Jackie MacMullan's Article on Warren

[Mike the Brit]

I didn't notice this article from yesterday's Globe being linked to on the site.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/12/03/driven_toward_success/?page=1

It brings home how humble Ty Warren's background has been and how he has shouldered all the burdens and difficulties that went with that. It also explains how hard Ty has worked to adapt to what is required from him in New England.

It's ironic that the self-discipline needed to put team defense first is now working in Ty's favour statistically: he's the one getting to make the tackles while Seymour and Wilfork hold up the blockers. (Which is not to deny that he is playing very, very well.)

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

That article seemed a fine bit of writing, much better than the oh-too-typical boy from the rough streets boilerplate.

Coincidentally, I saw Warren last night on NECN's Sports Late Night and while he seemed failry bright, he used the expression 'you know' nearly every third word. I counted 18 'you know's in one brief reply! This begs the question of how much editing of Warren's comments did MacMullan do for her article because there is not one single 'you know' in her piece. Mix in two dozen 'you know's with Warren's thoughtful remarks in the paper and he'd come off quite differently. Why would MacMullan, or her editors, perform this extensive cleansing of Warren's comments?

The two words are superflous to any point being made but MacMullan omitting 'you know' from all of his speech portrays a Warren unlike his public persona. People use some expressions reflexively, especially when they are nervous as one might be on live TV, but plenty of others pay attention to how they sound. Warren either hasn't the inclination or the capability to modify his speaking habits, isn't that part of who he is then? And wasn't MacMullan's piece intended to reveal more of Warren's identity to the reader? If so, then wouldn't the removal of all of Warren's 'you know's be somewhat disingenous?

 

[Mainefan]

No. It just means that she saw beyond the "you knows." Unlike, for instance, you.

 

[marty]

Was away for the weekend but heard this article mentioned during the postgame so looked it up. Great read and well written by McMullen as usual. I've really enjoyed her pieces, wish she did more of them, I might actually buy the Globe more if she did!

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

No. It just means that she saw beyond the "you knows." Unlike, for instance, you.

"Saw beyond" them? In others words, you mean she created her own edited version of him? Um, that's exactly my point.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

I didn't notice this article from yesterday's Globe being linked to on the site.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/12/03/driven_toward_success/?page=1

It brings home how humble Ty Warren's background has been and how he has shouldered all the burdens and difficulties that went with that. It also explains how hard Ty has worked to adapt to what is required from him in New England.

It's ironic that the self-discipline needed to put team defense first is now working in Ty's favour statistically: he's the one getting to make the tackles while Seymour and Wilfork hold up the blockers. (Which is not to deny that he is playing very, very well.)

I like Jackie a lot, as a writer, and when she's on sports talk shows, but she got one thing wrong: A Malibu isn't a Chrysler, it's a Chevy. I'm sure someone has called or emailed her about it by now.

 

[CTPatsFan]

Thanks Mike, nice find. Ty has definitely turned out to be a force to be reckoned with.

The only problem I had with editing was that the Malibu is a Chevy product, not Chrysler.

 

[CTPatsFan]

I like Jackie a lot, as a writer, and when she's on sports talk shows, but she got one thing wrong: A Malibu isn't a Chrysler, it's a Chevy. I'm sure someone has called or emailed her about it by now.

Dang it, beat me by a minute

 

[Mainefan]

"Saw beyond" them? In others words, you mean she created her own edited version of him? Um, that's exactly my point.

That's not what I mean and I suspect you know it. Sometimes, some pretty amazing people, including very smart people, are hard to spot under the superficial cover of the bad grammar or inarticulate speech which reflects the environment in which they were raised rather than who they really are.

Jackie MacMullan seems to be adept at discarding the meaningless superficialities and finding the real person. You, on the other hand, seem to make your judgments based on cultural veneer.

I point this out because I have done the same, to my loss. The loss: that I have given short shrift to people that I later discovered were admirable, intelligent, insightful and much else.

 

[TeamPats]

In all fairness, was anyone really ever calling Ty Warren a bust early on? I mean I know on a message board here and there everyone is bust every other week, but I think he proved himself pretty well early, Wilfork too. Now naturally that may have had a little something to do with us consistently winning Super Bowls

 

[Mike the Brit]

In all fairness, was anyone really ever calling Ty Warren a bust early on? I mean I know on a message board here and there everyone is bust every other week, but I think he proved himself pretty well early, Wilfork too. Now naturally that may have had a little something to do with us consistently winning Super Bowls

I don't remember this clearly but I think that the following points were made:

(1) that he didn't play that much his first season -- Seymour and Bobby Hamilton were the defensive ends. Was he the regular Nose Tackle? I can't remember, but he certainly played there some and people weren't very impressed.

(2) that he looked to be heavy with fat rather than muscle.

(3) that the Patriots had taken him because other, more desirable, defensive linemen (Sullivan, Robertson?) were off the board (the theory of value groupings, may it rest in peace ...)

True, I can't remember people calling him a bust (some of our newer posters hadn't joined the board ) but there was certainly a feeling that he hadn't shown much and that we hoped that Belichick and Pioli knew more than we did. Turns out that they did -- funny that!

 

[Hoodie]

Coincidentally, I saw Warren last night on NECN's Sports Late Night and while he seemed failry bright, he used the expression 'you know' nearly every third word. I counted 18 'you know's in one brief reply!

Not sure the players have time to take a media training course to eliminate all the "you knows," "ah's" and "likes" that permeate our speech. But I'm equally sure it's not easy to be interviewed by sports reporters who ask inane questions like, "how big a game did you have today?"

By the way, I think Jackie is a great writer but God help you if you disagee with her. I wrote to question her article about Johhny Damon's return to Fenway and she was a total b*tch. (And trust me I don't like to call a fellow woman that.)

 

[VJCPatriot]

Very nice read. Warren has grown to become a mainstay of the Pats D. It's nice to see where he came from and that he has overcome some hardships to get here. Gotta say though that he is lucky to have a high school coach that cared so much. Who knows where he would be now without that kind of guidance?

 

[lobster]

Tackles can be very misleading as a stat. One reason Seymour doesn't have many tackles is because teams don't run at him. The Lions did succeed running outside of Seymour once but that was more Rosevelt or TBC's problem. Once I noted they ran directly at Seymour for very little gain. Soon they give up and ran at the weaker side of the DL which is between Warren and Wilfork - with considerable success. Therefore Warren collects more Tackles, but it's actually a significant sign of weakness.

This is in spite of the fact that Wilfork and Warren seem to be physically positioned closer together than Seymour and Wilfork are. On passing downs Seymour has to contend with a double team from the left side of the offensive line, which is the strongest for a right-handed QB. That of course means Warren can often contend with a single OL and get the credit.

While Warren basks in the media and fan attention, Seymour is clearly one of the premier inside DL in the game today.