Hard to believe that another year is almost in the books. We’re also closing in on 10 years of BSMW, which will happen in April.

Looking back at 2011, what do you think were the biggest stories in the Boston sports media for 2011? Here is a look back at some of what happened this year, along with some of the most visited posts on BSMW:

In an effort to stymie lagging ratings, WEEI shuffles their lineup, booting Dale Arnold off the mid-day show, teaming Michael Holley with Glenn Ordway on a new “Big Show” and inserts Mike Mutnansky and Lou Merloni on the mid-day show. Dale Arnold’s final show on the mid-day was bittersweet.  

We still couldn’t get away from Spygate. Peter King brought it all back up again in a column on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Then Gregg Easterbrook moved the goal posts again.

NESN’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Executive Producer Joel Feld left the network after five years on the job.

There was a silly Gary Tanguay/Michael Felger dustup over CSNNE’s coverage of the Celtics.

The Sports Media’s Guide To Twitter - Some media members still believe they are in-demand content producers when tweeting about Jersey Shore.

Remember when Bill Belichick had the audacity not to show up for a media breakfast at the NFL owners meetings?

NH Sportswriter Blames Prostitution Arrest on Newspaper Cutbacks - The economy hit everyone hard.

Twitter wars between morning sports radio hosts are always entertaining.

WEEI’s D&C Strike Out at Competitors, Media Reporters - When they attack media reporters, it’s even more entertaining.

After trying the Ordway-Holley experiment for a few weeks, WEEI got even more desperate and added Mike Adams to the show.

In the midst of the Bruins playoff run, Jack Edwards agreed to a multi-year contract extension with NESN.

Apparently Mike Adams thinks I kiss Felger’s ass too much. Really.

The Bruins added to Boston’s championship decade by winning their first Stanley Cup since 1972. 

Former Boston Herald columnist George Kimball passed away after a long battler with esophageal cancer.

98.5 crushed WEEI in the spring ratings.

It was reported that the Celtics would Acquire Up To 20% Stake in CSNNE. That deal has not yet been officially announced.

Guest Column: The State Of The Media – 2011 - Former Channel 7 Sports anchor Roy Reiss wrote this guest spot.

Former Pats LB Tedy Bruschi Joins WEEI’s Patriots Monday - This was announced with much fanfare, Bruschi appeared on a few shows, and then stopped appearing. Efforts to find out why have been unsuccessful to date.

Guest Column – The Rise Of Armchair Sports Commentary - Former Boston Herald columnist Michael Gee wrote this one.

A reckless blogger claimed that Bob Kraft bullied the utility companies into restoring power to Gillette stadium first after the August hurricane. Oh wait, it was an actual newspaper reporter?

Old friend David Scott landed at ESPN in charge of PR for news content.

NESN Daily host Jade McCarthy announced she was leaving the network.

Barstool sports posted pictures of Tom Brady’s son at the beach, which kicked off a giant battle with WEEI, where El Presidente, David Portnoy had been appearing regularly. First Jason Wolfe denounced Portnoy, (In the same post, plans were announced for the Dan Patrick show to simulcast on CSNNE) and then Glenn Ordway talked the subject into oblivion, prompting An Open Letter To Glenn Ordway from this address.

Guest Column: This Just In - George Cain kinda-sorta-in-a-way saw this whole Red Sox September collapse brewing.

It was announced that the Felger and Massarotti show would be simulcast on Comcast SportsNet New England.

When the Bills beat the Patriots in September, the Buffalo media cheered and taunted the New England media. Seriously.

Meet The New Red Sox, Same As The Old Red Sox.

NFL Films featured Patriots coach Bill Belichick in a two-part documentary as part of the A Football Life series. Some wondered why the Richard Seymour trade and “lategate” from the 2009 season were not included in the film. I asked director Ken Rodgers that very question.  

Losers All Around In Globe Article - I wasn’t a fan of the Bob Hohler Boston Globe expose with painted Terry Francona as a drug-addled philanderer who lost interest in managing the team. Another notch on Joe Sullivan’s lipstick case.

Bizzaro Boston: Shaughnessy Is On Point - Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Sports Media Musings: The Sports Lodge Is On Fire! - One of the most popular posts of the year, from Ryan Hadfield.

John Henry Speaks Out On Felger and Mazz - The Red Sox owner had enough of the trashing from the 98.5 afternoon show and showed up in their studios.

BSMW In The New York Times - Got a mention and some quotes in The Gray Lady.

Don Orsillo re-signed with NESN through 2015, while Heidi Watney was the latest departure.

John Dennis and Gerry Callahan talked for 12309474 straight hours about Jerry Sandusky, while inserting creepy jokes at least a couple times a show.

Michael Felger has a weird obsession with the New York Jets. If they don’t make the playoffs, is their way of doing things still the better way?

Remember the old 1510 The Zone? I caught up with a few of the cast members from that era.

Rumored Replacements For Heidi Watney at NESN - An announcement isn’t expected until next month on this.

BSMW Enemies List – Edition 1 - A lot of discussion spawned here.

John Dennis’ assertion that Jeff Green’s aortic aneurysm is a result of Danny Ainge’s arrogance might be a new low in sports media.

