14thDragon
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2006
- Messages
- 701
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I was driving to work this morning with NFL radio on, and they were having an interview with David Elfin, head of the ProFootball Writers Association.
What surprised me was the fact that he took about a half dozen shots at Bill B and the Patriots organization. He blames thier success and the rise of Saban, Mangni and Crennel on the fact that more organizations are becoming more closed to the media. He was livid over the fact that these guys do not give full accounts of injury information and limit access directly to the players. He compared it to the access that baseball and basketball writers get to the locker rooms.
What was funny is how he presented the issue. He started talking about how the best society is one with free and open information. His attitude on the importance of an independent press being vital to liberty, while on the one hand commedable, seemed a bit over the top for football. (Somehow I have trouble seeing the rise of a police state resulting from the restrictions to football injury information, but I am not a member of the press.)
In addition he was highly critcle of the NFL network, team websites, team news branches and team radio broadcasts. Apprently free media is dire straights from the fact that these entities can get better access, release information faster, but would be beholden to the NFL or an NFL team, thus not be as objective and critcle as is warrented.
I could not help but think at the end of the interview, what is this guys real issue? Is that he actually thinks that covering sports is such a corner stone of free society? Or is it that he wants the teams to make it easy as possible to do his job and offer no competition to him?
Also can this help explain why some in the Boston print media are so hyper criticle of the Patriots? Given the fact that BB is not going to do thier job for them and the fact that the Patriots have PFW, PVN, Patriots Today, Patriots Web Radio and all the information on their website they see the entire organization limiting thier access and simulatenously competing with them for the audience?
What surprised me was the fact that he took about a half dozen shots at Bill B and the Patriots organization. He blames thier success and the rise of Saban, Mangni and Crennel on the fact that more organizations are becoming more closed to the media. He was livid over the fact that these guys do not give full accounts of injury information and limit access directly to the players. He compared it to the access that baseball and basketball writers get to the locker rooms.
What was funny is how he presented the issue. He started talking about how the best society is one with free and open information. His attitude on the importance of an independent press being vital to liberty, while on the one hand commedable, seemed a bit over the top for football. (Somehow I have trouble seeing the rise of a police state resulting from the restrictions to football injury information, but I am not a member of the press.)
In addition he was highly critcle of the NFL network, team websites, team news branches and team radio broadcasts. Apprently free media is dire straights from the fact that these entities can get better access, release information faster, but would be beholden to the NFL or an NFL team, thus not be as objective and critcle as is warrented.
I could not help but think at the end of the interview, what is this guys real issue? Is that he actually thinks that covering sports is such a corner stone of free society? Or is it that he wants the teams to make it easy as possible to do his job and offer no competition to him?
Also can this help explain why some in the Boston print media are so hyper criticle of the Patriots? Given the fact that BB is not going to do thier job for them and the fact that the Patriots have PFW, PVN, Patriots Today, Patriots Web Radio and all the information on their website they see the entire organization limiting thier access and simulatenously competing with them for the audience?
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