Tomase: "There is a surprise cut"

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Tomase's an official putz. He drums up attention by using 'intel' he can readily point out is not his own - shamelessly heating up the fanbase to generate website traffic - without any knowledge of whether the 'surprise' cut is even a surprise or not. The lowest forms of writers use the bait and dope, dope, dope trick when they have no solid info or scoop.

Now Tomase's a waste as far as I'm concerned. There's no reason to trust that it is worth your time to read his junk after he's shown he's perfectly capable of pulling a Britney-Rumor-like-thing just to get some traffic.

Mike Reiss kept his integrity and reported the facts and woops, they were a tiny bit late, but...they were right.

 

[patsox23]

Tomase's an official putz. He drums up attention by using 'intel' he can readily point out is not his own - shamelessly heating up the fanbase to generate website traffic - without any knowledge of whether the 'surprise' cut is even a surprise or not. The lowest forms of writers use the bait and dope, dope, dope trick when they have no solid info or scoop.

Now Tomase's a waste as far as I'm concerned. There's no reason to trust that it is worth your time to read his junk after he's shown he's perfectly capable of pulling a Britney-Rumor-like-thing just to get some traffic.

Mike Reiss kept his integrity and reported the facts and woops, they were a tiny bit late, but...they were right.

What the F are you people talking about? He quoted a SOURCE that his colleague spoke to, who said there was a "surprise cut." What's he supposed to do, read the source's MIND? I'd much rather learn what the source has to say and have it turn out to be less of a surprise than NOT know anything - so this is all Tomase's fault now? For reporting something that made you (and us) unnecessarily antsy?

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Hey Tomase, where is the suprise cut ***hole?

 

[BelichickFan]

I'd much rather learn what the source has to say and have it turn out to be less of a surprise than NOT know anything

Unfortunately that's not how it happened. If there was a surprise cut I imagine we all agree that we'd prefer to know early - but there was no surprise cut and most of us would prefer not to know ahead that there's a surprise cut WHEN THERE ISN'T ONE.

 

[patsox23]

Unfortunately that's not how it happened. If there was a surprise cut I imagine we all agree that we'd prefer to know early - but there was no surprise cut and most of us would prefer not to know ahead that there's a surprise cut WHEN THERE ISN'T ONE.

And how exactly would you like reporters to suss this particular situation out? I think Tomase handled it great:

How many fantasy owners had their hearts in their throats for the last few hours waiting to see if the Pats would cut Randy Moss? It turns out they had nothing to worry about, though we were tantalized by a source who knew the list and said there was one surprise name included. That “surprise” ended up being 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde, who will undoubtedly be back at some point to throw a garbage time touchdown. As for our source, yes, he will be punched in the face.

 

[BelichickFan]

And how exactly would you like reporters to suss this particular situation out?

Not sure what suss means but he should either be 100% confident in his source or say nothing like Reiss did.

I'm not a Reiss ball washer not a Tomase hater - but he'd better stop using "sources" until they're right more often.

 

[patsox23]

you're right. Reporters should never count on a source, and it's Tomase's fault that his fellow colleague believed a source whose opinion of "surprise" is off-kilter. Reiss is better because of that!

 

[BelichickFan]

you're right. Reporters should never count on a source, and it's Tomase's fault that his fellow colleague believed a source whose opinion of "surprise" is off-kilter. Reiss is better because of that!

All I know is Tomase reported a baseless fact and Reiss didn't.

 

[patsox23]

All I know is Tomase reported a baseless fact and Reiss didn't.

All I know is he reported a FACT, not a baseless one, that fact being that "a league source with knowledge of the Patriots’ moves said there’s a surprise on the cut list, but declined to elaborate. That could mean Moss. It could mean Reche Caldwell. Right now no one knows."

It's pretty ironic that the people complaining about the "facts" Tomase and Co. are reporting don't have the FACTS themselves. That word you're looking for is....OOPS.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Well... who was cut already? Caldwell?

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Not to belabor this, but what evidence does patsox23 have that Tomase was reporting a "fact"? Just because a "source" said something to a "colleague" doesn't make it a fact. patsox23 is missing the point that reporters deal with these types of "facts" all the time. The good writers consistently make better decisions about the reliability of the source and the depth of evidence. The lousy ones do what Tomase does and flash the hype just to get some notice then try to hide behind the "fact" that they were just quoting someone. If you can't see the difference you need glasses, or better ones...

 

[Slagathor]

It was another case of another media guy, and not Tomase's first time, taking a shot in the dark and hoping his gamble pays off.

With talk of Moss, Harrison or at the very least, Caldwell or Washington getting cut, the latter two not being outside the realm of possibilty, he figured any of those guys would have been plausible surprise cuts.

The gamble failed, and he then says his source was referring to Testeverde.

I got news for you John.....either your source is an idiot and you desperately need to find a new one (maybe Shalise will be nice enough to share info with you) or you made it all up.

I hate to be be so hostile, but I expect good solid info from our beat writers and I hate feeling like I'm being misled.

 

[brdmaverick]

I think Tomase was just guessing that their would be a surprise cut, ran the story, and was hoping that 'someone' did get cut so that it would make him look good. it would make it look like he had some inside source that the rest of us didn't have, when in fact he was probably just fishin' for something, and caught nothin'.

