Tomase: Hobbs Has Broken Wrist

[Brownfan80]

I guess you weren't around for the Pete Carrol era then. Or the Parcells era, for that matter.

(Oh, and spare me the "well, we never won the big one with those guys..." argument. Correlation does not equal causation. Belichick brought us the SBs by being the best coach in the NFL in a couple years -- and hitting the QB jackpot in the 6th round, not by putting 20 guys on the injury report as questionable and pretending like he never thought about whether Eric Mangini was HC material.)

I assumed you were talking about the current regime, which I don't think they'd be any more free-lipped regardless of Reiss. I know Carroll is an open guy, and I know that Parcels loves to hear himself talk. I remember those days though I didn't see as much of the Pats back then (before I had ESPNNews and a job so that I could go to bars to watch the games).

 

[edgecy]

I find it funny that a thread about Ellis could be hijacked into an attack on Reiss, etc. Who cares who has the information out first as long as the information is accurate? If Reiss has it out first, fine, if Tomase has it out first, that's fine too.

Anyway, I wish Ellis a speedy recovery.

 

[RayClay]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2006/10/hobbs_update.html

There ya go, Reiss. Only took you 2 1/2 hours to wait for a Pats media rep to give you permission to report the story.


Seriously, though, it's pretty easy to be the guy "whose information you can trust" when 9 times out of 10, you're just relaying information from official sources.

The thing is, while I appreciate Reiss' dedication, and the minute detail with which he reports on the team w/ the all access he gets, guys like Mike are a double-edged sword. All of the access the team priveledges him with makes the job harder for guys like Tomase and Curran (before he left) because they're forced to dig deeper to compete with Reiss, who always will get news from the franchise well before them.

You end up with two polarized types of news sources, one that is essentially a party organ for the organization being covered, and one that's forced into "trashiness" in order to compete -- like EW and US Weekly, with EW=Reiss + the Globe, and US Weekly=Tomase + the Herald.

Tomase implies Hobbs might be able to play against Miami.

How accurate is that information looking?

 

[RayClay]

I guess you weren't around for the Pete Carrol era then. Or the Parcells era, for that matter.

(Oh, and spare me the "well, we never won the big one with those guys..." argument. Correlation does not equal causation. Belichick brought us the SBs by being the best coach in the NFL in a couple years -- and hitting the QB jackpot in the 6th round, not by putting 20 guys on the injury report as questionable and pretending like he never thought about whether Eric Mangini was HC material.)

Yeah, how'd that work out?

Players love to be able to use the GM and the Press to undermine the coach.

It's more fun than this boring discipline.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

See, and I'd prefer that reporters refuse to compromise their journalistic integrity, and prevent the creation of a media environment where large corporations and political bodies control how they're covered.

If it weren't for guys like Reiss who are willing to trade autonomy for access, the Pats would have to be more open w/ the media in general.

I always get a chuckle out of future journalists of america members trying their darndest to equate sports reporters particularly here in Boston to journalists...and love how the exercise always winds up veering into political forum material for just that reason.

The only reason the league required teams to provide injury information is for the benefit of the gambling interests so closely tied to interest in the NFL in general - so they won't be driven to buy that info. Because from a strategic standpoint it'd be flat out stupid to pinpoint a weakness for your adversary.

Felger said it best a few years ago when arguing with the baseball reporters who bristled at the lack of access in Foxboro that their football peers had to deal with - it's not Belichicks job to make our job easier - it's his job to win. Now some will say that the media helps market his team and therefore he owes them. I say winning will market any team, even if the local sports "journalists" disparage it or misplace their ethics and defame it's HC. The Boston media has benefitted tremendously and lined their pockets just by association with this team over the last 6 seasons as self proclaimed Patriots Insiders.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Tomase implies Hobbs might be able to play against Miami.

How accurate is that information looking?

Tomase reports the team is weighing whether it wants to risk playing him next Sunday. Considering he spent all of last week as "questionable," I'd say it's pretty accurate that they haven't ruled him out entirely yet.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

I always get a chuckle out of future journalists of america members trying their darndest to equate sports reporters particularly here in Boston to journalists...and love how the exercise always winds up veering into political forum material for just that reason.

The only reason the league required teams to provide injury information is for the benefit of the gambling interests so closely tied to interest in the NFL in general - so they won't be driven to buy that info. Because from a strategic standpoint it'd be flat out stupid to pinpoint a weakness for your adversary.

