Tired of Bedard

VectorPrime said:

It's just like how even if you know you're innocent you never ever talk to the cops without a lawyer if you are even remotely suspected of anything. Brady is wise not to talk to the media who will take any little contradiction he says and blow it all up. I lay the blame on shows like Law and Order which always paint anyone lawyering up as some guilty criminal with something to hide.

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I don't agree. L and O is where I learned you NEVER talk to the cops without your lawyer, even if there is only the remotest chance you're a suspect.

This is probably killing Brady.

borg said:

This particular thread is hysterical. During the season, Bedard's opinions are the most valued on PatsFans with one poster transcribing his Felger/Maz weekly visits verbatim which sparks considerable board traffic. When Bedard blows smoke up NE's bum, this board celebrates his "wisdom." Now that Bedard has crossed to the dark side on issue NE has been judged guilty, Bedard has become the pariah. Guess he got stupid in the off season.
Regarding Bedard's "where's Brady" question... understand where we are in this news cycle. The report, the rebuttal, the owner's defense, the owner's capitulation, the league digging in.......every party has been heard from except Brady. A lot has transpired since the Brady podium visit 5 months ago....like being judged guilty....it is only natural for the media to want "something" from Brady......and given the pause in the action this week, the media is trying to pull Brady out from "seclusion."
Personally, I agree Brady should zip it, his people should zip it, and let the process proceed as quietly as possible...ha ha. Let the league continue to demonstrate spiteful incompetence and let Goodell tighten the noose around his own neck. (we can only hope). Nothing positive can come from Brady going public once again..........just know the media currently has free time to speculate and demonize...and a silent Brady is an easy target.

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Never understood how other posters liking a writer makes someone who doesn't like him hypocritical.
"This board" is not a shared mind.

AndyJohnson said:

Never understood how other posters liking a writer makes someone who doesn't like him hypocritical.
"This board" is not a shared mind.

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True, even the cabal of Sportswriters in the Boston arena don't have a shared perspective.......hmmmm, er, ah, well.

Peter King has some positive attributes. His MMQB always has a neat stat, some number he comes up with, and often an original, new take. It is a must read, as he has an echo chamber across sporty media.

In character he is quite like Dale of Dale and Holly.
Incurably dull, square. Comically so.

Big time Moralist.
Dale is the guy who would be kicked out of Calvinist
preacher school for being too rigid.

Peter wouldn't stand with Dale in the mob yelling to lynch the SOB,
but he would cover it
and mention that a good time was had by all.
And the hotdogs were quite good, thankfully prepared
with proper plain yellow mustard.

Choirboys exhibit complete deference to authority.
Always defend the shield. As Our father, who art in heaven.

MMQB is King's baby, Bedard is there because King likes him,
wants him there.
The basic take, the basic position on things is the same.
Apple, meet tree.

JMC00 said:

On Curran's show

"He's being accused of cheating, wouldn't you like to at least hear from the guy whether he did it or not?" asked Bedard. "Maybe he did do it. Maybe he did it to some extent. If I'm going to make an argument for Tom Brady in saying that he's innocent, I at least want to hear from the man saying that.

"Either you write history, or history is written about you. He's been accused of cheating and he's not denying it."



He denied it after the AFCC game in the press conference and he is now appealing it. What more is he suppose to do? If he comes out and denies it again people will just say he is lying.

Just disappointing that bedard decided to drink the kool aid on this.

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Yes, because the media has been so fair and even on this topic. They would never take a comment out of context and extrapolate an entire alternate universe where the laws of physics are randomly applied.

I can't believe that a professional journalist answered a question with this type of tone.

Yeah, I won’t be doing that. The point of putting in that section was to show that the whole “science” part of this is ridiculous, on both sides. How do you know when the NFL actually got around to testing the Patriots’ balls? What about the balls that were tested at the end, right before the Colts’ balls. You and whoever else can mock Exponent if you want, but the fact remains Dr. Daniel R. Marlow, a decorated physics scholar from Princeton, signed off on the science portion of the report. So you can’t just toss it out.

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So he just admitted that there's not enough information in the experiment which supposedly proved tampering to prove no tampering. Unwrap that in your head for a few minutes.

The bottom line is, we’re talking about football. This isn’t a capital murder case. We’re not deciphering some complicated math proof. It’s football. The NFL itself (signed off by all the owners) lowered the bar on competitive rules violations because they shouldn’t need guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I agree with them.