As the year winds down and the Patriots are the main topic of discussion, we have worries about Team X, complaints that you’re not allowed to criticize the Patriots and a handy flowchart of coverage options.

What does 2012 hold? I can only imagine.

2011 Boston Sports Media Year In Review is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

This is my current list. It is constantly changing based on events of that week or month, and I may update it periodically going forward. There are some who certainly would’ve been on the list in the past, but who have been quiet as of late, or haven’t been as effective at being annoying as they are capable.

1) Tony Massarotti, 98.5 The SportsHub, Boston.com.

I don’t see anyone knocking Tony off this perch in the near future. I know it’s called his “on-air persona” and that people insist that off the airwaves he is the nicest human being you could possibly ever want to know. I really don’t care. His 98.5 persona is the most miserable person I could imagine. According to Tony, everything and everybody SUCKS, he does incredibly terrible “impressions” of Boston sports fans (out of the Glenn Ordway playbook) and actually seems to hate sports and that fans that enjoy them. I cannot listen to him on that show. He makes Michael Felger sane, reasonable and likable by comparison.

2) Joe Sullivan, Boston Globe sports editor.

When he’s not taking shots at Patriots fans on Twitter, he’s using his staff to do it for him. Or he’s allowing his investigative reporters publish insinuations that Terry Francona was a drug-addled philanderer in his final days of his tenure as manager of the Red Sox. He does things like insist that his staff refer to Tom Brady’s Monday morning WEEI interview as a “paid contractual obligation.” He’s overseen the decline of the greatest sports section of the country, a section that pushes Dan Shaughnessy as its superstar over the much superior Bob Ryan.

3) Gerry Callahan, WEEI, Boston Herald.

Another miserable human being, though unlike Massarotti, I don’t hear a lot of people saying that he’s a great guy off the air. Maybe he is, but I haven’t heard anyone say it. If you heard Callahan’s interview with Kevin Garnett this morning, you were just waiting for him to say something that would have him back in sensitivity training. Nothing makes me switch the dial quicker than when the patented Callahan whiny sneer is employed.

4) Shalise Manza Young, Boston Globe.

What happened here? Shalise has become so much of what is wrong with the sports media today – entitled, whiny and uninformed. Her Boston.com chats are mind-numbing in terms of the strawman arguments she employs. “If you’d rather finish 13-3 and lose in the first round of the playoffs instead of going 11-5 and winning the Super Bowl, that is certainly your right as a fan.” Complaining about access and Coach Personality is her schtick, and she does it well.

5) Mark Farinella. Who?

I have a lot of respect for Farinella as the longest-tenure guy on the Patriots beat. He’s seen everything down there. Maybe he could share some of that perspective rather than talking about organizing walkouts of Bill Belichick press conferences or devoting entire columns and blog posts to childish foot-stomping against “self-appointed NH-based media critics.”

Others warranting mention: Dan Shaughnessy, Mike Adams, John Dennis, Lou Merloni, Andy Gresh, Ron Borges. Jermaine Wiggins.

BSMW Enemies List – Edition 1 is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The post includes a lot of feedback from readers indicating just why they, in fact, hate ESPN’s Chris Berman. The first one is particularly nasty, and it continues through many of the rest of the comments.

I’m going to be in the minority among the readers of this site, and perhaps of sports media people in general, but I’ll just say it anyway.

I don’t hate Chris Berman.

Now, I’ll admit I don’t watch the Home Run Derby, which was mentioned several times in the comments from people. But let me get this straight – people are seriously annoyed at his performance during this fake sports event? Seriously? Do they want a serious announcer during this farce? Some of the criticisms about him may be valid, but do they warrent the type of hate that is generated out there?

I guess I view Berman like my Uncle George. My Uncle George is in his 70′s now, and when I saw him last week, he did all the same tricks for my two-year-old son that he did for me when I was a kid. He knocked on his head and made a noise like it was hollow. He pretended to pull off his thumb. My son laughed uproariously. You know what? I smiled too.

Maybe it’s just dumb nostalgia, but I like watching Berman on Sunday NFL Countdown. In fact, I like a lot of the older guys who have been around forever, even though they’re not what they once were. Even though they might make a lit of mistakes. Guys like Dick Stockton. Dick Enberg. Vin Scully. I actually miss John Madden.

Berman isn’t quite in that category, and it’s different because he’s not usually a play-by-play man like the above gentlemen. But he’s an institution in his own right. It’s somehow comforting to turn on the T.V. Sunday morning and hear him talking about the games that day. So  much has changed in the world, yet, Berman is a constant. He’s been there through so many stages in my life. It’s hard to explain, but there will be a void when Berman, and these other sports broadcasters of my youth (and well before that) are no longer doing their thing.

I often read and hear harsh, even mean criticism against some of these veteran broadcasters, and can’t quite figure where it comes from. These guys deserve a measure of respect for what they’ve accomplished in their lives.  Berman has been with ESPN almost from the beginning, and has worked himself into the position he is in now. He’s been loyal to the network, and they to him. He reportedly recently had overtures from the NFL Network, yet he signed a new deal with ESPN. From people who know him, he is a really good guy off the set as well. He doesn’t engage in the snarky criticism of everything like many of his peers, he focuses instead on the sports and games and not on made-up drama. I appreciate that.

