Boston Sports Media Watch

You may have heard this article talked about on the Dale & Holley show this morning, but I think it’s worthy of mention and discussion here as well.

Dan Pompei in the Chicago Tribune tells readers it is time to forget Spygate and remember how good that Bill Belichick really is. He tells us that while the black hat does fit Belichick well, he adds:

On the day before the most recent Super Bowl, the Boston Herald ran a story stating a member of the team’s video department taped the Rams’ final walk-through on the day before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Matt Walsh, the former video assistant for the Patriots who was negotiating with the league about information he claimed to have regarding the tapings, did not deny the allegation. And the controversy was fueled by grandstanding U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

With the way it’s starting to look, that black hat fits Specter, Walsh and the Herald better than it fits Belichick.

After issuing criticism of Walsh and Specter, he then has the following to say about the Boston Herald:

The Herald meanwhile, bit on a story that more responsible media outlets did not. The Herald was not the only outlet that had the information it printed Feb. 2, the day before the Super Bowl, but they were the only outlet that deemed the story solid enough to print.

It’s now starting to filter out that other media outlets got the same information that John Tomase did, but they didn’t run with it.

They’re not absolved of blame, however, because as we know, they all certainly jumped on the story and ran with it once the Herald published it. They no longer had to worry about whether the information was shoddy or not, they could just state “The Boston Herald reports that…” and go merrily along their way of speculating that the tape of the Rams walkthrough might be out there and what it could mean if Walsh turned it in to the league.

Pompei closes by saying “Belichick’s reputation won’t be sullied by this affair as much as the reputations of some others.”

“Some others” includes not only Walsh, Specter and the Herald, but most of the sports media at large.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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.

—————-

A warning shot - take it easy in the comments, folks. Anything deemed inappropriate, offensive or overly personal is subject to removal.

Popularity: 29% [?]

With the Celtics in the midst of their playoff run, today we take a look at Boston Herald Celtics writer Mark Murphy.

Murphy has been with the Herald since 1988. He has spent most of his tenure at the paper on the Celtics beat, though he moved over to the UMass and college basketball beat at the height of the Marcus Camby/John Calipari era. He returned to the Celtics beat in 2002. He has also covered Olympic games, including the 1992 US Basketball Dream Team.

Murphy is another guy you don’t see making a whole lot of outside media appearances. I couldn’t find a photo online of him, but he is a pretty easily recognizable guy, sporting a full beard.

—————-

Popularity: 30% [?]

On Herald Thursday, we check in today on hockey writer Stephen Harris.

Perhaps one of the lesser known Herald writers, Harris has nonetheless been around for a long time. He’s covered the Bruins for Herald since the 1979-80 season, though he also served as the Red Sox beat writer for five seasons during the 1980’s. Harris’ doesn’t usually do the game stories for the paper, instead doing more “overview” and analytical type articles.

Harris is also the closest thing that the paper has to an Olympic writer, having covered six Olympic games during his career with the paper. You don’t see or hear him much on the local airwaves, and I couldn’t even find a photo to use with his profile here.

—————–

Popularity: 28% [?]

Today you get your chance to weigh in on Boston Herald baseball writer Rob Bradford.

Bradford has gone from the Lowell Sun to the Lawrence Eagle Tribune to the Boston Herald in the last few years. While at the ET, he started the Bradford on Baseball blog, which was very popular. After getting the job at the Herald, the ET kept the blog name, and had Bill Burt start blogging there. At the Herald, Bradford has been blogging on the Bradford Files, which is one of the media-owned sports blogs that I really like. Bradford has also been a regular on WEEI’s Big Show.

Bradford is the author of Chasing Steinbrenner and the soon to be released Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Finding the Champion Within - a book on Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

—————–

Popularity: 32% [?]

Today, you get to weigh in with your opinion of the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian.

Guregian is another veteran of the Boston sports media corps. She is a graduate of Northeastern University’s journalism school. Like some others at the Herald, (Rob Bradford and Gerry Callahan being two) Guregian began her career at The Lowell Sun.

I can remember her back in the mid to late-1980’s making reports on the Bruins on a sports talk show that I was listening to as a youngster. Her focus was on hockey for many years, with some side work on the Red Sox.

More recently, she’s been a regular on the Patriots beat, working alongside John Tomase in anchoring the football coverage for the Herald.

—————

Photo by Adela Gavozdea.

Popularity: 52% [?]

Today we look at Boston Herald Red Sox beat reporter Michael Silverman.

Silverman isn’t a guy who stands out a whole lot. He’s done more multi-media work on TV and Radio over the last few years, but he still isn’t a constant presence on the airwaves, and he doesn’t inject his own opinion too much into his stories, which is actually pretty refreshing.

Silverman has been with the Herald since 1989 and started covering the Red Sox in 1995. He had a very good relationship with former ace pitcher Pedro Martinez, which got him a number of interviews and stories with Martinez. He’s gotten his share of scoops while on the beat as well.

—————

Popularity: 53% [?]