Mike Reiss seems pissed off

I always like Reiss, but I'm done with him. And no, not everyone thought they might be guilty. From the very beginning it was clear that you needed some ninja to go around deflating balls on the sideline to make this work, and that was ****ing ridiculous. Those that found ball deflating ninjas to be viable options because of unsubstantiated reports that some footballs lowered pressure in the cold were ALWAYS in the camp of wild ass conspiracy theory speculation.

We got our own guy in Death Star, he doesn't need to wave his pompoms, and that's not his MO. But faced with the biggest witch hunt in NFL history and all he can do is add more idle speculation. We don't need him for speculation, we got that from every talking head on TV. We need someone to point out that there's not a lick of evidence, and plenty of more logical believable explanations.

Great, he sends out his mea culpa. Appreciate that, next witch hunt to come around we can get an article about how she smells of witch, looks like witch, and the proper way to burn a witch.

fair catch fryar said:

Heath Evans is no better. He has been on NFLN all week and has done nothing IMO to disprove these talking meatheads. I feel like he has become one of them. I haven't noticed Big Willie on there though. I don't think they want his opinion if his antics during the draft tell you anything.

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I think being the NFL Network they have to be a bit more restrictive in what they say on this matter at all, both negative and positive to the Patriots. A good example is also NFL.com, which hasn't really reported anything other than official league notices and team press conferences.

Disclaimer: I don't watch NFL Network 24/7.

A little OT but here are my thoughts on these idiots.

On this Tuesday all of the guys and gals that bashed the Pats last week, called for them being banned from the Super Bowl etc. this is what needs to be done and if I was the coach or owner wouldn't hesitate.

If on Tuesday any of those people ask a player a question the player should say the following: " yes. Peter your from SI right?, Next question please, Ah MIke your from ESPN, thanks for coming but next question please, etc. etc. " and politely of course.

As an owner or coach I wouldn't allow one answer to any of the a-h's that talked BS. Not at all.

Unlike a lot of folks here I normally think King does a good job of researching things, I'm surprised and disappointed he didn't do his job on this one, surprised he road the wave to be honest. I have written him, he has published a number of my questions online, I hope he does again. You may not like what he writes but he is normally fair. I encourage everyone to write these folks on twitter or direct and challenge them, inundate them with questions of their own, ask them how they know whatever.

Most disappointing about this for me is that I used to have a job many years ago and it was to analyze information and if I didn't use all the information I had available and do my job right someone might get hurt or die. I have no sympathy or respect for folks that don't do this, regardless of the severity of the outcome. Really frustrating and disappointing.

The media is still questioning bill, they fail to understand that he would never have had that conference yesterday if he didn't know the deal, no way, he knows what the NFL has, he knows there is nothing to this, he knows that the officials probably didn't do their job as required, he knows the Colts footballs were inflated higher than the Pats and on and on.

Ok my rant is over.

I also want to clarify that my statement wasn't a left-right ideological argument. It was a statement of fact based upon how many times I hear the owners wealth brought into articles or radio chatter.

As far as reputable members of the media you've listed...I counter with the usual ...Ryan, Shaughnessey, Borges and Mazzerotti....on top of that...we have a bunch of guys whose have no real passion or interest in the Patriots other than professional. Felger, Gresch, The hub morning crew...the hub evening crew...Mike Flynn.

resdubwhite said:

so you are saying that despite the headline. " patriots should be held accountable". Which he's already apologised for there is absolutely nothing in his piece that could be construed as raising question marks on the team.
I think also as a moderator it would be better to refrain from ad hominem attacks. Pitchforks comments were/are unneccesary.

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How many times do you have to be told that Reiss clearly said he didn't choose the damn headline? That the headline was misleading and just wrong but helped further his bosses agenda.

You don't have to like Reiss, you don't have to believe him either. But that doesn't mean you are right.

You know how much evidence has come since Sunday that the Patriots deflated footballs?

Zero

No sympathy for Reiss here. He knew what he was signing up for, and that's on him.

Bobsyouruncle said:

You know how much evidence has come since Sunday that the Patriots deflated footballs?

Zero

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And do you know how much evidence there was that the PATS deflated footballs before Friday? None.

patsfan06 said:

How many times do you have to be told that Reiss clearly said he didn't choose the damn headline? That the headline was misleading and just wrong but helped further his bosses agenda.

