Boston Herald and Agent in bed together.

[borg]

Another classic example of give and take between the media and sports agents. Over the last several weeks, the Herald has taken the lead in informing it's readers that Randy Moss may wind up playing for the Patriots, according to their sources. National interest perks up when a Moss-Patriots combination gets linked together. The Herald sells more papers to readers eager to learn more, while Moss gets exposure by seemingly being "in play."

However
From Bostonsportsmedia.com

"John Tomase was one of the guests on Dale & Holley this morning, and he admitted that the Randy Moss story (which he reported) was somewhat overblown by the Herald, but he didn't mind. It got him and the paper attention all across the country."

And today, Moss' agent dispensed some quid pro quo to the Herald for ably assisting in this charade. Did it strike anyone else as strange that a Boston reporter, Felger, broke this national story of Moss going to Green Bay? I am never surprised by the Boston sports media, but always disgusted.

 

[RayClay]

Another classic example of give and take between the media and sports agents. Over the last several weeks, the Herald has taken the lead in informing it's readers that Randy Moss may wind up playing for the Patriots, according to their sources. National interest perks up when a Moss-Patriots combination gets linked together. The Herald sells more papers to readers eager to learn more, while Moss gets exposure by seemingly being "in play."

However
From Bostonsportsmedia.com

"John Tomase was one of the guests on Dale & Holley this morning, and he admitted that the Randy Moss story (which he reported) was somewhat overblown by the Herald, but he didn't mind. It got him and the paper attention all across the country."



And today, Moss' agent dispensed some quid pro quo to the Herald for ably assisting in this charade. Did it strike anyone else as strange that a Boston reporter, Felger, broke this national story of Moss going to Green Bay? I am never surprised by the Boston sports media, but always disgusted.

Felgers also from Wisconsin.

 

[Fencer]

I'd be interested in the exact wording of his "confession".

I also forget whether it was him or Felger doing most of drum-beating.

Still -- I think there's at least a little fire underneath the smoke.

Bleccchh.

 

[naclone]

I'd be interested in the exact wording of his "confession".

Tomase essentially said, that like most, his assumption was that Belichick would want nothing to do with Moss and said as much to his "source". This source then countered by saying he didn't agree and that Belichick had always admired Moss's skill set and thought he was coachable.

that was the extent of it. a "source" saying that you couldn't entirely rule out Belichick's interest in moss.

And that somehow got turned into us for certain having active trade discussions with Oakland.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

First of all, it would be a mistake to assume that the team had no part in keeping the rumor of interest in Moss alive while they were pursuing Stallworth -- the ability to imply that a trade for Moss is a possibility could make Stallworth think twice about keeping the Pats waiting on his decision to accept their risk-free contract.

If the Pats wanted to quash the Moss rumor, they could have simply denied interest when Tomase called them for comment. But, you say, the Pats never talk about their personnel moves. True -- and this is what you get when the franchise in question is as tight-lipped as the Pats. With the NFL reaching the levels of popularity it has, and with very little solid info actually coming out of the Pats' camp, there's more demand for constant off-season Patriots news than there is actual news to report.

I'm sure Tomase would rather be in bed with the Pats than players' agents, but the Pats only have room for one reporter between their sheets, and they (predictably) chose to make their deal with the Globe. Because the Globe and Reiss are willing to be the Pats' Pravda, reporters for other papers need to cultivate other sources.

 

[Rob0729]

In fairness to Tomase, he never said the Pats were interested in Moss or tried to make a trade. Here is what he wrote:

League sources last night indicated the Patriots coach has long been enamored with the Raiders wide receiver and would welcome the opportunity to bring him to Foxboro for the right price.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

In fairness to Tomase, he never said the Pats were interested in Moss or tried to make a trade. Here is what he wrote:

League sources last night indicated the Patriots coach has long been enamored with the Raiders wide receiver and would welcome the opportunity to bring him to Foxboro for the right price.

That's even worse considering John doesn't have sources in the Pat's FO and his league sources was apparently Moss' agent.

Tomase has been in Ft. Myers for the last two weeks. He'd rather be in bed with his Sox on.

 

[naclone]

In fairness to Tomase, he never said the Pats were interested in Moss or tried to make a trade. Here is what he wrote:

League sources last night indicated the Patriots coach has long been enamored with the Raiders wide receiver and would welcome the opportunity to bring him to Foxboro for the right price.

you're right, but everybody who read that made the leap in logic and before long it was being characterized elsewhere as practically a done deal.

 

[ClevTrev]

I find this whole situation typical. Anyone who has followed the Pats closely over the years and gotten to know the team's tendencies under BB would never have thought that there was any credibility to the Moss rumors. We had many posts over the past 2 weeks indicating that this whole thing was pure fiction, and it was.

Fact is, team and agent float news about player to pump up interest and increase player's perceived value. Other team's referenced, while not directly involved in any of this don't bother remarking at all, as it's all smoke. The media lemmings find any rumor at this time plausible because the team's not commenting won't dispute their stories. In the process the player gathers interest, the team wanting to get rid of the player gets him in the news, the agent sees increased commissions dancing in his head, and the media sells their stories.

