Borges Suspended

[salty]

He should be fired for this. Plagiarism is a very serious offense. Many other newspaper reporters have been fired over it, as we all know. If a professor or grad student at any reputable university did something similar, they would be fired or expelled. There is no reason why the Globe should not be held to the same professional standards.

 

[Pats67]

Another person I'm dissapointed with is Bruce Allen of BSMW. IMO his coverage of the whole thing was underwhelmig at best. He preety much brushed it aside untill the national media picked it up and even then he didn't really do much. Go back and look at hte whole Ken Powers one. He was all over it. Compare it to the coverage he gave to the Ron. Its night and day.
In the first attempt in the morning he just tried to brush it aside by saying that nothing would come of it. Since when does he only cover stories/issues only by the "Will something come of it or not" reason? Why does there need to be a conseqeunce there for him to give it more than a measly paragraph of attention? I'm a big fan of BSMW, and will probably continue to be,but I can't help but feel disapointed in his effort today. IMO he wimped out.

If you're a Bruce fan, then you already know that no one has written more on the atrocity that is Ron Borges than Bruce Allen. Wimped out? Give me a ******* break.

The issue of the Notes and appropriating the work of other writers has been hammered on before by BSMW, NUMEROUS times. He and his readers have appealed to Sullivan I don't know how many times. It went nowhere. Above all else, I'm confused tonight why the Globe chose to act this time when they've been confronted with similar evidence - by BSMW - on other occasions in the past. And not just football columns but the other sports too. Cafardo is the worst one, which has been pointed out dozens of times by BSMW.

His comments this morning were his true opinion based on his own experiences. Wimped out? The choise he made was no doubt influenced by the number of times he's titled at that windmill before. He stuck his neck out there - with Kerry - on the 'Fire Borges' thing, which I'm sure you applauded before obviously forgetting. He's hammered him every time he made one of his slanderous personal attacks on Belichick on a radio show, be it Andlemans or Felgers. He hammered him this weekend for his flip on Thomas, which is the latest in a long line of flips, each of them Bruce hammered him on (and we've done the same on our football page). I wish I had a buck for every time I've seen Ron's comments from the 2001 draft on here - where did you guys get that, anyway? The front page of BSMW, that's where. NOBODY's done more to bring to light what a ******* creep Borges is than Bruce Allen.

Bruce is my friend, and if I know him at all, I'm sure he'd take your comments and try to give you a professional response as to why he made the choice he did today. That's how he is. I, on the other hand, am under no such obligation. Wimped out? Where the **** you been the last four years, man?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Felger had Bob Halloran, the weak link weekend sports anchor from Ch. 5 on this afternoon and they were all sympathy for poor Borgie. Admit he's agenda driven but insist he's only in trouble cause Pat's fans are thin skinned.

Felgie was touting how HE would have Borges on Wednesday...but that ain't gonna happen:

"Borges will also be barred from broadcast appearances over the next two months, Baron said. "

Don't know if it bars him from writing for an internet website as that too might be considered broadcast media. The Globe has to agree to the side gigs these guys do as part of their contract.

 

[PatsWorldChamps]

I have a feeling that some where Bill Belichick has a smile on his face.

What a week for BB! congrats bill

 

[Kdo5]

LMFAO!!!!

MAJOR PROPS to the guy who pointed out the plagerism here. And major props to the people who spread the news to Cold Hard Football Facts, PFT etc etc.

Personally I wish he got fired but this is sweet.

 

[Don Kipines]

I'm a journalist and what's weird about this whole story is how pointless it is. It takes almost no time at all to toss off a notes column of the sort that Borges was supposed to write. Literally that kind of thing takes a half-hour for someone who's a) literate and b) reads even a little bit of football news. Stealing a column like that -- from a source that's on the internet for everyone to see -- that's a huge, huge risk for a journalist to take for a very small return. You'd have to be either pathologically lazy or have a substance abuse problem to steal a column like that, considering the risks. And yes, I know about the "notes" network that these guys use. That makes it even worse. These guys have this material gift-wrapped for them -- all Borges has to do is rewrite the stuff, a process basically as easy as taking dictation, and he couldn't even do that. Incidentally, just because there is such a notes network, you're not obligated to use that material. You don't see Peter King churning out crap like that because Peter King actually picks up the phone more than once a month. Borges is a disgraceful hack, an embarrassment to the profession. I'm actually sort of upset that it took this to get him suspended, because he deserved to be fired just for sucking.