Hearing a “Rumblin’, Bumblin’ Stumblin’” over an NFL highlight is much like my Uncle George pretending to pull off his thumb. It’s old. It is perhaps predictable. But I still smile.

Why I Don’t Hate Chris Berman is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The fact that the Celtics had just dropped game seven of the NBA Finals probably contributed to the lack of talk about Manny’s return, but even this weekend, when the focus could be squarely on the events at Fenway Park, there didn’t seem to be much interest in Manny from a media perspective.

I didn’t really listen to sports radio this weekend, so I’m not sure how much of a topic Ramirez was, but the upset of the weekend for me was the absence of a Boston Globe/Boston.com column from Dan Shaughnessy or Tony Massarotti (or anyone else, for that matter) rehashing all the Manny episodes over the years and sentencing the slugger to eternal damnation. The Boston Herald was likewise tame, with the harshest column being from Steve Buckley this morning, a column that was as weird as Manny, which was perhaps the point. I know he’s all the rage on Twitter  these days, but an Old Hoss Radbourn reference? Really?  (@OldHossRadbourn ) What was Buckley’s larger point? That Manny didn’t tip his cap, so he quit on the Fenway fans all over again? Buckley gets to be on The Big Show this afternoon to talk all about his column, so maybe we’ll find out.

ESPN had Curt Schilling on the broadcast last night to talk Manny, and he didn’t go off on his former teammate like you might’ve expected, except to say that in the end, Manny’s teammates wanted him gone, which should tell you just how bad things were.

Ramirez has been a fairly hot topic on sports radio this morning, checks on each station have found Manny being discussed, though there was still plenty of Celtics talk as well. I’m sure Mikey Adams will be treat to listen to tonight as he spews Manny hate for five straight hours with no Red Sox game. There were a number of callers today with anger in their voices  as they recalled why they hated Manny so much.

Which I really don’t understand.

In my mind, Manny is no different from the multi-millionaire rock star or movie star who is difficult to work with on the set, or shows up when they feel like it, or drunk/on drugs, or checks into rehab when they need a break from things.  

Do these same callers boycott the latest movie or concert from these superstars?  Do they have the same moral outrage?

Manny did some atrocious things here, and it’s best for all involved that he’s no longer here. He went too far in his final season. He quit on the team. But he’s gone. I don’t need to talk about him or listen to others talk about him anymore. He’s not our problem any more. I’m glad to see that the media reaction to Manny’s return has been rather underwhelming.

Hopefully we’re close to closing the Manny Ramirez in Boston chapter for good.

Manny’s Return – A Big Yawn is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The Celtics were in full control of this game, dominating the Lakers in every area except rebounds which was how the Lakers hung in throughout this one. Los Angeles controlled the boards, 53-40, including an incredible 23 boards on the offensive end.

The Celtics offense went completely stagnant during a late third quarter, early fourth quarter spurt which saw the Lakers erase the lead and take one of their own. The teams traded three pointers late, and the game wasn’t decided until Sasha Vujacic hit two free throws, which gave the Lakers a four point lead with 11 seconds to go.

Kobe Bryant, supposedly playing for his legacy, was terrible. He lead the Lakers with 23 points, but shot 6-24 in doing so. One media certainty going into tonight was that “there is no way that Kobe will allow the Lakers to lose game seven at home.” That was a joke. Even Michael Jordan’s son (it looks like it really was him.) was trashing Kobe on Twitter.

So this era is over for the Celtics. They’re going to look a lot different when training camp begins just under four months from now. Ray Allen and Doc Rivers are most likely gone. Paul Pierce could be gone. Tom Thibodeau is gone. The only players signed for next year are Garnett, Perkins, Rondo, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis.  In the aftermath of tonight’s loss, Wallace is already talking retirement. What will Danny Ainge have planned for this summer?

It’s unfortunate that things ended this way, but they gave us a great run. Falling four points short in game seven of the NBA Finals is a whole lot further than anyone predicted they would go. But this was their last chance. I don’t see them coming back to the Finals for quite a while unless Ainge can quickly retool this club. Maybe getting this close convinces them to make one more run at it with this current group. ( I kind of hope not.) Maybe Ray Allen gets a three-year deal, to push his contract to a year beyond Garnett’s, maybe Pierce exercises his option and stays, and maybe Ainge picks up a steal in the draft next week or in free agency and Doc is talked into taking one last run at it. Rivers’ press conference tonight sure seemed like it was the end of the line for him.

I don’t see them trying to get the band back together for another run, but it’s a possibility. Overall, this was an equally infuriating and endearing team. One game they don’t show up at all, and the next game they’re playing with such heart and intensity that you are drawn right back in. The last two games of this series were a perfect example of that. They missed Perkins far more than I expected they would on the boards tonight, and just ran out of gas in the second half. The Lakers turned up their energy, and the Celtics couldn’t match it.

