Where do we begin?

It was a non-stop week of media trolling, which isn’t all that different from most weeks, but this week seemed to be on a different level.

We started out with the Brady isn’t an elite QB anymore – which somehow completely dominated almost all sports outlets at the beginning of the week. Given that it is the first week of June, many welcomed an NFL debate. Mostly from this viewpoint, it was another example of the blind allegiance to the stats of Pro Football Focus, which was the subject of the Wednesday column here.

**********************

The Kevin Love/Carmelo Anthony to the Celtics talk also generated a lot of discussion – it’s always great to hear TV and radio shows tease We’ll give you latest on Carmelo Anthony to the Celtics coming up… when you know there CANNOT be anything “new” on the situation, given as how free agency hasn’t started, trades can’t be made and the draft is still three weeks away. But still, they try to tease you into tuning in for the “latest.”

But you also know there’s something to it when Jackie MacMullan feels she has to rush in an throw cold water on everything: Kevin Love-to-Boston is no sure thing. Really? I thought the deal was already done? Didn’t they have the press conference already?

Jackie throwing the water on this ensured that she would get herself plenty of on-air gigs this week to talk about her column, in which she notes that when the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett, the talks were between Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale who were BFFs. Now the talks will be between Danny Ainge and Flip Saunders who are not BFFs, so talks might not be “as fluid or cooperative as they were when McHale and Ainge were striking a deal.”

Whoa. You can’t get that type of deep analysis just anywhere.

*************************

Then we had Patriots receiver Danny Amendola making the career-killing move of possibly hanging up on superstar radio host Adam Jones. At the very least he conveniently got disconnected and didn’t call back.

After Amendola did this to poor Jones, the media outlets of 98.5, CSNNE and Boston.com (or was it “The Lodge”) immediately circled the wagons around Jones, rallying to his defense as if the guy had just come through some harrowing experience. On air CSNNE folks slapped him on the back and congratulated him for “busting his cherry.”

On Toucher and Rich, Fred Toucher described Jones’ show as a “straight ahead sports talk program.” Clearly, Toucher has never heard Adam Jones’ program, which is nothing but #hotsportztakes and “worries” and “concerns” and worst-case scenarios.

You also have to love Fred Toucher weighing in on the Amendola “hangup” after he himself hung up on Rick Pitino not too long ago, and has bragged about it ever since.

Then on Boston.com, the “other” Adam, Kaufman weighed in with nearly 1200 words on the topic: Uncomfortable Questions No Excuse for Patriots’ Danny Amendola to Hang Up During Radio Interview.

Here are some gems from this hit piece:

Athletes, particularly those at the professional level and regardless of the sport, have a responsibility to the media.

Only the media thinks this.

Jones is an established radio talent in this market…

I’ll take your word for it.

Simple, logical, easy to answer queries from Jones for a veteran receiver with a high salary (he’s entering the second of a five-year, $28.5 million deal), high expectations, and an even higher likelihood of failing to make it through a full season unscathed.

So easy to answer he asked three times, and no, there’s no chance there was sarcasm behind any of it, just as in this sentence.

Those are just the facts and it’s his responsibility to live with that and, if necessary, be reminded of it.

Amendola needs to be reminded of it? I’m sure he forgot the time he almost died on the field. He has a responsibility to live with that, you know?

Truthfully, it’s unfortunate for Amendola because many people – and I am on that list – were expecting him to struggle to stay healthy before he ever put on a uniform.

But Kaufman has no agenda here.

Even so, if an athlete, any athlete, is permitted to cash his paychecks without performance, he can at least discuss the components of what prevented him from doing his job in years past.

If he’s going to get injured so much, clearly he should not be permitted to cash his paychecks.

But, in the future, he should realize answering challenging or unpleasant questions is simply part of the job, even if he’d rather focus his time and energy on how he’ll avoid being a disappointment and future cap casualty by the winter.

Zing! I’m so clever!

Does Kaufman reveal that he too works at 98.5? Could this also be a part of his motivation for writing this? I’m sure it isn’t. Really.

Then you get Tweets like this:

What? So an undrafted free agent who was cut by the Cowboys (publicly on Hard Knocks) and Eagles and bounced on and off their practice squads and then finally made the Rams, had some production, only to suffer a freak injury in which his clavicle pushed in and nearly crushed his his trachea and aorta and killed him, who then came back from that, and signed with New England and tore his groin in the first half of the first game of the season, and came back in that same game doesn’t know what adversity is? Not until Adam Jones asks him a few dumb questions?

Berry tried to then say this is the first time Amendola hasn’t been considered “great.”. Um, read the above paragraph.

Yes, these are the people paid to make their living talking about and covering sports.

Deadspin covered this Amendola story as well – Danny Amendola Draws Ire Of Insufferable Boston Media

********************

Dan Shaughnessy doesn’t want to be left out of the action. So he launched another tirade at David Ortiz, again suggesting that Ortiz must be using steroids right now because his performance is so good at his age.

He also criticizes Ortiz for his profanity in the ceremony following the Boston Marathon bombings last year.