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Ergo, it's arbitrary, there is no truth or justice to be found, or needed, and for some reason, we should all still care about the competitive honesty of the sport enough to recognize that the penalty was, therefore, just.

Wow. Just wow.

If you don’t want to get busted, then stay clear of the gray line. Don’t go into the bathroom with the footballs and then lie repeatedly about it.

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Lie repeatedly? McNally said nothing was unusual. The two guards in the tunnel said he goes out alone with the balls about half the time. No big deal. Happens all the time.

But no, says the report! NEVER happened in 19 years with Walt Anderson.

Then it happened again after the halftime weigh-in, and it's on video.

Stay clear of the gray line? That's the whole damned point: this entire process is nothing but a gray line!

Don’t text about pumping up footballs when your gameday duties shouldn’t ever involve the handling of footballs. Don’t call yourself the deflator, or joke about going to ESPN.

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Let me see your phone, Bedard. Bet you dollars to donuts there's a million things on there I could take out of context and make you look really, really bad.

And don’t decide you’re not going to fully cooperate, or withhold witnesses. Do everything by the letter, then you can tee up the science and take it for a ride, if you want. Be my guest. Until then, you have to deal with more than just the appearance of impropriety.

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How about, if you want cooperation in this investigation which is NOT vital to world peace (as Bedard pointed out, "the bottom line is, we’re talking about football. This isn’t a capital murder case. We’re not deciphering some complicated math proof. It’s football") then DON'T LEAK THE PART-TIME WORKER'S ADDRESS SO SOME ESPN HUNTER CAN SHOW UP AT HIS HOME AND HARASS HIM!

Good lord, what a snarky, one-sided, ridiculous answer to a reader's question.

The media wants to move on - period. They want to talk about new topics, because the level of understanding and knowledge needed to continue the dialogue on Deflategate is just too exhausting. Although there are many scientific journalists who can converse intelligently about sports, the opposite is not the case for sports journalists. Few are capable of critical thinking on principles of physics, and none want to lose readers by attempting it.

The Wells scientific report was inconclusive, based on absence of full data and many assumptions. Signing off on that conclusion is not going to damage the Princeton professor. However, neither does it mean that the laws of physics cannot account for the loss of pressure. All the report did was spin the information so that this reason was rejected. What should have happened in this case is that a probability factor should have been applied. But that would not have served the NFL vigilantes' purpose. The Ideal Gas Law, even without all the data from the event, is still more probable cause for low pressure than the 90 seconds to release circa .5 psi from 12 footballs in a toilet by a weight challenged individual carrying two bags of balls. Occam's razor should suggest the toilet break was indeed to strain the attendant's potatoes.

No doubt Dr Daniel Morrow will be happy with his fee from Exponent, and the fact that the sports writers of America have his back.

So Bedard brings up some scientific facts to back his claim of wrongdoing by the Pats, but when someone gives a reasonable retort, he then states the science is useless. Can't have it both ways.

Bedard has been such an ******* over the past couple weeks. He really belongs with Felger. It is one thing to be unsure of Brady's innocence and raise questions. Bedard has gone further than that and been a jerk about it. Screw him.

juny said:

Can't have it both ways.

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Bedard's editor said he could have it both ways.

Ooops, were you questioning Bedard's sexual orientation?

If he wants Brady to talk ok, it's his right to want that, if he pretends to be a moron by saying Brady should go vocal when he shouldn't, well then he is just a moron. If he actually believes that the best course of action right now for Brady is to speak and answer questions from the press, then he went in full ****** mode and you never go full ******.

About him being a fan favorite writer months ago breaking down the games on the clowns show, he used to think different than those 2 idiots, now he's on board with them, so screw them all. You take a lifetime to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to destroy it.

AndyJohnson said:

Never understood how other posters liking a writer makes someone who doesn't like him hypocritical.
"This board" is not a shared mind.

