Boston Sports Media Watch

After yesterday’s testimony by Matt Walsh to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Boston Herald has issued an apology for their erroneous story the day before the Super Bowl which said that the Patriots taped the St Louis Rams walkthrough the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. The story caused a nation-wide furor which has continued since that day. Here is the apology:

On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots [team stats]’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.

Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.

The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.

As you can see at the top of this post, the apology is prominently mentioned on both the front and back cover of the Herald.

Is it enough? David Scott has some pretty thorough analysis of the situation over at Scott’s Shots.

Here’s my beef: You certainly remember how, when the whole spygate thing originally went down, and Belichick remained silent on the matter outside of just a single statement? That he steadfastly refused to answer questions about it, no matter how many times they were put to him.

Remember the heat he took for it? He was virtually crucified by the media for not even reading the statement, or addressing it “live” or taking questions about it. Consider some of the comments from that week:

I’m no sports expert.

But I know a coward when I see one. And a coward is what I saw scowling behind the podium Friday at the New England Patriots’ press conference.

Bill Belichick, the legendary coach who demands fearlessness from young men bashed and smashed all over a football field, was too afraid to get the words out of his mouth: “wrong” or “sorry” or “mistake.” Or even “mistakes were made,” the preferred term of 21st century politicians also too afraid to tell the truth.

With the world watching, Belichick hid behind his “statement,” the one he actually deigned to admit he wrote only after two questions in a row about it. But the leader of the gridiron behemoths lacked the courage to read it aloud.

Yeah, that one was from Margery Eagan - of the Boston Herald.

How about this one, which begins:

On behalf of the sports enthusiasts of New England, the Boston Herald today issues the following statement:

While we find formal releases like this to be cold, impersonal and lacking humanity and humility, we felt compelled to address the recent actions of the New England Patriots, one of the most celebrated and supported teams in sports.

So the Herald here is firmly and deliberately placing themselves on the moral high ground to pronounce judgment. Yes, they felt compelled to address the Patriots behavior. Later on in the article, the writer, one Tony Massarotti, says:

In the days immediately following disclosure of the Patriots’ unethical behavior, both Belichick and Kraft issued statements apologizing for the incident and the shame it has brought on our region. We found those admissions to be hollow and completely meaningless. Whatever words the Patriots printed on a sheet of paper and distributed to media outlets throughout the nation, not a single team official has stepped up and said the most important words - “I’m sorry.” Consequently, there has been absolutely no attempt on the part of team officials to explain themselves and show any remorse whatsoever.

Regret, after all, is an emotion. It cannot be replicated or replaced, even by a color laser printer. In any apology or admission, the words are not as important as the feeling behind them, and the written word can frequently come off as corporate, sterile and devoid of all human feeling. (On this matter, the Herald, among other print media outlets, has particular expertise.) In short, we have questions that we had hoped would be answered. Communication is important in any relationship, even one between the followers of a football team and the team itself.

At a time like this, forgive us if we cease being mindless lemmings who have filled football stadiums in Foxboro from September through January since Mr. Kraft took over the franchise.

While we understand that no person or organization is perfect, we have found the events of the last week to be quite troubling because they violate the first rules of human decency. In the end, the only thing that connects us all is our vulnerability. We all make mistakes and we all look to move on at the appropriate time, but not until we all acknowledge that we ultimately share one responsibility.

It’s called accountability.

Unlike the Patriots, we hope to discuss this matter further.

So the Herald was right there in front leading the cries of accountability in the days following spygate, demanding an explanation, wanting more than just a simple, issued statement.

In this current incident, all we’ve gotten is a simple, three paragraph statement, which doesn’t even name John Tomase or the editor responsible for letting the walkthrough story get through.

If a football team is being castigated for not being accountable to society for their actions, how much more should a newspaper, which is held and bound by the ethics of journalism?

The Herald will have to forgive us if we cease being mindless lemmings, who read the paper daily, trusting that due diligence is being done in bringing us the news each day.

The Herald’s apology is also weird on a number of fronts. Yesterday, material was flying on and off the Herald’s website at a dizzying rate. A post from Tomase was removed from the Point After blog, a story was given a number of headlines, the first one focused on Walsh admitting to “spying” on the Rams at the walkthrough, with little emphasis placed on the fact that the event had not been recorded. Headlines were reworked, and the “spying” material taken out.

If they were still sticking to their story and angle, why the sudden changes and then the apology? Did the Patriots statement from yesterday give them a bit of a jolt? Who was the original source, and what does it say about the Herald that they trusted that source enough to run with the original story? It appears we won’t know, since the Herald isn’t talking.

There’s plenty more coverage of this out there, but I’ve already used most of my time here. Check in at PatriotsLinks.com for all the headlines on this subject. Also, over at Patriots Daily, Scott Benson weighs in on the events of the day as well.

————————-
The Red Sox dropped another one last night, this time in Baltimore. Get the news at RedSoxLinks.com.

The Celtics play a crucial game five with the Cavaliers tonight at the Garden. On the BSMW Full Court Press, Matt Richardson and Kevin Henkin team up for some observations on the series. Get your Celtics news and headlines at CelticsLinks.com.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Over the past three years, I’ve been out to the San Francisco Bay Area about 10 times and have tried to get familiar with the sports scene out there. Here’s a birds-eye view of the region:

Within a 100 mile radius in Northern California, there is an area with seven major professional sports franchises and a fan base that supports them.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and San Jose Sharks.

The area has a rich sports history, even if they got a bit of a late start with the major pro leagues. During the first half of the last century the San Francisco Seals and Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League were the biggest attraction. As with most cities, the history of the franchises is pretty interesting.

The 49ers were originally a member of the All American Football Conference, and started play in 1946 before the NFL absorbed the 49ers (along with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts) when the AAFL merged with the NFL before the 1950 season.

The Giants of course, were the old New York Giants, having moved West to California along with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1958.

The Warriors are the old Philadelphia Warriors, having moved West in 1962. The Warriors are a charter member of the BAA (Now NBA) having been formed in 1946. From 1962-1971 the team played in San Francisco and was known as the San Francisco Warriors. For the 1971-72 season, they became known as the Golden State Warriors, playing in Oakland.

The Athletics are the old Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics, having moved to from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955 (where they were basically a glorified farm team for the Yankees) and onto Oakland in 1968.

The Oakland Raiders began play in 1960 as a late addition charter franchise to the AFL. They of course moved to Los Angeles between 1982-1994 before coming back to Oakland.

Sacramento is 87 miles from San Francisco, so it might not be considered part of the Bay Area proper, but the team is covered by the papers in the area, so we’ll include it here. The Kings have a very interesting history, having actually predated the NBA as the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League, being formed in 1945. In 1948 the BAA absorbed NBL to form the NBA and the Royals came aboard the new league. In 1957 the Royals moved to Cincinnati. then in 1970 the team moved to Kansas City and became the Kings (the baseball team didn’t want to share the name.) Finally, in 1985, the Kings moved to Sacramento. The franchise has an NBA title in its history, as the 1951 Rochester Royals won the league championship.