Historically, this is a devastating blow. Losing to the Lakers brings LA a step closer to Boston’s all time title number (though the titles won in Minneapolis shouldn’t count, in my opinion) and adds another title for Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, boosting their stock even more among the all-time greats. This Celtics group is now just a one-title bunch, which I’ll certainly take, but seeing this run makes you wonder what they could’ve done with a healthy KG last season.

The summer will come quickly, with the draft next week, and free agency less than three weeks away. I’ll be watching what Danny Ainge does very closely.

Celtics Just Can’t Finish, Lakers Are World Champs is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

6:00am – John Dennis: On the show today we’ll talk with Patriots head coach Josh McDaniels, who is continuing to experiment with the two-quarterback backfield, still trying to fill the void from when Tom Brady retired 4 years ago. We’ll also talk to Brad Faxon from the Smithfield nursing home to get his thoughts on the PGA championship last weekend.

6:20am Dennis: Here’s Meterparel with the sportsflash…Meter, did you ever think you’d still be doing this job when you were 50 years old?

Meter: Of course, I owe Gerry my whole career…besides, the late Larry Lucchino assured me that if I paid my dues here, I’d get the Red Sox play-by-play gig.

6:45am Callahan: Manny Ramirez is a scumbag who quit on his team, and hates kids with cancer…

7:30am Callahan: So little Senator Chelsea Clinton from California thinks that she can follow in her father and mother’s footsteps and be President of the United States? God help us all. She’ll probably try to get the troops out of Iraq, like every Democratic liberal scumbag has tried to do since George W. took the heroic and decisive action of commited the US to 10 more years of occupancy back in 2008.

Dennis: Our best hope is that Senator Schilling from Arizona can keep his 4-day filibuster going for another couple of weeks. If anyone can do it, it’s him. Yesterday he told stories about every one of his former teammates. Did you know that a lot of Red Sox players wanted to punch Kevin Youkilis?

8:00am: Dennis: I know I couldn’t make it through the day without my new Dunkin Donuts tapioca pudding, loaded with an burst of energy to help me make it to 10:00 without nodding off and drooling on the microphone. Dunkin Donuts is the offical sponsor of the Dennis and Callahan morning show.

8:15am: Callahan: Manny Ramirez is a scumbag who quit on his team, and hates kids with cancer…

8:52am: Callahan: Josh, Bill Belichick used to tape opponents signals and then use those tapes in the same game to gain a competitive advantage, he also ran up the score on opponents and set a bad example for kids, being his protege are you going to do the same things?

Meter: Josh, Matt Ryan will be a free agent next season, how could you not be interested in bringing him here to the Patriots? As a BC alum, Matty Heisman would be the perfect fit to your team, even if he has suffered 6 concussions in the last two seasons.

9:20am: Dennis: Brad, two part question from me…since we last spoketh, the PGA champion has been, shall we say, cornated, and it happens to be one Tiger Woods, who continues to play golf at the highest level heretofore unseen in this antiquitious game, that being case, do you believe that he can continue said dominance for the forseeable future, or is this his faretheewell on this grandest stage for this legendary links master, now the secondary part of my query, if you accept that all these things to be true, that Woods now with his 23 Major championships has set a bar to which no mere mortal hacker may attain to, is the game of golf in, shall we say, serious trouble with no one to carry to torch on after the said Tiger Woods?

9:55am: Callahan: Manny Ramirez is a scumbag who quit on his team, and hates kids with cancer…

Dennis & Callahan in 2018 is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

Yes, I’m trying to put this all behind me, but I think it’s important to review just how disgraceful the behaviour of national media was during this whole episode, and attempt to put as much of it on the record as I can here.

Yes, disgraceful.

I suppose it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given the news/sports climate in which we live, one that is dominated by sensationalism, exaggeration, rush to judgement and opinion. But things really got out of hand with this one. Let’s review a few of the ways:

The myopic media have chosen to focus solely on the sensationalistic aspects of this case, right from the beginning.

Whether or not this was really a major rules violation that garnered a significant advantage is not the point. THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS CHEATED AND ALL THEIR CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE NOW TAINTED. That’s the message that has been sent out, and that which has been pounded repeatedly into the conscious of the American public.

The implication has been that the taping of signals is the golden lamp which when rubbed, automatically ensures victory. They insist that the advantage gained by these tapes is the single most important factor (even if some faint voices say otherwise) in the Patriots success this decade.

Never mind that the stealing of signals has been going on in all sports almost from the beginning. Never mind that other teams have been caught doing the same or worse. Ignore all of that.

Ignore this statement:

Taping from the sidelines during games, although forbidden, is regarded as a minor violation of the rules.

You know who wrote that?

The one and only Gregg Easterbrook. (On February 3, 2008)

Yeah, the same guy now advocating a lifetime ban of Belichick.

For a “minor violation of the rules.”

Nothing has changed since that day, in fact, the Patriots position has improved, as the notion of the walkthrough video has been dismissed. The Boston Heraldand John Tomase have apologized for putting out this false information. Yet now Easterbrook wants the lifetime ban?

They’ve also shown that just because something has already been reported, it doesn’t mean you can’t write it again and shout from the rooftops that there is a new angle.

