Curran: Belichick deliberately lays an egg at NFL breakfast

Tunescribe said:

No, BB is very rude to the media but has his reasons and gets away with it because he's been so successful. They're not all "dumb-ass questions." Most are questions we, as fans, would like hearing answers to. But by now, Pats fans know he ain't saying much, doesn't like saying much, and considers media time a pain-in-the-ass obligation. In fact, he's so rude it's funny: " ... he proceeds to methodically move all microphones back about 18 inches. He then uses his forearms to snowplow the tape recorders away." That's funny stuff but still rude as hell.

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Sorry man I disagree( but I never use those buttons- THAT'S rude). First of all, maybe YOU want him to answer those questions but I don't. I've never heard him not give a decent answer to a decent question. I don't want him talking about injuries or anything that might help an opponent. Funk fantasy football. Fantasy is mostly people who know very little about football- but think they do. And sadly , there's so much $ involved the NFL has let the game devolve from the art form is was circa 2004, to what it is today- still great but not as great as it was.

jimnance said:

Sorry man I disagree( but I never use those buttons- THAT'S rude). First of all, maybe YOU want him to answer those questions but I don't. I've never heard him not give a decent answer to a decent question. I don't want him talking about injuries or anything that might help an opponent. Funk fantasy football. Fantasy is mostly people who know very little about football- but think they do. And sadly , there's so much $ involved the NFL has let the game devolve from the art form is was circa 2004, to what it is today- still great but not as great as it was.

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I agree with what you say about useless fantasy football, not giving info on injuries, how the game has devolved, etc. But if you listen to the questions asked of BB, most of them are pretty reasonable -- regarding, for example, how he expects a new free-agent signing to fit with scheme and rotation, etc. Those are the kinds of things fans want to know. Justifiably or not, BB has a burr up his butt about the media, is rude about it, and it's unnecessary. We excuse it because he is a winner and laugh because he's so cranky and blatant about it.

If you haven't heard him not give a decent answer to a decent question, you simply haven't seen enough of his press conferences. Most of the time he just doesn't want to be there but how he deals with them depends on his mood. All the beat writers will confirm that. Even Tom Curran, who is pretty damn solid, said he has asked BB many thousands of questions over the years and the good answers he's received number in the hundreds. Sure, the media can be stupid and needlessly provocative and rightly earn BB's disdain. But most of this boils down to BB's inherent impatience with that part of his job. Personally I'm not bothered by it, but I see this for what it is.

Tunescribe said:

I agree with what you say about useless fantasy football, not giving info on injuries, how the game has devolved, etc. But if you listen to the questions asked of BB, most of them are pretty reasonable -- regarding, for example, how he expects a new free-agent signing to fit with scheme and rotation, etc. Those are the kinds of things fans want to know. Justifiably or not, BB has a burr up his butt about the media, is rude about it, and it's unnecessary. We excuse it because he is a winner and laugh because he's so cranky and blatant about it.

If you haven't heard him not give a decent answer to a decent question, you simply haven't seen enough of his press conferences. Most of the time he just doesn't want to be there but how he deals with them depends on his mood. All the beat writers will confirm that. Even Tom Curran, who is pretty damn solid, said he has asked BB many thousands of questions over the years and the good answers he's received number in the hundreds. Sure, the media can be stupid and needlessly provocative and rightly earn BB's disdain. But most of this boils down to BB's inherent impatience with that part of his job. Personally I'm not bothered by it, but I see this for what it is.

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Not being to come off as argumentative, Tune, because I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I also feel that there is a partial explanation that comes off to me as "reasonable" when you assume that a good portion of those questions from Curran are ones that he already knows that Belichick doesn't wish to address.

Since the media has no problems with asking him the same series of questions over and over again, there should be some expected heel digging and a refusal to answer those queries. Even an excellent reporter like Curran who is just trying to do his job still knows the difference between what will be answered and what won't. It seems to me that Belichick is fairly chatty when he's actually asked something that he either 1) hasn't already addressed many times over, or 2) doesn't feel offers anyone else a competitive advantage. Add in a post-2007 "number three" which pertains to cheating accusations and a plethora of stupid questions, and it's not terribly surprising to see him retreat back into his shell.

captain stone said:

Because when he is the only HC not to participate in the group photo , and when that opportunity only can happen once a year, it makes him look petty.

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Well.. ok then. If you care about how he looks to the outside then I understand your point. So you also care that he is the only coach who doesn't take the leagues paycheck to give away his likeness for computer games ect. ?

Quite honestly I respect him even more for not being peer pressured/tempted by easy money but doing whatever he wants about irrelevant crap like that.

BB views a lot of this stuff as frivolous and completely unnecessary, he lives for coaching football and not a lot else, so when he has to do mandated things he reacts as he views them as completely foolish.. from wearing the properly branded clothing on the sidelines to mandated press conferences, it all seems to be beyond the scope of what he views as his coaching responsibility..

The other motive for all of this, is that he takes the focus off of the team and puts it squarely on him.. so instead of speaking about this or that issue, he becomes the topic.. all of this is purposeful, and I eagerly await the post career book that puts all of this into context.

Taking a group picture or negotiating a deal on the phone, take the latter any day.. it is not as though he sneaks off and does frivolous things..

supafly said:

Not being to come off as argumentative, Tune, because I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I also feel that there is a partial explanation that comes off to me as "reasonable" when you assume that a good portion of those questions from Curran are ones that he already knows that Belichick doesn't wish to address.