San Jose is less than 50 miles from San Francisco, and is home of the San Jose Sharks, which joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1990. The Sharks are known in Boston as the team that Mike O’Connell sent Joe Thornton to, where he promptly became the league MVP.

There is plenty of sports coverage in the area, with four major newspapers and many smaller ones. The San Francisco Chronicle is well known for their investigative reporting the last few years in the steroid issue. (Disclaimer: My mother-in-law works for the Chronicle.) The paper has been around since 1865. The Oakland Tribune was founded in 1874 as a small four page daily paper. The San Jose Mercury News can trace its roots back to 1851, while the Sacramento Bee started in 1857 as The Daily Bee.

The Bay Area sports radio airwaves are dominated by KNBR 680 and 1050. It’s an interesting setup - both ESPN radio and Fox Sports Radio are carried under the same call letters, but on the two different spots on the dial. Local programming is mostly carried on the 680 frequency but the afternoon drive show with Ralph Barbieri & Tom Tolbert (”The Razor and Mr T.”) is Simulcast on both 680 and 1050.

FSN Bay Area is the biggest player in TV sports, with the station carrying 110+ Giants games, 75+ A’s games plus all the Warriors and Sharks games. They don’t have a Bay Area version of the New England Sports Tonight show on FSN New England, even though the stations share the same ownership.

The Bay Area is a technology hotbed, with startups everywhere, and plenty of fan blogs as well to choose from. One of my favorites from the area is Sey Hey - sort of a Bay Area version of DeadSpin. With seven pro teams in the area, there are a number of blogs for each team out there.

The national view of Giants fans seems to be that they are fully supportive of Barry Bonds, no matter what. They have been the butt of jokes from other areas around the country (Here in Boston is no exception.) I never got that impression during my visits to the area. Last year, I was talking to my wedding photographer, who is a huge Giants fans. His view, and the view which he believes is the most common is that they know what is going on, and don’t necessarily even like Bonds, but if he helps the team win and gives them something to cheer for, they’ll cheer his exploits on the field.

On the East Bay, where my wife’s family is, you can’t turn around without seeing a Raiders logo on a hat, shirt or bumper sticker. Even with the team so terribly bad the last few season, the Raiders fans still sport those colors and logo. My wife’s grandmother has a signed photo of Jim Plunkett displayed in the guest room. Last season though, with the Raiders so bad, she said she was cheering for the Patriots since Tom Brady is a local guy (from San Mateo).

Links to all the above teams, newspapers and stations can be found on the Bay Area Sports Media page.

Tomorrow, sometime probably around noon, ET I’ll have a version of the daily links on the Red Sox/A’s game, but it will be all taken from Bay Area newspapers.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Six months into the year 2007, lets take a look at the movers and shakers in the Boston sports media thus far this year, with the Boston Sports Media Power Rankings:

1) Bob Ryan - Boston Globe
The guy is still at the top of his game column-wise, still has passion for sports, does a great job representing Boston on the national level and is set to start hosting the new NESN show Globe 10.0. Oh yeah, he’s also blogging. Some might say that Ryan isn’t what he used be. If that’s true, there’s still no one better in Boston. Who would you put in this town out there right now ahead of Ryan?

2) Glenn Ordway - WEEI
Speaking of in this town out there right now, we’ve got Ordway. This guy can take the most mundane topic and pound it for four hours on The Big Show and make the phone lines light up with people waiting to get on the air and give their opinion on something they didn’t give a passing thought about prior to today. During football season he does a live remote with FSN’s New England Sports Tonight as well the Twin River New England Tailgate. He also headlines the Whiney Awards, which have become a Boston happening. No blogging for Ordway just yet.

3) Mike Reiss - Boston Globe
What a rise here…If you need Patriots information, your first stop, hands down, is Reiss’ Pieces. The blog is one of the best (if not the best) in the country at what it does -which is just to find out the facts and relay them to the readership. There’s nothing fancy there, no eloquent prose, just information - which is exactly what his readers want. Reiss has expanded his coverage to include not only the beat, but also the Globe Sunday NFL notes, various features on Boston.com including a Patriots mailbag, chats and analysis, as well as TV appearances.

4) Rob Bradford - Boston Herald
Bradford was brought over to the Herald from the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune just weeks into the 2007 baseball season, having already taken a leap forward in prominence after having started the Bradford on Baseball blog in Spring Training. Bradford had already become a Big Show regular, and with his new role (and blog Bradford Files) at the Herald, he really became a power player in the Boston media. His blog entries are unfailingly informative and interesting, especially the midday ones which usually tell an offbeat story, or provide links to other tidbits. Bradford’s popularity is evident by the fact that the Eagle-Tribune played hardball with his old blog domain BradfordonBaseball.com, refusing to part with it when Bradford left for the Herald. In fact, to this day, if you go to BradfordonBaseball.com, you are taken to the Eagle-Tribune’s replacement blog from sports editor Bill Burt.

5) Curt Schilling - Red Sox/38Pitches
When Curt writes the fans and the media come running. When Curt talks on WEEI, all media sits up and listens. While Schilling isn’t the only athlete to be writing a blog, (not even the only Red Sox - Kevin Youkilis is also blogging.) his 38 Pitches is certainly the most well known. He is addressing the media on his own terms, which certainly makes him a media power broker in Boston.

6) Dan Shaughnessy - Boston Globe
Try as we might to deem him irrelevant, somehow we always end up talking about Dan Shaughnessy, don’t we? His columns might be formulaic at this point, but they still stir outrage. He is in demand on the national circuit, making regular appearances on the Jim Rome show and other TV and radio shows. His books are generally lauded by critics and especially his colleagues. Unlike Ron Borges, Shaughnessy’s not going anywhere.

7) Tony Massarotti - Boston Herald
Massarotti is building a shtick as a bitter, grumpy old young man. His baseball writing remains spot on for most of the time, but in his new role as a columnist, he’s been branching out to other sports where his take is generally in the negative. We made a list one week of the headlines of his Patriots columns during a 12-4 season, and found that something like 80% of them were negative. As his stature has grown in town, he can be more selective about his media appearances, and with young children at home, he has cut back on Big Show appearances in favor of more family time. Can’t blame him at all. Massarotti has been supplementing his income with some work on NBCSports.com.

Sean McAdam - Providence Journal
McAdam takes heat in a Big Show skit for taking every media appearance offered him, even on a 12-year-old’s podcast. There is a reason however, that McAdam is offered all those appearances in the first place - he’s knowledgeable and well respected. His work at the Providence Journal is always an interesting read, as are his columns at ESPN.com.

