Boston Sports Media Watch

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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Popularity: 22% [?]

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

Popularity: 18% [?]

Mike Reiss has his Patriots Mailbag for the week posted, and I thought this question and answer was of interest, as Reiss gives us a glimpse of what his day-to-day routine is like:

Mike, could you take your loyal readers through a typical day in the life of a Patriot beat writer? I think you would find we are very interested in what goes on as you interact with coaches, players, owners etc over at Patriot headquarters - from access to the locker rooms, interview rooms and common areas, not only on game day but also on practices days. I have heard, for example, you can never approach players engrossed in their daily domino games or when they are on their cell phones. What challenges do you face and how does the team react to you. I know you try to be fair and balanced, but I am sure they don’t always take it that way, how do they react? Any such information might be fun to read.
Frank

A: This will be a tough one to wrap into an answer that is just a few hundred words, Frank. During the season, I’d start by saying that I usually try to read a variety of articles in the morning, then I head to the stadium for Bill Belichick’s 10:45 a.m. press conference. That usually lasts until 11:10. Then we have locker room access until 11:55. In terms of how to “work” a locker room, I think it’s what most would expect. You treat the players the way you’d want to be treated. Sometimes there are uncomfortable moments, because players can take exception to some questions, or the reporters can take exception to perhaps not being treated with respect. It can go both ways. One uncomfortable moment for me last year came when a player pulled me aside from his locker because I wrote that he didn’t like. We hashed it out. We do not approach players at the game table, or when they’re talking on the cell phone, but usually when they are at their locker either passing time, or perhaps dressing for practice. That time from 11:10-11:55 is generally our only contact with players. We go to see a portion of practice around 1 p.m., and then we come back to write, blog etc. A regular day could include re-watching a game, making other calls etc. But that’s sort of a general snapshot.

Popularity: 21% [?]

One of the young guns at the Boston Globe, Gasper made a name for himself this past NFL season, working alongside Mike Reiss on the Patriots beat, and on the Reiss’ Pieces blog.

Gasper has also been heavily involved in the Celtics postseason coverage, showing his chops in that sport as well. Gasper has been spotted frequently on NESN’s Globe 10.0 and other programs as of late.

He joined the Globe in 2002 as a sports reporter in the paper’s Globe North section.

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Yes, the day is finally here.

The Boston Globe clearly considers Dan Shaughnessy the star of its sports department, putting the columnist front and center whenever a big sports event is catching the attention of even the most casual of sports fans. Shaughnessy gets the call for all the front page stories during the baseball postseason, and even now with football and basketball. He is used by the paper to be the voice of Boston sports.

Shaughnessy grew up in Groton, and is a graduate of Holy Cross. He started his professional career with the Baltimore Sun in the late 1970’s, serving as Orioles beat writer. He moved on to the Globe in 1981, where he covered the beat for the Red Sox and Celtics before moving to the columnist role. He is a seven time Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year, and eight times he has been selected as one of Americas top-ten sports columnists by Associated Press Sports Editors.

Shaughnessy’s feud with Curt Schilling has been well documented, and as has his role in the (short lived) resignation of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein following the 2005 season. His formulaic columns, ripjobs and contrarian opinions have earned him the title of The Most Hated Man in Boston, though I have a feeling he’s not as hated by the average fan as we might think he is. His work has inspired his own watchdog blog, the entertaining Dan Shaughnessy Watch.

He is a frequent guest on national sports shows such a Jim Rome, and is a frequent guest on stations all across the country.

Shaughnessy has written at least 11 books, including The Curse of the Bambino, The Legend of the Curse of the Bambino and Reversing the Curse: Inside the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Other credits include Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball and Ever Green The Boston Celtics: A History in the Words of Their Players, Coaches, Fans and Foes, from 1946 to the Present.

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Popularity: 34% [?]

A hell of a nice guy, from most accounts.

Cafardo begin his career in Brockton in 1975 before moving to the Quincy Patriot Ledger in 1981. In 1989 he joined the Boston Globe sports staff.

