A lengthy investigation which included interviews with dozens of people involved with the Boston sports media reveals that powerful organization actually controls the content which is disseminated through the various media outlets within New England.

This organization (also described variously as a “cartel” or “lodge”) uses fear, intimidation, threats, coercion and blackmail on various members of the local media in order to get them to say things that are so outrageous and dumb that no person in their right mind would spout them of their own volition.

Those we spoke to did so only on assurances of anonymity, and several were observed casting furtive glances around the room while being interviewed, as if fearing immediate reprisal.

The tales these poor souls tell reveals much about the inner conflict they feel at being used in this manner. One veteran writer, who covers the NFL and Boxing, and who has worked at both daily papers in town, said, haltingly, “Bill Belichick is a great guy. What he’s accomplished here in New England is unmatched. He’s the greatest coach of all time, and a greater man. But am I allowed to say that? No. See what happened to me at the Gl*be? I was about to come clean, and they ruined me. Now I’m here working at this tabloid, and they still control me.”

Others tell similar tales. One sports radio host, who appears on a morning show in town, was reluctant to speak to BSMW. “Look, I get it. OK? People think I’m a complete jerk. That’s fine. They don’t know what’s been done to me. Erin Andrews is a lovely, talented young lady, David Ortiz is a first ballot Hall of Famer.” Even as he was speaking, this normally confident man was scanning the room nervously. “You think I don’t know how stupid those things sounded when I said them? You think I wanted to say those things?” He appeared on the verge of tears.

An evening television host has also been targeted. “People who know me, know that I am the least confrontational guy they have met. My friends make fun of me for being milquetoast. I don’t have strong opinions about anything. ” So why is this man known for making a fool of himself on a regular basis on TV and the internet? “I don’t have a choice. Those people, they’re powerful. I thought I was a Volkswagen Cabriolet guy, they made me be a truck guy. My family, I’ll do anything to keep them safe, even saying I believe Chris Mortensen over Ian Rapoport. I lost my jobs doing Celtics and Patriots broadcasts, and a daily radio gig, but because I’ve been loyal, they hooked me up with this gig. I for one, welcome our new media overlords.”

Another radio host isn’t so appreciative of what the organization has done for him. “Yeah, I’ve got the sidekick gig on the highest rated sports show in the market, but at what price? It’s SUCKS. I have to kowtow to this Purell freak? Oh you’re absolutely right, M*ke! It makes me sick. I HATE it. I’m a nice guy! Ask Ch*d F*nn! But you know, they’ve got me. They’ve got me by the balls. If I were to go off script, I don’t know what would happen.” His partner on the show, who gets to play the dominant role in the relationship, isn’t too fond of the cartel either. “You think I want to come on every day and call Robert Kraft cheap, and make assertions about his budget? MY FATHER IS JEWISH! It makes no sense. They’ve got me saying that the New York freakin’ Jets passed the Patriots? The Jets? The Cap is Crap? I have to antagonize fans of the greatest franchise the NBA has ever known? How idiotic must I sound? But they promised that S*ra and my girls would be safe. That’s all I care about.”

Who is this evil group? While no one would confirm on the record, whispers say they are known as H.O.S.T.S, which is apparently a contraction of HOt Sportz TakeS and the leader of this organization is a man known as Blohard. The aim of the organization appears to be singular. Destroy any enjoyment that Boston fans may have about the success of their teams. Nine championships in thirteen years? How could fans possibly be made miserable in the midst of that run? It speaks to the power of H.O.S.T.S. that there are indeed people around the city of Boston who are unhappy with their teams and complain about them daily.

The Sports editor of the paper of record in Boston, the Gl*be, confided that he too, is weary of the control that H.O.S.T.S. wield over he and his department. “D*n Sh*ughnessy isn’t brave. He’s the biggest coward and hypocrite I’ve ever encountered. Yet, I have to sit here and sing his praises? I’m ashamed. They make me crank out this blog on college basketball which no one reads. I have to hire incompetent fools to cover the biggest sport in the country right now, and take endless shots at the best coach this region has seen since Red Auerbach. They make me look petty, and I hate that. I’m forced to waste the talents of B*b Ry*an by assigning him week after to week to write about how football is barbaric. K*vin P*ul D*pont writes gibberish. It’s embarrassing.”

The accounts are endless. One TV reporter recalls being threatened severely if he didn’t ask Bill Belichick if he was evaluating the quarterback position following an early-season loss. The press conference clip is now shown on all videos and accounts celebrating the team after they won the Super Bowl and the quarterback in question was named MVP. A radio host ruefully laments that he was seemingly only brought here to talk about Spygate. A once-great basketball writer and columnist is now relegated to writing hit pieces on the local ESPN affiliate. None of them are happy with their fates.

What’s next for H.O.S.T.S.? It seems they’ve got the future covered. Cleverly nicknaming them the “Felger Youth” this next generation of sports talk radio hosts and writers are fully indoctrinated into the program. They have been programmed to endlessly repeat what has been spouted on the most popular show in the region. These unfortunate youths have been brainwashed into thinking they are being provocative and edgy, when in fact, they just sound like entitled idiots.

