A few weeks ago when Wes Welker made the statement that he could be himself more in Denver, plenty of media took the opportunity to take the shot at how much the Patriots “control” their players and don’t let them be themselves.

Aaron Hernandez is arrested on one murder charge and investigated on two others, and the narrative is suddenly changed to chiding the team for not controlling their players enough through monitoring their actions off the field and being aware of all aspects of their personal lives.

The Red Sox were ridiculed for hiring private detectives to follow Carl Crawford around prior to signing him as a free agent. Can you imagine the uproar if it came out that the Patriots had hired investigators to follow their players around and nose around their private lives? The schoolmarm portion of the media would be outraged at this violation of privacy.

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While we’re on the subject of narrative changes, I’m enjoying how some have spent the last couple years saying in no uncertain terms that Danny Ainge needs to “blow it up” and start rebuilding the Celtics.

Now that Ainge has done that, some of the same people are outraged and putting forth the notion that the Celtics are “tanking” the season.

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It’s quite a change to see the Red Sox practically begging for attention while in first place. Whether it’s Larry Lucchino telling Dennis and Callahan that “it’s OK to talk baseball” or Chris Gasper’s piece today which reads in part “Boston, your first-place baseball team graciously requests the honor of your presence and participation in this season.”

I’ll be the first to admit that this has been a fun team to watch, and the transformation from last year to this year is stunning. Ben Cherington did a great job making over the team in the offseason, and buying time for when the prospects will be ready.

Hopefully the team can keep it up, and if they do, they will get the attention they deserve.

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I’ve heard the rumors from several places that the Boston Herald will be dipping their toes into the online radio waters sometime in the next couple weeks. Details are sketchy, it won’t be a sports radio station exclusively but this duo is apparently lined up for an afternoon show:

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Glenn Ordway had been approached about the station, but things did not work out. Ordway is hosting the Dan Patrick show this week.

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NESN announced Friday night that they have hired Gary Striewski as a feature reporter and weekend sports anchor. Striewski comes to NESN from NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston where he was also a sports anchor and reporter.

You can find out more about him on Twitter (@garystriewski ) and Facebook.

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After so many columns like this from Ashley Fox and this from Joan Vennochi, it’s nice to see rebuttal style columns from Drew Magary and Tom Keane to restore some sanity. How did that last column make it into the Globe by they way?

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Anyone else laughing at the notion that the BENGALS are taking a victory lap/finger wag at the Patriots over Hernandez’s character issues coming out of college?

Yes, the same Bengals who are tied with the Vikings for having had the most players in the NFL arrested since 2000. The writer of that blog post perhaps should’ve made mention of that fact.

When the Patriots drafted Hernandez, Albert Breer, then with the Globe, had the following in his report on the pick:

Despite all of this, each NFL source the Globe spoke with lauded the Patriots for getting Hernandez with the 113th pick.

“That’s tremendous value for a guy that could’ve been a late first- or second-round pick,’’ said the AFC college scouting official. “You can cut a fourth-round pick. You’ve got a good player there, and that’s a bonus.’’

“It comes down to when the risk outweighs the reward,’’ said the AFC personnel director.

The revisionist history being tossed around is incredible. If the Patriots didn’t pick him, eventually someone else would have.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

6 thoughts on “Narrative Changes, Red Sox Pleas, and Online Radio”

  1. At least Mike Reiss has the guts to admit that Hernandez had him fooled. All these reporters wagging their fingers at the Patriots are full of crap because if they had known he was a bad kid, they would have wrote it, and they didn’t. EVERYBODY thought the Pats were LUCKY to lock up both Gronk and AH last summer.
    The hypocrisy is appalling.

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  2. Looks like Breer can’t just write a Florio-style drive-by hitjob on Hernandez like many others.

    Why you ask?

    Urban Meyer.

    More came out today about how Hernandez had problems at Florida, if you’re keeping up with the timeline. Luckily for Hernandez, Meyer had “no comment” when asked last week about him.

    I’d be willing to bet he said something, somewhere, about Meyer when at Florida, as he has no problem ‘mocking’ (jealousy) all things-SEC (go look at the ’07 BCS NCG score). However, now that Meyer is the Buckeyes’ coach? Gotta protect your man.

    You want the 5-stars, many come with baggage and they’re well protected within the communities. Nothing surprising here if you follow CFB.

    @RapSheet Based on knowledge of covering
    SEC for 5 years: Most local establishments are at a point where if
    stuff happens they call coach before cops

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  4. The “Brand Tarnished”…what the hell is that even supposed to mean??…I know the “storyline” they are TRYING to makeup, but really….in today’s society, where people have the attention span of a fruit fly? Hernandez will soon be a distant memory…..when people think of the Carolina Panthers (don’t laugh, some do) ..do they say, “oh, those Panthers!, the’ll forever be tarnished by Rae Carruth” ???……as George Carlin used to say,..”it’s all bullshit folks, and it’s bad for ya”

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  5. sports media hacks are the dumbest people walking the planet. They don’t seem to ‘get’ the fact that their hypocrisy is etched in stone; their previous writings or utterances there for all to read or hear. Then they come waddling out like neanderthals pretending that their previous positions were never so. I declared factually that sports media hacks are the lowest form of life existing today and I’m happy to be seen as correct.

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  6. Since the “I have never covered football, let alone sports, but let me get my turn with the whip” continues with the press, I wondered about this:

    Why weren’t any of the media turned on to Hernandez? Or aware of all of this stuff at Florida?

    If anything, people in the media, due to existing connections, friends in the press and shield laws in their favor, have a good/better chance about finding things out about players. The same “Team Security” (lets just call them PIs) that are supposed” to find out about a player’s past aren’t also cozied up to certain media members leaking the same information?

    Maybe some did look into Hernandez and used contacts in Gainesville but came up fruitless. I don’t know. We all know that once something comes to light or the S— hits the fan like this, everyone starts talking, but you’re telling me that none of these incidents could not have been discovered by any of the media in this town? I get that many have to “cover” for access but then why not leak to someone else willing to publish and run with it?

    I’m not trying to shift some blame or exculpate BB/Kraft/team, but has anyone seriously asked where the media was in this?

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