Boston Sports Media Watch

Here’s a snapshot look at the movement of some Boston sports media members during the last few months: (Not in strict order)

Gordon Edes - Boston Globe > Yahoo! Sports

Jackie MacMullan - Boston Globe > Buyout > ESPN

Peter May - Boston Globe > Buyout > Yahoo! Sports

Tom Casale - Patriots Football Weekly > DegenerateGambler.com

Michael Parente - Woonsocket Call > Patriots Football Weekly

Michael Felger - Boston Herald/ESPN 890 >WEEI.com (and Comcast SportsNet)

Rob Bradford - Boston Herald > WEEI.com

Alex Speier - NH Union Leader > WEEI.com

Tony Massarotti - Boston Herald > Boston.com/Boston Globe

Jeff Horrigan - Boston Herald > Private Sector

Ron Borges - Soup Kitchen > WEEI.com > Boston Herald

Sean McAdam - Providence Journal > Boston Herald

Bob Lobel - WBZ-TV > Retirement > WODS103.3FM/Oldies 103.3

Hazel Mae - NESN > MLBTV

Adam Kilgore - Washington Post > Boston Globe

Lew Goldstein and Mike Vallee (”Lew & Mike”) 1510theZone > ESPN 890

Laura Behnke - NECN/CSN > KNTV-NBC11 (San Francisco)

Joe Haggerty - Boston Metro > WEEI.com

Who did I miss?

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We knew that Tony Massarotti hates the Patriots and their fans, and he has continued his slanted coverage of them in his new role at the Boston Globe.

While his Red Sox coverage is generally shiny and positive, his Patriots postings consist of things like Tony’s Top 5 most disturbing statistics about the Patriots. You know, Patriots fans probably aren’t feeling all that great already, and Tony feels the need to pile on more misery, even though the season has already gotten as disturbing as it can be. Now that posting is from a few days ago, and I just now got around to seeing it. Lucky me.

His first statistic is an old standby.

With Tom Brady as his starter, Bill Belichick has a career record of 87-24. Without Brady, Belichick is 43-58. As Bill Parcells might say, you are what you are. As Belichick might say, it is what it is.

How many times is this going to be trotted out there? First used by Ron Borges, this stat has been repeated over and over and over again by the self-proclamed “objective” members of the meda.

How come no one says: “With David Ortiz on his roster, Terry Francona has a career record of 468-338. Without Ortiz, Francona is 285-363. As Bill Parcells might say, you are what you are. As Belichick might say, it is what it is.”

How about: “With Kevin Garnett on his roster, Doc Rivers has a career record of 66-16. Without Garnett, Rivers is 273-312. As Bill Parcells might say, you are what you are. As Belichick might say, it is what it is.”

No, you don’t hear either of those. It’s only Belichick that this stuff gets applied to.

I prefer to turn it around and say Belichick’s career record without stiffs like Bernie Kosar and Drew Bledsoe is 105-46. (Something like that anyway…I’m counting the second half of the ‘93 season after Kosar was cut, and all of the ‘94 and ‘95 seasons, and not counting the first 18 games of his New England career when Bledsoe was the QB.)

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The Boston Globe announced today the launch of a new weekly 24-page tabloid style sports publication called the “OT” (for “Our Town/Our Teams”)

The OT will cost 50 cents at newsstands. It features content from Tony Massarotti, Charlie Pierce, Chad Finn and others. There is also an online edition of the publication. The stories are meant to be a little more substantial than what you will get in the regular sports section, with a longer shelf life as well.

In the announcement, the publishers acknowledge that newspaper revenues are sharply declining, and that this is an attempt to get some of it back:

The new publication arrives at a time when newspapers across the country are scaling back staffs and pages amid declining circulation and advertising. To counter those losses, some media outlets are searching for fresh sources of revenue by tailoring new products to niche audiences. OT is aimed at Boston’s voracious sports fans.

“The articles you are reading in this publication are timely but don’t expire after one day,” said Jay Fogarty, vice president of strategic planning for Boston Globe Media, a unit of The New York Times Co. and publisher of several other niche publications, including recent start-ups for fashion, home design, and young women. “It reads more like a Sports Illustrated than a daily newspaper.”

OT will include columns and analysis by boston.com sports bloggers Chad Finn and Eric Wilbur as well as previews of upcoming games involving the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins. The weekly will help readers predict the winners of games and report on fantasy sports. A feature called “Dirt” will chronicle the intersection of sports and gossip. The publication will also have an online component: a blog called “OT online” that will be highlighted on boston.com’s sports section.

