Reiss on the anti-patriot vitriol

[SVN]

answers it neatly in his mailbag

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extras/askreiss/02_12_08/?page=3

Hi Mike, I've been astonished at the level of anti-Pats vitriol out there. It seems a bit more than just anti-Boston championship envy or knock-the-Top-Dog feeling, and Spygate is clearly to blame. The Pats are booed at the Pro Bowl, and at the NYC parade Gov. Spitzer made a disparaging remark comparing Belichick to a bad CIA spy. Now, Boston's had 5 recent title parades, and I can't recall Menino or Romney ever using the opportunity to insult Mike Martz, Andy Reid, John Fox, Clint Hurdle, or Tony LaRussa. Belichick's "us against the world" outlook has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Do you get the sense that money-wise Bob Kraft and his savvy marketers realize the beating their brand is taking, and do they have any idea of how to right things? Belichick might not mind being hated, but I'm not alone among Pats fans who don't want to be considered mere enablers for a rude, rules-averse coach.
Thomas Mullen, Washington, DC

A: A couple of thoughts here, Thomas. First, I think when Robert Kraft assesses the value of his brand, he can point to record TV ratings this season and off-the-charts merchandise sales. I also think he can attribute much of it to jealousy, and the idea that in today's society people seem to enjoy the process of building people up only to enjoy the process of seeing them torn down. As for Belichick, I personally think calling him a "rude, rules-averse coach" is too harsh. The Patriots and Belichick paid a harsh penalty for Spygate, and while I don't condone the actions, I'm also of the belief this would have about 1/50th of the importance/attention if we were talking about the St. Louis Rams or another lower-tier team. So I think some of it comes down to jealousy as well.

 

[Pats726]

answers it neatly in his mailbag

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extras/askreiss/02_12_08/?page=3

Great words..He's on the mark a lot more than many sportswriters.. Thanks for posting!!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Great words..He's on the mark a lot more than many sportswriters.. Thanks for posting!!

He and Shalise Manza Young are among the best beat writers, period. We're lucky to have them. They almost make up for all the cr*p we have to put up with from the Felgers and Tomases of the Boston media world. (smyoung--if you read this, no offense--it's just that "teh haters" have been around so long that you haven't had enough time to set things right )

 

[juny]

I'm also of the belief this would have about 1/50th of the importance/attention if we were talking about the St. Louis Rams or another lower-tier team.

Nice piece you pasted. I just want to emphasize one part of Reiss' response, and how true it is.

 

[ice]

Let's not forget the media's agenda to make the Pat's hated. Again born of jealousy, the ex players and coachs who either lost to us or can't get any access to us, really spin every thing against us and leave out any good we actualy do. So the general public learns to hate us because of their messenger.

 

[BPF]

Exactly my thoughts on this as posted a couple of days ago. Excellent find SVN.
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?p=791335#post791335

 

[Truck]

I think the only local media members who don't hate the patriots are
1. The big show (weei)
2. The Channel 5 & patriots.com saturday morning patriots all access ppl (reiss included).

 

[SVN]

one thing which confuses me-maybe BB wants it that way -that BB has so many well wishers like jim brown and bill russell and all .no one really comes to his defense when he is being thrown around like a rag doll. Not saying they should but you would expect someone to stand up and ask the media to shut it. I guess BB doesnt like other people talk about him either as i gathered from some other articles.

 

[DefenseRules]

Let's not forget the media's agenda to make the Pat's hated. Again born of jealousy, the ex players and coachs who either lost to us or can't get any access to us, really spin every thing against us and leave out any good we actualy do. So the general public learns to hate us because of their messenger.

This will continue as long as we continue to read their agenda driven crap and give them our money. It's up to us fans to make a statement and let some of these bastards know that this is not the type of reporting that we want.

 

[makewayhomer]

I think the only local media members who don't hate the patriots are
1. The big show (weei)
2. The Channel 5 & patriots.com saturday morning patriots all access ppl (reiss included).

a key sign of a ridiculously hopeless homer is "thinks the majority of the BOSTON media hates this team".

you would probably prefer every article about the team to read "ZOMG PATS RULEZZZZZZZ!!!!!1111"

 

[ctpatsfan77]

a key sign of a ridiculously hopeless homer is "thinks the majority of the BOSTON media hates this team".

you would probably prefer every article about the team to read "ZOMG PATS RULEZZZZZZZ!!!!!1111"

Um, no. I think most of us here would settle for objectivity, rather than the constant "OMG we iz doomed" mentality that seems to be far more pervasive than it should.