Adam Gaffin had the best take on this. Bitter old clown complains about David Ortiz’s post-Marathon comments

I realize Shaughnessy is the columnist equivalent of a vampire, who will quickly die without the fresh blood he gets by riling people up, and I guess he succeeded again, or I wouldn’t have gotten this far with this post, but, really, attacking Ortiz for helping to bring the city together after an event that, unlike anything Ortiz has ever done, truly was evil? Have you no sense of decency, sir?

No, he doesn’t.

*********************

This caught my eye  as well yesterday:

They are conditioned to this belief by the constant mouthings of as depraved a group of radio talk-show hosts as ever fouled the air. They do this with the massive second-guess whenever the Red Sox lose, which is always more than 60 times a year.

The minds of Boston fans are shaped by these instant baseball experts who, with an eye to their own ratings, have latched onto the Red Sox as the hottest topic in town.

Hey, that’s a pretty dead-on take.

Wait, that was Shirley Povich of the Washington Post writing in 1979 about the treatment of Don Zimmer in Boston?

***********************

Just another week in Boston, eh?

Rangers-Kings matchup a boon to NBC – Chad Finn looks at the ratings numbers that Stanley Cup Final should generate given the cities involved.

Dan Trant recalled in NBA TV special on 1984 Draft – Bill Doyle looks at the special, and the mention of the former Celtics draft pick who was killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

31 thoughts on “Week Wrap – Just Another Week of Sports Media Trolling”

    1. Yeap. NBC wanted Chicago to win G7 so badly. They’re the best local market, ratings wise. LA is not a hockey town and I doubt it ever will be. NY is into their Rangers but clearly its still Knicks dominated, if you look at shares. Boston/Pittsburgh (I know they can’t meet in the SCF) are hockey towns where they’d bump another 1m+, easily.

      Like

    2. The author of the story wrong that market share more important than straight numbers. Eyeballs is what drives advertising dollars. His counterpoint to Bettman that its about growing market share is right but just because Chicago has high market share and LA or NY are low doesn’t mean that they are growing the market.

      Like

  2. HEY BRUCE HOW DARE YOU NOT TALK ABOUT LEBRONS CRAMPING. IT’S CLEARLY THE TOPIC DEJOUR AND ANYONE NOT TALKING ABOUT IT IS A FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!

    Is this the first time in history a HVAC guy gets a promotion when the AC doesn’t work on a hot day?

    Like

    1. Second…remember Red “turning off the AC” in an attempt to give Kareem a heart attack? It was so bad the floor had wet spots as the water from the ice under the floor was condensing on the Parkay. Good times.

      Like

  4. Several thoughts:

    – In my family Don Zimmer is still known as that Fat slob who was clueless in the late 70’s….wait is Butch Hobson in the line-up again? Where the heck is Bill Lee? I was 10 in 1977 and I still remember my grandfather cursing him. Having said that Zim had to have been an interesting guy to last in baseball 50+ years. He saw it all, did it all, and in the end should be remembered more for being a teammate of Jackie Robinson and Sandy Kofax than he should for being a so-so manager and Pedro’s punching bag.

    – Amendola hung up on Adam Jones…classic. I totally missed it. Mostly because I can’t listen to Jones or Mikey at night any more.

    – I agree with Shaughnessy that the question of whether Ortiz is “enhanced” or not should be asked and asked often as he continues to produce at 39. The problem he has is Shank has no credibility left…so nothing he does is taken as serious journalism.

    – With the Celtics and Bruins done…let’s agree that there is no reason to talk about them at all in the offseason. I would rather argue over who the Pats back-up long snapper will be than discuss whether the Celtics can or cannot get Kevin Love now that Flip Saunders hired himself as coach or whether Carmelo Anthony would fit into Boston (both body and ego).

    Like

  5. Ortiz’s biggest sin in Shank’s eyes is that he had a major role in making “The Curse of the Bambino” irrelevant.

    Like

  6. Do you even realize how ridiculous this comment is? I’m getting tired of people criticizing Bruce for calling out sports media members. I feel like it’s been happening more and more lately. That’s the point of the website. Until Bruce came along there were very few places were media members got called out for shenanigans. The reason the cycle keeps going is the media keeps up with their crap. When honest reporting is done and agenda driven sports takes are a thing of the past then Bruce will have nothing to write about. Until then the cycle continues. If it’s that boring to you why come here, and more importantly why comment?

    Like

    1. spot on, Trip…hate to make rash judgements but gotta believe these people who criticize Bruce for calling out the sports media are “media fanboys” they are the type who watch/read/listen and nod their heads approvingly at everything the sports media churns out. The “fellowship of the miserable” is alive and well, as a matter of fact it’s the demographic for Adam Jones, Felger&Mazz, Shaughnessy and the rest of the “usual suspects”

      Like

  7. I didn’t realize Dan Trant died on 9/11. I remember him at Clark University and as a counselor at basketball camp when I was in high school. He was a hell of a shooter. I remember he used to follow the ball in the air with his eyes after he let it go. Funny the things that stick with you.