One of the prominent figures of this whole saga has been ESPN “investigative reporter” Mike Fish. For someone billed as an investigative reporter, I haven’t seen this guy yet bring something of value to the table. You’d think an investigative reporter would…you know…investigate. He would look into all aspects of a story, uncover new facts, perhaps expand the scope of the story to include other teams and their practices, to see if what the Patriots did was really out of line with what other teams were doing to get an edge.

Nope. He’s been solely focused on the Patriots. He hands in pieces like this, which have absolutely no new information whatsoever.

I’m tempted to dub him Mike Fishwrap, but that would be an insult to paper that is actually used to wrap dead fish.

Ready, Fire, Aim.

This will somehow get blamed on the internet, I’m sure, but this whole episode has consisted of events where reporters and media have shot first and asked questions later. The rush to be first get the news out there and garner attention has overidden everything else, including journalistic standards. Tomasegate is the prime example, but there are others.

Remember in the last few weeks when there was a big rush of OFFENSIVE SIGNALS headlines(That Fish guy again) after Walsh turned over his tapes? Some speculated that this was a new facet of the cheating that could open up the case even more and end up in that eagerly anticipated suspension for Belichick.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick could be hit with more sanctions in connection with the team’s past videotaping activities.

This was despite the official comment from the league:

“This is consistent with what the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

That statement didn’t stop the media from running with the OFFENSIVE SIGNALS storyline. That went on for a few days before dying out when people finally realized that the offensive signals weren’t really of any use.

From Trent Dilfer in Peter King’s MMQB column this week on the news that the league will be instituting coach-to-defensive-captain communication via radio:

videotaping “will be irrelevant. Now the offense will have no way of stealing signals anymore, because they’ll be done the same way the offense sends in signals — from the coach to a player on the field [through a microphone and speaker].

What that quote is saying is that taping offensive signals in the past was irrelevant – because there are no hand signals to steal.

So besides the fact that the tape were consistent with what the NFL already knew, it’s also come out that the taping of offensive signals was pretty much of no value.

We’ve had columnists and talking heads insinuate that there really was a tape of the Rams walkthrough, but that the Patriots “made it go away.” Or, as this guy asserts, they simply paid off Walsh:

For all we know, Walsh may have had more information and more damning evidence of the Patriots and their use of the infamous practice and signal tapes, but money has a way of making everything better. Again, no one, but Walsh and a few people with the New England franchise, will ever know the truth.

If the Patriots paid Walsh to destroy the tape, couldn’t they just have slipped him a few more bucks just to shut up all together? These types of unsubstantiated claims and assertions have been just far too common during this whole time.

Here’s one more example, from just last night.

DID PATS TAPE RAMS’ SIGNALS DURING 2001 SEASON?
Posted by Mike Florio on May 19, 2008, 9:45 p.m. EDT

One issue that has been overlooked by many/most/all of the media, and of which a reader has reminded us recently, is the question of whether the Patriots used their videotaping system on the St. Louis Rams when the two teams met in the 2001 regular season, only a couple of months before Super Bowl XXXVI.

Even though we now know that the Pats didn’t videotape the Rams’ walk-through prior to the game, it doesn’t mean that there was no cheating on the biggest stage in sports.

It’s unclear whether the question has been asked, but it sure doesn’t appear to us that the question has been answered. And it’s a simple question — did the videotaping of defensive coaching signals include the November 18 prime-time game between the two teams, which the Rams won, 24-17?

Another prime example of “Let’s throw something out there without making any effort to check into it at all.”

From Walsh’s New York Times sitdown:

Q. The regular-season game against the Rams in 2001, what were your duties?

A. I remember before the game, our video room was located right next to the visitor’s locker room. Even though the locker room doors were closed, myself and Pepper Johnson were outside the video room right before the game. And we were able to hear, through the doors, Mike Martz giving his pre-game speech to the team. Trying to incite them about, you know, it was Sunday night football. How good they were. And how we were just another A.F.C. team.

They won by a touchdown, so I guess it worked.

Q. And what did you do during the game?

A. Filmed, to the best of my recollection. I can’t specifically say I remember the details of what I filmed.

Conveniently, Walsh doesn’t “remember the details.” He seems to remember everything else about that season, including meaningless preseason games, but he doesn’t remember this game and what he was doing. (Though he remembers the pregame incident from that same game.) If he DID film that game, don’t you think he would’ve said so directly, rather than vaguely dodging the question by saying he must’ve filmed, but doesn’t remember the details?

That tells me he didn’t film it. In fact, if he did, don’t you think that would’ve been one of the tapes he would’ve taken before he left the organization, given the significance of that game later on down the line?

This tells me two things…one, Florio truly was just “throwing it out there” – shooting before aiming, a problem throughout this entire episode – and two, the more you look into it, how much of anything Walsh says can you really believe?

That hasn’t stopped the media from breathlessly taking his words and running with them.

They’ve behaved with the subtlty of a pack of screaming jackals.

You can’t turn around these days without someone howling about the integrity of the game, about tainted championships, about lifetime suspensions.

