Pats, Sox Flop on Sunday

So, the punter looked ok, huh?

Yesterday was a forgettable day in Boston sports, with the Red Sox getting bombed by the Blue Jays at Fenway and the Patriots getting thrashed by the Buccaneers in a preseason game in Tampa.

There’s plenty of media news going on this morning, David Scott checks in with Monday Morning Media Matters with a look at the latest WEEI.com news. The site has roped former Deadspin.com editor Will Leitch into doing a twice-a-month column for the site. He also reports on the other new hires the station has lined up, and has them vigorously defending their hiring of Ron Borges.

One thing that should be cleared up involved contributing basketball writer Jeff Goodman: He is not leaving FOXSports.com to join the Boston-based site, he actually just signed a two-year deal to remain with FOX, but is also able to contribute to WEEI in a secondary capacity. Goodman feels that the Entercom site is a great way to increase his local visibility, and will be filing a weekly hoops column for the site.

WEEI.com has done a “soft launch” of their new look today, site editor Rob Bradford explains how he got lured over to the dotcom side of things by the radio station. There are a number of other news stories from the contributors this morning, and I’ll work them into the morning links…

Yesterday Scott also looked at the Globe’s hiring of Adam Kilgore to back up Amalie Benjamin on the Red Sox beat.

Patriots (27-10 preseason loss in Tampa)

Over on Patriots Daily, Chris Warner examines the damage, and manages to extract five positives from last night’s ugliness.

Christopher Price checks in with his popular 10 Things We Learned Last Night column following the debacle in Tampa. Christopher L. Gasper has the Patriots ship taking on water in Tampa. John Tomase says that last night’s game illustrated an undeniable truth: without Tom Brady, the Pats aren’t that good. Robert Lee notes that without Brady, it wasn’t pretty last night.

Mike Reiss says that the best chance the Patriots will have this season is by keeping Brady healthy. Perhaps by sitting him out in these preseason games, thats exactly what they’re trying to do. Ron Borges says that the Patriots defense has a long way to go, but fortunately, there are three weeks to go in the preseason. Ian Clark agrees that as bad at the quarterbacks were for the Patriots, the main problems last night were on defense. Michael Felger makes the predictable “basement” jokes about writing for a web site, and goes on to analyze how much trouble the Patriots are in without a legit backup for Tom Brady. Lee Diekemper notes that new Patriot John Lynch is still a big hit in Tampa.

Check out all of yesterday’s Patriots stories with The Sunday Links feature by Scott Benson over on PatriotsDaily.com

I’ve got the fantasy football blues

Gasper’s notebook has Brandon Meriweather leaving the game with a leg injury on the first series, and not returning. Tomase’s notebook has Bill Belichick unwilling to shed any light on Brady’s absence. (note to the Herald editors – Meriweather isn’t a rookie anymore, the subheading “Rook doesn’t return” doesn’t fit.) Lee’s notebook has the Tampa QB’s picking apart the Patriots patchwork secondary all night long.

Red Sox (15-4 loss at Fenway to the Blue Jays)

Amalie Benjamin has the Sox let down by a disappointing performance from their ace, who only lasted 2 1/3 innings before being pulled. Joe Haggerty has the Blue Jays embarrassing the Red Sox at Fenway. Jeff Horrigan says that yesterday was a day that the Red Sox would like to purge instantly from their collective memory. Paul Kenyon says that it wasn’t just the loss, it was how they lost that was disturbing for the Red Sox. Dom Amore has Beckett and Sox enduring a frustrating afternoon at Fenway. Bob Stern has more on what could’ve been the worst outing of Beckett’s career. Ron Chimelis has another view on a bad day at the ballpark. Dave Nordman wonders what’s wrong with Beckett.

Barbara Matson has Beckett facing the music and taking the blame for the loss. Steven Krasner says that not being able to get the right snap on his pitches did in Beckett yesterday. Maureen Mullen says that this start was all the more disappointing given Beckett’s performance the last time out. Steve Buckley has Jason Varitek’s struggles at the plate continuing.

Alex Speier looks at Jason Bay’s journey from tossed around prospect to big market star. On his blog, Hacks with Hags, Haggerty has The Best of Pedroia, where Red Sox teammates recount the funniest things they’ve heard the All Star second baseman say and do. Krasner has the role for Kevin Cash changing with Tim Wakefield on the DL.

Mike McMahon has old school and new school meeting up yesterday with Dick Williams and Terry Francona comparing notes. Buckley says that the Hall of Fame hasn’t mellowed Williams one bit. Krasner has more on the Sox honoring Williams yesterday.

Pink Hat Hell has the latest scathing recap of Sox Appeal.

Benjamin’s notebook has Clay Buchholz getting some work in relief yesterday. Stern’s notebook has Buchholz saying that he felt good about his stint yesterday. Horrigan’s notebook has Buchholz glad to get the work between starts. The ProJo notebook has more on Clay’s outing. Amore’s notebook also looks at Buchholz and Williams. Chimelis’ notebook says that Wakefield’s return to the rotation is still up in the air. Nordman’s notebook says that the Sox will be patient with Wake.