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I define "shared mind" using the industry standard "more probable than not"
Regarding Bedard's usual high esteem on this board, no other sports reporter has his local Patriots media sessions transcribed. You may not be alone in your opinions of Bedard (I for one hold give zero value to any media member but Reiss), but as a collective, Patsfans members have endorsed Bedard's Pats coverage...until now. Lines have been drawn.
Regarding the media and the role of science in this exercise......why deal in facts when all they need to do is talk about the "smoking gun" texts. They have what they feel are self incriminating confessions by Beavis and Butthead.......everything else is clutter. It appears the NFL has effectively redirected the discussion and the media likes a nice compact package for their 30 second sound bites.

borg said:

I define "shared mind" using the industry standard "more probable than not"
Regarding Bedard's usual high esteem on this board, no other sports reporter has his local Patriots media sessions transcribed. You may not be alone in your opinions of Bedard (I for one hold give zero value to any media member but Reiss), but as a collective, Patsfans members have endorsed Bedard's Pats coverage...until now. Lines have been drawn.
Regarding the media and the role of science in this exercise......why deal in facts when all they need to do is talk about the "smoking gun" texts. They have what they feel are self incriminating confessions by Beavis and Butthead.......everything else is clutter. It appears the NFL has effectively redirected the discussion and the media likes a nice compact package for their 30 second sound bites.

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I don't agree on Bedard being in high esteem. He is one of the few who actually discuss football, so that is why his interviews are transcribed, but the general opinion is as an analyst he makes a good reporter.
Really the threads on his interviews are simply an exercise in a couple of people on this board who revolve around telling everyone they are right, using him as an appeal to authority.

Bedard's comments above are just childish and very unprofessional.

varjao said:

...so screw them all. You take a lifetime to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to destroy it.

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Is this about Bedard or Kraft?

Both, actually.

borg said:

When Bedard blows smoke up NE's bum, this board celebrates his "wisdom." Now that Bedard has crossed to the dark side on issue NE has been judged guilty, Bedard has become the pariah. Guess he got stupid in the off season.

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Bedard can occasionally give good insights with regard to playing the game itself. His trip to the dark side coincides with his desire to make up his own pseudoscientific explanations and pass them off as valid, while pretending to be some sort of psychoanalyst as well.

He's faking an understanding of the scientific aspects of the Wells Report.

At first I was worried about Mike Florio seeming to be blowing smoke up NE's bum as well this time around, that maybe he was just being a contrarian and was faking an understanding of the weaknesses of the Wells report. But his descriptions have been accurate enough, and his background sufficiently solid (Florio has engineering degrees from Carnegie-Mellon) to make me think that he actually grasps it.

bottom line: a writer may have credibility on some topics based upon his expertise, but you have to read /listen very cautiously when he starts pretending to know things that he is completely clueless about.

I only read Bedard in season because he is pretty good at X's and O's. Don't want to read this guys take on morality and values. I've got plenty of other options there. At least you know Curran has read the entire Wells report and shredded it because he knows it's an utter piece of trash.

AndyJohnson said:

Never understood how other posters liking a writer makes someone who doesn't like him hypocritical.
"This board" is not a shared mind.

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Well stated Andy. Those Bedard threads do nothing for me, and I stopped reading them. It's a lot of stuff like "Thinks Revis really played well" and "offensive line showing improvement" and other stuff that he gets a lot of credit for because the bar for sports writing is so low that a limbo champion couldn't get under it. We expect so little insight from these guys that the moment they actually prove they watched the all-22 a lot of people get very excited. Not me. I read very few writers consistently, and the only Patriots writer who I put stock in is Mike Reiss, because he stays in his lane and reports. Not living in NE, I am not subjected to the shrieking idiocy of buffoons like Shank and Felger, and I prefer to keep it that way.

Bedard's football analysis is no better than Todd McShay's draft analysis. So yes I am very comfortable calling him a media stooge, because he doesn't seem so stupid as to not know better.

AndyJohnson said:

Really the threads on his interviews are simply an exercise in a couple of people on this board who revolve around telling everyone they are right, using him as an appeal to authority.

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LOL.

I am one of the people who has transcribed Bedard and have tweeted that I do.

Read this. It is from a guy in New England who writes specifically to get people to hate him because he gets more followers and this makes more money. he actually sounds like he might be a sports writer around here http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things-you-learn-getting-paid-to-troll-people-online/

I have friends and family and others who I like and respect but I don't always agree with some of their opinions. Bedard is the same.

As to Brady's silence, he is a US Citizen and must have heard about the Miranda Rights: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. You could change court of law to court of public opinion and it would be applicable. The media has already taken his previous press conferences about the allegations about deflation and twisted his words to their own agenda.

Brady has hired one of the best sports lawyers and his team in the country. He has filed an appeal. That says he doesn't agree with his punishment and is going to fight it. He doesn't need to say it out loud. In the mean time, he does what he always has done, enjoy free time with family and friends and focus on football. It's business as usual. He knows that any statement he makes will just ignite the deflategate debate. I looked at PFT before I posted this article and there was not one deflategate or Patriot post on the front page.