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Jerry Beach has just written a book called Fighting Words: The Media, The Red Sox and How Boston Finally Won It All. The book focuses on the relationship between the Boston Red Sox and the Boston media but was originally going to be about the Boston media and all four pro sports teams. What may be of interest to Pats fans is that there was originally going to be a chapter devoted to the relationship between the Boston media and the Patriots. That ended up not being included in the book, but the author does talk about what he was prepared to include on his blog/website: Fighting Words The Director's Cut: The Patriots Chapter (Part One)
Although it is a somewhat lengthy column, I thought it was very good read. Interesting to note at the very end of the column was a quote by the Globe's Nick Cafardo - he had Mike Reiss' position with the paper before the Globe hired Reiss - about how Bill Parcells would spend time with reporters in off-the-record sessions after press conferences. Cafardo goes on to talk about how Parcells was "very entertaining" and "would always fill up your notebook."
Following in Parcells footsteps, it's not a surprise that the media excoriates Belichick; they lust for another Parcells.
Only in Boston could a record-shattering NFL team play in the shadow of a baseball team that went more than 80 seasons between world championships. On Sept. 19, 2004, the Patriots, who had just won their 17th game--two shy of the NFL record--shared the dominant front page photo in The Boston Globe with the wild card-leading Red Sox, who had just lost their second in a row to the Yankees to all but fall out of contention in the AL East.
The headline inside the box—17 IN A ROW…TWO IN A ROW—made it seem as if the Sox’ losing streak and Patriots’ winning streak were equally significant feats.
This was a remarkably bizarre situation to the rest of the country. “That’s another thing that mystifies people from outside of New England,” Boston Herald Red Sox beat writer Sean McAdam said. “If you look around and look at the numbers—and I’ve occasionally done this exercise with other people in the business—and asked how many markets in America does baseball hold sway over football still, and the general consensus is that, at tops, it’s less than a half dozen.”
Although it is a somewhat lengthy column, I thought it was very good read. Interesting to note at the very end of the column was a quote by the Globe's Nick Cafardo - he had Mike Reiss' position with the paper before the Globe hired Reiss - about how Bill Parcells would spend time with reporters in off-the-record sessions after press conferences. Cafardo goes on to talk about how Parcells was "very entertaining" and "would always fill up your notebook."
Following in Parcells footsteps, it's not a surprise that the media excoriates Belichick; they lust for another Parcells.