Chris Gasper is an online columnist for Boston.com.

Gasper joined the Boston Globe in 2002, covering sports for the Globe North section. During his career he’s covered high school and college sports, as well as a healthy amount of time covering the Patriots. During the Mike Reiss years, he and Reiss were a very strong combination on the beat. He moved into the columnist role when Boston.com became more of a seperate entity from the Globe, though his columns still occasionally appear in the Globe.

Gasper can be seen and heard on many outlets, including Comcast SportsNet, 98.5 The SportsHub (where he makes a nice balance to Felger and Massarotti as an in-studio guest on their show), the Patriots pregame shows on 98.5 and SportsCenter 5 OT.

{democracy:129}

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

20 thoughts on “2011 Approval Ratings – Chris Gasper”

  2. Was a great partner to Reiss and has gone steadily downhill since. Globe has tried to get "street cred" due to his ethnicity but he's upper middle class all the way. I don't think he's found his true self yet but he's got some talent and doesn't whine like SMY.

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  3. I bet this one's going to be a 50/50 split…

    Gasper's been a little rough around the edges since Reiss left, but he gets the job done. I can't say I disapprove, so I guess I approve.

    I think though, that to be honest, this would change if Reiss weren't still covering the Pats for someone else, and wasn't still available to read elsewhere. As a secondary source of Pats info, Gasper's just fine. If he were the primary local source… maybe not.

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  4. I can't stand Gasper. Since Reiss left the Globe he has become more snarky, less informed and generally bad. Leads me to believe when he worked with Reiss he was more following Reiss' outline than doing his own work. Come to think of it he is the perfect partner for Shalise Manza Young.

    I don't particularly like him on the radio when he does the weekend show with Bartrand. His talks down to callers (not that he is the first to do this on a local sports show) but I would think someone with his lack of stripes would be more deferential. All that and he is even worse when he covers basketball. He reminds me a lot of Mike Holley. On paper he should be good…good education, good contacts, worked with real pros who showed him the right way to do things…in practice…totally different story.

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  5. Bruce, I have to disagree with you in saying that Gasper makes a nice balance with Felger and Maz. Gasper is equally insufferable as those two twits. He says the same stupid things like the Patriots put Brady up against the wall in his contract talks. His show with Marc Bertrand is unlistenable. Bruce you should remember his infamous tweet on the media needing to be more critical of the Patriots.

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    1. I've heard him disagree with Felger plenty of times, sometimes pretty strongly, which is more than we can say about Y.A.R.M. Massarotti. I guess I'm basing the statement on that.

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      1. Bruce I agree with your assessment. It's just that Massarotti never disagrees with Felger which makes it seems like Gasper is a good offset. It is still rare for Gasper to disagree. By the way, doesn't Maz come off as a total coward in that he will not take on Felger?

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        1. Coward is exactly the right term. Felger is a bit of a bully and Massarotti is afraid to stand up to him. In my opinion, a lot of it has to do Tony not having confidence in his sports knowledge outside of baseball so he's scared to say something that will be summarily dismissed by Felger. Tony sounds intimidated by Felger's deeper sports knowledge, better memory, and stronger opinions so his natural reaction is to piggy back off of whatever Felger is spouting off about instead of engaging him in a conversation.

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  6. Has very little to say that an intelligent, informed fan doesn't already know. Appears with Felger and Mr. Obvious. Stromg Disapprove.

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  7. I despise him more than he despises the franchise tag. Writes like a third grader, and has apparently bought into the Globe idea that you have to always be a doom and gloomer if you want to keep the page views up. Might be okay has a beat writer, but God only knows who thought he had original opinions and would make a great opinion columnist. Check every time he posts something, there will be a factual error pointed out to him within the first few comments. Book it. Strongly disapprove.

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  8. He spent half a season covering the Pats in some amorphous position, now he is a Boston.com superstar. WHY? He knows nothing about anything.

    The Globe's attempt to integrate the daily paper wither the .com has been revealing.

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  9. I like Gasper. He has a solid knowledge base of all the Boston teams. He is good with Felger and Mazz, although they should extend his segment beyond the one hour he does on Friday. Let’s lose Wiggy Wednesdays.

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      1. Especially DeOssie and Smerlas. Those 2 are insufferable. However, I do like the ex-player hockey analysts like Brickly, Beers, Milbury etc .

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  10. There is nothing to like about Gasper. No insight on the games themselves. None of the intellectual curiosity required of a good reporter. No interest in facts, only in spouting his own interpretation of events.

    Comports with the standard hiring practice at the Globe as an unqualified rube that is considered an expert and a worthy voice by idiot fans and colleagues alike simply because of his very presence in bylines.

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  11. I like Gasper but I can see why some do not. However I do think he is settling. We don't hear that much from considering the access he has. I feel like the only time we hear/see him is for 1 hour on F&M or 3 minutes on CSNNE at night. I feel like he doesn't put enough effort into his job but thats not based on anything more than opinion. To me, he has the ability/access to become a Reiss type persona, but just likes the drive. I approve slightly, with hopes that Gasper will improve.

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  12. "1. Let me get this straight, Adalius Thomas and Shawn Springs are unforgivable scofflaws because they dare suggested Patriots coach Bill Belichick wasn’t infallible. But Albert Haynesworth, who since May has dealt with a road rage assault case that was dismissed after he reached “accord and satisfaction” with the accuser and groped a waitress, is a good guy who deserves a clean slate here, no questions asked? This just proves my theory that there are certain aspects of life — sports, politics, and parenting — where people override logic and fairness based on unwavering fealty."

    Straw men arguments + Condescension + morality police work = hack

    http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/gasper/20…

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  13. I find myself trying to read his columns and just mysteriously stopping about 1/3 in. He doesn't grab me, he doesn't have the info anymore, and he's just mediocre. Disapprove only because I can't just say "Meh."

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  14. Shocked by the overwhelmingly positive comments for Gasper. On radio and TV he comes off like a typical Boston writer-whiner-know-it-all and he's just awful with Felger and Mazz. Overly snarky and seems to second guess everything just for the sake of doing so, which fits right into Bertrand and Felger's shtick.

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