Color me a little skeptical about the chances of the long term success of something like this. Will readers pay 50 cents to pick this up? That’s our poll question for today. (see below) I also had a bit of a involuntary shudder at the mention of the “Dirt” feature. Who will be assigned to camp outside Tom and Gisele’s apartment in New York City? Comparing the publication to Sports Illustrated was a little ballsy as well.

I can see the content being better than you’ll get in the paper, Charlie Pierce’s presence assures that. But with so much sports information and content already out there, almost all of it available free of charge, will consumers go out of their way to purchase this? It’s an interesting experiment for the Globe, and the latest in a series of improvements and changes to their offerings.

With WEEI.com in the market, Boston.com and the Globe are locked in a battle with the new radio-backed startup for the attention of sports fans. It will be fun to see what’s next in this new rivalry.

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Yeah, that was Dan Shaughnessy on the 6:30 edition of CSN’s Sports Tonight program last night. As Gary Tanguay explained in his blog yesterday, CSN’s partnership with the Boston Herald (they were a sponsor of New England Sports Tonight) has expired, and that partnership was what had kept Globe writers off the show. Tanguay says that Tony Massarotti will be back on the show as well.

Tanguay’s blog has had some interesting entries as of late, as he tries to give us more “behind the scenes” type narratives about what’s going on at CSN.

Due to a scheduling conflict, Troy Brown will not be making his scheduled appearance tonight on Sports Tonight, as had been reported on the Herald’s Point After blog.

Yesterday Curt Schilling blasted Manny Ramirez on a call-in appearance to WEEI’s Big Show. Schilling’s remarks irritated me at first, simply because this is a topic we’re all sick of, and we know full well Manny was a major disruption near the end of his Red Sox tenure. Manny’s gone now, and his teammates have moved on, and have been playing their best ball of the season (well, except against Tampa) and I just didn’t see why Schilling, who hasn’t thrown a pitch all season felt it necessary to talk more about it.

On reflection, I think I have a bigger problem with how two-faced Schilling is with this stuff. When Manny was his teammate, he defended the guy to death to these very same radio shows. When Manny and Youkilis had the dust-up in the dugout earlier this season, Schilling was calling the media fools because this stuff happens all the time between teammates, and we just don’t see it. He’s defended Manny’s work ethic in the past, and played the role of good teammate.

Incidents like yesterday show that he really was just playing that role, since as soon as Manny is gone, Schilling can do an about-face and start telling all sorts of tales. I don’t like that.

It’s become customary when criticizing Schilling to acknowledge his huge contributions to the 2004 World Series championship, and to a lesser extent, the 2007 title. OK, duly noted. I’ll always be thankful that we had Curt Schilling on those clubs, and he turned in some legendary performances in his time here.

However, now that his career appears over, I’m rather sick of him. I’ve taken 38 Pitches out of my RSS reader, simply because I’m not interested in what the guy has to say. I’d rather get out now while I still have that great respect for him as a player, rather than keep reading, and totally losing all fondness for the guy.

Back to Manny for a moment, Joe Posnanski, the KC writer who has gained a huge following here in Boston simply because he puts out great stuff, has a piece on SI.com entitled The genius of Manny Ramirez. It’s a lot of stuff we already knew about Manny in better times, but also has some interesting perspectives on Ramirez as a person. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN says Manny has made a huge difference to the Dodgers both in the lineup and in the clubhouse.

Tony Massarotti wonders if David Ortiz is returning to form just in time.

TBS has announced their MLB Postseason Broadcast Team, and both Don Orsillo and Dennis Eckersley will be a part of the coverage.

Peter May on Yahoo! Sports has a feature on new Celtic Darius Miles, who says “I would have come here (to Boston) for $5 and a bag of Doritos.” No joke.

Jim Corbett of USA Today has a look at Randy Moss taking on a leadership role with the Patriots in the absense of Tom Brady.

Jeff Pearlman has a must-read feature on former Angels outfielder Lyman Bostock, a budding star who was murdered during the 1978 season.

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I asked Chad Finn for his thoughts on his promotion, and what his new job is going to consist of over at Boston.com.

Here are some of his responses:

On what this new job means to him:

Obviously, I’m ridiculously excited. I started the blog four years ago with the vague hope that it might turn into something bigger, but I didn’t have any huge expectations - really, I just wanted to write about sports again - and I certainly didn’t expect it to turn into something like this, which is essentially my dream job. I’ve known this was going to happen for a while, but I still can’t believe it, you know?

On what he’ll be doing on Boston.com:

…some parts are still vague, and there are some things I still want to pitch them, but right now my main duty will be to make sure we have breaking sports news accounted for on Boston.com as soon as possible. Sometimes I’ll be writing a bylined story, sometimes I’ll be writing a story that plugs until Reiss or Mazz or whoever files the actual story that will appear in the paper. It’ll also be up to me to stay on top of news other outlets are reporting - say, on a day like the MLB trading deadline, where there were 50 new rumors a minute flying about Manny.