    Like

  8. Phony Strawmanotti is the current mediot most post perfectly described by Povich’s article.

    Like

  10. I heard the Amendola and Jones phone call the first time that Toucher and Rich played it on their show. I am surprised that Bruce didn’t mention that Jones’ first reaction to being told by Keefe that Amendola had hung up was to note that it happened right after Amendola answered a question, not after Jones had just asked one. And it would have been just before that Jones asked Amendola about the injuries for the second time. Did they later figure out this wasn’t the case?

    ******

    As for Flip Saunders, what exactly is this line supposed to mean?

    “They’re the same fans who thought they had Tim Duncan,” he joked. “They still think they got Tim Duncan in the draft. I’m not really sure, but the last I looked he was playing for San Antonio, Old Man Riverwalk.”

    No one, in the history of Celtics fans, think that the Celtics got Tim Duncan. In fact until they got KG, NOT getting Duncan was the most common Celtics fan lament. Big swing and a miss right there by Flip. He should have stopped at “Duncan.”

    Like

  11. I had completely forgot. CSNNE’s news show was playing clips of the locker room where you saw those rotating fans buzzing around, along with the o2 tanks in the locker room. Classic.

    Like

  12. And it’s much more fun living 2500 miles away and never having to listen to the stupidity.

    Like

  13. kaufman is clearly using this to gain some publicity of his own, there’s a reason he’s only on early on the weekends

    Like

  15. WUFC 1510 facebook pg w Pepe etc seems gone.Lease to Wallis Comm. begins with sports relegated to FoxSportsR’s Jay Mohr at noon and JT the Brick 6 pm.Maybe some college games. http://www.1510wufc.com

    Like

    1. JT Brick at 6 pm, this can’t be a live show right?. Is that Bob Levy the stand-up comedian? What a mish-mash of programming. I suppose JT Brick is the Alex Jones of sports talk.

      Like

      1. Yeah, Brick is 6-10pm Eastern on FoxSportsRadio. He moved from the overnight a year ago or something around then.

        What an odd combination between the shows, but still a horrid signal.

        Like

  16. Can anyone make sense of this:

    http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2014/06/cherington_to_blame_not_the_media_for_the_red_sox.html

    Along with Gammons going on D&C to “blame the media”. It sounds like there are two sides leaking things to their own people. Gammons is typically a mouthpiece for Larry and above, so I have to assume he’s acting as their spokesperson. Meanwhile, some of the beat guys are saying this is Cherrington’s move..

    Not sure what to make of all of this.

    Like

    1. I’ve never understood the fascination with Gammons and his “exulted” status. Maybe I missed something when I was a young pup back in the 70s and didn’t take as much time to read the baseball columns. But in my opinion Gammons has always come off as a shameless shill for the MLBPA and whichever players (or management types) are most friendly to him. Hence, his constant, embarrassing defense of Barry Bonds and other known juicers over the past decade. Oh, and I’ve never known the guy to be right with any of his predicions. Never. I’m still waiting for Reggie Harris to become an ace with the A’s, as he constantly reminded worried Boston fans for about three years after the Sox let Harris go and Sandy Alderson picked him up. If he’s shilling for Lucchino, et al, over this Stephen Drew thing, it doesn’t surprise me one iota. It’s who he is and what he does, IMO. I don’t know…I just don’t see “it” when it comes to Gammons, and never have.

      Like

      1. MLBPA and whichever players (or management types) are most friendly to him

        He used to be on with F&M once a week, I think as recent as 2011? 2012? I forget which but not one of the better seasons. Before he came on, he’d prefix everything by making sure to tell you that John Henry & Management are the smartest guys in the world–like, they’ve already cured cancer, world hunger, but just are waiting for the patent office before releasing their benevolence to the world. (It reminded me of when Mike Greenberg has any guest on. They’re always the best or smarest people in the world prior to them coming on the Subway Fresh Take Hotline during their show on ESPNRadio.) But, his takes were similar, where he clearly had the phone into the yacht and he’d be repeating whatever they wanted out there.

        If you wanted shameless schilling, it was. They’d question him a little but I think had enough respect to not tear him apart. The response was as you expect, here, SoSH and on social media. I forget how long it lasted but there is a reason why it hasn’t been done in 1-2 years, and I don’t think it will be done again.

        I think his “revere” comes just from respect of being around for so long. He gets stuff but it is usually a rebroadcast message for whomever he’s schilling for. Unfortunately, this serves as “journalism” now, even outside the sports world. Turn on your favorite news channel to see it live.

        Like

    3. I can tell you what to make of Wilbur: trollish garbage as usual.

      If the Sox are in the pocket of Scott Boras, why isn’t Jacoby Ellsbury playing CF for 8/$200M?

      Like

  17. I wasn’t making a comment either way about the situation just saying that when D&C move away from sports they are unlistenable.

    I might be a non-stable lib, but I know this: If the Marathon Bombing never happened, John Dennis wouldn’t have a job right now.

    Like

Comments are closed.