Summing up local Patriots coverage on a single 8"x11.5" sheet

[QuantumMechanic]

Bruce Allen and the gang at bostonsportsmedia.com put together a hilarious flowchart that encapsulates how the local mediots decide what to write after a Pats game:

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/flowchart.pdf

I think my favorite one is the one for SMY.

 

[DarrylS]

Reminds me of the decision making tree that some posters employ on this board and gives rise to the "yeah but" and "should've lot" crowd.

Classic Felger..

Say they’d lose to “Team X”, who is better in every way.

 

[Coach42]

well executed.

 

[RodThePat]

Didn't really find it all that funny. Are we just pretending that Boston media doesn't have any reasonable professionals or even homers on their sports coverage? Everybody hates the Patriots now? Sure, there are some guys out there that take the contrarian approach, but even Felger has been saying the Patriots will be in the SuperBowl for about 5 weeks now...I mean, this is kind of paranoid here.

 

[PatsChamp88]

Haha thanks for sharing

 

[BSR]

Didn't really find it all that funny. Are we just pretending that Boston media doesn't have any reasonable professionals or even homers on their sports coverage? Everybody hates the Patriots now? Sure, there are some guys out there that take the contrarian approach, but even Felger has been saying the Patriots will be in the SuperBowl for about 5 weeks now...I mean, this is kind of paranoid here.

Sports media in this town has very little resemblance to actual journalism. Its now more like entertainment. These media members now all have personalities and need to have a shtick in order to sell their brand. Its very little to do with love or hate of the Patriots. It has to do with marketing. Felger, for instance, makes all sorts of things, and not because he believes them but because he believes it will generate interest and discussion.

The above is a very accurate, although negatively slanted, depiction of a segment of the Boston media. Of course there is also another segment that is just the opposite, but that is a much smaller segment.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Didn't really find it all that funny. Are we just pretending that Boston media doesn't have any reasonable professionals or even homers on their sports coverage? Everybody hates the Patriots now? Sure, there are some guys out there that take the contrarian approach, but even Felger has been saying the Patriots will be in the SuperBowl for about 5 weeks now...I mean, this is kind of paranoid here.

If you read the articles posted on the site, you'll see that this isn't directed at, say, Rapoport, Reiss, and the other beat writers; Allen says they generally do a good job of being fair (i.e., offering both praise and criticism where they're due). It's directed more at the columnists.

 

[Gwedd]

Heh..... I knew it! That's some funny stuff right there.

 

[brdmaverick]

Ha, that was good stuff.

 

[RodThePat]

If you read the articles posted on the site, you'll see that this isn't directed at, say, Rapoport, Reiss, and the other beat writers; Allen says they generally do a good job of being fair (i.e., offering both praise and criticism where they're due). It's directed more at the columnists.

But even those guys aren't all clowns, spouting off unreasonable criticism after every game. Boston Sports Media has this "every media member in this town hates the Patriots" mentality that I don't really think is accurate. To be honest, I think the amount of blind homers we have here at the very least equals the number of negative contrarians.

 

[jmt57]

Didn't really find it all that funny. Are we just pretending that Boston media doesn't have any reasonable professionals or even homers on their sports coverage? Everybody hates the Patriots now? Sure, there are some guys out there that take the contrarian approach, but even Felger has been saying the Patriots will be in the SuperBowl for about 5 weeks now...I mean, this is kind of paranoid here.

There are several that are very good at what they do; I would put Greg Bedard, Jeff Howe, Christopher Price, Mike Reiss, Karen Guregian, Tom Curran, Ian Rapoport, Michael Holley and a few others in that category. Why? Because they are balanced; they'll praise the team when they do something well, and criticize when it is deserved.

Then there are others that are simply being contrarians to stir the pot in an attempt to create controversy and drive ratings. Tony Massarotti, Ron Borges, Dan Shaughnessy, John Dennis, Damon Amendalara, Andy Gresh - and yes, Michael Felger are among those in this category.

Felger is simply being ahead of the curve: he realizes that the majority of Patriots Nation has bought into the 'this team sucks, the defense sucks, Belichick sucks' mentality, so he is once again being the contrarian by declaring the team Super Bowl bound. It's an absolutely brilliant business strategy, but it is not genuine.