 

[Pats67]

I'm a journalist and what's weird about this whole story is how pointless it is. It takes almost no time at all to toss off a notes column of the sort that Borges was supposed to write. Literally that kind of thing takes a half-hour for someone who's a) literate and b) reads even a little bit of football news. Stealing a column like that -- from a source that's on the internet for everyone to see -- that's a huge, huge risk for a journalist to take for a very small return. You'd have to be either pathologically lazy or have a substance abuse problem to steal a column like that, considering the risks. And yes, I know about the "notes" network that these guys use. That makes it even worse. These guys have this material gift-wrapped for them -- all Borges has to do is rewrite the stuff, a process basically as easy as taking dictation, and he couldn't even do that. Incidentally, just because there is such a notes network, you're not obligated to use that material. You don't see Peter King churning out crap like that because Peter King actually picks up the phone more than once a month. Borges is a disgraceful hack, an embarrassment to the profession. I'm actually sort of upset that it took this to get him suspended, because he deserved to be fired just for sucking.

Don, doesn't the laziness just speak to the arrogance?

 

[patchick]

So the Globe has set a precedent. If any of their writers want to take a 2 month sabastical all they have to do is plagarise.
Isn't it great to have high standarts for yourslef? Unbe****inlivable.

Before everybody starts going off on the Globe the way Borges would on Belichick, this is NOT sweeping it under the rug as so many posters predicted the Globe would do. They are obviously taking it seriously. A lengthy suspension for plagiarism is a HUGE deal, virtually career-killing. And you can bet that right now they are poring over every other "notes" column he ever wrote, running phrases through Nexis. A single incident of plagiarism in a column that admitted the use of previously published sources is not an instant-firing offense for a veteran journalist. If they find more, though, he's gone.

I'm still just astonished that he could have been so stupid in this networked age.

 

[unoriginal]

Can someone tell me who effectively "broke" this story?

Someone here posted a link to a Seahawk's fan message board that cited the Seattle reporter I think - I don't know if that was the first place... then I saw people on that thread urge that others email Mike Florio

Florio did mention it but cited Cold Hard Football Facts

I'm just wondering who to thank for originally noticing it and bringing it to everyone's attention.

This is in reverse chronological order:

(1) Pat_Nasty started a thread yesterday called Borges a plagiarizer? that referenced a thread started on the Pats board at ESPN. This developed independently of the main action on the story, but it's how this board first learned of it.

(2) The ESPN thread in question was started by seattlestatman and called You guys hate Borges right? Note that ESPN is in Connecticut so the times on their boards are EST. seattlestatman posted at 7:05 pm on the 4th.

Note: It's hard to tell exactly when CHFF got their mitts on it, but by 11:31 pm this thread on Seattle's ESPN board referenced CHFF, so they were pretty quick, which is why all other media sources act they broke it.

(3) However, the real sleuth was a poster called kramsand on Mike Sando's blog, who made this post in response to a poster who quoted Borges' story on Darrell Jackson. Sando's paper is based in Tacoma, so his times are PST. That means kramsand posted at 6:53 pm EST on the 4th, and while its conceivable seattlestatman reached his epiphany independently, he would have had enough time to read the blog thread and port the news over to the ESPN board.

The posting history of seattlestatman gets cut off at 8 posts, but it does show he's posted to the Red Sox board, so he might be a Boston ex-pat and thus familiar enough with Borges and Pats fans to consider the ESPN Pats board a relevant place to take the story so quickly.

 

[salty]

Yeah, I can't believe how dumb he was to do that. All he had to do was re-write that very same material in his own words. Maybe add a couple things here or there. It would've taken him a few minutes. What a moron!

 

[JDSal45]

Borges still could be fired. If I remember correctly, some of the earlier firings started with suspensions while The Globe investigated the rest of their work. I got a feeling more of these incidents will pop up as people look closer at Borges' columns, and in fact, I know some already have.

Stay tuned, the suspension could just be the begining for old Ronnie.

J D Sal

 

[Major **********]

If you're a Bruce fan, then you already know that no one has written more on the atrocity that is Ron Borges than Bruce Allen. Wimped out? Give me a ******* break.

The issue of the Notes and appropriating the work of other writers has been hammered on before by BSMW, NUMEROUS times. He and his readers have appealed to Sullivan I don't know how many times. It went nowhere. Above all else, I'm confused tonight why the Globe chose to act this time when they've been confronted with similar evidence - by BSMW - on other occasions in the past. And not just football columns but the other sports too. Cafardo is the worst one, which has been pointed out dozens of times by BSMW.

His comments this morning were his true opinion based on his own experiences. Wimped out? The choise he made was no doubt influenced by the number of times he's titled at that windmill before. He stuck his neck out there - with Kerry - on the 'Fire Borges' thing, which I'm sure you applauded before obviously forgetting. He's hammered him every time he made one of his slanderous personal attacks on Belichick on a radio show, be it Andlemans or Felgers. He hammered him this weekend for his flip on Thomas, which is the latest in a long line of flips, each of them Bruce hammered him on (and we've done the same on our football page). I wish I had a buck for every time I've seen Ron's comments from the 2001 draft on here - where did you guys get that, anyway? The front page of BSMW, that's where. NOBODY's done more to bring to light what a ******* creep Borges is than Bruce Allen.

Bruce is my friend, and if I know him at all, I'm sure he'd take your comments and try to give you a professional response as to why he made the choice he did today. That's how he is. I, on the other hand, am under no such obligation. Wimped out? Where the **** you been the last four years, man?

