OT: Breer is great to listen to

[ClevTrev]

McDonut was a good reporter in the sense of someone with unnamed contacts who could write about dirt and gossip. Not my preference. He stank when it came to any personal knowlege and insight into the game or into a given game. His contacts drove his agenda and he let his agenda run unbridled. I don't miss that era or 'reportage' one bit. Goodbye to McDonut, the CHB and their ilk.

Let's set the record straight. Will McDonough was the dean of the NFL sportwriters. His career spanned many years, so I can see why some think his Football Notes column every Sunday was representative of what he did. He did far more. He covered the details ala Reiss and Breer for many years and built solid relationships with long-time NFL and AFL people that gave him access to information and a historical insight few could ever or will ever match.

He never tooted his own horn, nor would he have suffered the many media posers we see so much today. His unassuming manner and direct approach enabled him to educate a whole generation of football fans that will forever miss the day his writing stopped. He was precise and accurate with his news and never floated rumors like the ones we've seen recently regarding Green Bay's acquisition of a high profile receiver, etc., just for the sake of trying to scoop the others. He usually did scoop the others and was right on the mark with his information. Here's hoping that Reiss, Breer and others successfully follow in Will's footsteps.

 

[BradyManny]

Not to get too philosophical, but this small example is indicative of how blogs allow a narrower focus since the web gives them an infinite reach. Broadcast has a limited reach so it tends toward sensationalism, needing the loudest news to broaden its base.

The Breer's and Reiss's will always find their best audiences here.

That's a great point, but that's why, as I said, he was even more impressive on air than in the blogs. In the blog, you have unlimited space, but on NEST, he had thirty seconds to concisely explain to Felger why Thomas will fit at ILB and make the team better at that position. And he did it convincingly and was very specific.

So, while broadcast might lend itself to sensationalism, intelligent analysis CAN occur on the airwaves.

 

[SqivvyQ]

OK, I'm registered but a few hours and already I'm probably violating a double-posting rule. I'm sorry. While composing, I had this thread more in mind. (Couldn't figure out why a search-to-spell for "Jaw" found nada; I knew the former Eagle had been mentioned.) It's a little more relevant here.

I HIGHLY recommend the other thread for Unoriginal's explanation of zone v. man-on-man blocking, complete with annotated frames from Friday's game. Idiots like me need a visual.

So it's Unoriginal I thank, thank, thank below.

Sorry. Thanks.

For years I've lurked obsessively re: bawston spawtz - here, KFFL, SOSH, ... -- but this is I think the first time I've ever posted. I just just now registered in order to post in this thread. [sic]

1. Mostly to say Thank you, Thank you, and thanks, unoriginal. I yearn for such.

2. I think there's a deep untapped market for this type of football education. As a nearly professional lurk n' browser, why have i NEVER seen actual game film online? Nowhere really, save on that ESPN show with Jaworski (sp?).

3. Few fans really understand much of what's going on in football. I've learned a little here and from FO, but I watch play with just about the same awareness as when Sam Bam was rocking my ten year-old world. The running back carries the ball how far -- nice juke there; he's throwing the ball to that guy; Russ Francis was interfered with in friggin Oakland; Ellis Hobbs did not interfere in the end-zone last AFC CG. How to watch the lines, where the safety plays, stunts?, the genius defensive shifts and disguises BB concocts... I dunno Why and how does a playbook contain seemingly hundreds of plays? HTF does everyone memorize all that?

4. Speaking of my fav sports figure, it seems BB actually opens up, gets excited even, when talking about these kind of details, the nuts and bolts from studying game film, i.e. when he pulled out film from his father's career. Why isn't he asked to do so? Instead, the "journalists" whine on and on about BB's (typically tactical) reticence.

5. ... because, as has been noted, the sports media are too... dumb? lazy? Especially on TV and radio (especially the latter), we're given simplistic speculation on the "character", motivations, "chemistry", heart, motor, etc. of kids in their 20's. Pure gossip, and crappy gossip at that (Inside Track relies on sources more diverse than pulled-from-own-ass). And, geez, one of the few benefits to being older than a 26 year-old is getting past your 20s... I don't much care about kids' dramas and feelings. Sports' fourth estate should report and analyze primarily what happens between the lines.

OK, I'll shut up (be grateful I'm a lurker!).

What's my point, beyond deep gratitude? I dunno, just more, more, more, please; is game film, no matter the age, ever available? Can we kidnap BB and force him to break film down, say LT's greatest hits? Football is so complex, and he seems the best not only at the analysis but also making it understandable, insightful, educational, fun. BB and "fun", how remarkable would that be???

