Or maybe you don't. Bruce Allen has a great article about the coverage this team garnered over the course of an 18-1 season. Pretty sad. He also talks about your buddy John, and the part of his little power play you apparently didn't grasp. He wasn't repeating the Walsh story, he was citing another un named source with some sort of claim to vague knowledge of a taping...a source all the other media in this town were aware existed and all had deemed insufficicently credible to cite for the last four months. His reporting that became the secondary corroboration of sorts the national mediots could hang their hats on over the weekend as the combination of Goodell's responses and Specter's shenanigans were turning the Walsh pseudo story into a story too short on credibility to continue to run with.
It's a long piece and well worth the read. Here are some snipets outlining the general contention that this team deserved better than lousy tabloid coverage. And details of the nature and effect of Tomasse's hatchet piece:
"Let me first start by saying that this column was going to be written even if the Patriots had won on Sunday night. The only difference is that the column would’ve been entitled “The Most Miserable Perfect Season in History.”
On the field, this Patriots team was a fan’s dream. They were talented, charismatic and had an obvious flair for the dramatic. They had the highest scoring offense of all time, with the superstar quarterback and ridiculously gifted wide receiver each breaking high-profile NFL records in the process. They had a resourceful defense, which while aging, still had experience and guile unmatched by most units across the league.
Yet, in talking to a number of people, this was the least fun that they’ve had following football that they can ever remember.
What made it that way? Certainly not the games. The games - even the blowouts, were all marvelously entertaining.
It was the coverage of this team. Right from training camp, there was always something to pick at and criticize."
"The day before the Super Bowl, John Tomase ran a piece citing a single unnamed source stating that an unnamed person taped the walk-through practice of the St Louis Rams prior to the 2002 Super Bowl. This unnamed source did not know what the unnamed cameraman did with the tape, nor if this mystery person did this under instruction or on their own. This story garnered outrage across the country, with even former St Louis quarterback Kurt Warner speaking out. However, it was also reported that a telescope was spotted out of a window observing the Patriots practice, but that fact somehow didn’t generate the same outrage. The fact that the Rams went through red-zone formations in the walk-through and then converted their only red-zone possession into a touchdown in the Super Bowl has also been lost in the chaos.
Tomase took a beating on the Boston Herald comments section for his story. It was brutal, with some readers even threatening him. (The Herald has since shut down comments on the blog.) For a little while I felt sorry for him and even considered sending him a note to hang in there. Then as I noted that the item had been picked up by ESPN, CNN, NPR and every other media outlet known by an acronym, I realized that he didn’t need support. He knew what the local reaction would be, and went with it anyway. A few years back when writing for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Tomase had written a piece on Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez, which was not well received by most fans. However, the article made a bigger name for Tomase, who got sports radio appearances out of it, and then eventually a promotion to the Herald, where he ended up on the Patriots beat.
This story could be another stepping-stone for Tomase, as the story received national attention. But really, that’s how it has been the entire season. One person after another, out to break the big story, to make a name for themselves. Congratulations to all who achieved this noble goal this season.
It’s amazing to me that all these outlets truly believe that the type of coverage that we saw this season is what the people really want. Yes, none of this was by accident. They really believe that they’re giving the public what they want.
What they did was almost ruin a fantastically entertaining season - a on-field season like none other in NFL history. Even though it ended in bitter disappointment, the accomplishments of the 2007 Patriots will be remembered for decades. Yet, apparently there wasn’t enough going on on the field to keep people busy. They made a circus out the season, sucking out any joy that could be had from watching this marvelous team. We had it all here in front of us, and too often, we had to look away because someone else wanted to make their own name in front of us. They made following this team a miserable experience at times."
http://www.patriotsdaily.com/
