Bellichick, The Media and The Theater of Sports (warning: long read)

[Captn]

Jimmy Carter .... what a joke! By far the worst US President in my lifetime!

Yea he IS the worst! LOL

 

[Wildo7]

I don't want to get into politics on the sports section, but let me just point out to you that the Wall Street Journal has a moderately conservative editorial board, but the reporting staff does not follow the same bent, whereas the NYT is a fairly far left editorial AND reporting staff.

That wasn't really what my point was, and of course someone who is conservative is going to claim the WST doesn't follow the same bent.I was merely bringing up both to demonstrate that investigative journalism, which is fact-based is better on both sides than are talking heads as a source of information. And if you think the NYT is "far" left I think you need to be introduced to a wider array of opinion, as do most in this country. Anyway, my original point was simply to point out the role that punditry has assumed in the place of journalism. And if you think that they NYT, liberal or not, is less informative than watching Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann, then I'm baffled as to how you can defend that assertion.

 

[Captn]

fair enough but I hope you read my rebuttal which pointed out that the vast majority of what he said was completely made up.

IF thats what you believe and your liberal views tell you so, then so be it. I think the ACLU should be investigated under the RICO Statutes!

 

[Wildo7]

Yea he IS the worst! LOL

That may be true but that's simply ad hominem to dismiss what he says because he was an unsuccessful President.

 

[Deus Irae]

That may be true but that's simply ad hominem to dismiss what he says because he was an unsuccessful President.

PLEASE take this to the political forum!

 

[Wildo7]

IF thats what you believe and your liberal views tell you so, then so be it. I think the ACLU should be investigated under the RICO Statutes!

What? why do right wingers always sound like ranting old men sitting on their rockers. What on earth are you talking about? "what my liberal views tell me" What does that even mean? how can one's views tell them something? and where did that ACLU violation of the RICO statute come from?

I never intended to make this a political discussion for the record. If you look back to what I posted, I made the mistake of referencing Hugo Chavez and how the media assasinates him as a way of showing that the media has an extreme amount of power in shaping people's views of the "characters" they create, like Bill Bellichick, Barry Bonds etc.

Everyone take a deep breath and relax. This isn't a Democrat v. Republican thing, that's what CNN and Fox News are for.

 

[ATippett56]

Perhaps the best thing that could happen to sports fans in this country, and citizens, would be having a scandal erupt in every sports city. Only then will people recognize just how manufactured the news is. Out of fear of bringing politics into this, we can also bring this to a larger, world stage. How many different sides of a person like, say, Hugo Chavez have we heard? Does the media stand to benefit from villainizing him? Have we been given an accurate portrait of him? I'm certainly not defending or denouncing him, but I fear that most of our opinions of people like him are formed in the same way America uses Jay Mariotti to form their opinion of Barry Bonds. It might be right, it might be wrong, but at best, it's completely unreliable. Perhaps the best way to go that extra step and find out what's really going on, is to try and find ways to defend him and see what you discover.

With all the talk of our tarnished Superbowls and Legacy, the only thing that has been tarnished is the sports media. And maybe it's for the better.

- Will

The worst thing that could happen is to have a sports scandal in every city in every sport. The legitimacy of sport would be questioned forever. The NBA is tarnished due to referee scandal and college football has in the past a number of violations that have resulted in the harshest of penalties. I guess you never heard of SMU football and the death penalty?

Sorry but camera-gate has hurt the image of the New England Patriots organization. You can spin this anyway you like but you need to take the view of football fans from other NFL franchises. Blame the media for the actions of Roger Goddell.

The video taping was unnecessary and other means could have been employed to obtain the same information (binoculars, lip readers, pad and pencil, et cetera). Of all the teams Belichick tried to pull this stunt, the last team would be the NY Jets, especially considering Belichick's animosity towards Mangini.

 

[ATippett56]

That may be true but that's simply ad hominem to dismiss what he says because he was an unsuccessful President.

So defend the fact he was a successful president because he was a complete and utter failure, domestically and internationally.

 

[Captn]

This isn't a Democrat v. Republican thing, that's what CNN and Fox News are for.

CNN & Fox News are in the same boat, BOTH liberal media outlets. Thats like saying President Bush is a conservative, IF you think he is you're a FOOL!

 

[ATippett56]

That may be true but that's simply ad hominem to dismiss what he says because he was an unsuccessful President.

You need to be re-educated or you are truly a revisionist of history.

 

[Wildo7]

CNN & Fox News are in the same boat, BOTH liberal media outlets. Thats like saying President Bush is a conservative, IF you think he is you're a FOOL!

I never said they were both liberal, what are you on?

 

[Wildo7]

You need to re-educated or you are truly a revisionist of history.

can you even read? I said "because he was an unsuccessful president." I was conceding he was unsuccessful, but pointing out that that doesn't mean he's wrong. Don't try to lump everyone together because it make arguing easier for you, I'm sure there's a few right-wingers you's be embarrassed to be lumped in with. Mark Foley? Larry Craig? But because of their indiscretions, does that mean that they are wrong about fiscal policy? no, ofcourse not, only simple people will fall for such nonsense.

