Greg Bedard launching new Boston sports site

DarrylS said:

...in a real world not a big issue, but for the announcer who for some reason are compelled to defend the honor of Eck it became bigger than life and an effort to run Price out of town..

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Price should indeed be run out of town, along with Hanley Ramirez.

I think Bedard has written stuff we've all disagreed with, but that's not reason to ignore him. Unlike others, I think he was genuine about his opinions, and not just writing stuff to be inflammatory.

We shouldn't be so sensitive to negative comments or commentary we disagree with. It should be about intent and whether there's validity behind those thoughts. I think for the most part, Bedard has been sincere in what he's written, and even when I disagree with some of it, I don't think it's malicious.

Hammer of Thor said:

I disagree completely. From the article, here is what Bedard promises:

"These are the things we can promise you:

1. Our coverage will be hyperlocal to Boston and New England. If it doesn’t matter to you, it doesn’t matter to us.
2. No clickbait articles. We don’t care about clicks and generating national headlines. We only care about serving our subscribers.
3. No contrived opinions. We will mean what we say, and say what we mean. And if we don’t, call us out on it.
4. The will be a 100 percent politics-free zone. We want to this to be an oasis from the outside world.
5. We will be interactive and accessible. Lots of Q&As, mailbags, in-game chats and Tweet-ups. Podcasts, videos and other multimedia projects are in the works.
6. We will not clutter up your experience with annoying popup/clunky ads and autoplay videos. "

The stuff he says he won't do (well, really items 2-6) are exactly the type of crap that's turned me off to sports media/journalism (and mainstream media/journalism too). It's not 100% perfect in my view, but it's one of the better models out there which keeps freedom of the press alive, while at the same time eliminating the clown shoes sensationalism (to sell papers / grab viewers / generate clicks) and focus on the real issues.

The basic question is whether these people are competent enough to deliver the real sports journalism I'm looking for. Bedard's been one of the better ones, albeit still flawed, so from the Patriots' perspective I'm happy. McAdams is ok from the Red Sox perspective; I wouldn't sign up if it was exclusively him, but he's also not one of the bad ones either.

Frankly the only real competition on the Patriots are Mike Reiss and Tom Curran. Everyone else out there is just sensationalist noise, and I'm willing to pay a premium to read real analysis instead of that garbage.

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Do you believe in Santa Clause? Buy some land in the South Jersey swamps?, real cheap...

I'm a little torn on this. I spend time complaining about and criticizing the media for their coverage of the local teams. If Bedard's group is offering something different, something potentially better, then I shouldn't immediately dismiss them. The subscription fee isn't an issue. $40 spread over an entire year is something you'll barely notice.

My issue is this: What information will I get by paying Bedard's company that I can't get for free? As skeptical as I am of PFF's analysis, they're offering something that no one else does. What will be the Boston Sports Journal's equivalent of that? Chris Price is a great read on the Patriots, but is he that much better than Curran and Reiss? The BSJ is going to be attending the same press conferences, watching the same practices and games as the rest of the media, so what will set their content apart? In addition to the existing media, I can get opinions and film breakdowns from posters here, who know football and follow the team.

I'm going to wait and see. If Bedard's site can provide a valuable alternative, then I'll sign up. Right now, though, I'm not sure how that's going to work.

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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Mike Reiss?

Brandon_Cox said:

Mike Reiss?

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No, it's probably Curran.

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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DIkembe Mutombo?

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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Hopefully it's our resident capologist!

Silver Blue&Red said:

Do you believe in Santa Clause? Buy some land in the South Jersey swamps?, real cheap...

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I think George Carlin said something along the lines of: a cynic is nothing more than a broken idealist. So you may be right here, I haven't been broken on this issue yet...

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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Chris Price.

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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You about to Kevin Durant us?

DarrylS said:

Him Minihane, Callahan, Borges, Bertram and the rest of the local contrarians think sports reporting is more about created nontroversy than the actual game.. unfortunately many listeners fall into their trap, and think it is gospel..

Always amazes me in sports talk radio when I tune in the number of non issues that become important to them.. recently there was the brouhaha over David Price and Dennis Eckersley dustup.. in a real world not a big issue, but for the announcer who for some reason are compelled to defend the honor of Eck it became bigger than life and an effort to run Price out of town..

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To be fair, it's pretty over the top when a ball player has the nerve to say to Dennis F*cking Eckersely of all people that 'some people just don't know how hard this game is'.

Pretty sure Eck knows David.

So he promises not to do all the stuff he's been doing the last year I'm gullible

Clonamery said:

Chris Price.

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Chris Price is listed in the press release.

Ian said:

I know of another addition they'll soon have that is definitely a pleasant surprise and a solid pick up on their part. Not going to reveal anything, but I would think most people here will feel pretty good about it.

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OJ?

patstrips65 said:

OJ?

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lol

RayClay said:

So he promises not to do all the stuff he's been doing the last year I'm gullible

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Exactly. I'm going to need to see a lot of proof before I'll believe the leopard will change his spots.

Best of luck to Bedard & Co.

I like Bedard. I wonder what went down at SI. Will definitely give it a try.