9) John Tomase/Albert Breer - Boston Herald/Metrowest Daily News
These two aren’t really joined at the hip - it just seems that way. This tag-team duo is giving Mike Reiss a run for his money on the Patriots beat. They’re getting their share of scoops these days and breaking the news on The Extra Point Patriots blog. Their football articles in the print editions of the Herald and Daily News are informative as well. In contrast to Reiss they try to add a little humor to the information at times, and it mostly comes off well. What will be interesting is if Breer is ever taken from being used by the Herald by his parent company and instead becomes a rival to Tomase. Another possibility could be Breer moving on somewhere else (Globe?) - as he’s got a higher ceiling than the Metrowest Daily News can provide.

10) Gerry Callahan - WEEI/Boston Herald
A few days of Jon Meterparel in the big chair next to John Dennis have us pining for the return of the smarmy whining of Gerry Callahan to the Dennis and Callahan show in the morning. Callahan’s absence from the WEEI morning show was due to voice issues, but it might’ve done him a favor in his negotiations for a new deal with the sports radio leader as his contract his up at the end of the summer. Provided his voice can come back, he figures to be in terrific stead. His columns remain solid, though not quite what they used to be. By the end of the year he might off the list altogether. (Only because he moved out of the sports side of things and decided to focus strictly on politics.)

Popularity: 2% [?]

I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on Tony Massarotti’s column this morning about the media and how they decide what is news and what isn’t news.

Beyond the navel gazing, what I didn’t like about it was the attitude that permeated the column. It seemed to say: “Oh well, this is how things are, this is what we do, it might be wrong, but it’s not going to change.”

Tony even admits that the media’s credibility is suffering, but offers no suggestions as to how it could be improved. “We have to accept it” Massarotti says.

But there’s more within the column that bothered me too, and it is a typical example of something that has happened over and over again during the last few months.

It’s this paragraph that I’m referring to:

For all the debate the Brady story has prompted, here is one aspect that is truly mystifying: How is it that the Brady story is front page news in the Boston Globe, yet the ugly divorce case involving third-wheel Pats coach Bill Belichick never gets a mention? How is it that WEEI talks about the quarterback’s situation but not about those of the coach? How do we draw the line between a full-blown, gloves-are-off scandal and one we deem frivolous and irrelevant, even if it is true?

So Tony thinks that the Bill Belichick situation should be talked about on the level of the Tom Brady coverage. He ignores the fact that seemingly every article written about the Patriots coach in the last couple months has included a reference to this case.

But what do we really know about this “ugly divorce case” in NJ? Do you honestly think Tony Massarotti really knows what is going on down there?

Of course not.

Just about all that has been reported has been on Page 6 of the New York Post and in the Inside Track of the Boston Herald. Credible sources both. (Is my sarcasm thick enough?)

We’ve heard plenty in those columns from the disgruntled husband. Nothing really from the other side. We’ve heard numerous times that Belichick is heavily involved in this mess and is going to be giving a deposition. We heard that this was going to happen as soon as the season was over.

Has it?

No.

Will it?

Not going to happen.

Mark my words.

The husband in the case has clearly made it his aim to try and involve Belichick somehow, and to publicly embarrass the Patriots head coach. That is the full extent of Belichick’s involvement in this case. He is not the “third-wheel” in this case.

Massarotti wasn’t the only Herald columnist referencing the New Jersey divorce case today, from Howie Carr’s column:

But this isn’t the only unfolding sex scandal involving the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick is embroiled in a messy divorce with that former secretary for the New York Giants. But again, there’s a video problem - no videotape of The Other Woman. Plus, the local sporting press is terrified of Belichick. They’d rather kiss butt than kick it.

Right. The sporting press is terrified of Belichick. They’ve NEVER said a disparaging word about the Patriots coach. Ever. They’re too scared to. Please. They spend the last few years taking shots at him for any possible reason, and now they’re “terrified” to bring up this subject?

If you’ve read the books on Bill Belichick, you’re familiar with the stories about him helping out friends in need. That he’ll reward lower level staff members out of his own pocket. That quality extends to his non-football life as well.

Like many people with means, Belichick has investment properties. Several in fact. (Nantucket, Weston and others) Owned by him. The reports that he has purchased a house FOR the woman in the NJ case are off base. Belichick’s generosity to friends in need is well known among people who know the man outside of football.

This example is from Peter King’s November, 2005 SI article “Master and Commander“:

Unlike many of the Cleveland players, Browns coaches loved working for Belichick. Every Monday after a win over an AFC Central opponent, he would have his secretary cash a check from his personal account, and $200 in cash would be left on the desk of every assistant. Before the coaching staff headed off on vacation every June, he would distribute the proceeds from his TV and radio shows to his assistants — maybe $12,000 a man — and take nothing for himself. “Bill remembered what it was like to be an assistant coach,” says his former line coach Kirk Ferentz, now the head coach at Iowa. “He gave everyone a second Christmas. You think that doesn’t make you loyal?” One time Belichick left a $100 bill in the car ashtray of low-level scout Scott Pioli. When Pioli protested that he didn’t need the money, Belichick replied, “Shut up and take it. I’ve been where you’ve been.”

Those are coaches he worked with. This generous side of Belichick also extends to his private life. He has assisted a number of people over the years without publicity and in a platonic manner.

From what I hear, the NJ case is moving rapidly towards a conclusion….a conclusion that does not in any way involve Bill Belichick. Yet the gossip columns have set this up to be something huge, that things are moving towards the day when Belichick is called to the stand and dramatically forced to tell all, spilling secrets that will ruin his career and shame the New England Patriots.

What’s going to happen when none of that comes to pass, and the case quietly ends? Nothing. There will be no corrections, no mentions that the whole thing was overblown and simply lifted from gossip columns in tabloid newspapers.

Over the last few months we’ve had plenty of mentions of this case in various columns, both local and national. Where are these columnists getting their information on the case? Do you think any of them have actually attempted to look into them themselves? Not a chance. They’re taking what is published in the gossip columns and taking it as fact. It seems that some fans and callers to sports radio, also believe everything they read in those columns as well.

So when you hear the question asked “Why aren’t we hearing more about this Bill Belichick case?” the answer is simply because there really isn’t one at all.

What’s become clear out of all of this, is that too many members of the Boston (and national) sports media simply rely on the gossip pages for their source material.

THAT’S got to change.

Popularity: 2% [?]

It may not seem possible, but this season has seen new lows in the already contentious coverage of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. For years we’ve put up with snide comments and shots from the likes of Ron Borges, even in the two year span when the Patriots were going 34-4 with two Super Bowl titles. Now that the Patriots have in the eyes of many, taken a step back from that level, it seems that some members of the media can hardly wait to kick them on their way down.