You don't have to like Reiss, you don't have to believe him either. But that doesn't mean you are right.

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no he didnt say that. And i quote....
"I wasn’t crazy about my headline choice on the Monday piece, which should have better reflected what was actually written in the text – that more information was needed to make a final judgment on accountability, specifically regarding referee Walt Anderson’s pre-game test and the role of weather conditions as it relates to air pressure in the football. - "

resdubwhite said:

I read the blog post. And read the article. I dont think theres a correlation there.
I like mike. I'm also slightly disappointed with him now.

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Everyone on occasion does something that disappoints others who expect the best from us.
Well, maybe not I, but still...

resdubwhite said:

no he didnt say that. And i quote....
"I wasn’t crazy about my headline choice on the Monday piece, which should have better reflected what was actually written in the text – that more information was needed to make a final judgment on accountability, specifically regarding referee Walt Anderson’s pre-game test and the role of weather conditions as it relates to air pressure in the football. - "

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Which translates to, my editor picked a different headline for me.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Everyone on occasion does something that disappoints others who expect the best from us.
Well, maybe not I, but still...

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Agreed

And its worth noting his excellent work over the years.

patsfan06 said:

Which translates to, my editor picked a different headline for me.

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thats one opinion

Color me surprised at how much vitriol is directed toward Reiss. Other than his choice of employer - who most assuredly made promises that have been revoked - nothing he's done now or any other time deserves that amount of scorn.

I think this whole thing points out the fact that most of these sports writers are not real journalists, but would-be columnists and editorialists. A reporter's personal opinion does not belong in a proper news story. Also, fact checking is very important to real news stories. Two big facts that came out early on - the Colts linebacker who caught the ball noticed it was underinflated and that the Ravens thought the balls in the game prior seemed funny, were both later largely debunked (Colts player coming out and saying he felt no such thing and Harbaugh stating nothing was wrong with balls and they were kicking balls, anyway, which were never possessed by the Pats) - were obviously not fact-checked early on but taken as solid truths. So everyone jumped to conclusions and reported them as facts. Honestly, who cares what Borges or Ryan or Reiss personally feel about the team or this controversy. Unless their opinions are in an editorial, they have no business being in the story.

How about a little bit of inquisitive and investigative journalism? Once it was reported that the pats balls were underinflated (and colts were not), everyone just assumed it was cheating without any thought beyond that. But how exactly could the Pats deflate the balls after the officials inspected them? From what I understand, they get the balls back 10 minutes before the game, which is a very short period of time. That would be a feat I'd like explained. So it was more probable that something happened with the balls either while the officials had them, or before. The NFL insists they were properly inspected, so that makes conditions before relevant. How were the Colts balls treated? How are balls generally treated by the respective teams for NFL games? Do visiting teams prepare their texture before travelling back at their own facility?The Pats, being the home team, kept their balls in the heated locker room. Do the visiting team keep their balls on the bus? Has there ever been any attempt, ever, to measure a football during random moments of a game in the history of the NFL? It seems, considering the science, that the balls' air pressure probably goes up and down a lot during the course of the day or a game - a late summer afternoon game that sees it cool down considerably by the second half, etc. None of these questions seemed to be delved into at all, much less reported on, which I recognize is a hell of a lot harder to do than just spout off your opinion about something.

Not a bad read.

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/23/nfl-p...ew-england-patriots-tom-brady-bill-belichick/

resdubwhite said:

thats one opinion

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I agree. That certainly seems to me that Reiss chose that headline. But I could be wrong.

In the meantime, I didn't have a problem with the headline. Everyone should be held accountable for their actions IF something is proven. It may be a little harsh - - but I don't see why it is that controversial.

In all seriousness it's best to judge someone for the body of their work as Redsub mentioned. Who here, (I have made errors), has not made an error of consequence in their own profession doing their job? I'll give Reiss a pass here, especially because he manned up and showed some sack with a public mea culpa. A stand up guy.

resdubwhite said:

thats one opinion

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So if he "wasn't crazy about his headline choice" and was able to pick a headline himself without editoral input, why didnt he pick a different headline?

I mean, try reading between the lines for once.

Not really fair to say Reiss deserved it for going to ESPN. We don't know what kind of pay boost he may have gotten or what the outlook looked like for job security. He's not exactly a multi millionaire. I hope he can find a job of similar pay or more elsewhere. Reiss is awesome.