Yes I am aware of the ongoing battles that Bruce has had with the Globe, and not only regarding Borges. Today he had the best oportunity and matterial and national backing to his claims yet he did relatively little. He has done more with a lot less in the past. Fairly or unfairly I expected more from him.
I don't care if you are Bruce himself. I have my opinion and I gave you the reasons for it. I'm sorry if you don't like it. I'd probalby react the same way if the roles were reversed. Like I said, I will remain a BSMW fan. That doen't mean I have to pray at the altar of Bruce allen every day.

 

[Pats67]

I'm still just astonished that he could have been so stupid in this networked age.

Stupid? Or arrogant? I think he knew exactly what he was doing, all right. He just thought he was above any mere reprimand. All you need is to get a few e-mails from him to see that.

 

[PatsMyBoyz!]

I'm a journalist and what's weird about this whole story is how pointless it is. It takes almost no time at all to toss off a notes column of the sort that Borges was supposed to write. Literally that kind of thing takes a half-hour for someone who's a) literate and b) reads even a little bit of football news. Stealing a column like that -- from a source that's on the internet for everyone to see -- that's a huge, huge risk for a journalist to take for a very small return. You'd have to be either pathologically lazy or have a substance abuse problem to steal a column like that, considering the risks. And yes, I know about the "notes" network that these guys use. That makes it even worse. These guys have this material gift-wrapped for them -- all Borges has to do is rewrite the stuff, a process basically as easy as taking dictation, and he couldn't even do that. Incidentally, just because there is such a notes network, you're not obligated to use that material. You don't see Peter King churning out crap like that because Peter King actually picks up the phone more than once a month. Borges is a disgraceful hack, an embarrassment to the profession. I'm actually sort of upset that it took this to get him suspended, because he deserved to be fired just for sucking.

Exactly. It's doubtful he was too busy to at least paraphrase lol. Maybe he's too stupid to realize he had a bullseye on his back due to all the enemies he's made,and that he should be a bit more mindful about dotting all his i's. Or probably he's too arrogant to care.

 

[smg93]

If you got caught plagiarising in college you'd be kicked out right then and there. Let's see what happens to him after the next two months. The Globe has to protect its image too so I wouldn't be surprised if they let him go as quietly as they could.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Borges as mean spirited as he is, fires one last salvo before he is booted out.

 

[everlong]

Not enough bad things can happen to Borges. I hope he gets fired, loses his HOF vote...............etc. He's a Raiders fan any way. Ship his fraudulent @ss off to Oakland with the rest of the Raider frauds.

 

[shmessy]

Don, doesn't the laziness just speak to the arrogance?

That was my feeling too. The more I consider it, though, it speaks to a complete antipathy for his audience. He is so antagonistic towards his readers that cutting and pasting (instead of actually earning his money) is his way of giving Patriots fans the finger.

Think about it. The readership (and advertisers) are who pay his salary. By not providing an honest service for the payment, he is flipping off the fans. "Let 'em eat cake".

 

[Pats67]

That doen't mean I have to pray at the altar of Bruce allen every day.

I didn't ask you to pray at any alter pal, so don't give me that ****. You gave your opinion but the minute I respond I'm asking you to pray to an alter?

That's as lazy a debate style as there is.

I'm asking you to be fair and acknowledge what the man has done - along with a full-time job and family - for the past four years.

You don't think there's a slightest chance that the Globe's action tonight was in ANY way influenced by the work that people like Bruce and Kerry have been doing for years?

"Fairly or unfairly I expect a lot more from him." Oh, okay. That makes sense.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Gawd! This terrific Borges thing and all the Pats great FA activity and tomorrow AM I leave the country and internet access for 10 days. Bummer.

 

[shmessy]

Yes I am aware of the ongoing battles that Bruce has had with the Globe, and not only regarding Borges. Today he had the best oportunity and matterial and national backing to his claims yet he did relatively little. He has done more with a lot less in the past. Fairly or unfairly I expected more from him.
I don't care if you are Bruce himself. I have my opinion and I gave you the reasons for it. I'm sorry if you don't like it. I'd probalby react the same way if the roles were reversed. Like I said, I will remain a BSMW fan. That doen't mean I have to pray at the altar of Bruce allen every day.

As one who posted a few similar posts regarding Bruce's performance today, I agree with you Odlirama. I love BSMW. I am a big fan of Bruce (and enjoy reading Pats67 in the forum over there also!).

I can understand if Bruce was just worn down from too many brush offs from the Globe in the past to his excellent campaigns regarding Borges and the Joe Sullivan love affair (and incestuous promotion) of its 17% Red Sox ownership.

Just a shame that, today when he had the filet mignon finally on a platter in front of him, he was too tired to dig in.

Hopefully, Pats67 will understand that and not mistake it for being unappreciative of Bruce, Dave Scott and all the others at BSMW.