Another gem by Tom Curran.

[stevedogc]

Patriots don't need to apologize for anything

Great dig at shank with the referece of the '67 Sox.

 

[luuked]

I didnt quite understand the criticism he got for the last two articles. But then again if anyone cant see the difference between his take on the endtimes and the dreck that WickerSham wrote then you cant be helped anyway.

 

[AQPE]

Only in Boston does the sports media believe their #1 goal is to make the fans feel lousy about everything that happens with the local teams while they rake in as much cash as they possibly can as some of the primary beneficiaries of any successes those teams enjoy. Shank and Wrong Borges and Angry Tony and Napkin Felger can all go screw, the fans can now communicate with each other and they are irrelevant. And they know it which is why they will continue to hot take themselves into oblivion.

 

[DarrylS]

Curran has been one of my fave Pats writers since he was with the ProJo, he gets it.. and even though he got caught up in he Brady Infection stories several years ago.. he has redeemed himself over and over again...

Almost seems like some sort of preemptive strike at the local mediots who will if the Pats win the Superbowl discuss "tomato cans" and the quarterbacks of the teams they beat.. some will go as far and say that this Superbowl needs to have an asterisk after it..

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Patriots don't have to apologize for anything and at this point even the haters acknowledge the superiority of their organ1ziation/their preparation. This is not a great Patriots team yet here we are.

 

[ivanvamp]

Shank really sets it up as a no-lose for him, no-win for the Patriots. I mean, just think of this upcoming game.

The fact is, the Jaguars are really good and they beat Pittsburgh IN PITTSBURGH twice this year. They are a warm-weather team that went into 17 degree temps and sent the Steelers home for the season. They are tough, physical, and very fast. They absolutely can win next week in Foxboro.

But Shank calls them a tomato can. If the Pats win, it's not impressive because Jacksonville "sucks". Despite going 11-5. Despite winning two straight playoff games. Despite beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh twice. Despite boasting one of the most ferocious defenses in the NFL - the very kind of unit that can cause major problems for the Patriots. Despite having a Patriots nemesis in the organization (Coughlin).

Of course, if the Patriots LOSE, oh my goodness it will be an epic disaster, and Shank will make fun of them forever and ever and ever.

Shaughnessy is really the absolute worst and I cannot fathom why other media members (and there are plenty) hold him up as some paragon of sports journalism. He's a cranky, bitter man who happens to write about sports for a living, and he seems to hate the success that the Red Sox or Patriots have (especially the Patriots). He and Borges are just intolerable.

 

[Steve102]

The whole thing is a dig on the negativity of the Old Guard. Well Done, Tom, well done.

 

[Jackson 2]

Patriots don't need to apologize for anything

Great dig at shank with the referece of the '67 Sox.

There are actually multiple digs at Shank here. Brilliant piece.

 

[borg]

Love the Red Sox snark.
That being said, Curran's dismissiveness of the Super Bowl QB quality in the 80's/90's is a convenient attempt to support his argument. He chooses to ignore three truths of that era:
1) The QB was not leaned upon in that era like it is today (Niners the exception)
2) Arguably, some of the best teams in NFL history played in that era....Niners, Dallas, Giants, Bears. In fact, teams were so close to each other in quality, championships were decided depending on which teams secured Richard Dent and Prime-Time Sanders (semi-true)
3) In truth, the real Championship games were the NFC Conference Final games because the AFC was so inferior during this era.

Curran is right though, history will only judge "how many"

 

[Patriot Missile]

Shaughnessy made his living with the Red Sox and the so called curse. After 04 he woke up and realized his lifelong work was over and has been nothing short of irrelevant.

I don't think I've read any thing he's wrote in 10 years. Although I was appalled 2 years ago when he appeared on the Jim Rome show and was introduced as a Boston sports expert.

If your looking for chicken in the clubhouse, deflated balls along with doom and gloom then he's your guy I guess.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

I used to like Curran more, but ever since he got that show and the hair plugs, he comes off a bit too big for his britches. And, honestly, he will be sneaky and take some shots to stir the pot in a very indirect way, like just recently with the fake "there is turmoil in New England w/Kraft/BB/Brady", so he's not innocent taking his cues from NBC management when he is forced to do so.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

Shaughnessy made his living with the Red Sox and the so called curse. After 04 he woke up and realized his lifelong work was over and has been nothing short of irrelevant.

I don't think I've read any thing he's wrote in 10 years. Although I was appalled 2 years ago when he appeared on the Jim Rome show and was introduced as a Boston sports expert.

If your looking for chicken in the clubhouse, deflated balls along with doom and gloom then he's your guy I guess.

My favorite part about Felger/Mazz/Shaugnessy/Borges and their minions like Breer, Bedard, Volin, etc, is how arrogant they all are, along with their entitlement. Yet, these are the very themes they claim BB is, as they go on the attack, many times completely making things up.

