In the crossover and into the Big Show this afternoon, Glenn Ordway went off on those who are trying to make Cedric Maxwell into a villain for the piece in the Herald by Jesse Noyes this morning about Maxwell’s comments on the air Monday night in Houston.
Ordway says the Herald got it wrong, and that this is another example of how anyone today can make a call, send an email or make a blog post and turn their business upside down. He believes Maxwell was in reality doing an imitation of Tommy Heinsohn when he made the comments about Violet Palmer, who has been a frequent target of Heinsohn in the past. Ordway played the tape on the show, which showed what Maxwell’s intent was. Maxwell made his voice scratchy to sound like Heinsohn, and in fact afterwords Sean Grande and Maxwell actually complimented Palmer, saying that last few years, every time they saw her, she was the best official on her crew.
Ordway says Noyes likely didn’t hear the remarks and merely took it off of the Universal Hub blog. He and the Big Show used that as an opportunity to go off on how blogs have a different set of standards and rules, that blogs are “dangerous” etc etc etc.
I can easily accept and agree with Ordway’s premise that Maxwell made the remarks as a joke, imitating Tommy Heinsohn. I would agree with him that this is being way overblown and that Maxwell shouldn’t be getting this sort of heat.
It’s obvious to me that Maxwell shouldn’t have to apologize for this.
I just have one issue here, however. It’s easy to put all the blame on the “blogs” but who made this a legitimate story? Was it Noyes by putting in the paper, or was it Jason Wolfe who was quoted in the Noyes story, and stated that Maxwell would be apologizing on the air tonight?
By making that statement, Wolfe is agreeing with the premise that Maxwell did something worthy of an apology, which is certainly newsworthy. He makes it a legitimate story. Should Wolfe had given a “no comment” or said that they were looking into it more before making that statement? I think so. HE gave Noyes a basis for publishing the story with his comments.
The original blog poster may not have “gotten” the comments by Maxwell, but it appears Wolfe didn’t either. He should be apologizing to Maxwell. Publicly.
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Andy Hart called into ESPN Boston yesterday to talk with Mike Felger about the combine in Indianapolis. He was asked if he had seen Bill Belichick out there, and Hart replied that he hadn’t and one of the things that he mentioned was that he didn’t know if it had to do with his “legal issues.” Other reasons were that Belichick and his staff had been at the Pro Bowl and perhaps needed some time to get back and have their their own meetings and so forth, were making other visits, and a few other possibilities. I was disappointed to hear Hart even raise the legal issues as a possibility.
As was stated here last week, Belichick doesn’t have any legal issues. He is not involved in the legal proceedings in the NJ case. Period. His name has been thrown around, and that is it.
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The Media Circus has more hate for bloggers from mainstream media and their media rant of the week, where they knock “experts” who are picking the Cubs to win it all because this is the year Prior and Wood will be healthy.
Before totally immersing himself into March Madness, David Scott has a look back at his time in Fort Myers, which includes an interesting rumor about Bill Simmons and Sports Illustrated.
The staff of Patriots Football Weekly just got back from the combine, where they filed a number of very informative reports for Patriots.com.
Mike Reiss has five questions with Matt Light.
Patrick Sullivan has a chat with Red Sox Assistant GM Jed Hoyer.
Jon Heyman has a look at the feel-good story of the spring that is being overlooked in the Dice-K mania – Jon Lester.
The BSMW Game Day page continues to pile up the draft player previews.
Frank Deford says that if he was an athlete, he would not want to play in New York. Because of the media.
Chad Finn previews the NL East.
Michael McCarthy has a look at Ohio State coach Thad Matta getting caught using the five-second rule.
Teddy Greenstein has a look at ESPN promoting Arena Football, promising non-stop action.
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After finishing their first season of Monday Night Football, ESPN is also going to be doing Monday Night Baseball, starting with the Orioles and Twins on April 2nd (on ESPN2).
All Monday Night Baseball telecasts will be available in high definition. Each telecast will also feature the use of “K Zone 2.0,” the enhanced version of ESPN’s Sports Emmy Award-winning “K Zone.” In addition to identifying the speed and location of a pitch in replays, “K Zone 2.0” is also capable of tracking the path of the ball from the pitcher’s hand through the strike zone and numerically sequencing pitches thrown.
Highlights of the early season Monday Night Baseball schedule (generally 7 p.m. on ESPN) include:
- Winner of the 2006 A.L. batting title Joe Mauer and league MVP Justin Morneau will host Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees April 9;
- N.L. East rivals will meet when David Wright, Jose Reyes and the New York Mets visit 2006 N.L. MVP Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and the Philadelphia Phillies April 16;
- Perennial MVP candidate Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals will face a Milwaukee Brewer lineup featuring Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks April 30;
- Sluggers Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and the Chicago Cubs meeting a potent New York Mets lineup May 14;
- One of the greatest rivalries in sports will take center stage when the New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox May 21.
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Tonight
7:00pm, NESN – Red Sox vs. Twins
7:00pm, ESPN – Villanova @ UConn (HD)
7:00pm, ESPN2 – Indiana @ Northwestern
7:30pm, FSN – Knicks @ Celtics (HD)
7:30pm, CN8 – BU @ Northeastern (hockey)
9:00pm, ESPN – Maryland @ Duke (HD)
9:00pm, ESPN2 – Texas A&M @ Texas (HD)
Boston Sports Media Watch 