Fleger is pissing me off

[rookBoston]

As a new example of inflammatory journalism (if you can call it journalism), what about this little barb in his report card on the Bills game:

How about deciding to go for it on fourth-and-2 at the Bills’ 26-yard line with two minutes remaining? Call it life after Adam (Vinatieri).

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=157121&format=&page=3

Talk about totally misreading the situation. Does he even understand the game of football?

If the Pats had taken the 3 points, they would have gone up by 5 points, giving the ball back to the Bills for last minute heroics. That FG is almost worthless, except in Vegas. The only value in the game is that it would have taken a Buffalo FG out of consideration. It forces them to try for a TD.

But, by going for it on 4th down, and making it the Pats iced the game. That one play clinches the win, because they were able kneel on the ball and win by 2. Precisely what happened.

Now, supposing they try and dont make it on 4th down, they turn the ball over deep in Buffalo territory. And Buffalo only needs to get into FG range to win it all, but they still need to drive the length of the field.

But, as BB mentioned in his post-game, he felt that the OL was the strength of the team, and they had dominated in the running attack. So, to me, going for it on 4th down to win the game, instead of taking the 3 and giving the ball to Buffalo, was actually a stroke of genius, a very smart bet and a perfect example of situational football in action. It's called keep away.

Of course, Felger uses the call as evidence that BB doesn't trust his kicker. What utter crap. More like, it's evidence that he knows he has a dominant running game that can get 2 yards against the Bills when it's needed.

The kid kicker has yet to let us down ever. And whether it was Gost or Adam kicking the ball, the decision to go for it at the end of the game had nothing to do with the kicker at all.

I think this wouldn't bother me so much is Felger weren't so smug about how smart he thinks he is, and how self-assured he is that he "understands" the Pats. This, on top of the entire Smith/Childress misinformation session, roasting BB on the entire Branch thing... what a crock. He's quickly going the way of Borges on my sh!t list.

 

[Slagathor]

Flucking Fleger!!!

 

[Brownfan80]

What a moron.


Do some readers really have a low enough IQ to buy into that line of thinking? Or do they all just call him a moron and move on?

If it's the latter, I wonder why this schlub even has a job.

 

[BelichickFan]

The kid kicker has yet to let us down ever. And whether it was Gost or Adam kicking the ball, the decision to go for it at the end of the game had nothing to do with the kicker at all.

Agreed. Personally I'm kicking the FG. But for me, and I am sure for Belichick, who would have kicked wasn't the deciding factor.

 

[emoney_33]

My thoughts exactly when I read the paper today. I used to like Felger, he's absolutely pitiful now.

 

[PrjctLrk]

Felger has been flat out WRONG on about 4 or 5 items in the past two weeks alone... right? Maroney out.. wrong. Bruschi in... wrong. Smith signed for a look into Buffalo's playbook... wrong. On and on and on. The man is almost as irelevant as Borges.

 

[SWelker]

Wow, what a joke that is.

 

[emoney_33]

Felger has been flat out WRONG on about 4 or 5 items in the past two weeks alone... right? Maroney out.. wrong. Bruschi in... wrong. Smith signed for a look into Buffalo's playbook... wrong. On and on and on. The man is almost as irelevant as Borges.

And did you see his face and attitude when he was right about the bills game actually being close? I think it was Burton who said something along the lines of wow no one expected the game to be like that. And then Felger jumps right up all giddy, "I DID! I DID! Was this the patriots playing poorly or playing to their capabilities..." blah blah blah... Felger is a bum

 

[Oswlek]

Yes, considering NE had a lot of 4th and short attempts in long FG range last year, it takes a fool to believe that it was Gostkowski that wsa the biggest reason for the decision to go for it.

I don't believe that the FG was "worthless" though. If they were up by 3+, then I would feel a little more comfortable about throwing that word around, but if NE failed Buffalo was only 35 or so yards away from possibly winning the game.

