The brave columnist from the Boston Globe went onto Houston sports radio to talk about his Sunday column…and turtled completely, telling the hosts he’s not a football guy, he doesn’t know a ton about football and saying “you got me” when confronted with specific parts of his column.

Not really a surprise.

Shank Goes Into a Full-on Backpedal About His Texans Column – Barstool Sports Boston.

Dan Shaughnessy, Don’t Know Football? – Houston Media Watch

This whole thing is another of those incidents where I’m torn as to whether I even bother mentioning at all, because it only gives Shaughnessy and his ilk exactly what he is seeking – more attention.

It’s happening more and more. Columns are written, statements are made simply to generate buzz. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. By bringing them up and even attempting to denounce them, I’m simply feeding the monster and adding to the buzz.

Another example would be Felger yesterday. He’s moved on from Rajon Rondo is a “punk.” Now he is a “dick” and a “loser.” What do you even do with that? That’s not just criticism of him as player, it’s an indictment of him a human being. It’s personal, and it’s on the most popular sports radio show in the city right now.

People clearly enjoy this type of media coverage, whether it is Shaughnessy or Felger. I must be old and out of touch, because I don’t get the appeal. It’s not entertaining to me.

I actually like to watch the games, and have them broken down an analyzed. I guess that’s old school these days.

There are plenty of people doing good work in this town, but they are overshadowed by the blowhards.

Instead you have people who openly admit they don’t know much about the game, making incendiary comments and being propped up as the voice of a region and representing Boston sports.

It’s depressing, to be honest.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

13 thoughts on “Shaughnessy – “I don’t know a ton about football.””

  1. Couldn’t agree more. If Shank is writing just for a reaction, why should we believe anything he writes or does? Was his Hall of Fame ballot real, or just for a reaction?
    With you, Bruce. Give me analysis and solid reporting. Bedard’s piece on the Texans today a good example.

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  2. That’s why I’ve always said this, and I’ll keep repeating it, I don’t care if Felger and Mazz are ahead in the ratings by million points, I will NEVER listen to those guys. For some reason when I listen to them (only when John Henry did that interview) I feel I’m not hearing sports. It always sounds like personal attacks and catch phrases. Not enough insight and information. I don’t care that the Big Show is losing to them, at least I get sports talk.

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  4. I dislike CHB as much as anyone, but the radio interview was funny. The Houston guys were the ones who sounded absurd, and I “gulp” actually thought CHB was funny with his tone, just egging them on. He wrote a prediction article, no one is required to talk about it. But if all he has to do is write junk to get invited on shows and be a national talking point (and his tito book comes out next week), then I have to blame the people who get mad about it as much as i blame him. I still think he is a complete stooge, but so is everyone up in arms over it…

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  5. YARB (You’re Absolutely Right Bruce).

    Felger calls Rajon Rondo a punk, yet he was (in so few words) saying the 2 men who were killed in the Ray Lewis incident, were basically asking to be murdered since they shouldn’t have been messing with a guy like Ray Lewis. I honestly cannot believe he was allowed to say that on the air. So the two murder victims got what they deserved because they messed with the wrong guy? Murder is ok now? So doesn’t that mean by Felger’s analysis, that since he consistently calls KG a “fake tough guy”, it would be ok for KG to end his life, since he shouldn’t have been messing with him?

    Again, this guys logic is wack

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  6. It’s been a few years now since I heard one of the WEEI Saturday regulars say – with seeming pride – that he didn’t even watch Celtics games any more. Do you really think that Ordway keeps up with the national sports scene – like many fans do? The NFL draft is a bigger even than the World Series, but Ordway ridicules the idea of talking about it until the day before. This is why I listen to Scott Van Pelt on ESPN afternoons on my computer. I am no longer a prisoner of radio.

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  7. Felger calling anyone a punk is laughable. Has he ever looked in the mirror? It’s all he has and does is name calling. I’d love to see what kind of fighter he is.

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    1. Probably a good one. I’m sure he’s been in quite a few scraps over the years that his big mouth has gotten him into.

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  8. Great post Bruce. There was a time when Felger was very good at breaking down a game — something he almost NEVER does anymore. Even the Patriots post-game shows are light on actual game specifics but long on Felger’s “talking points” and talk show agenda driven ranting.

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  10. agree with you 100% Bruce… while I understand how you can feel conflicted about, “feeding the monster” NEVER stop doing what you do. Gasbags like Shank would like nothing more than to be able to spew their crap with impunity. Let’s face it, this moron has a LIFETIME JOB…. publicity or no publicity, ignore him, don’t ignore him, he isn’t going anywhere.

    If I thought for a minute that “ignoring” him would send him into retirement then I’d be all for it….but it’s gone beyond that. He’s Joe Sullivan’s “Golden Boy”, so continue to call out this 2 bit hack for what he is…. you provide a much needed service.

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  11. My criticism is with Squeaky Mazz. I saw him and his boss on CSN today,and Tony was wearing his sweater vest,to be cool for the first time in his life with Felger. Nice gig for the weak,I suppose, to be a “yes” man. The ratings will drop eventually, and guess who goes out first—ask Pete Sheppard!

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  12. I guess this comes as no surprise but how can a newspaper employ someone empowered to write about football who admits doesn’t know football?

    I know every writer can’t be a Bedard/Reiss, but, still..

    Not that many newspapers already suffer from serious credibility problems due to things like this or bias..

    If I start submitting op-eds about cancer to the Globe, having never spent a day of medical training outside of a basics/CPR class in HS to get a credit, will they publish me?
    Isn’t it

    The “lets just employ people who generate hits” sounds like a Bleacher Report strategy. Yup, they got sold to Turner for an absolute joke of a price, and everyone is wondering how long before they dump them,

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