Tomase's tortured take on Rodney's return

[T-ShirtDynasty]

No they weren't quoted in Tomase's article--but that is even more telling since both Asante and Sanders have been quoted by other reporters on this very issue.

Nice. Thanks for the link.

 

[marty]

Fine. Asking the question makes for a possibly interesting article. Why taint the facts of the players' responses with a visible undercurrent of unwarranted cynicism? That's not journalism, it's personal editorial vendetta. You're known by your body of work.

Excellent response pissah!!! It's not the questioning, its the assumption of negativity and ignoring the obvious respect that Rodney has earned from his teammates that blows up Toadys credibility!

 

[marty]

People here get so upset when anyone brings up the topic of HGH and cameras. Face it, we're going to deal with it this year, next year and beyond.

.

I know it will be talked about for years, look at the "tuck rule". But I'll happily point out every time it is, that we're talking about breaking a rule about camera placement right? Not getting upset, just being diligent on not allowing the naysayers to bring it up to the witch-trial level it was going to.

 

[Bella*chick]

What's wrong with asking the question? Some people turn into such little girls when a member of the media does something to question this team. Do we expect everyone to write that the team is going to win every game by 25+ plus points.

Because it's stupid and it's reaching.

This reminds me of Peter King's "The Pats have gone TOO FAR!" when we signed Moss. They acted like he was coming to us straight out of prison. It's so stupid and such a waste of everyone's time.

That's why I don't even read it.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Because it's stupid and it's reaching.

This reminds me of Peter King's "The Pats have gone TOO FAR!" when we signed Moss.

I know what you're saying but this is even worse in my opinion, this is dripping with personal, almost Borges-like venom. And in the vein of what Mo was saying, we're supposed to get opinion from King... we're supposed to get reporting from Tomase.

 

[njpatsfan]

And wasn't it a few weeks ago that MANY on this board compared Tomase to Reiss???? miles miles apart...then and even further...NOW!!

Great point. The stupidity on this board never ceases to amaze me.

R

 

[Truck]

What's wrong with asking the question?

Why even bother asking the question is you're not going to believe what the players said?

He went into the locker room with the hypothesis that Rodney Harrison can no longer be a leader. He asked the question to get data to back up his hypothesis. The data backed up the exact opposite hypothesis. He decided not to let the data influence his hypothesis and went with it anyways, even though he had 0 evidence of it being true, and had evidence of the exact opposite being true.

Thats not called reporting, thats called writing a bad editorial piece. If I wrote that article for a high school assignment, I would've gotten an F because the supporting text refuted the headline, and because I disregarded the primary sources (without providing any explanations into why the those primary sources are unreliable)

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Just when you thought that he couldn't get any dumber, he writes this crap.

.

I think the wrong Herald reporter left for Dallas......................

 

[captain stone]

I think the wrong Herald reporter left for Dallas......................

The DMN, or any newspaper with a self-respecting sports department, wouldn't touch the gweep Ton-ass with a 10-foot pole.

Have pity on the poor metro, who, instead of covering his beloved dead sux during the POs, has to instead cover - ugh - football.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

And wasn't it a few weeks ago that MANY on this board compared Tomase to Reiss???? miles miles apart...then and even further...NOW!!

Yeah, I remember at least one of those posters....

Tomase is a loser, plain and simple. He is following the Felger/Borges path of being holier than the boys in the locker room. He has disdain for the sport he covers.

WTF is it about the Boston media, anyway?

I thought Boston was a sport town. Why aren't there more sports fans in the actual media?

Seems like you have to be a disinterested cheap shot artist to work in the Boston media.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Yeah, I remember at least one of those posters....

Tomase is a loser, plain and simple. He is following the Felger/Borges path of being holier than the boys in the locker room. He has disdain for the sport he covers.

WTF is it about the Boston media, anyway?

I thought Boston was a sport town. Why aren't there more sports fans in the actual media?

Seems like you have to be a disinterested cheap shot artist to work in the Boston media.

They try to sell that as objectivity compared to their peers in other cities. They take it to another level though as homerphobic hypercritics. Part of that is rooted in the McDonough experience. They all grew up reading a guy who believed by and large he was smarter than the team managements he covered. And maybe he was, but times have changed and they aren't and need to quit deluding themselves. Will was also extremely vindictive and he not only got away with it he got ahead based on the fear factor access he generated. That was another time with naive and insecure and underfinanced owners and players with limited earnings and options who had good reason to fear what alienating Will could do to your legacy or career. Whole other ball game today, and nobody really cares what they say. If they annoy someone enough they get cold shouldered out, as Tomase did on the Sox beat and Felger did at WEEI (for annoying Lucchino who himself is their vindictive equal). Belichick and the Krafts are a little more secure and less inclined to make waves. Bill just ignores them, Kraft tries to molify them (or occasionally leak info that difuses or undercuts their criticism...), but by and large they let them spin their wheels because however they approach it fan interest and media coverage is at an all time high for a football team in a baseball town.

The only unfortunate part of maintaining this status quo is it effects national perception of this team individually as well as collectively, and that impacts national buzz where accolades like Pro Bowl, All-Pro, and HOF selections are concerned. Our own HOF voter tabbed this team as a one and done Cinderella team that caught lightening in a bottle throwing the ball sideways. It took two more Lombardi's to begin to change that world view, and already it's too late to go back and credit some guys who on any other dynasty team would have morphed into perrenial all pros with at least a shot at HOF status. The Boston Sports Media really does this team and it's fans a disservice, but the self absorbed institutional mentality that they are intellectually superior to other media is so ingrained and important to Boston mediots I doubt it will ever change.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Right on target Mo.
I'd add that the myriad media outlets avaliable today have undermined the old power structure of the beat writers like Mcdonough. Back then TV coverage was limited to the game only, there was no talk radio, no internet sports forums (other than USENET in the early 90s) and no blogs. Back then there were few voices and nobody with a forum to contradict them. My how times have changed. Read the ascerbic and often on point comments in reply to Tomasse's polemic.

I had been in the camp that there was hope for growth from Tomasse. Upon reflection on his body of work, I now see him as fatally flawed and incapable of redemption.

 

[JJDChE]

I've been sayingt his for a long time...Tomase is a scumbag.

 

[captain stone]

...Part of that is rooted in the McDonough experience. They all grew up reading a guy who believed by and large he was smarter than the team managements he covered. And maybe he was, but times have changed and they aren't and need to quit deluding themselves. Will was also extremely vindictive and he not only got away with it he got ahead based on the fear factor access he generated. That was another time with naive and insecure and underfinanced owners and players with limited earnings and options who had good reason to fear what alienating Will could do to your legacy or career...

And if Will was really pissed at you, he might have sent his pal Whitey to see you, with some words of "advice."