As an aside, Brownfan I have to admit that I was wrong. Unless NE felt that there was something about Hobbs in particular that matched up really well with Evans, having Hobbs cover Buffalo's #1 all day regardless of where he lined up is enough evidence for me to conclude that they think he is their best CB.

You were right and I was wrong. I still think that Samuel is a good CB, though.

 

[flutie2phelan]

Rook is right again, of course.
But he's probably not as photogenic
as tv producers think Felger is.

Every 20 or 30 times one of these two a-holes (add wRONg)
shows his true colors yet again, i feel obliged to point out ...
that if you all would only ignore them,
eventually they would shut up and go away
like our own small children do.

 

[Slagathor]

What a moron.


Do some readers really have a low enough IQ to buy into that line of thinking? Or do they all just call him a moron and move on?

If it's the latter, I wonder why this schlub even has a job.

I've thought about this long and hard.....and then it came to me.

As we can all see, there are few guys in the media who pro-Pats. The reason for this though has little to do any anti-pats bias or anger at a lack of accessibility to the team.

Rather, all these guys (Borges, Felger, the dooshbags on Fox and now even Tomase) are auditioning for the ever expanding NFL National Media market.

With all the new TV and internet NFL journalistic venues, these guys are looking for a "step up" from the pathetic local coverage.

Hence, they can't be homers.

They have to be serious, controversial and antagonistic and dare I say unbiased.

I'm totally convinced of this.


Strangely, they should look at the example of Tom Curranand Mike Smith, whom I think are quite good, were very fair to the team.....and guess what....they hit paydirt.

 

[RAWKY]

Guys this thread is the very reason he wrote that statement....it's called Sports Talk.

Sports Talk is where a radio host makes an outlandish statement, or takes an unpopular position about the home team and the phone lines light up with Fan's frothing at the mouth. It is all an act to create controversy and stir the pot.

Felger has simply incorporated this model in his column, he is just chumming the waters for Fan Fish.

 

[rookBoston]

Guys this thread is the very reason he wrote that statement....it's called Sports Talk.

Sports Talk is where a radio host makes an outlandish statement, or takes an unpopular position about the home team and the phone lines light up with Fan's frothing at the mouth. It is all an act to create controversy and stir the pot.

Felger has simply incorporated this model in his column, he is just chumming the waters for Fan Fish.

Well if he's doing it on purpose, then instead of a moron he's just an incredible a**hole. Either way works for me.

 

[NavinR.Johnson]

Guys this thread is the very reason he wrote that statement....it's called Sports Talk.

Sports Talk is where a radio host makes an outlandish statement, or takes an unpopular position about the home team and the phone lines light up with Fan's frothing at the mouth. It is all an act to create controversy and stir the pot.

Felger has simply incorporated this model in his column, he is just chumming the waters for Fan Fish.

Exactly!! Holey was commenting on this today when talking about the Branch deal. He basically said the Pats of the past few years have been bad for talk radio ( selling newspapers as well ) because they are able to keep themselves out of such controversy.

 

[Slagathor]

Guys this thread is the very reason he wrote that statement....it's called Sports Talk.

Sports Talk is where a radio host makes an outlandish statement, or takes an unpopular position about the home team and the phone lines light up with Fan's frothing at the mouth. It is all an act to create controversy and stir the pot.

Felger has simply incorporated this model in his column, he is just chumming the waters for Fan Fish.

That's all fine, but don't expect anyone to view you as a genuine journalist.

At that point, you become the sporting world's version of Howard Stern.

 

[frazpt]

Have to agree with Slagathor and Rawky. He is trying to get noticed and get people going, so they will call his ESPN show and watch FSN New England and 4 Downs with Felger, just to call him a moron. That way his ratings are higher and maybe a national platform will call him to critique games.

It's a shame b/c I use to respect him. Now Riess is the best reporter in my opinion, probably followed by Thomase, who I know gets picked on, but I feel does quality reporting. F**k Felger.

