This week’s edition of Patriots Football Weekly (owned by the team).
Nice.
It might be a stretch to say that the Patriots are “using” PFW to send a message, but as the paper is a house publication, they at least approve of the the suggestion here.
I guess this is as good a time as any to mention that this is the issue my monthly media column is in. It’s a look at the coverage of the Incognito/Martin incident in Miami, and the work done by the likes of Jay Glazer and Shannon Sharpe on this issue.
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An annoying theme that has seemingly become a running go-to subject to bring up every time the Patriots have a call go against them is to bring up the tuck rule. The Globe in particular is obsessed with the tuck rule. Whether it is Shaughnessy, Ryan or Chris Gasper today, the tuck rule is again referenced as evidence that the Patriots have been the recipient of fortunate calls on their own end.
The difference being, of course, that the tuck rule was an actual rule that was enforced correctly, as opposed to a flag being thrown for an obvious foul and then picked up without explanation.
I find the incongruity of this headline appearing in Globe highly amusing:
I heard the “payback for the tuck rule” last year in the regular season Baltimore game, the one Bill Belichick referenced Monday night when he said he had been instructed that asking for an explanation from the officials was not the right thing to do. I heard “payback for the tuck rule” on the “push rule” call in the Jets game. (By the way – that call, which had never been made before and supposedly had been a point of emphasis that week – has it been called since? Or will that be the only time that call is ever made in the National Football League?)
My other bone to pick is the idea that a team “deserves to win.”
I love the “diehard Pats zealots” bit. To me, Ryan was just trolling Patriots fans with these tweets, and I said so on Twitter.
So, if on that final play Brady had managed to connect with Gronk, would Ryan be saying the Patriots deserved to win? Or that they had been outplayed by Carolina?
That was about as evenly a played game as we’ve seen in the NFL. But if I say that, I’m a “diehard Pats zealot” with “blinders” who can’t see the truth.
Maybe it’s expectations? The Panthers played better than many who hadn’t seen them before thought they could, so it means they outplayed the Patriots? The game came down to one or two plays. I have a hard time saying either team significantly outplayed the other. It was a great, evenly played game that the Panthers came out on top in. I’ve got no problem saying that.
Meanwhile, if you had a bad day yesterday, take solace, it could’ve been worse:
NFL Media’s Albert Breer has travel meltdown with U.S. Airways; informed viewers roll their eyes
Boston Sports Media Watch 
Listen up, class, today in Boston Sports Media 101, we’re going to talk about straw men. Make sure you’re taking notes.
If you want to take pot shots at a particular pro franchise, but they rarely, if ever, provide you with any salacious post-game material themselves, here’s a useful tactic that’s been around for years. It’s called “Felgering.” Step one: Construct the argument you’re going to dissect or straight-up attack. Step two: Attribute it to “footie-pajama-wearing” fans. This way, you can bypass any possible factual conflicts with your argument by ascribing the counterpoint to a vague segment of a fanbase that probably exists.
OK, for homework, read chapter 4 on “contrarianism.” There will be a quiz.
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I didn’t know Felger moonlighted as an adjunct?
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To: Whiny, Self-Absorbed, Lazy, Pompous, Cry Baby Albert Breer
From: Society
Subject: Something You Love — You
Memo: For the love of god, man, can you be any more pathetic? Let’s put this into terms that even you can fathom: Just STFU, already. An informal survey of BSMW readers indicate that 99.3% would rather be stuck in a full porta-Johnny with both Shaughnessy and Borges for 3 days than to have a free steak dinner with you at a high-end chop house. The 0.7% that pick you? Well, that would be yourself (naturally), the lame-o who hired you at the NFL Network, and your mommy. What a complete jag-off.
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What’s your problem with him exactly? Can you describe your issue without calling him names like a 7 year old?
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Was there a time when the Boston media didn’t make a living off of disingenuous thoughts and outright trolling their listener/readership?
It’s ridiculous lately.
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Does anybody embarrass themselves more on a day to day basis than albert breer?
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Gotta love Ryan’s throw-a-away prediction of a Pats victory over Denver, an obvious attempt to prove his ‘objectivity’. You see, he’s not Anti-Patriots or a Pats zealot, he’s better than you.
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“I have a hard time saying either team significantly outplayed the other.” Neither did. Ryan is either clueless or simply a professional troll.
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Bruce I disagree with you on one point…in your tweet to Ryan you wrote, “Bob, you’re better than that”…no he isn’t. I know some still hold Ryan in high esteem but he jumped the shark a long time ago when he decided to become a “TV personality”….I mean, anybody who regularly goes on, “Around The Horn”….well you get my point. Ryan was once great but he decided to “join the crowd”…now I just look at him as another babbling fool…you had it right the first time, a professional troll, pathetically looking for “retweets”
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