The last time I voluntarily listented to Felger and Mazz was in October of 2011, where they had Jon Kraft on, and they verbally accosted the guy, demanding he and his dad copy the Jets way of teambuilding. I am not kidding. Not only were they incredibly unprofessional, they honestly wanted Kraft to somehow act like the Jets' way was the best and somehow NE had whiffed in their approach by stocking up on draft picks with a rookie cap. This is the part where Felger/Mazz would run around tellling the audience that there really is no cap and the cap is not really a real thing. LMAO

But, the way the media covers this team, is a joke. Their arrogance and jealousy of BB is absolutely unparalelled by any media coverage in the history of sports.

I haven't read Shaughnessy in years and years. He's a tool and a bore.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Shaughnessy made his living with the Red Sox and the so called curse. After 04 he woke up and realized his lifelong work was over and has been nothing short of irrelevant.

I don't think I've read any thing he's wrote in 10 years. Although I was appalled 2 years ago when he appeared on the Jim Rome show and was introduced as a Boston sports expert.

If your looking for chicken in the clubhouse, deflated balls along with doom and gloom then he's your guy I guess.

Shank and Bob Ryan are dinosaurs. Their opinions and current understanding of the sports landscape is tired and antiquated.

 

[Deus Irae]

Only in Boston does the sports media believe their #1 goal is to make the fans feel lousy about everything that happens with the local teams while they rake in as much cash as they possibly can as some of the primary beneficiaries of any successes those teams enjoy.

That's sports media in the Northeast. It's not just Boston.

 

[Patjew]

That's sports media in the the Northeast. It's not just Boston.

Yes, truth be told we're all kinda miserable up here. Especially this time of year. And somehow we take pride in it.

 

[patfanken]

I didnt quite understand the criticism he got for the last two articles. But then again if anyone cant see the difference between his take on the endtimes and the dreck that WickerSham wrote then you cant be helped anyway.

No he deserved the criticism, because he paid lip service to Wickersham's credibility, and profited from the storm that specious narrative put out.

But this story was right on the money and he deserves credit for it.

 

[Joey007]

Curran has been one of my fave Pats writers since he was with the ProJo, he gets it.. and even though he got caught up in he Brady Infection stories several years ago.. he has redeemed himself over and over again...

Almost seems like some sort of preemptive strike at the local mediots who will if the Pats win the Superbowl discuss "tomato cans" and the quarterbacks of the teams they beat.. some will go as far and say that this Superbowl needs to have an asterisk after it..

Brady infection stories?

 

[luuked]

No he deserved the criticism, because he paid lip service to Wickersham's credibility, and profited from the storm that specious narrative put out.

But this story was right on the money and he deserves credit for it.

What the hell are you talking about. Curran's story appeared days (if not about a week) before Wickershams garbage got published.

 

[Nonentity]

My favorite part about Felger/Mazz/Shaugnessy/Borges and their minions like Breer, Bedard, Volin, etc, is how arrogant they all are, along with their entitlement. Yet, these are the very themes they claim BB is, as they go on the attack, many times completely making things up.

I'll jump in to defend Greg Bedard here. He writes excellent pieces, he's gone to the effort of learning about how NFL football is taught & coached, especially when he was at SI, and his new Boston Sports Journal site is excellent (I'm a subscriber).

The others....yeah, they're all the worst kind of hacks. But I like Greg Bedard a lot, and I'm glad he's back covering the Patriots full-time.

 

[patfanken]

What the hell are you talking about. Curran's story appeared days (if not about a week) before Wickershams garbage got published.

No Curran did exactly what I said on his podcast and in a few of his post-expose articles. In them he touted Wishersham's "professionalism" and the fact he works hard and had sources. I know at the same time Tom question (as we all did) a number of his more ridiculous premises, but he never came out and flat out said, this was BSPN hit piece design to create a firestorm over nothing and thus generate well needed interest toward BSPN.

Instead, Curran, to some extent, climbed on board that firestorm and an is still riding it as are most of the mediots, even as it dwindles down to the "well if there's smoke there MUST be fire." stage. Remember even though Deflategate was disproven over and over again, even some local guys, and most national guys, will agree, but add, "where there's smoke there must have been something going on". IIRC, I once heard Curran himself say something like, Brady wasn't totally innocent.

Florio consistently takes this take on deflategate. (and I paraphrase). "Clearly the NFL got deflategate wrong. They never proved CONCLUSIVELY that the Pats did anything wrong". See, he loudly IMPLIES that there was something going on, just that the NFL didn't "prove it".

I see the same crap going on with this story. Sure there will be some who question one part of it or another, but no one will question whether the entire story was made out of pure speculation, and was put together SPECIFICALLY to put the Pats in a bad light and generate the benefits of "Patriot hate" and draw interest to their dying business.

You cannot deny that the SPECULATIVE narrative that Wickersham put out there is now being reported as fact in all the rebound stories other write. Christ, didn't some mediot speculate that it was Bill or one of his circle who gave Wickersham the "story" in order to light a fire under Brady?

See what you've done, Luuked. This was supposed to be a quick response to your response, and you got me on a rant, and now I'm late for a lunch date.