They’ll howl at whatever camera, microphone or keyboard is in front of them. Attempts to reason with them go about as well as a carcass trying to talk its way out of getting torn to shreds by the pack.

These are the same ones who were (and are) screaming about “running up the score” and “sportsmanship” and even Belichick’s postgame handshakes.

They haven’t even bothered to hide their agendas

Everyone with an axe to grind against the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick has taken full advantage of the opportunity to kick them while they’re down. They don’t even try to hide why they’re doing it. Here’s a few of the key players:

Matt Walsh – Disgruntled ex-Patriots employee who was fired from his job for recording conversations with his superiors. ‘Nuff said

Arlen Specter- Disgruntled Eagles fan, who is also trying to strongarm the NFL into granting more favorable terms to Comcast, one of his key campaign contributors. He apparently believes everything he hears from Mark Schlereth on ESPN and what he reads in the New York Times, which may not be such a great idea. (See below.)

Greg Bishop, New York Times – You can detect a clear pattern in his stories. Let’s see, a puff piece on Charley Casserly in April leads to a piece in May with a “longtime N.F.L. team executive.” Think they’re not one and the same?

Another puff piece on Michael Levy in March leads to the Times getting the 8 Tapes from Walsh before the NFL did and also an exclusive interview with Matt Walsh.

Why in the world would the New York Times write a piece on Drew Bledsoe? (March 10) Well, on February 22nd, Bishop got a “a former Patriots player” to talk about the Patriots taping signals as far back as 2000. Is it too much of a stretch to consider that Bishop wrote the article on Bledsoe’s wine and coffee business ventures as payola for the info in the Feb 22nd article?

Mark Schlereth, ESPN – Prior to the Patriots, his Denver Broncos were considered a mini dynasty of their own. Now, relegated to a footnote Schlereth has tried to discredit the Patriots at every turn. He insists that the team used the filmed signals during the same games, something that not only defies logic, (How could the team edit all that raw footage into a usable video AND decipher the signals within the same game?) but that even Walsh has denied.

Schlereth has convienently not addressed the fact that the Broncos circumvented the salary cap so they could pay John Elway and Terrell Davis $29 million in deferred payments. This allowed them to stock their team and win those two Super Bowls. I kind of think this is worse than the taping of signals…

There’s plenty more out there. Just look at any of the key figures and think about what their ties to the stories are or what their history with the Patriots is…

Tomasegate gave new life to the story that should have been put to bed.

The same media types who are shaking their heads at John Tomase for his handling of the Rams walkthrough video story were the first ones to gleefully run with his story when it came out. The walkthrough video story dominated ESPN’s Bottom Line and NFL Network’s ticker as well. Columnists and reporters around the country lined up for a second shot at the team and coach, and this has continued for three and a half months.

Had Tomase not published his story, perhaps this thing would be a dead issue by now. Instead, the witch-hunt has intensified, and even though the Tomase story has been retracted and an apology issued, the Spygate hysterics are back in full swing.

Tomase’s story is the single most egregious part of this entire matter, and he has skated, scot-free. As Patriots Daily pointed out today, Tomase may be accountable for his actions, but he hasn’t yet been held to account.

Rather than doing their jobs the way they’ve been trained, the media have taken as gospel the words of someone whose only true value was fueling the fire. To the media, everything is all about “advancing the story” – Walsh and Tomase were supposedly doing this, yet we see after the fact that they didn’t have anything new to offer.

A Real Reason for the Hate is Lack of Access

Even though they’ll dismiss this notion out of hand, this whole episode boils down to access. Can you sit there and realistically say that had it been Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden or Herman Edwards that did this that the stories and commentary would be as nasty and personal? If Bill Belichick sat down with the likes of Peter King on a weekly basis and invited them to watch him mow his lawn like Brett Favre, how do you think this would’ve gone?

You can almost hear the excuses that would’ve been made had these ones offered the same explanations that Belichick has offered.

“Dungy’s got a such a strong moral fiber, he wouldn’t have done this unless he was firmly convinced his interpretation of the rules was correct.”

“Herm just wants to win so badly, ‘You play to win the game’ – that’s what he always says. This is just a reflection of that.” 

“Jon gets up at 3:30am every day to pour his soul into the preparation of his team, the taping and analysis of the signals just shows how obsessed he is with getting every detail just right.”

With Belichick, it’s because he is a cheater. All because he doesn’t “play the game” of keeping the media happy and well supplied with snappy quotes.

The actual accomplishments of the players and team are now dismissed. 

Regardless of perceived advantage that the filmed signals would’ve provided, the players on the field had to make plays in order for the Patriots to win their championships. They had to make key stops, they had to catch the ball, run through the hole, or knock the offensive lineman aside to get to the quarterback. Nothing gained through film work could possibly help the players on the field do these things.

Knowing the defensive signals didn’t help Ty Law pick off Peyton Manning in the playoffs. It didn’t help Rodney Harrison seal the Super Bowl against Specter’s Eagles with a pick.

This is perhaps the saddest aspect of the whole affair. The accomplishments of such talented players have been muddied because of how the scandal has been blown out of proportion. Sure, Belichick and the Patriots do deserve a share of the blame because they broke the rules and started this whole mess, but the media has taken this event and taken it entirely too far.

