Tomase knocks one out of the park...

[Richter]

Whatever. If you're going to peddle the notion that all he did was throw out a list of names, then it kind of seems like you went into reading it with an agenda/chip on your shoulder. Respectfully, it doesn't serve your argument to be so over-the-top about it. I thought it was a terrific article. We'll agree to disagree, but let's at least be fair.

Wow, so for having a differing opinion, you managed to divine that I went into reading it with an agenda and that my criticisms are over the top? On the contrary, I'm being totally fair. There's nothing over the top about my argument, it is essentially a glorified list of names. I don't have any agenda, I don't care about Tomase one way or another (he's not a scumbag like Borges or Felger), I just call it as I see it, and I don't see anything else there than a bunch of names and snippets about them.

 

[brady2brown]

Except it's Tomase, so I would totally read into it. Aside from that, the article didn't really say anything, except that some veteran leadership (which was a dubious claim at best - Willie was notorious as being a clique leader rather than a team leader, and Ty Law? The only thing he ever led was the front of the line to get his paycheck, if we're being honest here) had left, and needed to be replaced, then rattled off a list of names which could possibly replace said leaders, glossing over the completely obvious fact that Brady has been the leader of the team for a while now, long before many of those players departed (though it did at least present him as a vocal leader that could assume further responsibility - which seems a stretch, considering how big a role he already plays). It wasn't an awful article, but it's hardly something I would read and consider enlightening to any real degree. Maybe you should have titled it "Tomase hits a bloop single".

Having a bad day, are we?

 

[RayClay]

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=156298&format=&page=1

As I've been wont to say as of late, some of you are a little too harsh on Tomase. He does not deserve the title of "hater" that guys like Felger and Borges have earned. He sometimes says stuff we flat out don't agree with, but other times it's just stuff we don't want to hear or acknowledge. This is one of the best articles I've read in awhile - great premise, great execution and a great read.

Excellent find! I don't think Tomase is a hater as much as a sensationalist who tries to make stories bigger than they are. With the other haters in training, (Felger), I'd have to say he's number the writer 2 to Reiss now.

Halberstam mentioned this as a big part of the BB way. Using veterans to discipline and teach.

We have a textbook example in Sullivan at NT. I believe BB challenged Seymour to straighten out his former team mate and the results have been dramatic.

 

[godef]

... and Matt Light represent the next generation of the old guard.

Huh? Matty's only been around as long as Brady and Seymour.

 

[Richter]

Having a bad day, are we?

No, I just didn't think the article was anything special.

 

[patchick]

No, I just didn't think the article was anything special.

When you trawl for bits of news as obsessively as most of us do, a general article of this sort that tells you anything new at all is unusual. If you already knew all about how Dan Koppen is regarded in the locker room, more power to you, but I sure didn't.

 

[Richter]

When you trawl for bits of news as obsessively as most of us do, a general article of this sort that tells you anything new at all is unusual. If you already knew all about how Dan Koppen is regarded in the locker room, more power to you, but I sure didn't.

Maybe I'm an even more obsessive Patriots newshound than most, then, because I didn't recognize any of those anecdotes as something that wasn't in another article already.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Excellent find! I don't think Tomase is a hater as much as a sensationalist who tries to make stories bigger than they are. With the other haters in training, (Felger), I'd have to say he's number the writer 2 to Reiss now.

Halberstam mentioned this as a big part of the BB way. Using veterans to discipline and teach.

We have a textbook example in Sullivan at NT. I believe BB challenged Seymour to straighten out his former team mate and the results have been dramatic.

Tomase seems good at the job of digging up information, where I sometimes get disappointed is his reliance on the "edgy" writing style favored by the reporters who enjoy a negative spin for the crap it stirs up. If anyone is following in the Riess template of of detailed, solid reporting it's Albert Breer on Reiss' old Metrowest beat.