Cafardo has covered both the Red Sox and Patriots during his tenure at the Globe, but his heart is clearly with baseball. During his time on the Patriots beat he was clearly frustrated with the working environment and it reflected in his coverage of the team. Having moved back to baseball, he’s noticeably more confortable and in his element.

He was a frequent presence on the various NESN programs, and in the past was in demand on WWZN radio, ESPN Radio and WBZ-TV’s Sports Final.

He is the author of several books, including The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriot’s Super Bowl Season, 100 Things Red Sox Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die and Boston Red Sox: Yesterday and Today

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Popularity: 40% [?]

Today we’re having a look at the Dean of the Boston sports media, Bob Ryan.

A graduate of Boston College, Ryan joined The Boston Globe in 1968 - on the same day as Peter Gammons, and on the day that Robert Kennedy was shot. Ryan and Gammons worked together that day (as noted in Gammons’ Hall of Fame speech.) and their story appeared on the front page of the paper.

He covered the Celtics during the 1970’s and into the 80’s before becoming a general columnist in 1989. He made a brief foray into TV in the early 80’s on WCVB.

He’s been hosting Globe 10.0 on NESN for almost a year now. He has been a regular on ESPN’s Sunday morning show The Sports Reporters and has done a number of other shows with the network such as Pardon the Interruption.

His honors include the 2006 Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism as well as the 1997 Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame.

His books include Drive: The Story of My Life with Larry Bird, Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the N.B.A. with Terry Pluto and When Boston Won the World Series: A Chronicle of Boston’s Remarkable Victory in the First Modern World Series of 1903.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

One of the new kids on the block here in Boston, Spears is in his first season covering the Celtics for The Boston Globe.

Spears came to the Globe from the Denver Post, where he covered the Nuggets. He also did work for ESPN.com and America Online. Spears is also the Vice-President of Print for the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force, and thanks to an early encounter with Jason Whitlock (See the last question here) is committed to doing his best to be a mentor and answer questions for any aspiring journalists.

Spears attended San Jose State University. He spent eight years at the Post before coming to the Globe last summer. He arrived soon after Kevin Garnett, which seemed to signal the Globe’s increased commitment to Celtics and NBA coverage.

He is also perhaps one of the few writers who can look most NBA players in the eye when he talks to them.

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Popularity: 30% [?]

Today is your chance to vote on Jackie MacMullan of the (for now) Boston Globe.

This is another vote while you can, as MacMullan is among the latest round of buyouts at the Globe. It is also rumored that ESPN has been courting her aggressively - but what her role would be is unknown, as she was said to be agreeable to the Globe buyout because she wanted to spend more time with her family.

MacMullan is a UNH graduate, and played four years of basketball at the school. She joined the Globe in 1982, and remained there until 1995 as a general sports reporter with a focus on the Celtics and the NBA. She moved on to Sports Illustrated from  1996 to 2000 before rejoining the Globe as a sports columnist.

She is very visible on various NESN and ESPN programs. She is author of several books, such as Bird Watching : On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love with Larry Bird, Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection with Geno Auriemma and Magic & Bird: Basketball’s Awed Couple.

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Popularity: 31% [?]

Where’s he been the last two days?

(Edit: Fluto Shinzawa reports that Dupont is dealing with a family illness. We’d certainly like to send best wishes to he and his family.) 

His absence in the paper yesterday and today around the Bruins/Canadiens game 7 seems a bit curious was missed, given his credentials and history as the top hockey writer at the Boston Globe.

Dupont started his writing career with the Boston Herald-American back in 1975 1977. He covered the Red Sox to start out with, and did more Bruins coverage as time went by. In 1983 he joined The New York Times and stayed there for a couple of years before coming on board with the Globe in 1985.

He was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame as a recipient of the 2002 Elmer Ferguson & Foster Hewitt Award. He has also covered 10 Olympic games for the Globe during his career at the paper.

He makes frequent appearances on NESN and has written for ESPN and MSNBC in his career as well.

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Popularity: 24% [?]