It’s a busy Friday in the Boston sports media world. The Red Sox continued their strong play of late with a 6-5 comeback win over the Marlins at Fenway Park. Rookie Will Middlebrooks was the hero, tying the game with the two-run homer in the eighth inning.

Before the game, David Ortiz spoke out against the media crush this week following the “Toxic Clubhouse” reports.

David Ortiz blasts media – Scott Lauber has Ortiz tired of dealing with the drama.

A big blast from Ortiz – Peter Abraham has Ortiz making a pointed response to the drama.

Ortiz: ‘It’s starting to become the [bleep] hole it used to be’ – Sean McAdam has Bobby Valentine saying that perhaps Ortiz went on the rant to take the attention off his teammates and onto himself.

Some feel that Ortiz should just pipe down and has no right to complain. Ever.

Rich Levine thinks that Ortiz just made matters worse, and that the scrutiny from the media will only increase and gives them “another reason to chalk these guys up as selfish, whiny losers.”

Kirk Minihane says that even if the message Ortiz delivered is the right one, he believes Ortiz was really just expressing anger over his contract, and that invalidates the message. So in other words, Ortiz is a selfish, whiny loser.

David Ortiz’s Rant Against Media In Line With Big Papi’s Character, Team’s Changing Climate – Tom Caron believes that  Ortiz had no agenda, he was just answering questions truthfully.

John Henry happy with Sox’ response – Michael Silverman gets an email interview with the Red Sox owner, who is pleased with all the adversity the club has overcome thus far.

Curt Schilling was a guest on Dennis and Callahan this morning, seeking a safe haven on the airwaves to make his initial public statements on the collapse of his company. He got it.

Schilling on D&C: ‘I’m tapped out’ financially -Jerry Spar has Schilling saying he’s lost all the millions he earned in his playing career.

I lost $50M in failed gaming company – Matt Stout in the Herald has Schilling saying that Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee had an agenda against him.

Gil Santos prepared to answer the call for Patriots – Chad Finn has the legendary Patriots voice making a surprising health comeback and hoping to be back behind the mic for this season.

Terry Francona refuses to dish about Red Sox on mic – Bill Doyle wishes the ex-manager shared more insight on the team during his ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast.

Wimbledon 2012 Makes Jump From NBC To ESPN – My SB Nation media column has John McEnroe sharing an unusual memory from Wimbledon.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

38 thoughts on “Ortiz Speaks Out, Schilling Speaks Up, Santos Wants In”

  1. Surprised at Stern/ESPN didn’t want it going to a 6 or 7. Close out on Sunday night? Would have probably broken all records:

    @Ourand_SBJ @ESPN: ABC NBA Finals: 5-game overnite avg was 11.8, highest five-game avg since ’04.

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    1. David Stern didn’t want to take the chance of the Heat choking on the road. Hopefully now that LJ has popped his cherry,Stern can tell the refs to call a normal game now when the Heat are involved and not send them to the line 50 freakin times a game.

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    3. ’85 still hurts more than any other defeat in C’s history, to me anyway. They had no chance in ’87 because of Bias’ death and the enormous injury issues that season, and they did very well to take LA to 6, and almost 7 games that year.

      In 2010 they didn’t have Garnett at 100%, lost Perk in Game 6, and had Ray Allen’s jumpshot go MIA, completely, in Games 3 and 7–their two closes losses in the series. And oh yes, there was the small matter of the 18-6 FT discrepancy in the 4th quarter of Game 7. Very tough defeat to swallow.

      Still, with about 2 weeks left in the 2010 season there was no one in this city who foresaw that C’s team getting all the way to Game 7 of the Finals. It turns out that they had been playing possum for most of the year and saving their energy for the post-season, but no one could have known that at the time. Getting to the Finals that season was a bonus.

      But 1985 still gnaws at my gut all these years later.

      The Celtics were the defending champs and were the best team in the NBA, without question, at mid-season. Then Maxwell injured his knee, dogged it on his rehab assignment, got out of shape and basically rendered himself ineffective for the remainder of the year. That messed up the rotation because McHale had to move into the starting lineup, which basically took away Parish’s backup. The Chief, as a result, was dead tired by the time he had to face Kareem in the Finals, and the old man just dominated him over the six games. Also, Bird came down with a sore shooting elbow late in the season and had an inconsistent jumpshot for the entire playoff run. And then, yes, there was the nifty new 2-3-2 format that Stern the Great proposed the summer before, ostensibly to cut down on travel during the Finals, but in reality, it was designed to increase the possibilty of a longer Finals series and hence, better TV ratings. If the C’s had Game 5 at home after DJ’s buzzer-beater in Game 4, they would have won that series, even with the injury problems dogging them at that time.