In general, the coverage just feels more negative and nasty. Part of that is course the recent struggles of the club, which has emboldened some of the pundits to come out of the closet and feel more bold in criticizing the coach and organization. Some of the criticism of course could be warranted. The team’s offseason moves, or lack thereof were highly publicized. The playcalling in certain games has been curious. These have led to a more combative media in some respects. The personal life of coach Bill Belichick has been fodder for the gossip columnists, whether warranted or not. The general feeling has not been that of the media “blowing sunshine” regarding the Patriots. (I don’t think “Patriots Monday” should count as real media coverage.) In many ways, I think the coverage has gone downhill. Here’s a few examples that have riled me up:

The Obsession with the Belichick/Mangini Relationship

During the weeks leading up to the two Patriots/Jets matchups this season, and for a good portion of the following week, we had endless speculation about about the relationship between Bill Belichick and his former assistant coach Eric Mangini, who left the Patriots after just a single season as a defensive coordinator to become head coach of the Jets. Hours of airtime and thousands of trees were wasted as the media analyzed their words, their handshakes after the games and following the second game, a Jets victory, many seemed to gloat over Belichick being beaten by his former “muted underling”. There was endless speculation over the possible causes of the strained relationship, but very few arguments that made sense. Members of the media, as some are wont to do around here, became little more than gossip mongers. It was embarrassing. We had Tony Massarotti and Gerry Callahan each basically saying that Belichick’s grudge cost the Patriots the game. All the endless comments and speculation never touched on the fact of whether Belichick actually had a valid reason for having a grudge against Mangini.

Then Tom E Curran reported on his NBCSports.com blog during the week of the second Jets/Patriots game the following item:

Speculation initially had Belichick peeved at Mangini for taking a job against Belichick’s advice. But there have since been whispers that Mangini was courting Patriots employees to go with him to New York while he was still on the Pats payroll.

That seems to change things up a little bit. Why was there no mention of this previously? When you add that to the fact that 1) Mangini apparently did leave against Belichick’s advice, (I personally think Mangini could’ve been Belichick’s eventual successor here in Foxboro - not basing that on anything but my own opinion.) and 2) Went to a division rival, a franchise that Belichick already hates, you start to have more of a perspective. Then when you add in the fact that 3) The Jets tried to jump in on the Deion Branch negotiations…apparently with no other intention than of tweaking the Patriots…the picture is even more clear. In all of the Boston accounts, Mangini is being painted as the good guy being wronged by the evil Belichick. When talking about Belichick, Mangini plays the role of the grateful student, respectful of the master. The media falls for it. Behind the scenes, it seems that things are quite different, but you’d be hard pressed to find any evidence about reading most of the articles around here.

Michael Felger’s Decline

This is probably the most shameful example. The formerly respectable Michael Felger has largely turned into a buffoon in his effort to be the next Glenn Ordway on the radio waves. I’m very disappointed in the turn he has taken. I had previously put him on my list of 10 People Whose Work I Enjoy in the Boston sports media. Things are a lot different now. Felger has had an ongoing feud with Corey Dillon for some time now. It’s no coincidence that Dillon singled out Felger early in training camp and handed him the sheet listing his career accomplishments. Felger has often been critical of Dillon, and that criticism came to a head a few weeks ago when the Herald writer criticized Dillon for emotionally flinging the ball after a first down in Minnesota. That apparently led to another couple confrontations in the locker room, which Felger then bragged about on his radio show. His Herald colleagues also made reference to the incidents, (without naming Felger) and the whole situation seemed to worn as a badge of honor for Felger. Why? It just seemed like another ploy to bring attention to himself and his radio show, which hasn’t taken off as Felger would like. This type of stuff has been going on all season with Felger, who has seemed to take intentionally controversial stands just for that reason, and in doing so has sullied his own reputation.

Is it possible to get FieldTurf then not get it, and then get it?

NESN was the first to report that the Patriots would be installing the synthetic FieldTurf surface in time for the game with the Bears on November 26th. That report was big news, but then was shot down as denials were issued, the team resodded with grass prior to the Colts game, and it was widely reported that NFL rules prohibited teams from changing playing surfaces in the middle of the season. That explanation was the one that was widely circulated as fact.

However, it turns out that it simply wasn’t true. We can’t blame the media 100% here, because an NFL spokesperson mistakenly confirmed that rule existed, when it fact it did not. You would think you would be able to trust what the spokesperson had said. Jonathan Kraft appeared on Michael Felger’s radio show and said that the rule did not exist. I didn’t hear anything about that, until Felger wrote it in his column last week - after the announcement had been made that the team was switching to FieldTurf. Shouldn’t someone have at least double-checked to see what the rule really was?

Then the announcement came last Tuesday that the Patriots would be installing FieldTurf…in time for the Bears game. The NESN scoop, which had been dismissed as bad reporting, turns out to be true…though not really. The bigger issue in my mind is, why was the story not really followed up on? If Kraft stated that the rule didn’t exist, why didn’t we hear about it? The announcement shouldn’t really have come as such a surprise. But it did. So we had the media all over this story when it wasn’t a story and then surprised when it actually was a story. Go figure.

Borges Reveals Role as Drew Bledsoe Advisor

I think this segment on ESPN Boston (transcript) really showed once again the lack of professionalism with which Ron Borges has conducted himself over the last few years on the Patriots beat. It also really shows you why Borges doesn’t like Bill Belichick. He’s a Bledsoe guy.

Way to be an objective reporter, Ron.

Tom Curran to NBCSports.com

This isn’t a criticism of the media, its more about lamenting the loss of one of the best guys on the Patriots beat. Sure, Curran is still around, taking his turns on the Big Show and being a presence on television. But his departure to the national beat at NBCSports.com, while a great move for him personally, is a loss for Patriots fans.

Five guys I don’t want anywhere near the Patriots

1. Steve Buckley
2. Dan Shaughnessy
3. Nick Cafardo
4. Jon Meterparel
5. Butch Stearns

Conclusion

These are some of the larger examples of what I think have been shoddy, biased, and mean spirited coverage of the Patriots. On a daily basis, I’ve just noticed more little shots, comments and one liners that are out of place, especially for those who are simply supposed to be reporting, not giving their opinion. I’ve actually gained some respect for Nick Cafardo, who reputedly felt that he could no longer cover the Patriots because of the environment and requested to be taken off their coverage. Nick does a good job covering baseball, and that’s where he should stay. (Of course his Roger Clemens obsession is now bordering on frightening.) If others who feel that covering the Patriots is just too much work and too much of a hassle would do the same, we’d have better coverage of the Patriots.

Was I too negative about the media? (Ironic question, huh?) Well tomorrow I’m going to turn the tables and look at things that I’ve found to be positive about the Patriots coverage this season.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’m out visiting family on the West coast this week, and to fill the days this week, I’ve got a few articles written up in advance that will hopefully help fill the time.

Today I’m going to review the Patriots blogs out there. Doing this today gives you two advantages - you get a look at each blog, but also can click on the link for each to get coverage from yesterday’s Patriots/Packers contest in Green Bay.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for more sports links, be sure to check out the Patriots News Mashup page, which should bring you many of the stories that I would normally link to in the mornings. We’ve also got a Celtics News Mashup page for coverage of that squad.