 

[PonyExpress]

I have my own conspiracy theory about Felger's conspiracy theories. F's wife is a newswoman hottie who gets around in upper crust circles and drags this slob along. She actually accompanied Brady and Kraft on their trip to Israel. I believe Felger is friendly on a social level with the Krafts and others within the Pats organization, and I think they plant stories with him to press buttons with their players. The coincidences are too many to ignore. F kept beating on Corey being washed up a minicamp, and how J. Sullivan was a "tub of goo". I think the Pats encouraged F to write these stories to motivate their players, in exchange for certain inside scoops. Meanwhile Felger, the classic stooge rat undercover type, at all other times flaunts his supposed independence and criticism to an outrageous degree to cover up the fact he is actually doing dirty work for the Patriots. Just a hunch.

 

[I'm Ron Borges?]

As a new example of inflammatory journalism (if you can call it journalism), what about this little barb in his report card on the Bills game:



http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=157121&format=&page=3

Talk about totally misreading the situation. Does he even understand the game of football?

If the Pats had taken the 3 points, they would have gone up by 5 points, giving the ball back to the Bills for last minute heroics. That FG is almost worthless, except in Vegas. The only value in the game is that it would have taken a Buffalo FG out of consideration. It forces them to try for a TD.

But, by going for it on 4th down, and making it the Pats iced the game. That one play clinches the win, because they were able kneel on the ball and win by 2. Precisely what happened.

Now, supposing they try and dont make it on 4th down, they turn the ball over deep in Buffalo territory. And Buffalo only needs to get into FG range to win it all, but they still need to drive the length of the field.

But, as BB mentioned in his post-game, he felt that the OL was the strength of the team, and they had dominated in the running attack. So, to me, going for it on 4th down to win the game, instead of taking the 3 and giving the ball to Buffalo, was actually a stroke of genius, a very smart bet and a perfect example of situational football in action. It's called keep away.

Of course, Felger uses the call as evidence that BB doesn't trust his kicker. What utter crap. More like, it's evidence that he knows he has a dominant running game that can get 2 yards against the Bills when it's needed.

The kid kicker has yet to let us down ever. And whether it was Gost or Adam kicking the ball, the decision to go for it at the end of the game had nothing to do with the kicker at all.

I think this wouldn't bother me so much is Felger weren't so smug about how smart he thinks he is, and how self-assured he is that he "understands" the Pats. This, on top of the entire Smith/Childress misinformation session, roasting BB on the entire Branch thing... what a crock. He's quickly going the way of Borges on my sh!t list.

It's not journalism, it's his opinion. That's what a report card is. My God, let's have a poll on here asking how many people went to college. Felger's report card is not the same as basic reporting. He has a column and so does Borges. All journalism rules go out the window in a column. How many times do we have to go over this? I'm starting to think that a lot of posters here are like 16-years old.

 

[Slagathor]

I have my own conspiracy theory about Felger's conspiracy theories. F's wife is a newswoman hottie who gets around in upper crust circles and drags this slob along. She actually accompanied Brady and Kraft on their trip to Israel. I believe Felger is friendly on a social level with the Krafts and others within the Pats organization, and I think they plant stories with him to press buttons with their players. The coincidences are too many to ignore. F kept beating on Corey being washed up a minicamp, and how J. Sullivan was a "tub of goo". I think the Pats encouraged F to write these stories to motivate their players, in exchange for certain inside scoops. Meanwhile Felger, the classic stooge rat undercover type, at all other times flaunts his supposed independence and criticism to an outrageous degree to cover up the fact he is actually doing dirty work for the Patriots. Just a hunch.

I dunno about that.

Felger spews way to much vitriol at the FO and organization itself. I can't see how that would benefit the Pat's cause.

 

[PonyExpress]

I dunno about that.

Felger spews way to much vitriol at the FO and organization itself. I can't see how that would benefit the Pat's cause.

He's so over the top, it's the classic case of the informant IMO. Remember, his wife went on a trip with the owner of the Patriots and Tom Brady. Does that sound like someone on the outside looking in?