I'm also pleased at Shalize Manza Young's efforts over at ProJo's blog, she and her sidekicks have been maintain a steady flow of tidbits and the occasional commentary (check out her most recent Deion update) - and while many of loved Curran's style, Shalise and Co. haven't done too badly replacing him.

And you have to love Chris Price keeping one eye on the field and one on the game thread to respond to our queries while the action is ongoing.

Let's face it, Felger may have gone over to the dark side, and Borges is Borges, but there are some informative young talents filtering into the Patriots' beat.

 

[patsox23]

Wow, so for having a differing opinion, you managed to divine that I went into reading it with an agenda and that my criticisms are over the top? On the contrary, I'm being totally fair. There's nothing over the top about my argument, it is essentially a glorified list of names. I don't have any agenda, I don't care about Tomase one way or another (he's not a scumbag like Borges or Felger), I just call it as I see it, and I don't see anything else there than a bunch of names and snippets about them.

No, not because you have a differeing opinion. Because it's NOT a glorified list of names, it's more substantial than that, and for you to characterize it as a mere list suggests to me, and I could be wrong, that you went in with preconceived notions about the writer. "A bunch of names and snippets about them" is not, in my book, a "glorified list." It is a substantiated list, backed up by anecdotal evidence.

Please don't take what I said the wrong way. I certainly am not saying you have an agenda based on your DISAGREEING with me. In fact, that's not at all what I said in my response. That's not fair, helpful or productive.

 

[patsox23]

How can you say "I don't care about Tomase one way or another" when in your initial post you wrote "Except it's Tomase, so I would totally read into it?" That doesn't compute, for me.

 

[Richter]

How can you say "I don't care about Tomase one way or another" when in your initial post you wrote "Except it's Tomase, so I would totally read into it?" That doesn't compute, for me.

Because I don't really care about Tomase. That doesn't mean I can't think he doesn't pine to be working the Red Sox beat. It just doesn't bother me that much that I think he does, thus I don't care, but it's still fairly evident to my eyes, as well as the eyes of others.

As for the previous point, in my estimation, it is essentially a glorified list of names, as you said, backed up by anecdotes. It didn't offer any real insight as to the leadership situation (based on outside sources, historical comparisons or sound independent reasoning), other than to say these certain guys are leaders, these other guys were leaders before they left, and these newer guys might become leaders in Tomase's estimation, based on some anecdotes he offers, which, as I noted in another post, are available from a variety of other sources. It's not a bad article to me, it's just not this literary home run as you and some others deemed it. It's more like a summary of the turnover and new faces on the team through the offseason, which is essentially a list of names.

 

[AzPatsFan]

RED SUX reporter Tomase has a pretty good article considering its full of errors.

Cumar was better than Craig "Pony" James. James was a good back whose career was cut short by injury. A major leader in the locker room does not have to be a star; and one who is not a star but still Don Davis exerts his influence. Its probably why he is still here, more than his on field play.

Light is a young leader on the O-line as well as Koppens. Ty Warren is the silent guy who is universally respected. Vrabel is a younger leader. Colvin is well spoken as well, and under thirty. Faulk leads by example too. Surprisingly Dillon has an influence too.

There were other locker room leaders, long forgotten. Anthony Pleasant and Bryan Cox are but two...

 

[Pat_Nasty]

I think it's funny that this puff piece is the kind of thing that earns Tomase some praise on this board, honestly.

It's a decent idea and a pleasant read, but anybody with a Lexis/Nexis account could have looked up the old quotes that make up the core of the "reporting."

Last month, however, Tomase does the impossible -- get out front on an injury to a star Pats player that the organization was trying to keep a lid on, and get us fans the scoop on Bruschi's wrist oft times over a week before the FO would deign to release the information -- and nobody cared. If you read Tomase, you knew it was a broken scaphoid and would require surgery before the Pats even admitted he was anything more than just "sore."

I just find it amazing that Pats fans would prefer someone like Reiss, who, though he does an admirable job providing copious amounts of copy, would never dream of reporting something until he's got a press release from the Pats' media reps.