Soon they will move on like nothing happened

At some point, another big scandal will erupt in the world of sports. The sports media’s attention will shift to that, leaving this episode in the past, to be revisited whenever convenient. (Especially if the Patriots roar out of the gate next season, or perhaps even more so, if they struggle.) To be sure, this isn’t going away completely, but it will fade into the background somewhat, but the damage will be permanently done in its wake.

It all added up to the The Most Miserable 18-1 Season in History but it clearly hasn’t stopped there.

The amount of coverage given this scandal has been nothing short of overwhelming. The average fan trying to follow this story could find himself hopelessly lost in the shouting, conjecture and speculation. Unfortuately, responsible reporting has not prevailed at all in this case, and reason is a rare commodity among this crowd.

Keep in mind that most of these same reporters and outlets were silent during the whole steroid era in baseball - even though most of them had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Is the outcry over this story merely these same ones overcompensating for their silence on steroids? Or is it part of our society’s macabre habit of turning on and tearing down our heroes after we’ve built them up?

Whatever the reason, the stench from all of this mess is going to take a long time to wear off.

Why Spygate Is The Most Disgraceful Episode In Recent Sports Media History is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

I was out getting coffee this morning, and switched on KNBR, the huge sports radio station out here in the Bay Area. To my surprise, at that moment, the topic of conversation was…

Bob Lobel.

WBZ’s decision to let Lobel go after 30 years was a big topic on the show, mostly from the angle that if a legend like Lobel can be let go, whose job IS safe? They made mention of the fact that Lobel turned down an offer from CBS to host College Football Today in the mid-80′s, which opened the door for Jim Nantz to take the position.

Several callers with ties to the Boston area called to give their recollections of Lobel, and it was noted that Lobel had lost a little something in recent years.

I’ll take this opportunity to give my own Lobel story.

About a year after I started BSMW, I had been getting short emails from Lobel on occasion, usually notes of support, or a quick observation on the topic of that day. Eventually Lobel invited me to come down to the WBZ studios to hang out for the evening and watch the production of that night’s newscast.

I accepted and met Lobel at the studios. He couldn’t have been more gracious, taking me on a tour of the building, showing me the newsroom, introducing me to the staff, (I was shocked at how many of them were familiar with BSMW)checking out the Sports Final set, and then going into his office while he got ready for the newscast. You might expect a huge, spacious office for someone of Lobel’s stature, but that wasn’t the case. It was a small, narrow, cramped room, without any windows, perhaps a little over double the size of a janitors closet. Just outside the office was a larger room where the sports staff was putting together highlight packages and there was a vast wall of sports highlight tapes and film.

The inside of Lobel’s office was just covered with photos of Bob with just about every local athlete of note in the last 25 years prior to then. (This was in 2003) Above his desk were several small TV monitors. It was a busy night, as the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics were all playing on that particular evening. All the games were on the monitors. We sat and talked for quite awhile, chatting about the current state of sports in Boston, about some of the personalities in town, who he got along with and who he despised. (As I recall, he wasn’t too fond of a certain WEEI morning co-host not named Gerry Callahan.) He also had a ton of sports books laying around the office, many of them brand-new review copies. He gave me several.

When it came time for first the TV38 10:00pm newscast, (At the time, WBZ was also producing a 10:00pm newscast for TV38.) he brought me into the studio with him. He introduced me to the news anchors that night, (Sarah Underwood was one, and she was incredibly nice as well.) and settled me just off the set where I could watch the entire proceedings. Lobel seemed to have a somewhat uneven relationship with meteorologist Ed Carroll, they needled each other constantly off the air, and I couldn’t really tell if it was 100% friendly or not. When it came time for sports it was the show that we’ve seen for 30 years, shuffling the papers, going through the highlights, (The “Gasoline Alley” Red Sox bullpen was a hot topic that night) and delivering a wisecrack or two.

When the newscast was over, we chatted for a few more minutes, and then with a few words of encouragement, he saw me out the door. It was a terrific, memorable evening, and I have only fond memories of Lobel to this day.

It’s been a rough few years for Lobel since then, and though his performance was certainly not up to what it was in his peak, he was still a sports media legend in Boston right to the end. I expect we’ll see and hear some more of him in the future, be it on radio, or perhaps in another television role.

My Evening With Bob Lobel is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

I thought we’d spend a little time today looking at how the news outlets can improve their sports blogs. They’re almost all relatively new to this whole blogging thing, while I’m about to hit my sixth year with BSMW, making me a grizzled graybeard in the blogging world.

Here’s three things I would suggest to the operators of those blogs:

1) Categories. Feeds. Make More.

I discovered something interesting in my reading habits. I’ve found over the last couple of seasons that I subscribe to the RSS feeds of some blogs only during the offseason. Why is that? Well, during the season, I find that there is just too much content to keep up with, and much of it, I’m not interested in. This is especially true during games. It’s not unusual to come back to my computer after a game and find 20-30 posts from during a game in my feedreader from one of the blogs. I just watched the game. I don’t necessary need all those updates. So I’ve found myself actually unsubscribing from some feeds during the season because there is just too much information coming through that I don’t always need.

