How Did Christopher Gasper Get So Stupid So Quickly?

[shmessy]

Why do you guys get so upset at a columnist opinion piece?

Who's upset?

It's called an observation.

OK, I'll play your game: "Why are you so angry about this thread?"

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Agreed, he's just another smug little twerp who never accomplished anything. Do all these idiots in the media around here just parrot everything everyone else says? I just would love to go somewhere like, I don't know, Detroit, or Minnesota, just too see if they have the same amount of arrogant mediots.

So now that the Seahawks win, it's "why can't the Patriots be like them"? Last year it was the Ravens, but they suck now, so no more like the Ravens. The Patriots problems are drafting crappy players like Tavon Wilson, Jake Bequette, and Ras-I Dowling with their high picks, not building their team a certain way.

Dowling wasn't a "crappy player." It was a gamble that didn't pay off: the Patriots were gambling that 2010 was an aberration (he played 35 games his first three years), and not the new normal.

 

[kennyb]

Carroll was recruiting a lot of those guys since their high school days. That's not luck, that's have preexisting knowledge of the players that were coming out.

So patriots can't hire or acquire this knowledge? Those players must have been scouted extensively by lots of people. Why aren't the pats talking to them if it's so easy?

Pats screwed up many drafts. Seattle drafts Kam Chancellor, pats draft that slow guy whose name I forgot. Utterly forgettable player, not my fault.

 

[shmessy]

So patriots can't hire or acquire this knowledge? Those players must have been scouted extensively by lots of people. Why aren't the pats talking to them if it's so easy?

Pats screwed up many drafts. Seattle drafts Kam Chancellor, pats draft that slow guy whose name I forgot. Utterly forgettable player, not my fault.

Oh, yes, what a disastrous season 2013 was. The Patriots came in 3rd (or 4th) out of 32 teams after losing 7 starters to injuries.

It must all come down to the disastrous drafting. I'm sure Seattle will keep all those players together and be just as consistent a franchise over the next decade and a half as the New England Patriots. You know why you know that? Because they won this year?

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

There is no guarantee your talents will there for the playoffs, so i think depth is more important.

 

[Patsrock]

Who's upset?

It's called an observation.

OK, I'll play your game: "Why are you so angry about this thread?"

Come on it happens every time any Boston writer or media member says anything negative or has a different opinion. It is always same thread "why is this writer so stupid".

I am not angry I just find it funny that on a message board full of different opinions people get upset and angry with a writer doing the same thing.

 

[Patsrock]

So patriots can't hire or acquire this knowledge? Those players must have been scouted extensively by lots of people. Why aren't the pats talking to them if it's so easy?

Pats screwed up many drafts. Seattle drafts Kam Chancellor, pats draft that slow guy whose name I forgot. Utterly forgettable player, not my fault.

Players Pats drafted before Chancellor was drafted


McCourty,Gronk,Cunningham,Spikes,Price and Hernandez

 

[Deus Irae]

How many of the Patriots Super Bowl wins have been because of the bottom of the roster?

A quick perusal brings back 0 of 3.

 

[TonyTucker]

Dowling wasn't a "crappy player." It was a gamble that didn't pay off: the Patriots were gambling that 2010 was an aberration (he played 35 games his first three years), and not the new normal.

He was a zero, a nothing on this team (for the 33rd overall pick). It might have been the worst pick they ever made.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The better question in response to the opening post is, when has Gasper done anything notable as a writer or reporter (or radio/TV talking head)? Did he ever break a big story as a reporter? Did he establish himself as someone such as Mike Reiss and Tom Curran did who worked the beat (any beat, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, or something else) day in and day out and established great credibility for his opinions based on his evident network of contacts? Has he ever impressed you as someone whose different perspective translates to some take that you didn't and probably wouldn't have thought of?

My answer to all of this is, obviously, no. I don't see much insight or much talent with him. What I see is nothing more than the same old phony contrarian act we've seen for decades among the Boston sports media. The next time he tells me something I didn't know will be the first time. I don't think he has the ability to do it, which is why his critique of the Pat's team-building strategy is worthless.

No point in my posting when it's nailed so on target as this

 

[Patsrock]

The better question in response to the opening post is, when has Gasper done anything notable as a writer or reporter (or radio/TV talking head)? Did he ever break a big story as a reporter? Did he establish himself as someone such as Mike Reiss and Tom Curran did who worked the beat (any beat, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, or something else) day in and day out and established great credibility for his opinions based on his evident network of contacts? Has he ever impressed you as someone whose different perspective translates to some take that you didn't and probably wouldn't have thought of?

My answer to all of this is, obviously, no. I don't see much insight or much talent with him. What I see is nothing more than the same old phony contrarian act we've seen for decades among the Boston sports media. The next time he tells me something I didn't know will be the first time. I don't think he has the ability to do it, which is why his critique of the Pat's team-building strategy is worthless.