Throughout this week, check in on the bruceallenmedia.com page, which serves up the latest entries from all the BSMW blogs in a single blog-like interface.

Reviewing the Patriots Blogs

Reiss’ Pieces (Boston.com - Boston Globe)

The standard bearer. Mike Reiss might be the best media sports blogger in the country. He is consistently out in front of the competition with his news and scoops, and he brings you items of interest every day…many times right through the offseason as well. It’s easy to forget that this blog started over on the MetroWest Daily News site, and the Globe made one of their smartest decisions of the last few years by scooping him up and bringing him over to their side.

What makes Reiss great is his total objectivity in his writing. Some have snidely accused him of merely being a press agent for the Patriots, but these jealous types are way off the mark. I’m positive that there are times that Reiss disagrees with a move or decision that the team has made, but you will never hear that in his reporting. You won’t hear him lavishing praise on them either. He deals in facts, in news, and in getting that to the public in the quickest manner possible. This is what has made his site so wildly popular among Patriots fans. If something has happened with the club, Reiss’ Pieces is the place they go to check.

The Point After (Boston Herald)

The tag team of John Tomase and Albert Breer man this blog, and they’re pretty prolific posters themselves. They do their best to keep a steady stream of posts coming. In talking to both of these guys in the past, they realize that Reiss is the king of the hill when it comes to news scoops. Because of this, they mix their reporting with opinion. Tomase especially does this, and doesn’t mind admitting that because Reiss is so good at the “nuts and bolts stuff,” the Herald blog needs to do things a little bit differently in order to attract some attention. The Herald is of course, a tabloid newspaper, and as such naturally takes a more sensationalistic approach to things. It’s not my cup of tea personally, but some people like a little bite with their news. Occasionally Tomase mixes in a bit of humor with his posts, and those usually it the mark.

Breer has been a little less critical and opinionated than Tomase, but he still gets his points and views out there. He also has a sense of humor in some of his posts, which is always appreciated. However, Breer’s really contribution to the blog has been a pair of weekly features he’s been working in on a regular basis this season. “Foxboro Faces” usually appears late in the week and is a conversation with a Patriots player, and what their lives and interests are like outside the game. It’s a nice little personal glimpse into their lives. The second feature “Tale of the Tape” is a repeat look at the last game, where Breer brings out points and observations that might’ve been missed the first time around. Both of these features have become must-reads for Patriots fans.

Projo Pats Blog (Providence Journal)

Because of the first two blogs, the Projo blog is often overlooked. Art Martone’s crew do a solid job in their own right. They were left a bit shorthanded after Tom E Curran bolted for NBCSports.com, but they have filled the void with large doses of Shalise Manza Young - who seems to be the rising star of the Projo sports section. Her entries are factual, personable and informative. Joe McDonald occasionally contributes to the blog adding another perspective to the news. On game days, the blog is a busy place, with entries coming fast and furious. This blog is worth checking out as a nice compliment to the other Patriots blogs.

Eye on Foxborough (Masslive.com)

This blog is a hidden gem among the Patriots blogs. It doesn’t get the attention (or probably the traffic) of the above blogs, but it is well worth the visit. The blog is located on the website of Masslive.com - the online home of the Springfield Republican. It doesn’t cram in the news and information fast and furious like the other Patriots blogs, but instead gives you more commentary on the games, on major news and on items around the team. Blogger Dan Lamothe draws from stories reported both on the mainstream news as well as on the internet. His entries contain more sarcasm, wit and humor than the other blogs, and are usually pretty entertaining and thought-provoking. The design of the blog is pretty modern looking, and a credit to the designer.

One tip on this blog - at first glance it might appear that the entries are short and incomplete. To view the entire content of an entry, you need to either click on the title of the entry, or on the “permalink” line in the footer of the entry.

Chris Price’s Pats Blog (PatsFans.com)

PatsFans.com has had some technical issues recently, and I’m not sure if that has impacted Price’s blog posting here. The blog is kept simple and is mainly used to publish injury reports and other team releases. Price will from time to time give observations of things inside the stadium or locker room. He’ll also provide the occasional out of town link. I like the simple design of this blog, and like the blog above you’ll need to click on the entry title to see the whole text.

BSMW Game Day

Ah yes, the best for last. Just kidding. Mostly. I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to toot our own horn here with this review. On BSMW Game Day, we try to bring you stuff that you’re not going to find on the above blogs. We’ve created a posting schedule that leaves new content almost each day of the week. Our week revolves around Game Day, and you’ll usually get two entries that day, a pregame report with game day news and links, and after the game, the flagship Game Day Rear View column posted by Scott Benson. We follow that up with a Second Look column, usually posted on Tuesday. Season ticket holder Greg Doyle often attends the game Sunday, and then watches it again on Monday night before giving his thoughts on the action. During the week we have at least one column from Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders, who gives us some statistical analysis you’re not going to find anywhere else. (Even BSMW nemesis Ron Borges has quoted from Barnwell’s Game Day stuff in his Sunday column) Another new addition this season has been the Roundtable, which has become a very popular feature of the site. Benson, Doyle and myself toss around the key issues of the week and make our picks for both the Patriots game as well as other top AFC games. Occasionally we try to add other features during the week, such as a national links roundup of Patriot mentions in the national media, or a second Barnwell column.

Check in tomorrow for a look at some of the reasons why Patriots coverage has hit an all time low this season. (Blogs excluded)

Popularity: 2% [?]

After yesterday’s chat was interrupted, I managed to check in again with Charlie Pierce and arrange for him to answer several of the questions that were submitted for the chat.

Here’s the questions submitted by readers and the answers from Pierce:

From Craig: I read the book within two days of its arrival. Were you disappointed that the team didn’t achieve more success in 2005, as you were juxtaposing Brady’s life with the current season?

CPierce: Craig –
I’ll be honest. If they had won the Super Bowl, that would have been me behind Brady on the podium, waving the Lombardi over my head. And my agent and my editor at FSG would have been right behind me. However, I think the year worked out well because he did have to face more adversity, personal and professional, than he did in other years. I might be making lemonade out of lemons here, but I’m happy with what I got.

————

From Eric: Charlie - Some local scribes use the “difficulty” in getting access to the Patriots’ inner thoughts as an excuse to essentially give up and fill column inches with same old same old, or jabs at the team for lack of access.. What sort of obstacles, if any, did you face, both from the Patriots, and your writing brethren.