It would make sense to create some categories in the blogs, and then feeds for each of those categories, as well as the main feed that contains all posts. Some sample categories might be “Game Updates” “Practice Reports” “Breaking News” and “Transactions.” This way the reader can pick and choose which feeds to add to their reader. They’ll still have the option of adding the main feed which brings them all of the posts.

The reason why I subscribe to the feeds in the offseason is because I don’t want to miss a story. Usually when a post happens in the offseason, it’s something of interest, a trade, a free agent signing, or a player being cut. During the season, there’s just too much to keep up with sometimes, and chances are I’ve probably heard it already on the radio or watched it on TV.

2) Don’t Post Your Column In The Blog, And Vice-Versa

Some of the old-timers out there still haven’t quite gotten used to the whole blog concept. I can understand why, they’re writers, not bloggers. When given blog duty, they’re not sure what they should be putting in there. Write a whole story? But then what do they put in their story for the paper the next day? It feels to them like they’re doing twice as much work, or diluting their hard copy story by posting it in the blog first.

Here’s the answer: For the most part, these sports blogs aren’t the place for long, rambling reports or stories. They’re quick-hit items. Things of interest that you might be seeing and observing while putting together material that will be in your main story the next day. There are some exceptions. Bob Ryan’s blog, for instance, is a place for him to weigh in on a topic that perhaps he didn’t get to write a full column about. But in general, if you’re posting to your outlet’s blog, keep it light, relaxed. Share some observations, some thoughts you might have as you work. Keep the deeper stuff for your story.

3) Its OK To Acknowledge, And Even Link To The Competition

The competition between the outlets is slow to die, after so many years of going head to head for the readers. However, in this day and age, most of the fans are reading through all the material out there, so you’re not going to lose readers as long as you’re continuing to put out quality information.

So if your competition happens to have a great story, or perhaps breaks some news first, its OK to link to them. By mentioning or linking the other site, you’re showing that you’ve got the best interest of your readers in mind. You want them to know that you’re interested in making sure they have all the news and information that they need.

It also shows that you’re not so insecure so as to think if you send a reader to another site that you’re going to lose them forever. Linking is what really made the internet what it is today, but I still see examples on MSM blogs where they won’t name the source of another story, let alone link to them. To the reader, this is frustrating, as they want this information, and now you’ve made them go out and look for it on their own rather than helping them find it.

How I Would Improve The MSM Sports Blogs is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

What an original subject. And timely, too. Let’s kick the guy further while we can.

He states as fact:

The only reason Boston sports fans have put up with Belichick’s act is because he’s won, not because they like him.

Let’s put aside the fact of whether Patriots fans actually like Belichick or not. How exactly does whether or not he wins make Bill Belichick different from every other coach that has come through here? Don’t we ultimately judge every coach/manager on whether or not they win? The “likable” Pete Carroll years sure worked out well here. Dick Mcpherson too. We loved Mac, but he didn’t win. Belichick has won like no other coach.

I’ve heard a handful of sanctimonious Patriots do some moralizing on Belichick for the events of the past year, but it was truly just a few, not this swelling undercurrent sweeping through the region as Most apparently wants to believe.

The real problem, as is always the case in these type of stories, is Belichick’s cooperation with the media. Most slams Belichick for his reaction to the truly gut-wrenching Super Bowl loss. He says how in the post-game, Belichick never mentioned “the Giants’ tremendous play.”

Belichick’s first comments in the post game press conference:

“Congratulations to the Giants. They made some plays there at the end and we didn’t. It’s disappointing.”

Most then makes a spectacular leap, bringing up the name Grady Little. Yes, he wants Belichick to be more like Grady Little. He talks about how Grady stood before the assembled masses after the crushing game 7 loss in the 2003 and how in a “folksy, grandfatherly way, he explained why he did what he did with sincerity and in detail.” What he did of course, was leave Pedro Martinez in the game too long.

The funny thing is, if you read Little’s comments, as quoted in the piece, they sound very much like something that Bill Belichick would say.

Most says that dealing with the media is part of the job that any coach or manager in Boston has to embrace. Why?

Think about Bill Belichick’s job for a moment. Think about all the things he does. It’s goes well beyond standing on the sideline in the hoodie, which of course is the image most choose to have of him. There’s scouting to be do. Game planning. Interviewing draftees and free agents. Running the organization. Planning, running, and analyzing practices every day. Off season analysis of every game from the past season, and planning for every game of the coming season.

What percentage of his job would you says involves dealing with the media? 5%? Surely not a whole lot more than that. Is he supposed to let other aspects of his job suffer so he can kowtow to the ink-stained wretches?

There are things that you can criticize Belichick for. He’s not perfect, and he’ll be the first to admit that. How many times has he said that he needed to do a better job coaching the team? His relationship with the media (which is what this article is about…not spygate, or running-up-the-score-gate or not-winning-by-enough-gate) and whether or not the fans “like” him is certainly not something that the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine needs to devote space to.

Globe Magazine Takes Its Shots At Belichick is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch