of course felger
http://www.csnne.com/new-england-pa...lichick-got-relatively-easy-in-wells-report-0
only in boston the local media hates its teams and players as much
The Boston media costs us players. A lot of guys won't play under that spotlight, because it's all negative all the time.
True story: I was at a convention in Anaheim. Half-asleep, I get on the elevator and a bellman comes on with a rack full of bags.
He says: You look tired.
Me: I'm still on East Coast time.
Him: Oh, you're with the Sox?
Okay, so now I'm awake - I'm in the hotel with the Red Sox. I go grab a shower and head downstairs to meet some friends from New York, who are huge baseball fans (we would hit whatever stadium we were at during our conventions).
Get down in the bar/restaurant and Danny Darwin walks by. I look over at a table and there's Frank Viola and a couple of other guys I didn't know. I loved Viola's pitching before he came to the Sox.
So I went over and said hello - didn't want to bother them, just wanted to wish them luck and such.
Viola was open and gracious - asked me to sit down and have a drink. I didn't want to intrude, but it was clear I wasn't. As I'm pulling out a chair, he asked me what I did. I said I was a writer.
Boom. The mood changed immediately - smiles to frowns. I didn't catch it completely. I asked the guy across from Viola if he was with the Sox. He scowled at me and said, "You know I am."
I apologized and said I didn't - this was before the internet and the only time I saw any of these guys was on tv in uniform.
"I'm the only one on the team!" he shouted at me (it was Herm Winningham, the only black player on the Sox at that time).
Again, I tried to explain that I thought so but didn't want to assume.
"You knew!"
I was confused by this point, obviously, as the hostility got very real. I apologized for bothering them and started to leave, and Viola says, "You just said you were a sportswriter from Boston!"
"I said "No, I'm not a sportswriter. I'm a novelist. I'm out here for ABA."
Boom! Mood changed again. As soon as they knew I wasn't a sportswriter. They bought me a drink and we had a good laugh.