 

[patsox23]

Not to belabor this, but what evidence does patsox23 have that Tomase was reporting a "fact"? Just because a "source" said something to a "colleague" doesn't make it a fact. patsox23 is missing the point that reporters deal with these types of "facts" all the time. The good writers consistently make better decisions about the reliability of the source and the depth of evidence. The lousy ones do what Tomase does and flash the hype just to get some notice then try to hide behind the "fact" that they were just quoting someone. If you can't see the difference you need glasses, or better ones...

You guys, I don't want to belabor this anymore than you do. This post is RIDICULOUS. I'm not saying what the source said was a FACT. I'm saying it's a FACT that there were rumors to that effect and it was a FACT that the source SAID it. It being an NFL source privy to the Patriots roster deliberations, I think that's a legitimate thing to blog about.

This is not rocket science. This is elementary school stuff.

 

[patsox23]

It was another case of another media guy, and not Tomase's first time, taking a shot in the dark and hoping his gamble pays off.

With talk of Moss, Harrison or at the very least, Caldwell or Washington getting cut, the latter two not being outside the realm of possibilty, he figured any of those guys would have been plausible surprise cuts.

The gamble failed, and he then says his source was referring to Testeverde.

I got news for you John.....either your source is an idiot and you desperately need to find a new one (maybe Shalise will be nice enough to share info with you) or you made it all up.

I hate to be be so hostile, but I expect good solid info from our beat writers and I hate feeling like I'm being misled.

Oh my God, you guys, this is just absolutely bat-zhit insane, off-the-charts about Tomase. He did not "make it all up." Who the Hell ARE you people? Like, seriously, what WORLD do you live in? "A shot in the dark?" Are you kidding? I don't think it's pie-in-the-sky thinking to say that Tomase probably wasn't just randomly making crap up, just sort of...throwing it against a wall. This is not some Borges or Felger here, and there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER for the kind of B.S. charges you people are hurling here.

Amazing. People complaining about the basis for comments, who have no basis for THEIR OWN comments. Pathetic. TOTALLY. God.

 

[Bella*chick]

How could he have made it up....PFT's rumors about Moss fueled a frenzy yesterday. He was along for the ride.

The punching the source in the face thing made me smile. It's what I'd like to see happen.

 

[DaBruinz]

What the F are you people talking about? He quoted a SOURCE that his colleague spoke to, who said there was a "surprise cut." What's he supposed to do, read the source's MIND? I'd much rather learn what the source has to say and have it turn out to be less of a surprise than NOT know anything - so this is all Tomase's fault now? For reporting something that made you (and us) unnecessarily antsy?

Tomase didn't think about the information he was given. Just like he didn't THINK about the information from Rich Cimini. It took Pats fans emailing him for him to realize his error. And it took Cimini having his Sports Editor called before he issued his apology.

Yes, it IS Tomase's fault for not vetting his source. Vinny Testaverde being cut wasn't that much of a surprise. In all honesty, Rogers and Rivers being cut were bigger surprises.

Patsox, what you are failing to realize is that WHAT Tomase has to report is just as important as HOW he reports it. He's been scooped quite a bit recently and is clearly NOT liking it, so he tried to cut corners and got burned for it.

Tomase had seemed like he was getting better up until the last week or so. Now, he seems to have slid backwards and is right back where he started when he first joined the Globe.

 

[patsox23]

You're a journalist on cut-down day. You and/or one of your colleagues at the paper is told by someone INSIDE, who knows the deliberations going on with the team you cover that there is a "surprise cut." You ask how big a surprise is it and the source refuses to qualify it. (By the way, you do the responsible thing and report THIS in your blog, as well.)

Rumors are swirling - and have been - about Randy Moss. The Harrison thing happened less than 24 hours ago. OTHER NFL GM's are calling YOU, wondering if it's Moss. You go forward with the speculation, STATING VERY CLEARLY that the source said it but you don't know what it's referring to. All you know is that the source has called it a "surprise cut." You make THAT clear, too.

What the HELL do you people want? What MORE could he do for you? Seriously, I think you're being outrageously, naively cynical. This shouldn't even be a conversation. He crossed every possible t and dotted every possible i. Add to that the fact that it's a freakin' BLOG and my eyes cannot roll enough at you people.

 

[patsox23]

Bruinz, go back and read the actual blog entry again. How much clearer could the guy make it to you that even HE was skeptical about what the "surprise" was? He couldn't have been MORE responsible about it.

 

[DaBruinz]

Oh my God, you guys, this is just absolutely bat-zhit insane, off-the-charts about Tomase. He did not "make it all up." Who the Hell ARE you people? Like, seriously, what WORLD do you live in? "A shot in the dark?" Are you kidding? I don't think it's pie-in-the-sky thinking to say that Tomase probably wasn't just randomly making crap up, just sort of...throwing it against a wall. This is not some Borges or Felger here, and there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER for the kind of B.S. charges you people are hurling here.

Amazing. People complaining about the basis for comments, who have no basis for THEIR OWN comments. Pathetic. TOTALLY. God.

What do you mean that there is no basis for the ridicule of Tomase? Have you been living in a cave the past 2 years? Tomase, when he first started, looked like a Ron Borges re-incarnate. Yes, he seemed to get better, but the recent stuff has been garbage. Him trying to blame his "source" for his stupidity shows that he can't take responsibility for his actions.

A good reporter vets his sources. A good reporter doesn't take a scoop from a source that hasn't been vetted without checking with other sources to verify the veracity of the scoop. That is where Tomase went wrong.

You can sit here and tell everyone else that they don't know what they are talkiing about, but you'd be wrong.