CPierce: Eric –
I had the same access that any beat guy would have, which convinced me that I wouldn’t want to do that for a living. If you, as a fan, want information, then it matters to you that, when the locker room opens up for daily access, there are only two or three guys there, often the same ones, day after day. Now, let’s be fair, access to every professional sports team — and, increasingly, to the major college programs — steadily has been shrinking over the past decade or so, The major events are hopeless now, and that’s creeping down into the regular season, too. That said, the Patriots are notoriously tougher than most teams. (This isn’t me talking. It’s a general opinion throughout the NFL.) There are moments in which they go beyond merely being tough and become positively unhelpful. It will be interesting to see if this continues if and when the team goes through another rough patch.

————

From Greg: Charlie, how would you compare the level of repartee of an episode of “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” to an episode of “The Big Show”?

CPierce: Greg –
Many people have remarked on the similarities.
Although I don’t think Madeleine Albright’s been on The Big Show yet.

———–

From Craig: Charlie, a few questions. Is Brady’s image the same as Brady’s reality? I may be the guy’s biggest fan but I almost find it too good to be true that he’s so squeaky-clean, family-oriented and deferential. Also, could you speak about Brady’s relationship with Bledsoe and Henson? He was caught in two pretty big firestorms there but seemed to come out without looking bad at any point.

CPierce: Craig –
I think he’s a pretty normal 20-something as regards his life off the field. His sister as much as told me that. What got him through the Michigan situation was the support crew he’d put together for himself, and the fact that he was pretty much the consensus choice within in the locker room. At which point, he determined quite consciously that he would not blow up the team, even though he was angry enough that, were he so inclined, he could do it. That cemented his stature with the coaching staff, which really was in a tough spot, and with his teammates. That situation enabled him to get through the Bledsoe period the way he did, although everyone involved says the unsung hero of that whole deal was Damon Huard, who selflessly acted as ambassador between Bledsoe and Brady, and between each of them and the staff, He’s got a native shrewdness about the dynamics of how groups of people operate together, which is part of the reason why political consultants get all humid about him.

———–

From Dow: Hi Charlie, not to reach too far back or get too far off subject, but when was your last contact with Tiger and what was it like?

CPierce: Dow — Tiger who?
Seriously, we have had no contact since the day I spent with him for the GQ piece in 1997. His father once said that he hoped my story wouldn’t wreck his son’s career. I feel confident in saying that it didn’t.

———–

From Dave: Charlie - First - thanks for chatting at our site. Very kind of you. . . The book’s fantastic - just a real pleasure to read.

I’m wondering: Did anyone of merit have any disparaging words to say about Tom Terrific? Can he really, truly be this universally loved?

CPierce: Dave — He really has managed to go through life without making any genuine enemies that I can find. He’s tougher on himself than anyone is on him, although Greg Hardin, his athletic counselor at Michigan, was pretty tough on him when he seemed to be letting the situation there get him down.

————

From Bob in NH: Charlie - Taking off your media hat for a moment. As a fan, do you find the coverage of the Patriots to be done without malice or agenda? Yes, I’m referring to Borges in particular, but can you at least see how a fan would rather not have to know that a certain writer hates his subject matter?

Also, what is your take on sportswriters seemingly taking every single chance to make extra money by appearing on radio and television. Although you certainly have exercised that right personally, I see your financial gains primarily coming from your expertise (writing books and articles) rather than Sports Final, Sports Extra, Fox Sports New England, NESN, NECN, CN8, blah, blah, blah.

CPierce: Bob — Second part first.
Synergy across the media is part of the deal these days. Newspapers expect their sportswriters to do the multimedia shuffle on the grounds that “visibility” helps the paper. I’ve never seen any data that prove this, but the people who run things seem to believe it. I have a couple of radio gigs — Only A Game and Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, both on NPR — that I do because I enjoy them a great deal. (And for the money. Thanks to everyone who buys the tote bags!) What I tell anyone who asks is to remember that radio and TV are a different skill set, and one that’s foreign to a lot of writers. People who do it should take the time to study and to learn the skills needed to succeed in the different media. Just throwing a writer in front of a microphone or a camera does a disservice to the writer, and to the consumer.

As to the first, I actually do see the newspaper coverage of the team to be done without malice, as I understand the word. As to “agenda,” well, that’s a word that gets tossed around pretty loosely. The line between opinion and reporting has gotten far too blurred for my boring old self, at least in part because of the phenomenon we discussed above. If you do a regular sports-radio show, the medium demands that you express an opinion more freely — and, I would argue, more crudely — than you would in the newspaper. So, when you go back to being just a by-line, it’s hard for the listener/reader to separate your print persona from your broadcast one.
That’s part of the bargain you make when you do those shows. Are their writers who dislike the people they cover? I assume there are. (I once was in the media room at a political dinner for a recent presidential campaign and one of the candidates got booed by the assembled reporters. For what it’s worth, this would get them all tossed from the press box at Fenway.) By and large, though, I see very little evidence that the daily news coverage is affected by it.

———-

From Scott: Charlie - Since you know Brady a little now, what does you see as you’re watching him play the last couple of weeks?

CPierce: A couple of things, actually.
1) I’m seeing a guy playing for the second season behind a jury-rigged offensive line. I’m not entirely sure Dan Koppen’s all the way back. The rest of the guys are dinged up, and he’s got a rookie running back trying to learn to pick up blitzes — which Maroney’s done pretty well, actually. So I think maybe he’s just a little bit more concerned about his blind side than he was a couple of years ago, especially since, as I describe in the book, he played last season more injured than we thought he was. 2) The offensive scheme seems oddly unsure what to do with the Treasure of Sierra Madre there at running back. I think Maroney’s good enough to make this team a run-first offense and less of a West Coast hybrid than it’s been. In addition, it really does take a while with a whole new receiving corps, but that explanation runs out of steam at the halfway point.

———-

From Mike: Everyone talks about Weis leaving, but fails to mention QB coach Hufnagel leaving as well the same offseason.
Brady thrives (lead in yardage last year) despite the upheaval on the coaching staff. McDaniels is still learning on the job and the new QB coach has very little experience. Does Brady look at Peyton Manning’s relationship with Tom Moore and bum out he doesn’t have that experienced veteran in his headset during games and in meetings during the week?

CPierce: Mike — Given the turmoil that’s surrounded him as regards his coaches ever since he left high school, I think Brady’s better equipped to handle this situation than most young quarterbacks would have been. Remember — both the coordinator and the head coach who’d recruited him at Michigan were gone before he even enrolled, and then there was the extended burlesque with Brian Griese and Drew Henson, where Lloyd Carr was handed a bad situation and handled it badly. At New England, he had Dick Rehbein, his most fervent original advocate, die suddenly. Now Weis is gone, and Josh McDaniels is there. Would he have liked a relationship like Peyton has in Indy with Moore? Probably. But his whole career has been an extended exercise in the opposite direction.

Popularity: 4% [?]

A couple of weeks ago, I published a review of the new book on Tom Brady by Charlie Pierce entitled “Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything”

This afternoon shortly after 3:00 PM, Mr. Pierce will join us to chat about the book. He was scheduled for 3:00 PM, but emailed a little while again to say that he was running a bit late. When he comes we’ll have an hour with him.