Everybody is happy . . .

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

And a Foonote:
Felger's article today starts off with a sarcastic statement alluding to Pats fans who were hoping to see Moss come to the team. The irony here is that by making that statement, Felger all at once attempted to distance himself from those rumors and reported the "real story" based on his "sources in Wisconsin." Can you believe this guy. One week helping to fan the flames of this ruse, the next laughing at the naive fans who were hoping to see their hero come to the Pats. This is hysterical. I've now added him to the Ron Borges category of journalists. His word is just air.

 

[borg]

Looks like BostonSportsMedia.com reads PatsFans.com.

"The Herald posted this update on their sports page (not the football blog) in the middle of the day today, with Michael Felger reporting that the Raiders and Packers were close to agreeing on a deal for Randy Moss.

It is curious on a couple of levels. First, of all it doesn't involve the Patriots and is a deal between two teams the Patriots rarely play. How did they get this scoop? This wouldn't seem to be a story that the Herald is going to be breaking. Of course, Felger is from Wisconsin and a huge Packers fan, so that may play into it.

Second, this comes a week after the Herald said that Bill Belichick might be interested in coaching Moss. Let's play conspiracy theory here and say that the Herald talked to Moss' agent who planted that Belichick story, knowing it might drum up interest in his client (or at the very least appear to). Then, the next week, a trade is worked out with another team, and - surprise - the Herald is the first with the news.

I'm not saying that's how it happened, but it's funny that the Herald would be the first with this story the week after suggesting the Patriots might be interested"

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/

 

[Rob0729]

That's even worse considering John doesn't have sources in the Pat's FO and his league sources was apparently Moss' agent.

Tomase has been in Ft. Myers for the last two weeks. He'd rather be in bed with his Sox on.

I thought Tomase did get his source from the Pats, but it was just overblown about his interest. The Pats source said that he wouldn't be suprised if Belichick traded for Moss, but it was blown up into the Pats having interest.

 

[Rob0729]

Looks like BostonSportsMedia.com reads PatsFans.com.

"The Herald posted this update on their sports page (not the football blog) in the middle of the day today, with Michael Felger reporting that the Raiders and Packers were close to agreeing on a deal for Randy Moss.

It is curious on a couple of levels. First, of all it doesn't involve the Patriots and is a deal between two teams the Patriots rarely play. How did they get this scoop? This wouldn't seem to be a story that the Herald is going to be breaking. Of course, Felger is from Wisconsin and a huge Packers fan, so that may play into it.

Second, this comes a week after the Herald said that Bill Belichick might be interested in coaching Moss. Let's play conspiracy theory here and say that the Herald talked to Moss' agent who planted that Belichick story, knowing it might drum up interest in his client (or at the very least appear to). Then, the next week, a trade is worked out with another team, and - surprise - the Herald is the first with the news.

I'm not saying that's how it happened, but it's funny that the Herald would be the first with this story the week after suggesting the Patriots might be interested"

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/

Felger addressed this on his show yesterday. He said his source was a source that feeds him inside information about other teams all the time. He says he doesn't use the information very often because it doesn't relate to the Pats, but he did this time because of all the Moss to New England rumors.

 

[belichickaholic]

Personally, I think it's great that they're talking about football. How many months did we have to hear about Arod coming to Boston in 2003? Rumor mongering, it's great, but let's just keep it to football.

 

[BlitzFritz]

Brilliant - Felger scooped us again. But wait, now the Packers are disavowing any "imminent" deal re Moss. So will Felger write about naive fans tomorrow, who believed such silliness?

I have to say the Mike Reiss is a well-meaning, balanced reporter. Not by chance, I read his stuff, and (try to) ignore the Herald.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

The Herald takes a more trashy tabloid approach than the Globe, Borges aside. Case in point Albert Breer's all consuming obsession with the Stalloworth-Washington feud from 5 years ago. Both guys say positive things about the other, insist over and over it's in the past, but to Albert it's still a MAJOR story.

 

[ClevTrev]

The Herald takes a more trashy tabloid approach than the Globe, Borges aside. Case in point Albert Breer's all consuming obsession with the Stalloworth-Washington feud from 5 years ago. Both guys say positive things about the other, insist over and over it's in the past, but to Albert it's still a MAJOR story.

Interesting, while the Herald weenies were focused on the imminent Moss trade to New England, Mike Reiss beat them on Stallworth and clobbered them on Washington. It took them a whole day to get the Washington news in the Patriot's blog Breer & Tomasi write in a weak attempt to keep up with Reiss.

Now Felger is screwed with his report of Moss' imminent trade to Green Bay and using the excuse for reporting it due the apparent interest by the New England fans, a result of a previous Moss to Patriots erroneous report in which he was part author.