I'm about as big a homer as there is, and even I don't want every article and every media member's opinion about the team to be flowery glowing accolades. I just want fair and balanced reporting. Being told everything is wonderful is useless (an emperor's new clothes analogy, if you will), but being told that 'everything sucks' over and over and over again on a daily basis is just as useless, if not more so - and much more difficult to read, hear and see for more than a few minutes.

 

[RodThePat]

There are several that are very good at what they do; I would put Greg Bedard, Jeff Howe, Christopher Price, Mike Reiss, Karen Guregian, Tom Curran, Ian Rapoport, Michael Holley and a few others in that category. Why? Because they are balanced; they'll praise the team when they do something well, and criticize when it is deserved.

Then there are others that are simply being contrarians to stir the pot in an attempt to create controversy and drive ratings. Tony Massarotti, Ron Borges, Dan Shaughnessy, John Dennis, Damon Amendalara, Andy Gresh - and yes, Michael Felger are among those in this category.

Felger is simply being ahead of the curve: he realizes that the majority of Patriots Nation has bought into the 'this team sucks, the defense sucks, Belichick sucks' mentality, so he is once again being the contrarian by declaring the team Super Bowl bound. It's an absolutely brilliant business strategy, but it is not genuine.



I'm about as big a homer as there is, and even I don't want every article and every media member's opinion about the team to be flowery glowing accolades. I just want fair and balanced reporting. Being told everything is wonderful is useless (an emperor's new clothes analogy, if you will), but being told that 'everything sucks' over and over and over again on a daily basis is just as useless, if not more so - and much more difficult to read, hear and see for more than a few minutes.

Couldn't agree more. I just think that there are very few 'everything sucks' guys, while Boston Sports Media and Bruce Allen like to pretend that this kind of people represent the majority of sports media in Boston. That's not correct.

 

[Jackson 2]

But even those guys aren't all clowns, spouting off unreasonable criticism after every game. Boston Sports Media has this "every media member in this town hates the Patriots" mentality that I don't really think is accurate. To be honest, I think the amount of blind homers we have here at the very least equals the number of negative contrarians.

What isn't accurate is your contention that BSMW "has this every media member in this town hates the Patriots mentality." They absolutely do not and your claim that they do is either the result of 1) you don't read the posts on the site regularly, or 2) you're being deliberately untruthful. I'd prefer to believe it's the former but, in either case, you're dead wrong on that point.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Couldn't agree more. I just think that there are very few 'everything sucks' guys, while Boston Sports Media and Bruce Allen like to pretend that this kind of people represent the majority of sports media in Boston. That's not correct.

If you exclude the beat writers (which Allen generally does when he complains about the ongoing mediot crap) it most certainly is correct.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Hate to see the one for the weekly game thread ... that one changes by the down and distance.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I just can't believe anyone would take Longo seriously enough to include him in the graphic.

 

[slam]

Let's feed the Dolphins game into the flowchart.

Sure the Pats won, but they went 14-2 last year. How'd that work out for them? Watching Welker go for more than 100 yards puts into mind that free agency is looming, and he must be steamed that Mayo got paid and he didn't. The Dolphins dominating the first half makes me more puzzled that they passed on Clay Matthews. Going into the playoffs, you think they'll surely run into a "Team X" that they won't be able to handle.

Sounds about right.

 

[Bella*chick]

Didn't really find it all that funny. Are we just pretending that Boston media doesn't have any reasonable professionals or even homers on their sports coverage? Everybody hates the Patriots now? Sure, there are some guys out there that take the contrarian approach, but even Felger has been saying the Patriots will be in the SuperBowl for about 5 weeks now...I mean, this is kind of paranoid here.

You really didn't find it funny? It was hilariously clever. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it's close enough.

 

[Jackson 2]

You really didn't find it funny? It was hilariously clever. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it's close enough.

It was funny and it was 100% accurate. See, the contrarians love to dish it out and be snarky and smug, but when they're called out, particularly as cleverly as they were with this one, their fall back position is always the same - "You're homers!" See, to people like Felger, Mazz, Borges, Merloni and Shank S., et al, being labeled a "homer" is only slightly worse than being a terrorist, mass murderer or wife beater. If you're objective and fair when it comes to the Pats, you're a homer. You must, I repeat, must state that every win was a lucky one the other team (who sucked to begin with) gave away and that every loss should have been by 45 points rather than what the actual spread was. It's the ultimate card game with a rigged deck - and the dealers are the contrarians.