borg

Another classic example of give and take between the media and sports agents. Over the last several weeks, the Herald has taken the lead in informing it's readers that Randy Moss may wind up playing for the Patriots, according to their sources. National interest perks up when a Moss-Patriots combination gets linked together. The Herald sells more papers to readers eager to learn more, while Moss gets exposure by seemingly being "in play."

However
From Bostonsportsmedia.com

"John Tomase was one of the guests on Dale & Holley this morning, and he admitted that the Randy Moss story (which he reported) was somewhat overblown by the Herald, but he didn't mind. It got him and the paper attention all across the country."

And today, Moss' agent dispensed some quid pro quo to the Herald for ably assisting in this charade. Did it strike anyone else as strange that a Boston reporter, Felger, broke this national story of Moss going to Green Bay? I am never surprised by the Boston sports media, but always disgusted.

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"In the end, Belichick juiced Moss like an orange, and once all the good pulp was squeezed, he tossed Moss aside. "


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RayClay

Felgers also from Wisconsin.

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Fencer

I'd be interested in the exact wording of his "confession".

I also forget whether it was him or Felger doing most of drum-beating.

Still -- I think there's at least a little fire underneath the smoke.

Bleccchh.

naclone

Tomase essentially said, that like most, his assumption was that Belichick would want nothing to do with Moss and said as much to his "source". This source then countered by saying he didn't agree and that Belichick had always admired Moss's skill set and thought he was coachable.

that was the extent of it. a "source" saying that you couldn't entirely rule out Belichick's interest in moss.

And that somehow got turned into us for certain having active trade discussions with Oakland.

Pat_Nasty

First of all, it would be a mistake to assume that the team had no part in keeping the rumor of interest in Moss alive while they were pursuing Stallworth -- the ability to imply that a trade for Moss is a possibility could make Stallworth think twice about keeping the Pats waiting on his decision to accept their risk-free contract.

If the Pats wanted to quash the Moss rumor, they could have simply denied interest when Tomase called them for comment. But, you say, the Pats never talk about their personnel moves. True -- and this is what you get when the franchise in question is as tight-lipped as the Pats. With the NFL reaching the levels of popularity it has, and with very little solid info actually coming out of the Pats' camp, there's more demand for constant off-season Patriots news than there is actual news to report.

I'm sure Tomase would rather be in bed with the Pats than players' agents, but the Pats only have room for one reporter between their sheets, and they (predictably) chose to make their deal with the Globe. Because the Globe and Reiss are willing to be the Pats' Pravda, reporters for other papers need to cultivate other sources.

Rob0729

In fairness to Tomase, he never said the Pats were interested in Moss or tried to make a trade. Here is what he wrote:

League sources last night indicated the Patriots coach has long been enamored with the Raiders wide receiver and would welcome the opportunity to bring him to Foxboro for the right price.

MoLewisrocks

That's even worse considering John doesn't have sources in the Pat's FO and his league sources was apparently Moss' agent.

Tomase has been in Ft. Myers for the last two weeks. He'd rather be in bed with his Sox on.

naclone

you're right, but everybody who read that made the leap in logic and before long it was being characterized elsewhere as practically a done deal.

ClevTrev

I find this whole situation typical. Anyone who has followed the Pats closely over the years and gotten to know the team's tendencies under BB would never have thought that there was any credibility to the Moss rumors. We had many posts over the past 2 weeks indicating that this whole thing was pure fiction, and it was.

Fact is, team and agent float news about player to pump up interest and increase player's perceived value. Other team's referenced, while not directly involved in any of this don't bother remarking at all, as it's all smoke. The media lemmings find any rumor at this time plausible because the team's not commenting won't dispute their stories. In the process the player gathers interest, the team wanting to get rid of the player gets him in the news, the agent sees increased commissions dancing in his head, and the media sells their stories.

Everybody is happy . . .

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

And a Foonote:
Felger's article today starts off with a sarcastic statement alluding to Pats fans who were hoping to see Moss come to the team. The irony here is that by making that statement, Felger all at once attempted to distance himself from those rumors and reported the "real story" based on his "sources in Wisconsin." Can you believe this guy. One week helping to fan the flames of this ruse, the next laughing at the naive fans who were hoping to see their hero come to the Pats. This is hysterical. I've now added him to the Ron Borges category of journalists. His word is just air.

borg

Looks like BostonSportsMedia.com reads PatsFans.com.

"The Herald posted this update on their sports page (not the football blog) in the middle of the day today, with Michael Felger reporting that the Raiders and Packers were close to agreeing on a deal for Randy Moss.

It is curious on a couple of levels. First, of all it doesn't involve the Patriots and is a deal between two teams the Patriots rarely play. How did they get this scoop? This wouldn't seem to be a story that the Herald is going to be breaking. Of course, Felger is from Wisconsin and a huge Packers fan, so that may play into it.

Second, this comes a week after the Herald said that Bill Belichick might be interested in coaching Moss. Let's play conspiracy theory here and say that the Herald talked to Moss' agent who planted that Belichick story, knowing it might drum up interest in his client (or at the very least appear to). Then, the next week, a trade is worked out with another team, and - surprise - the Herald is the first with the news.

I'm not saying that's how it happened, but it's funny that the Herald would be the first with this story the week after suggesting the Patriots might be interested"

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/

__________________
"In the end, Belichick juiced Moss like an orange, and once all the good pulp was squeezed, he tossed Moss aside. "


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