      Bitter pill, still, all these years later.

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  3. OH MY GOD! Mr. Kraft please do Gill a favor and make the call for him that he is unable to do for himself. Tell him his job is done and please get a capable announcing crew that can SEE the action and call the game without screwing up the players name almost every time. i’m sorry,I know those guys are legends in the booth but their best days are long gone…have been for about 5 years now. It’s sad that Gill is trying to cling on so desperately. Thank him for all his contributions and move on already because the present broadcasts are UN-LISTENABLE. I always have to listen to the out of market team just to hear a competent team call a game.

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  4. It says a lot about his personality if he truely wishes for bad things to happen to players. Why should i be so fixated on James? He’s not on my team. He’s a great player on another team that won. Why should that ruin my day or anyone elses outside of OKC? Some people need to get a life if they hope and pray for the failures  of others. Especially when it’s toward someone who is generally considered to be a pretty good guy despite his ego which is normal to expect from someone of his stature.

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  5. Hey Bruce, I’m hoping you or someone here can provide some further insight/description of the Schilling interview. I only heard about 5 minutes of it driving into work, but from what I could tell, it was a tongue bath from John and Gerry. I heard Schilling repeatedly state that he “deserves part of the blame” though I’m not too sure how sincere he was being. He also made it a point to bash Lincoln Chafee (to which Gerry obviously jumped at), whether deservedly so or not, I’m not sure. IMO, their problem with Chafee stems solely from the fact that he doesn’t have (R) listed after his name. Did I miss anything from the interview that was any different than the 5 minute lathering of Schill by the not-so-dynamic duo?

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      1. Yeah I figured it would be. I guess I’m just trying to determine if it’s worth my time, based on the 5 minute sample I already heard. If it’s just extended ball-washing, I’ll pass. Thanks though!

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    2. I think the only salient point, from hearing parts, was his remark about Chafee. But, as I think you and some others have pointed out, it’s probably wrong for sports media to go into it because they don’t understand how finance/startups work, let alone the dynamics of the game industry.

      He had a few callers who sympathized with him, as I can from similar experience, but also had a few who railed on him because of his views of smaller government.

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    3. There were several salient points covered by Schilling that the exuberant that he failed media have not covered at all.

      1) He put $50 mill of his own money in.  RI put in $49 mill.  Outside investors put in $10 mill.  Over 5 years that is $110 mill.  Callers kept asking where the money went.  It went into development costs of the two games.  We can argue over whether it was good business to go $110 mill in the hole but evidently in that industry it is not that crazy.

      2) There was an investor willing to put $20 mill in at the end.  He asked for 2 things …1- he wanted RI to subordinate its debt to him and 2- he wanted $6 mill of tax credits.  RI balked at both, the deal fell through and the company went bankrupt.  I have heard a similar story in the RI business finance community of which I have “friends”.  If it is true then Chaffee made a business decision because of politics and that decision looks like it will cost RI tax payers $49 mill.

      3) Approx 1.3 mill copies of the first game were sold making it a hit.  The problem was EA owned all that money because of advances they put up in getting it tuned.  38 studios saw none of that money and we banking on the second game.

      4) Schilling admits that he made his fair share of mistakes and because of it he lost $50 mill, his company and perhaps his reputation.  He thinks he is going back to work for ESPN…now more because he has to than he wanted to.

      5) He has not spoken to John Beckett in a while.

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  9. Leave Gil Santos alone, he’s still THE MAN…I don’t want some young squeeky voiced schmuck calling the games. Besides that, #1 who listens to the games on radio, anyway?…#2 if it’s on RADIO what’s it matter if he gets the players names wrong once in awhile?…you can’t see what’s happening anyway…..deal with it

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    1. Exactly, who cares if he gets the names wrong, sets the play up incorrectly, gives the wrong time of game, score, and who has the ball. I love when Tom Brady hands the ball off to Dan Connolly, and also the starting Cornerback Kevin Arrington with John Ighedibo behind him.

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      1. That sounds like a transcript of Mayor Menino on color and Magic Johnson as analyst.

        That would be fun.

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    2.  I listen to games on the radio all the time…like when I get up to use the bathroom during the game or to grab another cold adult beverage.

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  10. Was that Felger taking a shot at Bruce?

    End of 4pm hour on F+M and they’re talking about the next athlete in a pro sport to hate because they’re lacking a championship.