Since the media has no problems with asking him the same series of questions over and over again, there should be some expected heel digging and a refusal to answer those queries. Even an excellent reporter like Curran who is just trying to do his job still knows the difference between what will be answered and what won't. It seems to me that Belichick is fairly chatty when he's actually asked something that he either 1) hasn't already addressed many times over, or 2) doesn't feel offers anyone else a competitive advantage. Add in a post-2007 "number three" which pertains to cheating accusations and a plethora of stupid questions, and it's not terribly surprising to see him retreat back into his shell.

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I understand how/why so many people here have come to hate the media (for good reason re., people like Tomase, Borges, Tanguay, Felger, etc.). Yet, Curran, Reiss and others sincerely work hard at their jobs with intent to inform readers/listeners and part of that is asking important questions they know might not be answered. They still must be asked so an official record is established that (A) the information was sought and (B) the information was denied or given. That's just part of the journalistic process, and an important one regardless.

BB is chatty when the mood strikes him or if he's personally interested in the subject matter, not necessarily because he has been asked a good question. His refusal to answer questions that might offer the opponent a competitive advantage or involve sensitive league matters like cameragate, framegate, etc. totally is understandable. Yet, his reluctance to cooperate goes way beyond that to the point of being unnecessarily obstinate. Again, he gets away with treating the media poorly because he wins. If someone like Mike Mularkey or Jack Del Rio acted like BB toward the media they'd probably get told to be more cooperative or be out of a job.

I don't care that BB is an uncooperative ass to the media all that much simply because he does win, and his crankiness is kind of entertaining at times. But I think we tend to blame the media for this more than we should. Just imagine how much more interesting it would be for all of us if BB opened up just a little more -- not with things that would compromise him competitively, but in small ways offering insight to great coaching and great organization.

Tunescribe said:

I understand how/why so many people here have come to hate the media (for good reason re., people like Tomase, Borges, Tanguay, Felger, etc.). Yet, Curran, Reiss and others sincerely work hard at their jobs with intent to inform readers/listeners and part of that is asking important questions they know might not be answered. They still must be asked so an official record is established that (A) the information was sought and (B) the information was denied or given. That's just part of the journalistic process, and an important one regardless.

BB is chatty when the mood strikes him or if he's personally interested in the subject matter, not necessarily because he has been asked a good question. His refusal to answer questions that might offer the opponent a competitive advantage or involve sensitive league matters like cameragate, framegate, etc. totally is understandable. Yet, his reluctance to cooperate goes way beyond that to the point of being unnecessarily obstinate. Again, he gets away with treating the media poorly because he wins. If someone like Mike Mularkey or Jack Del Rio acted like BB toward the media they'd probably get told to be more cooperative or be out of a job.

I don't care that BB is an uncooperative ass to the media all that much simply because he does win, and his crankiness is kind of entertaining at times. But I think we tend to blame the media for this more than we should. Just imagine how much more interesting it would be for all of us if BB opened up just a little more -- not with things that would compromise him competitively, but in small ways offering insight to great coaching and great organization.

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I think you make a lot of fine points, and I definitely agree that it would be much more interesting to see the Belichick that we sometimes see during Super Bowl week. No arguments here.

I still think that even the best guys like Reiss, Curran, Howe, etc can still tend to ask questions that come off as redundant and/or unnecessary, even though it's still going to be part of their jobs. They at least seem to understand the fact that he is who he is, and don't seem to hold grudges over it. I just think he's generally a quiet and reserved type of guy. I also think that he may feel a bit on the defensive after everything that's happened post-2007 (pure speculation, of course). I don't think the media has done much to earn his respect, and it's unfortunate that they've often portrayed him as the villain. Maybe he embraces the role a bit? I dunno, but your post gave me more insight into the other side of the coin, so thanks.

DarrylS said:

...Taking a group picture or negotiating a deal on the phone, take the latter any day.. it is not as though he sneaks off and does frivolous things.

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I am highly, highly doubtful that any deal which Bill was attempting to negotiate has been jeopardized by the 10 damn minutes it would take to pose for a picture with every other HC in the league. If that lame excuse were actually based in reality, then why has no other HC used it to not pose for it?

I don't care if Bill doesn't say even one word to the press during the breakfast, but he should still pose for the group photo as every other HC has always done...but him.

captain stone said:

I am highly, highly doubtful that any deal which Bill was attempting to negotiate has been jeopardized by the 10 damn minutes it would take to pose for a picture with every other HC in the league. If that lame excuse were actually based in reality, then why has no other HC used it to not pose for it?

I don't care if Bill doesn't say even one word to the press during the breakfast, but he should still pose for the group photo as every other HC has always done...but him.

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It really does make him look petty.

AtomicDawg said:

And someone is butt hurt about this whole thing:



And this whining, biatching and complaining goes on for several lines down. I can smell the salt from here. JFC. After "17 years and counting" being a media hack you'd think he'd expect this. Eh.

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You would think so but these 'peope' are so self-absorbed they think that that they 'represent' the fan community and have a God given right to be respected and any time they want, it is your obligation to honor their demands. I think BB is giving them all they deserve and in fact, I think he tolerates them far too much.

Remember this when thinking about BB.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

I thought BB's reason from being included in the photo is due to his non-participation in the coaches union?