Shoddy Reporting

[Metaphors]

Have heard multiple references to the Giants "leading late in the 4th quarter" in Week 17. Pats took the lead for keeps with over 11 minutes to play.

Sal Pal mentioned that Brady was "clearly favoring his right foot" as he walked to his presser tonite. I was watching the video as he was speaking and it looked perfectly normal to me.

Clayton has an article on espn.com about the Giants CBs. In a pretty positive article, he spits this out:

By spreading the playing time to five cornerbacks, none of the Giants' corners has been abused. Madison, despite being 33, was beaten for only one touchdown this season. Webster was beaten for only 11 completions during the regular season, but he only started three games. Ross had nine regular-season starts and was beaten for seven touchdown passes, but he improved as the season progressed.

The Giants gave up 24 TD passes, 47 passes of 20+ yards and 11 passes of 40+ yards. Even D1ck Cheney considers that abuse...especially for a team with an offense that plays in the 20's.

I could go into others (shutting down Moss, Giants road win streak, Eli is a grown-up now, etc.) but you get the idea. Media is so fired up about the storylines that reporters are making stuff up or not even trying to dig up any useful information. They already have the headlines they want...why let facts and insight muddy the waters? I don't mind poor reporting per se, but lazy reporting just bugs me.

 

[maverick4]

Why are you surprised that John Clayton's articles aren't worth toilet paper? The birdhead has written doo-doo for years now.

 

[Metaphors]

Why are you surprised that John Clayton's articles aren't worth toilet paper? The birdhead has written doo-doo for years now.

I understand that his analysis generally treads to the "bonehead" end of the spectrum. This one just struck me because it looked like he started with his conclusion (Giants CB's are playing well now that they are in man coverage) and spent 15 seconds cobbling together random data to support it.

 

[PatsDeb]

The funniest line I have seen this week is the title of Dr. Z's "Mailbag" segment, which is:

Rising tide
Giants' momentum should submarine sinking Pats

This was a follow-up to his column where he picked the Giants to win as a make-up for failing to pick the Jets in Superbowl 3. His logic is the Pats have been "flat" while the Giants have been surging. Ahh, okay, Dr. Z. The Pats beat both their playoff opponents by two scores (and it could have been more against SD, but we took a knee deep in their territory at the end of the game), while the Giants have squeaked out their last two wins (the 2nd in OT). The only thing sinking is this guy's brain power.

I say keep bringing the funny stuff. It will keep us entertained until game time!!

 

[BelichickFan]

The funniest line I have seen this week is the title of Dr. Z's "Mailbag" segment, which is:

Rising tide
Giants' momentum should submarine sinking Pats

Well, the Giants HAVE won 3 in a row so clearly they have momentum

 

[PatsDeb]

Well, the Giants HAVE won 3 in a row so clearly they have momentum

Isn't that the biggest joke of all? We DON'T have momentum? We haven't lost a game in over a year! Yeah, too bad the Gints can't claim a 4 game winning streak, but there was this awesome offense that ran (or more accurately, passed) all over them and their vaunted pass rush the last game of the season in their house. That's not a good story line, though, so we won't hear much about it this week.

 

[maverick4]

Yeah, 3 Giants' wins are 'momentum', but our 18 straight gives us more pressure to cause us to lose. Um... right...

 

[reflexblue]

This morning I Watched Brady walk without a limp. Five minuts later I turned on ESPN only to hear Clayton say Brady had an obvious limp at the ralley in Foxboro this morning. So will have to see how it affects his play next Sunday...... Can you say doofhus,or how about major mediot. And has been for a while.

 

[PatsDeb]

This morning I Watched Brady walk without a limp. Five minuts later I turned on ESPN only to hear Clayton say Brady had an obvious limp at the ralley in Foxboro this morning. So will have to see how it affects his play next Sunday...... Can you say duphus,or how aqbout major mediot. And has been for a while.

I believe the correct spelling is "doofus" and John Clayton is the King of the Doofuses (or is it Doofi?)

 

[Metaphors]

This morning I Watched Brady walk without a limp. Five minuts later I turned on ESPN only to hear Clayton say Brady had an obvious limp at the ralley in Foxboro this morning. So will have to see how it affects his play next Sunday...... Can you say duphus,or how aqbout major mediot. And has been for a while.

At his Arizona presser, Brady was "clearly favoring his right foot" (Sal Pal) and moving "minus any discernable limp" (Lenny P). :wha:

 

[reflexblue]

I believe the correct spelling is "doofus" and John Clayton is the King of the Doofuses (or is it Doofi?)

Thank you, i've never tried to spell it before and i am an admittedly poor at spellin.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The Giants 10 game road winning streak is a very interesting phenomenon that the media has jumped aboard of. Prior to the Playoffs the Giants basically beat a bevy of nobodies on the road. The did secure a tough 3 point "road" win against the Dolphins in London and beat other juggernauts such as the Falcons and Bears. Many of the games were nailbiters (Eagles, Skins, Bears, Bills) throughout but to the Giants credit they did finish them off and came away with the victory. The mythology created that the Giants are somehow a dominant road team is baffling. They played a nice game and beat up a banged up Tampa Bay team. They were outplayed most of the game by Dallas but came up with several big plays when it mattered. They clearly outplayed GB and deserved to win by a much larger margin. Good for them. To claim that they are inherently "hot" is odd. They have not won 10 in a row (or whatever thye number was) like San Diego. They were never considered the team that "nobody wants to play" like Jacksonville. What they are is probably the 3rd best team in the 2nd best Conference trying to win a game against one of the greatest teams of all time. They would be 10 point dogs against the Colts, 7 against SD, 5 against Jacksonville and would likely be a pick em if they were playing the Steelers. Does it mean that they can't win? Of course not as the best team doe snot always win teh game but the idea I keep hearing that they match up well or are better at this or that is absolute nonsense. The Pats have a much better O, a better D and slightly better special teams. We outscored opponents by over 300 points while the Giants were plus 22. On paper this is a mismatch.

 

[hambone1818]

I have to go back to the simple fact that the media HAS to play this up as The Game of the Century...it's the Super Bowl, would you expect anything less? So they're making excuses for the Giants, giving out bogus gameplans that they believe will stop the Patriots, and talking about a phantom limp. There's so much money in the Super Bowl it's almost insane, and every member of the media--especially when you get to the heavyweights like ESPN--is invested in trumping up the biggest sporting event of the year as a good, close game. Simple as that. Brady was wearing a boot cast early last week, even if he were running wind sprints right now they'd be talking about the 'balky ankle'. The Patriots were missing two O-linemen and their best pass blocking TE, and gave up a a return TD after a bogus celebration penalty--something that certainly won't happen again--and still won the game in week 17...is any of this mentioned in the mainstream media? Absolutely not, because people who aren't Patriots fans want to hear that Goliath can be beaten, and even if that's not true the media will give people what they're looking for.

It's only going to get worse...just turn off the tv and radio, you'll be much happier (and your blood pressure is sure to improve).