Submit your questions now at AskCharlie@bostonsportsmedia.com

I’ll be posting new questions and answers on top of the older ones, so the newest set is always at the top…

Update: Charlie has just arrived, and we’re beginning the chat…

First of all, thanks for taking some time to visit here with us today. I enjoyed the book very much and have heard good things from others about it as well.

Update - 5:00pm - We’ve had a number of technical issues here…I apologize for the problems.

———-

From Mike: Everyone talks about Weis leaving, but fails to mention QB coach Hufnagel leaving as well the same offseason.
Brady thrives (lead in yardage last year) despite the upheaval on the coaching staff.
McDaniel is still learning on the job and the new QB coach has very little experience. Does Brady look at Peyton Manning’s relationship with Tom Moore and bum out he doesn’t have that experienced veteran in his headset during games and in meetings during the week?

CPierce: Mike — Given the turmoil that’s surrounded him as regards his coaches ever since he left high school, I think Brady’s better equipped to handle this situation than most young quarterbacks would have been. Remember — both the coordinator and the head coach who’d recruited him at Michigan were gone before he even enrolled, and then there was the extended burlesque with Brian Griese and Drew Henson, where Lloyd Carr was handed a bad situation and handled it badly. At New England, he had Dick Rehbein, his most fervent original advocate, die suddenly. Now Weis is gone, and Josh McDaniel is there. Would he have liked a relationship like Peyton has in Indy with Moore? Probably. But his whole career has been an extended exercise in the opposite direction.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I mentioned back in May that one of the most helpful people I encountered in the early days of this site was Bill Griffith of the Boston Globe. He had offered advice and always answered my emails and silly questions even before I had started the site.

Hard to believe, but we’re coming up on a year since Griffith accepted a Globe buyout after nearly 40 years at the paper. I’ve tried to keep in touch with Bill, but it seems he’s had no problem keeping himself busy in the last year.

Since I’m out of town today, I thought it would be a good time to catch you all up on what Griffith has been up to recently, as well as to get his thoughts on the local media scene and the past glory days of the Boston Globe.

BSMW: Bill, first of all, I want to say thanks for agreeing to share a few minutes with us here…I know your schedule is pretty busy these days. Fill us in on what you’ve been doing since we last saw you in the role of sports media columnist at the Globe. Been to Italy I hear?

BG: NBC called the day my final column ran, offering a job editing their in-house newsletter, The Daily Olympian, in Torino. It’s not a newsletter in the traditional sense but more a detailed advance on the day’s events. Working with the folks in the research room — experts in individual sports — was an honor. I’ll never forget Andreas, our Alpine skiing expert, aplogizing for his writing in English. He’s an Austrian who’s fluent in at least six languages and correctly predicted at least half of the events.

There were two bonuses to the trip.

1. It gave me a chance to visit my daughter and son-in-law in Milan for 10 days following the Games.

2. The whole trip provided a six-week separation from the Boston sports scene, the longest by far in my adult life. If you’ve been away for 10 days or two weeks, you know how you lose a lot of the threads of local stories so it made a clean break from the local media coverage for me.

Since then, I’ve taken a part-time bookkeeping job (something different and nicely structured), been fortunate to be able to keep doing some part-time auto writing. In addition, I bought a motorcycle (don’t tell my mom) and learned how to ride this summer without damaging myself or anyone else.

BSMW: Sounds like you might have more going on now than you ever have had. Let’s revisit some of the things you saw over the course of your career. You were a Globe “lifer”, I think you told me you had been with the paper since 1965. You worked with them all; Gammons, McDonough, Fitzgerald, Montville, Ryan. They made up the best sports section in the nation. What made these guys so good?

BG: The unbeatable combination of hard work and amazing talent. Ray Fitz and Willie were outstanding athletes in their own right and could have been pros if modern medical techniques were around to treat their career-ending injuries. In addition, they all had/have encyclopedic memories. On top of that, Gammons, Ryan and McDonough could/can crank out copy as quickly as they could type, which was prodigiously fast. When they had time, RayFitz and Leigh would labor over their copy; when they were under the gun, they, too, were amazingly fast.

Leigh later told me one of the big reasons he left the biz was because of deadlines. He’d spend all day laboring on an early column — and some of his best work was in those columns — then do a rewrite after a late-night event (World Series, MNF, playoff game) in 20 minutes and not be able to remember what he’d written after he hit the “send” button.

Credit Ernie Roberts (then Globe Sports editor) for assembling the cast, which also included many others, including Lesley Visser, Kevin Paul Dupont, and John Powers, and then Vince Doria for taking that group, adding to it, and bringing the section to a higher level.

Being part of that group for 25 years as assistant sports editor was an honor.

BSMW: That bunch certainly set the bar very high, and I think the current Globe staffers probably struggle to live up to that legacy. Let’s turn to what you used to do in your last few years at the paper…the sports media beat. Susan Bickelhaupt has been doing a pretty basic weekly sports media column in the Globe. It’s different from how you and the previous guys (Jim Craig, Howard Manley) used to do it, less notes and items, and more of focus on a single media topic. Do you find it surprising that neither the Globe or the Herald has a full time media columnist, when sports media is such a huge deal here in Boston? The New York dailies each have at least one, and they’ll write several times a week.

BG: I was surprised when they cancelled the column, which was the main reason I took the Globe/Times buyout offer. The New York papers have reason to keep the columns because they’ve got the networks in their backyard.

BSMW: I guess that makes sense, when you bring that up about the networks. It still surprises me however, because it seems at times here in Boston the media is as big a part of the stories as the actual games and players are. Speaking of media that makes themselves the story…do you ever listen to WEEI now that you’re not getting paid to do it?

BG: Yes, but there’s no tape recorder or notebook next to me and I’ll hit the button when they go off on tangents or into their interminable advertising blocks. I like Mike Felger’s ESPN Radio show when I’m driving in the afternoon (can’t get it at home except on-line).

BSMW: Felger will be glad to hear that. Do you think the incredible ratings of WEEI are a direct result of the success of the Red Sox and Patriots in recent years, or in the talent of the hosts at the station?

BG: They’ve ridden the Sox-Patriots axis very well, but credit Jason Wolfe for being way ahead of the curve in establishing the station. He had the luxury of “growing” the audience and establishing WEEI as the dominant sports radio station in town and — love ‘em or hate ‘em — having the guts to yank Imus and go with Dennis & Callahan. That was a major gamble, but he hit the jackpot and it’s still paying off for him. And, behind all the fat-boy jokes, Glenn Ordway is a radio genius. At least five years ago he was talking about the New England-wide syndication of the station that is now happening.

BSMW: Moving back to the newspaper world…what do you think the outlook for the newspaper business is going forward? The struggles of the Globe and Herald print editions have been well documented…will they snap out of it, or is this a slowly dying industry?