You really couldn't make up this stuff.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Interesting, while the Herald weenies were focused on the imminent Moss trade to New England, Mike Reiss beat them on Stallworth and clobbered them on Washington. It took them a whole day to get the Washington news in the Patriot's blog Breer & Tomasi write in a weak attempt to keep up with Reiss.

Now Felger is screwed with his report of Moss' imminent trade to Green Bay and using the excuse for reporting it due the apparent interest by the New England fans, a result of a previous Moss to Patriots erroneous report in which he was part author.

You really couldn't make up this stuff.

Well, you could make some of it up.

Like the part where Reiss beat anybody t the Stallworth story. Sorry, that was Michael Smith of ESPN.com... as Reiss clearly credits in his blog item about the Stallworth deal, saying "ESPN first reported the agreement, which has since been confirmed."

Oh, and the part where Reiss "clobbered" anybody on the Kelley Washington signing. The Palm Beach Post first reported that Washington was visiting the Patriots, after leaving Miami unsigned. A few days later, Adam Schefter of the NFL network reported contract details at the same time Reiss was just reporting a deal had been made.

Why does it seem like everybody on this site falls all over themselves to give Reiss every bit of credit they can? I mean, he was scooped by national guys, who cover 31 other teams, on both of these, and you credit him for getting a blog post up about it before the guys at the Herald? (And let's not even start on the Adalius Thomas deal, which was reported on in gradually greater detail by at least half a dozen reporters before Reiss.)

I respect Reiss for the time and dedication he puts into his very thorough and dependable blog, which is a valuable resource for Pats fans... but the guy doesn't break stories that he didn't learn in a press release from the Pats' media reps, which is why he's usually a bit behind the curve.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Well, you could make some of it up.

Like the part where Reiss beat anybody t the Stallworth story. Sorry, that was Michael Smith of ESPN.com... as Reiss clearly credits in his blog item about the Stallworth deal, saying "ESPN first reported the agreement, which has since been confirmed."

Oh, and the part where Reiss "clobbered" anybody on the Kelley Washington signing. The Palm Beach Post first reported that Washington was visiting the Patriots, after leaving Miami unsigned. A few days later, Adam Schefter of the NFL network reported contract details at the same time Reiss was just reporting a deal had been made.

Why does it seem like everybody on this site falls all over themselves to give Reiss every bit of credit they can? I mean, he was scooped by national guys, who cover 31 other teams, on both of these, and you credit him for getting a blog post up about it before the guys at the Herald? (And let's not even start on the Adalius Thomas deal, which was reported on in gradually greater detail by at least half a dozen reporters before Reiss.)

I respect Reiss for the time and dedication he puts into his very thorough and dependable blog, which is a valuable resource for Pats fans... but the guy doesn't break stories that he didn't learn in a press release from the Pats' media reps, which is why he's usually a bit behind the curve.

The difference is Reiss takes time to verify before reporting. It's called responsible journalism. He'd rather be right than first and your personal dislike of him aside, there's something to be said for that. He is capable of breaking news, otherwise he'd be unemployed. It's that simple. Beyond that which he does well, he's far more adept at analysis than Tomase and Breer could ever hope to be. That's his real strength and it's just as important. There's a certain element of class in his work the others lack.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

The difference is Reiss takes time to verify before reporting. It's called responsible journalism. He'd rather be right than first and your personal dislike of him aside, there's something to be said for that. He is capable of breaking news, otherwise he'd be unemployed. It's that simple. Beyond that which he does well, he's far more adept at analysis than Tomase and Breer could ever hope to be. That's his real strength and it's just as important. There's a certain element of class in his work the others lack.

I don't have any "personal" dislike of Reiss. Never met him, but he seems like a really nice guy in his chats. I imagine him as being a calm, laid back kind of guy. The only dislike I have for him is professionally, because I think he's a little to comfortable being a "house organ" for the Pats' FO. As I said before, I respect the time and dedication he puts into his thorough, impeccably researched blog.

I say researched, and not reported, because reporting implies getting news that isn't either already published, or fed to you by the media rep of the subject you're covering. What you call "responsible journalism" consists of waiting around until the Pats FO decided to release some info, and then paraphrasing the press release Stacey James sends him. Reiss' primary allegiance of responsibility seems to be to the Patriots, not to his readers, which is where a real journalist's responsibility should be.

Honestly, I have no problem with what Reiss does, because it serves a valuable purpose. My only problem is that what he does is masquerading as journalism. His blog shouldn't be on the Globe's site, it should be part of Patriots.com, and his checks should be signed by Robert Kraft. That would make more sense, and be more honest.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Oh, and as for analysis goes, it's hardly Reiss' strong suit... in fact, he really doesn't do all that much, leaving most of it to Borges.

Borges goes much more in depth, and has a much better understanding of the game... if it weren't for his ridiculous anti-Belichick agenda slanting everything he writes about the Pats, he'd actually be pretty good.

As for real good analysis, check out some of Breer's "Tale of the Tape" posts in the Herald blog. He details the things about the game that you can only see on the coaches' game film.