    Someone brings up the Jets and Rex Ryan/Sanchez (if they won). Felger goes, “Oh, that would drive Bruce Allen nuts”

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  11. I don’t understand how people can still embrace Ortiz. He is the most INSUFFERABLE, whiny athlete in Boston right now. He bitches about the tiniest issues, throws around the disrespect card like nothing, and is generally unlikable. I personally can’t stand him, but i do recognize he is one of the greatest Red Sox of all time

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  12. Some other news:

    http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/june/skip-bayless-mark-cuban-debate-first-take-video.html

    If you missed Skip Bayless getting absolutely demolished by Mark Cuban (yes, that Mark Cuban) on First Take today, it’s worth the watch. Skip did invite the challenge (kudos to him/FT producers) but it ultimately wasn’t in his best interests.

    ——————–

    It looks like, on the NBCSports announcement on their own sportstalk radio is also being coupled with one from CBS:

    http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/june/cbs-and-nbc-are-launching-their-own-sports-radio-networks.html

    Still very far from being a competitor, but some news.

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    1. Thank you for the video of Bayless getting positively hammered by Cuban. Bayless isn’t far away from any talk show host here.

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  15. Typical Doughboy Allen waving his pom poms for the local team while degarding anyone that dares disagree.  David Ortiz has been a great Red Sock on the field.  Fact not opinion,  His constant bitching ang crying is getting tiresome.  Rhode Island has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.  My friend lost his house because he has been out of work for so long.  And for this punk to bitch an complain about the “shithole that mean old Boston is” is absurd.  First off. this guy has no idea what a “shithole” Boston can be.  He has no clue what the Ralph Houk years were like,  pr when fan were waving dollar bills at Jack Clark.  He has been adored since the day he walked in.  Where’s that PED press conference?  Oh that’s right…the mean Boston media kicked it aside.  The guys that have pumped your tired for years!  For once, I want Allen to come on here and go against the player and say hey–you got it pretty good buddy.  But no, it’s always, the media are a-holes.  Love you Papi (or Pierce, or Chara, or Thomas, etc).

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    2. Well, I’m not really known for being fat, but thanks for contributing to the discussion.

      One question. Where did I take a side here, for or against Ortiz? I believe I posted a representation of what the media is saying about him and this situation. I don’t think I made any sort of statement one way or the other.

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    3. This is the most bizarre post I’ve ever read here. In one sentence, you say David Ortiz is a “great Red Sock” yet immediately slight him for bitching and crying.  Your closing statement says Love you Papi. I think I speak for everyone in saying “Did you recently have a Lobotomy?”

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  16. Chad Finn tweeted this last week about Nicole leaving for NLFN. This just crossed today:

    The NFL Network will debut on Monday July 30th, a new four-hour show
    called “NFL-AM.”  It will start at 6:00 am Eastern Monday through
    Friday.

    According to a release by the NFL,
    NFL AM will blanket the world of the NFL with seasoned and opinionated
    talent who will report and debate news and examine the personalities
    that play the game. The show’s discussion will cover a wide-range of
    NFL-related topics including the cultural convergence of sports,
    entertainment and music. Each morning, NFL AM will collaborate with
    NFL.com to take a look at the latest in fantasy football news and
    information.

    NFL AM’s will feature Mark Kriegel from FOXSports.com, former San
    Francisco 49ers Super Bowl-winning cornerback Eric Davis, Brian Webber
    from FOX Sports Digital, Nicole Zaloumis from Comcast Sports Net-New
    England, and Steve Wyche from NFL Media.

    ————–

    I’m surprised that they didn’t do a morning show before. Gotta wonder if they’ll try to get this simulcast somewhere.

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      1. Nicole Zaloumis. Previously of CSNNE.

        Sorry, I forgot to post her full name. I assumed people had seen it or would put it together since I think she is the only local media member with the first name “Nicole”.

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        1. I figured that’s what you meant, but I hadn’t heard she was leaving. I feel like I saw her on CSNNE just last night. Also, It didn’t feel like she was around very long. I felt like she appeared briefly, then didn’t she go on maternity leave, then return, only to leave again?

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          1. Same.

            Since I was late to the “lets pay attention to who/what in the media” here (in respect to many others here), I did a search and saw that she made her name known mainly via the Big10 Network. B1G10 is the only regional college network you can get around here (without sat), and friends of mine that are fans said she was like their own Heidi Whatney.

            However, I guess she was only here a few years? NFLN must have had their eye on her for a bit because she wasn’t here long. Plus, you could say “Jenny Dell” and get more name recognition right now than asking who Nicole is.

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