Man-Ram leaving. About .022 seconds later, I think of Man-Ram failing his drug test. I don’t remember David Ortiz admitting to using PEDs, but I don’t remember him denying it either.

The 2004 World Series victory was like every New Years Eve. There is so much anticipation built up: What are you going to do differently this year?  What are your resolutions? After all, tomorrow is a new year, and a fresh start.

Only ’04 felt like the turn of the millenium, we weren’t quite sure what to expect with Y2k.

With two outs left in the 9th inning (or 10 seconds left in the year), more and more anticipation built up. Until, finally, the clock hit midnight Sox won the whole freakin’ thing. It was a new day!

Well, not really. You see, all of the incidents mentioned in the aftermath sullied one of the greatest sports moments in my whole life. The memories are furthermore tarnished with our Boston-bred GM, Theo Epstein, leaving then coming back — only to leave again. Not to mention the final days of Terry Francona being portrayed like a hapless manager dealing with a pill addiction and a failing marriage.

I’m not blaming ownership. Whether you like (or I like it) this is the group which broke the curse (twice, actually). And if you asked any Sox fan after Aaron Boone sent them into near-lunacy in 2003, they take all the bad that has happened in a heartbeat.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this — I’m not mad at the 2011 collapse. I’m mad the 2004 euphoria feels aloof, both in spirit and in accomplishment.

There are days when covering the local media is rather tedious. After all, there are only so many CHB columns, ESPN slip-ups, Grantland opinions, ‘radio war’ coverage, among other incidents to write about. Then there are days like October 12th, 2011.

Before we get to yesterday’s sh!show, I need to say how much I wish I was a fly on the wall in the Globe’s sports editor, Joe Sullivan, office the night before Bob Hohler’s in-depth, mostly off-the-record, evisceration of the 2011 BoSox was published. I can picture Sullivan with his staff much like the Commodore informing Jimmy, “We’re going to take back Atlantic City,” in “Boardwalk Empire.” (Don’t get the reference? Watch the show, and thank me later.)

What ensued the following day was high comedy. It began at the start of the mid-day shows on both WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub. WEEI’s “Mut & Merloni” program predictably started their 4 hours off by attacking the players; meanwhile, “The Sports Hub’s” show, “Gresh & Zo”, went after Red Sox ownership. Tensions reached an apex while Scott Zolak tended to an interview with Coach Bill Belichick, leaving Andy Gresh to accost the Sox ownership group in a LONG rant.

Gresh’s rant reminded me of a WWFE  heel doing a dragged out shoot. There were pauses, there was over-reaction, and there was Gresh – apparently so irate – standing in an empty CBS Scene. Gresh alluded to the “Non-Pink Hat” fans getting screwed. Then a texter messaged, “Where is Zolak? I can’t take this..” to which Gresh replied that said-messenger was “buying into” the propaganda.

(That, Or — he was just tired of Gresh’s soliloquy. One or the other.)

Even with Mike Giardi’s piece – released later in the day – the overall ire seemed to turn to a flippant aura. The subject matter changed to mostly how crappy you feel after you eat fried chicken. Then Michael Felger happened.

Felger believes the source for Hohler’s story came from the top. Consequently, in an attempt to prove why Red Sox ownership was out of line in leaking Terry Francona’s marriage and alleged pill addiction for reasons in the Sox demise, Felger tried calling out other people in the organization and their personal issues. Co-host Tony Massarotti demanded to know how John Henry’s three divorces have collectively impacted the team. Felger, as usual, took it one step further — calling into question Jason Varitek’s failed marriage and the rumor NESN sideline reporter, Heidi Watney, and the Red Sox captain had an affair.

I’m a Felger guy, as many of you know, and I generally like his acerbic tone. But, both journalistically speaking and from a general personal values belief system, it is fair to say Felger’s comments were not appropriate. One could argue Felger was saying what many believe: Watney is a more of a puppet, a la Greg Dickerson, than a team sideline reporter and rumors percolating about possible transgressions between her and Tek were definitely prevalent at one point. The former I have no problem with. Watney does have to maintain relationships, but the transparent conflict of interest between the NESN employee and the Red Sox hampers her ability to be a hardened journalist.

Hell, the relationship between the Red Sox and The Boston Globe hindered any of their reporters from disseminating information until after ESPNBoston and The Boston Herald broke the beer drinking story.

Watney could have pulled an Abraham/Cafardo and got a different byline to write the story while ‘contributing’ to the investigative piece, but even that isn’t likely. Instead all of these reporters are at the mercy of talk radio hosts….

Felger has a massive platform and should not have brought up the Watney/Varitek rumors. He isn’t Deadspin. This was media on media crime that wasn’t really necessary.

Watney, to her credit, fired back via Twitter..

@HeidiWatney Felger is completely off base on just about everything he is saying. Ridiculous and irresponsible

Watney also went on to note Felger isn’t in the clubhouse and only reports on rumors. I thought that would be it, but then fellow CSNNE employee, Joe Haggerty, came in with a flying elbow in Felger’s defense.

Looking forward to the first lesson in journalistic integrity from @HeidiWatney. She did write the definitive book on it, right?

It was on. Watney didn’t back down from a three-way dance..

@HackswithHaggs I don’t report gossip/rumors Joe… how’s that for integrity.

Haggerty came back for seconds, noting her lack of reporting during the collapse..

@HeidiWatney Given what was going inside clubhouse at Fenway while NESN cranked out happy calliope music, not sure exactly what U report on

And that was that. A bloodbath. Watney made an appearance on the “Toucher & Rich” show basically telling the hosts how disappointed she was over all of the ‘mudslinging’ going around both inside the Red Sox organization and also between media personalities. Haggerty’s defense of Felger seemed a bit off. I think it is fair to question her reporting, and that is all Haggerty did. But there are two separate issues here, and Watney has a right to be perturbed over the affair insinuation.

Either way, I’m sure CSNNE will be talking to both personalities about the incident. As far as Watney goes, I wouldn’t be shocked to hear rumors of her going national (maybe to the MLB Network) start to fire up.

Through all of this, I think the Globe’s Eric Wilbur (who had a great column yesterday)  put it best:

@GlobeEricWilbur:Players vs. coaches and management, now media vs. media. Welcome to your Red Sox offseason.