Actually he was the Patriots beat writer from 2006-2009 with Mike Reiss

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Actually he was the Patriots beat writer from 2006-2009 with Mike Reiss

Who here can forget his memorable scoops and observations from inside the Pats tent?

 

[Nunchucks]

How many of the Patriots Super Bowl wins have been because of the bottom of the roster?

A quick perusal brings back 0 of 3.

Randall Gay, starting SB CB say's high

 

[Deus Irae]

He was good enough that the biggest name in sports media wanted him, but he's said some bad things about the Patriots, so he must be Satan's son. Mike Reiss had better watch his step, because he's been ballwashing BB less often of late, so he just might be the next to get the tar and feathers treatment.

 

[Deus Irae]

Randall Gay, starting SB CB say's high

Randall Gay was the team's CB3, not the CB5. Tell him I said "hi", but he doesn't fit the bill.

 

[Rob0729]

Everybody talks about going out and making a splash for free agency, but that doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl win and it puts far more pressure on winning quickly.

All you have to do is look at the Jets, Redskins, Bills, Dolphins, and any other team that got aggressive in free agency in recent years and never even got to a Super Bowl (some don't even get into the playoffs).

 

[Tunescribe]

I disagree. I thought Gasper did an excellent job as a reporter - then football beat writer - for the Globe after Reiss left. Did he fill Reiss' shoes? No - - but Reiss is the platinum standard.

Gasper hasn't been here all that long, Shmessy. Reiss worked his way up the ladder from Patriots Football Weekly and smaller dailies to the Globe gig and honed his craft. Gasper is still green and his writing shows an emphasis of style over substance, same as his radio/television presence. He's black and glib and those things have worked in his favor, but I can't see how he truly has earned where he is now.

This is why today's column is so sad - - Gasper obviously knows better and he is being told by his employer to publish what he knows is incorrect in order to receive a paycheck.

That's quite a leap of conjecture. I was a newspaper reporter for 17 years and never heard/saw anything like that happening with columnists.

Once they moved him to "columnist" it is as if the editors told him to do the WWE Cartoon Villain act that Shaughnessy does. Where it is sad is that Shaughnessy does it from ignorance. Gasper is doing it from coercion. It's 2014 - newspapers (and their employees)are desperately trying to survive.

No, it just doesn't work that way. Gasper is trying to fashion himself as a "media personality." I don't know if you get the radio/television feeds from here but that much is readily obvious. Being black has helped him immensely. He talks a good game, he just isn't that "mature" as an insightful journalist.

 

[captain stone]

Carroll was recruiting a lot of those guys since their high school days. That's not luck, that's have preexisting knowledge of the players that were coming out.

And that's not without historical precedence: the first couple of drafts under Chuck Fairbanks
and Ron Meyer were terrific for the very same reason. Will be interesting to see if that can
be continued under Schneider/Carroll when future draft classes consist of players not seen by
Carroll personally.

 

[Elijah T.]

Everybody talks about going out and making a splash for free agency, but that doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl win and it puts far more pressure on winning quickly.

All you have to do is look at the Jets, Redskins, Bills, Dolphins, and any other team that got aggressive in free agency in recent years and never even got to a Super Bowl (some don't even get into the playoffs).

I generally agree with this idea...but comparing the Patriots front office's spending with those other organizations is an apples to oranges comparison. Those organizations seem to be throwing darts hoping something sticks. BB at least always has a plan for his moves, often two to four years in advance based on the structure of the cap/team.

While I don't completely agree with the Gasper piece, I do think he makes some valid points. At some point you have to spend a little more. And while we saw the Seahawks defense dismantle the Broncos offense, my gut tells me if they played each other 10 times-- none of the other nine would look like the one we saw, with Denver winning a few or more. Both teams were at the top five in NFL talent.

I believe in BB's system. He prioritizes the "entire" roster, with an eye on the unexpected and the future....it's the reason why the Patriots have had 13 consecutive winning seasons. There isn't another franchise even CLOSE to that many consecutive winning seasons, none other currently have more than 4.

But there comes a time where it may be a little necessary to break a tad bit from tradition and take a couple risks with talented players from the outside that can add to your strong core of 'system' players. Carroll and Schneider did a good job in free agency spending on specific areas (depth on d-line) and more explosiveness in the passing game (Harvin). Harvin was largely absent but when he was on the field he was the most dynamic player on it.

Every player is a risk, but I think this organization can take a few risks because of the strong foundation it has built within it's system/structure. We've lost two straight championships and a super bowl...it wouldn't bother me to see the Pats do what Seattle did last off-season.

 

[shmessy]

Come on it happens every time any Boston writer or media member says anything negative or has a different opinion. It is always same thread "why is this writer so stupid".

I am not angry I just find it funny that on a message board full of different opinions people get upset and angry with a writer doing the same thing.

You must be slow, so I'll repeat it for you.

No one is angry. We are making observations.