OK, now back to voyeurism...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Let's set the record straight. Will McDonough was the dean of the NFL sportwriters. His career spanned many years, so I can see why some think his Football Notes column every Sunday was representative of what he did. He did far more. He covered the details ala Reiss and Breer for many years and built solid relationships with long-time NFL and AFL people that gave him access to information and a historical insight few could ever or will ever match.

He never tooted his own horn, nor would he have suffered the many media posers we see so much today. His unassuming manner and direct approach enabled him to educate a whole generation of football fans that will forever miss the day his writing stopped. He was precise and accurate with his news and never floated rumors like the ones we've seen recently regarding Green Bay's acquisition of a high profile receiver, etc., just for the sake of trying to scoop the others. He usually did scoop the others and was right on the mark with his information. Here's hoping that Reiss, Breer and others successfully follow in Will's footsteps.

From my viewpoint he was a Tuna rump swab with an agenda. He was accurate on his rumors e.g. calling the excerable Chris Canty #1 pick, but rumor was his forte. I don't like soap operas; I like analysis.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Mcdonough was a jerk, but a damned good reporter.

By the way, the answer is Mel Parnell 25 in 1949---21 in 1953.

I don't think there's anyone more recent.

*Lefty grove, 20 in 1935*

Lefty was finishing up and on the downside of his career, after a HOF career with Philly, I beleive.

Mel was before my time, and Pa was a big Braves fan, but I thought he was the really unusual guy... a "switch pitcher". He was better as a lefty, but he could get a guy out throwing rightie occasionally, which he needed desperately to do in the Fenway Monstrosity. I can't verify if this was family happy talk, though.

The last genuine multi-year twenty game winner was southhpaw Babe Ruth, and he eventually gave up, and just hit.

The point is that in 96 years in the Monstrosity, there were ONLY three guys who won 20 as lefties; two who are in the HOF, for exploits elsewhere. The last was more than half a century ago.

All else was futility. A warped Ballpark produces a warped lineup, and a warped (ultimately losing) Team...

 

[AzPatsFan]

Maybe true, but unlikethe "rumor mills" everywhere today, he had actual sources among the most powerful and influential in the game.

His unnamed contacts were the commissioner, the coaches GMS, politicians etc., in other words, people that knew what they were talking about.

I didn't like the guy and he wasn't a stylist, but to deny he was the greatest ever at accurate inside information is to do him a disservice.

Will, was a sycophant who lived on the football droppings of one guy, the Tuna, in Neiu Yawk.

I want to add another guy who really illuminated his sports coverage, and in my opinion contributed to the winning seasons and the mystique of a great sport franchise. Johny Most, the admitted radio "homer" for the Celts was also a shrewd scout and talent evaluator and reporter, who understood basketball.

Whereas an ass like McDonut would report that the Pats lost, so the entire team and every member sucked, and he would hint at "dissension". Johnny would see who failed; and where talent was deficient he would measure effort. I remember a mediocre player Henry Finkel, a very limited center trying to take the place of mighty Bill Russell after he hung them up.

The Celts lost, but "High Henry" as he dubbed him played his heart out; it just wasn't good enough. Johnny Most never jumped on Finkel as a bum, he merely said the Center position needed more talent. A McDonut would have blamed the innocent, and shot the wounded, while protecting the bum who whispered in his ear.

OTOH, I can remember Most directing open derision at loafers, dopers, and bums, one named Sidney something or other...

 

[RobertWeathers]

Let's set the record straight. Will McDonough was the dean of the NFL sportwriters. His career spanned many years, so I can see why some think his Football Notes column every Sunday was representative of what he did. He did far more. He covered the details ala Reiss and Breer for many years and built solid relationships with long-time NFL and AFL people that gave him access to information and a historical insight few could ever or will ever match.

He never tooted his own horn, nor would he have suffered the many media posers we see so much today. His unassuming manner and direct approach enabled him to educate a whole generation of football fans that will forever miss the day his writing stopped. He was precise and accurate with his news and never floated rumors like the ones we've seen recently regarding Green Bay's acquisition of a high profile receiver, etc., just for the sake of trying to scoop the others. He usually did scoop the others and was right on the mark with his information. Here's hoping that Reiss, Breer and others successfully follow in Will's footsteps.

Rumor is that Will fed Whitey Bulger inside info on NFL games in exchange for a few gifts here and there.

 

[ClevTrev]

Will, was a sycophant who lived on the football droppings of one guy, the Tuna, in Neiu Yawk.

Interesting view, but narrow, particularly from anyone who posts here with such frequency. It's ok to criticize the media when it's deserved, but it's always best to know the complete body of work prior to the criticism.

Rumor is that Will fed Whitey Bulger inside info on NFL games in exchange for a few gifts here and there.

Yeah, it could have happened. Will was from Southie, he knew Billy Bulger; therefore, he helped Whitey bet on games. Easy association . . . You're serious???