BG: If we had the answer to that one, we’d be rich men. The advertising pendulum has swung way over to the Internet and will come back somewhat.

BSMW: I think we’re a ways away from the newspaper dying out completely, but I think at some point, the printed copy is going to fade away. People will get all their news and stories on personal devices that they can carry anywhere with them. There’s even “digital paper” that could have some sort of role in that…but I think I just revealed some of my geek background there.

Well Bill, I want to thank you again for taking some time to talk. I’m really glad to hear that things seem to be going well for you there, and also grateful for your thoughts on the above topics. We’ll try to do this again in the future.

——

A reminder to check in with the Patriots Game Day page. In addition, you can get all the Patriots news and blog entries from today on the Patriots News Mashup page.

The view from the opposition is on the pages of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune also has a Vikings Blog .

Popularity: 2% [?]

Listening to sports radio is often a frustrating experience for the intelligent sports fan. This is especially true in Boston, where the main sports radio station bills itself as “sports entertainment” rather than “sports talk.” As a result, many of the hosts are woefully ill-informed and don’t seem to have a clue about some of the most basic sports facts, history, and concepts; they’re more interested in creating controversies and story lines that they can easily pound on for days. To make matters worse, the people who call the shows are generally even less informed than the hosts. How many times have you heard a guy call in and ask a pathetically stupid question that could be answered in five seconds with Google? Or worse, the mouthbreather who calls and either asks a questions like “Hey, um…I was wondering…um…what do you guys think about, um…Mike Lowell?” or suggests a ridiculously one-sided trade “Do you think we could trade Taverez, Seanez, and Jason Johnson for Huston Street?” Don’t be one of those callers.

Occasionally someone will call and actually try to make a good point, only to be quickly shot down by the hosts, who twist things around on them or bully them. There is usually a moment in each call when the caller could say something or make a point that would set the host back a bit, but most callers fail to seize that crucial moment. If sports radio had better callers, would the overall product improve? Not by much, but we could at least enjoy hearing the arrogant hosts squirm a bit on their oversized rear ends. Here’s how you do it:

Be Prepared

No, I’m not talking about preparing a script that you’re going to read from; prepared scripts are generally ponderous and even if you have a good one, you’re not going to be given the time to read it unless you’ve already built up a relationship with the show. When I say be prepared, I mean know what you want to talk about, what points you want to make, and how you’re going to overcome objections. Anticipate the responses you’ll get, and be prepared to answer them. After all, you listen to the show; you should know how these guys operate. If they respond to you and you hesitate or stammer even a little bit, you’re done. You probably want to write some things down—not a script, but perhaps an outline of the points you want to make, how you will overcome objections, and the facts relevant to your argument. Sound confident and speak intelligently.

Be Cordial

Compliment the hosts when you get on the air, even if you’re loath to do so. Say you’re enjoying the show and that they’re doing a great job, etc. Then, get into the topic you wish to discuss. When they try to distract you, (see below) keep your cool. Don’t raise your voice too much; don’t get agitated. Above all, don’t insult them—that’s the quickest way to get hung up on, which will then result in the hosts declaring victory while at the same time pretending you said something awful: “You can’t say that on the radio, caller, you just can’t.” Remember they have the power of the seven-second delay. If they jump in and interrupt you, patiently wait and begin your point again, though you may need to rephrase it slightly.

Use Cold, Hard Facts

Know your topic front to back. Have references—if you don’t, you’re going to be shot down, because the host is going to say, “Give me an example” or “Tell us when we said that.” This is where preparation is crucial; your call is a success or a failure based on it. You might need to have some notes because you likely won’t be able to rattle all these facts off the top of your head. This seems like a lot of work, but the reason the hosts are able to shoot people down so quickly is because if someone can’t prove a point, they can ridicule that person and move on to the next caller. You need to seize the moment. Don’t let them off the hook, if you’ve got them on the ropes. You’re allowed to question the host. When they make a ridiculous statement, ask them politely but firmly to explain what they said and what they’re basing it on. Radio hosts are infamous for just “throwing it out there” and not getting called on their statements. Sports Radio hosts are infamous for sitting on the fence with big issues and for denying that they ever said certain things. They are experts at twisting logic (see below) and getting the caller off the original point that they’re trying to make. If you’re going to beat them, you’ve got to have a cool demeanor and all the facts at your disposal to be prepared for what they’re going to throw at you.

Stay on Mission

When radio hosts recognize that they might be in trouble with a caller who threatens to make good points and make them look silly in the process, they resort to a number of tactics to try to discredit the caller and make it look like they, themselves, were right all along. Many of these tactics follow well-documented logical fallacies; there are a few in particular that are favorites of talk show hosts, especially here in Boston.

Straw Man – This might be the most common tactic. Using this technique, the host misrepresents the position of the caller, refutes it, and then pretends that the actual position has been refuted. Or they ignore an actual stance and substitute a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of that stance which they can then attack. The Red Sox have stated they are looking to develop their farm system and build for the future. In the host’s world, that becomes: “The Red Sox aren’t trying to win this season!”

Slippery Slope (or the Camel’s Nose) – In this scenario, the host warns that permitting some small act will consequently lead to a larger, undesirable act or circumstance. Never mind that this usually won’t be the case; the host will act as if it is a certainty: “If the Patriots don’t give Deion Branch what he wants, they’re going to have a very hard time signing free agents next year.”

Appeal to Probability – Another favorite in Boston. For years it was, “The Red Sox will never win the World Series because they haven’t done it in XX years.”

Biased Sample – Host polls his two co-host sycophants, takes a couple of calls from nitwits and then declares, “Everyone in this town out there right now thinks that Josh Beckett is a stiff and that the Red Sox are in serious trouble.”

Argumentum ad nauseam – The Red Sox aren’t trying to win this year! The Red Sox aren’t trying to win this year! The Red Sox aren’t trying to win this year! Repeat that every afternoon from 2 to 6 starting in March and going through the season, and a few people are bound to believe it. That doesn’t make it a true statement, however.

These are just a few logical fallacies used regularly by sports radio hosts. In order to beat them, you need to be aware of their tactics and how they’re going to try to twist your argument against you.

They may also resort to ridicule or bullying; it’s all part of the act. It’s also a desperate attempt to get the heat off of them and back onto the caller. They might start shouting over or at you and try to get you to retaliate, at which point they can hang up on you or get you to give up and hang up the phone.

Conclude by restating your main points

If you’re fortunate enough to get through your whole call, take 10 seconds or so to really emphasize the purpose of your call by quickly restating the points that you just made.

If you can follow these steps, then you have a shot at beating the frauds that sit behind a mic for four hours a day. If we can get prepared callers who actually make good points and challenge the hosts, then it’s just possible we will have a better product to listen to.

Like this story? Digg It!

Popularity: 3% [?]