 

[ATippett56]

That may be true but that's simply ad hominem to dismiss what he says because he was an unsuccessful President.

Hyper-Inflation
Recession
High Unemployment
Iran Hostage Crisis
Invasion of Afganistan
Apathy towards the Soviet Union and the Cold War
The Misery Index
Malaise

 

[FlyingElvis75]

What the HELL is the point of all this ranting? Isn't this a freaking Patriots forum?

 

[Wildo7]

Hyper-Inflation
Recession
High Unemployment
Iran Hostage Crisis
Invasion of Afganistan
Apathy towards the Soviet Union and the Cold War
The Misery Index
Malaise

I'm not quite sure why you keep bringing up Carter. No one here has defended his presidency.

 

[pheenix11]

I already knew the media sucked before spygate, it was just another example of the sorry state of journalism in this country. And don't kid yourselves about New York Times, that rag is just as bad as the rest and they definitely have an agenda.

I am just amazed at the horrendous writing and the numerous stupid mistakes I see every time I read an article. These morons writing this crap are lazy dolts who don't know the first thing about investigative journalism.

The problem in this country is that you have these so called experts on TV who get paid to be knowledgeable about a topic and in reality they don't know jack ****. And its not just journalism either, I'm getting real tired of going places and after having done 10 minutes of research on the internet I already know more about a topic than people whose job it is to know.

As if the talking heads on tv taking out of their asses isn't bad enough, you have a whole class of people in society who believe everything they are spoon fed and are too friggin stupid to do a little research on their own to find out the truth.

The morale of this story is that the next time you see the media bashing the crap out of someone, don't just assume its all true. Chances are more often than not, they are full of crap.

 

[DarrylS]

I already knew the media sucked before spygate, it was just another example of the sorry state of journalism in this country. And don't kid yourselves about New York Times, that rag is just as bad as the rest and they definitely have an agenda.

I am just amazed at the horrendous writing and the numerous stupid mistakes I see every time I read an article. These morons writing this crap are lazy dolts who don't know the first thing about investigative journalism.

The problem in this country is that you have these so called experts on TV who get paid to be knowledgeable about a topic and in reality they don't know jack ****. And its not just journalism either, I'm getting real tired of going places and after having done 10 minutes of research on the internet I already know more about a topic than people whose job it is to know.

As if the talking heads on tv taking out of their asses isn't bad enough, you have a whole class of people in society who believe everything they are spoon fed and are too friggin stupid to do a little research on their own to find out the truth.

The morale of this story is that the next time you see the media bashing the crap out of someone, don't just assume its all true. Chances are more often than not, they are full of crap.

After the descent into the endless argument regarding Jimmy Carter, this is refreshing and true. One thing that was obvious to me, is the need to be even a more selective reader than I have been before.. the spin on this whole thing, the people who piled on and all the sheeple who just believed everything they say said just compounded a very minor story into a very big one filled with speculation and lies.

This shows the state of the hysterical media and their need to attract readers, watchers and listeners as it is about the ratings and little to do with the truth. OTOH BB handled himself masterfully, and even though he did not react to the press imo he came out ahead of the game by focusing on football. He took a PR hit, but in the long run this will be a bump on his permanent record.

 

[FlyingElvis75]

OTOH BB handled himself masterfully, and even though he did not react to the press imo he came out ahead of the game by focusing on football. He took a PR hit, but in the long run this will be a bump on his permanent record.

Amen to that...I think he understood that no matter what he said, media would find a way to twist it to make him look like a crook. One of the low points of that Easterbrook article was a quote from Greg Aiello saying, "There is no such evidence [regarding previous illegal videotaping]" and Easterbrook essentially saying "Aha, he said IS, which means there WAS before they destroyed it!!" Basically the kind of "logic" that conspiracy theorists and cultists use.

And this "article" was on the front page of ESPN.com for a *week*. Unfortunately, most of the backlash is probably against Easterbrook, which is unfortunate, since their editorial staff bears ultimate responsibility.

 

[Captn]

I already knew the media sucked before spygate, it was just another example of the sorry state of journalism in this country. And don't kid yourselves about New York Times, that rag is just as bad as the rest and they definitely have an agenda.

I am just amazed at the horrendous writing and the numerous stupid mistakes I see every time I read an article. These morons writing this crap are lazy dolts who don't know the first thing about investigative journalism.

The problem in this country is that you have these so called experts on TV who get paid to be knowledgeable about a topic and in reality they don't know jack ****. And its not just journalism either, I'm getting real tired of going places and after having done 10 minutes of research on the internet I already know more about a topic than people whose job it is to know.

As if the talking heads on tv taking out of their asses isn't bad enough, you have a whole class of people in society who believe everything they are spoon fed and are too friggin stupid to do a little research on their own to find out the truth.

The morale of this story is that the next time you see the media bashing the crap out of someone, don't just assume its all true. Chances are more often than not, they are full of crap.

Amen! You hit the nail right on the head, great post.