 

[makewayhomer]

Um, no. I think most of us here would settle for objectivity, rather than the constant "OMG we iz doomed" mentality that seems to be far more pervasive than it should.

that attitude is pervasive on this forum. I don't see it in the local media nearly as much as with posters here who want to blow up the team.

if you took 100 people from outside New England and had them read the Globe and Herald and listen to local airwaves, I guarantee almost none of them would think that the local media 'HATES' the Pats.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Fans of a sport will find reasons to hate success ... the way it is. Doesn't bother me one bit ... kind of flattering.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

that attitude is pervasive on this forum. I don't see it in the local media nearly as much as with posters here who want to blow up the team.

if you took 100 people from outside New England and had them read the Globe and Herald and listen to local airwaves, I guarantee almost none of them would think that the local media 'HATES' the Pats.

Posters here develop that attitude because of a pervasively hyper critical local media.

Hate might be too harsh a term. Although some of them have issues with BB that border it. Thing is they are largly hyper-critical. As Bruce Allen stated in his piece on the subject last week, there was a non stop litanny from FA on last season, from baby Brady to Randy is a dog to Morris is a jag to Welker cost too much to Rodney let the free world down - they seemed almost gleeful when Bill got a dime dropped on him via the NYJ. Then they climbed on the classless bandwaggon as we ran up the score, and the they aren't dominant enough to be great bandwaggon when we stopped running up the score. They singled out players like Maroney and Hobbs, and picked at them like scabs they hoped would bleed. Even as the team continued on an unprecedented, undefeated run. And it wasn't just the Felgers, guys at PFW are as guilty as anyone in this town of biting the hand that (in their case literally) feeds them.

I've never quite come to terms with why the Kraft's allow that to continue. It's bad enough when the local mediots use negativity to elevate their profile at your teams expense. But when you pay guys to do that for you under your organizational umbrella, be it the pre game crew or the PFW crew, that just makes no business sense. Negativity may fuel ratings, but if that comes at the expense of undercutting your brand it's a very short sighted strategy.

 

[fair catch fryar]

that attitude is pervasive on this forum. I don't see it in the local media nearly as much as with posters here who want to blow up the team.

if you took 100 people from outside New England and had them read the Globe and Herald and listen to local airwaves, I guarantee almost none of them would think that the local media 'HATES' the Pats.

Okay Mr. Smartypants. Now that you guarantee it, prove it.

 

[aluminum seats]

To go back to the original point of this thread, I have to say Reiss' stuff is really sort of a comfort to read. He writes exactly the way a beat writer for a team should--with a sense of affection for the team, knowledge and familiarity about the team, and no BS. Just, here's what I've seen, here's what I've heard, etc. It's an oasis of solid, steady reporting.

 

[eom]

To go back to the original point of this thread, I have to say Reiss' stuff is really sort of a comfort to read. He writes exactly the way a beat writer for a team should--with a sense of affection for the team, knowledge and familiarity about the team, and no BS. Just, here's what I've seen, here's what I've heard, etc. It's an oasis of solid, steady reporting.

yeah, it's really a shame that kind of stuff doesn't get your name mentioned as much as the axe grinding stuff.

 

[#12]

that attitude is pervasive on this forum. I don't see it in the local media nearly as much as with posters here who want to blow up the team.

if you took 100 people from outside New England and had them read the Globe and Herald and listen to local airwaves, I guarantee almost none of them would think that the local media 'HATES' the Pats.

I can't even imagine the Chicago Trib/ Sun-times coming out negatively, against a local team, with an "anonymous source" the day or two before the biggest game in franchise history for the bears/bulls/cubs/sox, doesn't matter what team. There's NO WAY that would have happened...I don't read the Boston newspapers so much except when something is posted here but from what I've seen I've been turned off. I just see a lot of patriots vs the red sox, whose more popular? (who really cares?) and in the herald, well we know what the whole blog before the game did for us fans...I don't have enough instances to make a foregone conclusion but as an outsider lookin in, not all articles are bad but there are some pretty surprising negative tendencies with the boston media

 

[#12]

By the way I always enjoy reading Reiss' pieces. His opinions stay neutral yet are always insightful. To the OP, thanks for posting the link!

 

[HSanders]

yeah, it's really a shame that kind of stuff doesn't get your name mentioned as much as the axe grinding stuff.

It is a shame, but I like the fact that Reiss appears on NFLN quite a bit as their local source (Point After show, etc).