Felger said it best a few years ago when arguing with the baseball reporters who bristled at the lack of access in Foxboro that their football peers had to deal with - it's not Belichicks job to make our job easier - it's his job to win. Now some will say that the media helps market his team and therefore he owes them. I say winning will market any team, even if the local sports "journalists" disparage it or misplace their ethics and defame it's HC. The Boston media has benefitted tremendously and lined their pockets just by association with this team over the last 6 seasons as self proclaimed Patriots Insiders.

I love it how so many fans seem to judge a sportswriter's merit based on how likely he is to say nice things about their favorite team.

 

[RayClay]

I love it how so many fans seem to judge a sportswriter's merit based on how likely he is to say nice things about their favorite team.

I judge them more on accuracy than expediency. Is that wrong?

Tomase is willing to go out on a limb an amend his original "information" later.

Reiss doesn't report until he has information he will stand by.

The Herald is a gossip sheet too, which might account for the different approach.

 

[RayClay]

I love it how so many fans seem to judge a sportswriter's merit based on how likely he is to say nice things about their favorite team.

Do you read/listen to the media around here? We won three of the last 5 Super Bowls. I dislike rah rah press, but the worst teams in sports get less negative coverage than us.

I don't even think Reiss is slightly obsequious. He only seems that way compared to the extreme negativity of the more senior writers.

Watch this clip, do you see objectivity?
Don Banks is a national writer with no Pats affiliation or love I know of.
He seems like a Patriots lackey compared to our esteemed local journalists.

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/archives/gameday/borges_clip_from_fsn_this_week.php

 

[tdw777]

...Reiss is the only good thing about the Globe sports and I don't think he's a sell out because he actually likes the team he covers.

Last month during "Deiongate"..in fact it was the Saturday that Deion came back with the Seattle and Jets offers...I’m sitting in a movie theater parking lot with my grandson killing time waiting for the movie to start. We had about 30 minutes or so to kill and I'm listening to some NFL SIRIUS sports talk show, can't remember which show and who the hosts were. Anyway, these guys are talking big time smack about the Pats FO..how they allowed deion to work out a trade and went back on their word, BB and the boys are liars, screwing deion, etc., etc., etc.

Well...Reiss comes on as a guest and these guys ask Reiss what the Boston papers are saying about this..expecting Reiss to back up some of their smack. Reiss basically says that he is not the lead reporter on the story and would not have all information. The smack guys ask Reiss his opinion anyway. Reiss backs up the Pats FO..basically says (I don't want to misquote him here) he feels the Pats did what they needed to do to get things moving since deion wasn't making any counteroffers. One of the host keep baiting Reiss into trash talking the pats FO but Reiss wouldn't bite. Says the Pats always do what is in the best interest of the team and that sometimes you just have to take things at face value...felt the pats probably had no choice..negotiations weren't happening, deion wasn't making any counteroffers, basically..situation at a standstill..so in order to get things moving, the pats made made the offer for deion to test the market and work out a trade.

One of the hosts then asked Reiss if he thought the Pats would franchise deion next year. Reiss told them again that the Pats would do what was in the best interest of the team and didn't think they would franchise him just for the sake of franchising..wouldn't use the franchise tag unless in the best interest of the team.

I admired what Reiss did that day. He didn't sell out and buy into all the smack hype...handled himself very eloquently.

 

[Remix 6]

he'll sit out next game..then its a bye..thats 2 weeks off and might play with a cast..i believe Dre Bly had that last year and still played well with the cast

 

[patsox23]

Tomase and Reiss are both very good reporters - I'm grateful for them both. Different styles, sure, but both solid, productive and informative. Does EVERYTHING have to be this B.S. either/or competition?

 

[patsox23]

Agree with those arguing that the Pats should sit Hobbs this weekend. If the secondary can handle the Cincy O that well, hopefully they can keep up with the dolphins, even if they don't play at as high a level.

 

[patchick]

Bingo. I'd rather have the one reporter I trust for information delay a story for a few hours to get actual, factual confirmation, rather than just run with every rumor that crosses his desk.

I appreciate Reiss too, but to be fair it's not just a matter of waiting a few hours. When Tomase breaks a story like an injury that the team would rather keep under wraps, then Reiss posts it a few hours later, you have to assume that the story wouldn't be out at all if it weren't for Tomase.

But instead of bashing Reiss, I'd like to use the opportunity to say that Tomase is growing into his job impressively quickly. He got bashed as a baseball guy at first, but he's had a string of good articles and scoops and deserves some props.