On whether this will have an impact on his Touching All The Bases blog:

I’ll be blogging five days a week, Monday through Friday. Nothing on TATB should change, and I hope it improves now that I’m actually writing it on office time and not at the break of dawn after working a desk shift.

It’s refreshing to hear someone so clearly fired up about what they do, especially in this industry. I’m looking forward to the changes at Boston.com, and congratulate Chad on his promotion and Joe Sullivan for (finally) recognizing what he had right there under his nose.

Popularity: 19% [?]

The Boston Globe this afternoon announced in a memo a number of changes to the sports department. Adam Reilly has the memo outlining the moves.

The biggest is the addition of Tony Massarotti to the Globe in “a newly created position as he will become the face and voice of boston.com sports.” He will also contribute to the print edition of the paper. Massarotti starts his new job the first week of September.

Amalie Benjamin was officially named the Red Sox beat writer, replacing Gordon Edes, who recently departed for Yahoo! sports.

BSMW favorite Chad Finn also gets a promotion to a newly created position, that of “sports news reporter for boston.com.” Finn will be keeping the page updated throughout the day with “fresh and interesting items.” He will also begin this job in the first week of September.

The paper also announced that Corey Allen will be replacing Finn’s role as part-time copy editor.

Some interesting moves here by sports editor Joe Sullivan. The Globe takes Massarotti away from the Herald, and with Rob Bradford having already left for WEEI.com, this move further weakens the baseball staff at the tabloid. Massarotti loses his WEEI gigs, though he had already scaled them back considerably over the last year. The Globe needed a new columnist/voice under the age of 50, and they get that in Massarotti. I just hope that this sort of stuff doesn’t come over with him. Now that he’s not going to be writing for a tabloid that often uses sensationalism to sell papers, hopefully Massarotti’s style will stick to the analytical, smooth style that comes through in most of his columns. Besides, the Globe already has one Dan Shaughnessy.

Benjamin has her fans on the Red Sox beat, and this move was expected all along. She’s not spectacular, but is competent and enthusiastic for the job. Nick Cafardo likely didn’t want the full-time travel that goes with the job.

It will be most interesting to see what Finn does with Boston.com, and what, if any, design changes are in store for the site. It will be good to have more writing and content from Finn, who has certainly paid his dues, and now is being rewarded with what could be his dream gig. Finn’s obvious love and passion for sports, coupled with his humor make this a very good promotion for the Globe and boston.com.

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In New York sports media news, Neil Best reports that Mike and the Mad Dog is no longer, as Chris Russo has left WFAN.

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A couple items of interest this midday:

David Scott has The Boston Globe preparing for life without Gordon Edes, and at the same time gearing up to battle with the all-new WEEI.com by creating an internet-only Red Sox reporting position in addition to a replacement for Edes. Interesting stuff. Scott provides a list of potential hires by the Globe for the open spots.  

Boston magazine has 14 armchair psychologists (including Senator John Kerry, Michael Felger, Will Leitch, Gregg Easterbrook, and embattled author James Frey) break down the mind of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

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…One of the dumbest and most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen written.

Manny’s a Hall-of-Famer, but I’d be more impressed if he was a .280 singles hitter who ran out every grounder and found better uses for his millions than a fleet of pimped-up cars.

The whole column by Kevin Cullen was pretty awful, but that line sealed the deal. Manny is a baseball player - he impresses because of his Hall of Fame skills and is paid his millions because he IS a Hall of Fame player, NOT a .280 singles hitter. The big about him running out every grounder is of course the oldest, lamest most cliche criticism in the book. Has Cullen watched David Ortiz or even Jason Varitek go down to first?

The criticism about how he spends his money is even more ludicrous. Who cares how Manny spends his money? Not to mention that if Manny were the .280 hustling singles hitter that Cullen wishes he were, he wouldn’t have his millions to spend on “pimped-up” cars or anything else.

The whole column was written in judgment of Manny by someone who’d I’d venture to guess only knows Ramirez through the coverage of Dan Shaughnessy.

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Mike Reiss is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Globe and blogger extraordinaire on “Reiss’ Pieces.”

Reiss started his popular blog while working for the MetroWest Daily News, where he worked for seven years. In 2005, he was hired by the Globe’s West weekly section, and the next year he joined the Globe’s sports department.

Reiss’ Pieces is THE place Patriots fans go to when looking for breaking news about the club, year round. Reiss makes some appearances on NESN, especially during the football season, but is not a constant presence on the airwaves.

Reiss grew up in Framingham and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

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www.celticslinks.com - I still can’t compose anything here. It’s going to take a little while to find the words.

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