Is there an end in sight? The claws of H.O.S.T.S. show no signs of withdrawing. Blohard reigns and seeks complete domination of the Boston sports media.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

46 thoughts on “BSMW Investigation Reveals HotSportzTakes Coerced”

  3. Cowardly Bruce just keeps running his mouth on this absurd anti-Semitism thing.
    “Let me just say this: Bill wanted him,” Kraft said. “But, I mean… you probably don’t have to work on a budget. When you get a budget, there are certain things you can’t do. We have a budget.”

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    3. Thank you. I like to read the comment section at this site (I don’t post much) and he made me avoid it for a while. But I’m afraid someone that obsessively obnoxious will create another username and come back.

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    4. Thank you. I’ll never forget during the Schilling tweetgate fiasco,that dude kept stalking me in the threads to tell me how stupid I was because I still believe Schilling made it a story to feed his ego.

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  5. Ironic that this article would run today after I spent the last six days watching old Bond films on one of the non-pay cable movie channels. Sadly, it appears that SPECTRE has nothing on HOSTS.

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  6. As they used to say about the theater, Bruce, satire is what closes on Saturday night. Even so, here we are, looking down the barrel of a column
    that anyone who posts here wishes they could have written. But the bottom line remains the same: by even participating in this limited fashion,
    aren’t we all just part of this food chain of foolishness? And if by some
    alchemy it could all vanish tomorrow and all that would be left were the
    earnest, steadfast and true, led by Dale Arnold, wouldn’t we (starting with
    me) all secretly wish for these self-made yo yos return to keep us all
    entertained, if only by being so irritating you listen or read just to confirm
    your burning contempt? And was the post about one of the regulars no
    longer contributing satire, also? Or do we have something closer to home
    with regard to “taking it too far?”

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    1. I can accept a rebuke. When he posts literally dozens of posts saying the same thing over and over, and other people are complaining to me that he’s ruining the comments for them, I say goodbye.

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  7. All that was missing from this piece was that piano chime from the 30 for 30 with each “blowhard” comments.

    What if I told you Boston #hotsportstakes we are done for ratings and aren’t actual opinions. What if I told you one major newspaper is more interested in trolling than reporting.

    Like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwMONEPz4yA

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  8. Bruce, this is a serious question. Does this site drive you mad? I hate to think being the unofficial ombudsman of #HotSportzTakes is slowly making you insane. I mean, almost every site now is dedicated to #HotSportzTakes. It would be a shorter and easier post if you simply directed us to the 10 or so reporters left who didn’t interject themselves with salacious and frankly idiotic opinions. After a while, chasing madness only makes one mad.

    I guess what I’m saying is, Bruce, we care about you and don’t want to make sure you’re still taking care of yourself.

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    1. I think about the direction of the site often. Thinking of a redesign which would direct people to the “best” of local sports media and doing less railing about the nonsense. But then the site isn’t watching the sports media, it’d be more about curating content with the occasional blog post. I don’t know. We’ll see.

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        2. I agree no need to circulate that b.s
          I think in many cases we are trying to avoid it

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  10. Admittedly not about HostSportsTakez (other than that ESPN is the king of them), but unfortunately ESPN just essentially destroyed what was left of Reiss’s blog. Even more crap is mixed in with Reiss’s stuff and as soon as you click on an entry you get taken to a completely generic NFL feed. So Mike’s content is almost completely marginalized.

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    2. This is one reason why I like Twitter. So many of the sites try to get all of their cross-branding, etc garbage going and you can really get the gist of their work via it.

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  11. Sadly, you did as much actual investigating in this post as these “journalists” do in a year.

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  12. I really enjoyed this Bruce. Honestly I come to your site just to find a bit of sanity and to feel like I am not the only one who is driven crazy about the incessant negativity on the sports shows in town. Heck for the last week I have been wondering how hard it would be to start a daily or weekly blog called “Gary Tanguay is a Dunce” with a list of idiotic, stupid, moronic, or just plain factually wrong statements he makes – date and time. It seems like it would be an all day job.
    Keep banging away Bruce, your columns are stress relief for many of us.

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    1. Just recently he was asking why a high school catcher wasn’t ready for the major leagues. Realy?

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      1. Yes Ann, that idiotic comment really put me over the top. At least Felger called him out on that.

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  13. On another note;another day of the Zo and Beetle show and another day of Zo sounding like he should be on the phone with a suicide prevention staffer.

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    1. I have been going back and forth on Zo/Beatle show. I have always thought Zolak sounds like a frat boy yahoo from Western PA. I never liked him when he was on 99.7 in Providence and I didn’t particularly like him on the Zo & Gresh show. I think he does a decent job on the Pats broadcasts.

      The issue I am having with the Zo/Beatle show is this: In the past when they talked non football Gresh and Zo were kind of equal in their lack of knowledge. As such they less covered the sports than they kind of had bar discussions. Those discussions grated on me and a lot of fans because it exposed them as not knowledgeable. The positive of that was Gresh and Zo did not attempt to portray themselves or the show as something it wasn’t. They effectively talked football 300 days a year and for the other 65 they got by discussing baseball, basketball and hockey in very general terms.

      Now with Beatle on board it appears to me the program director is expecting a more traditional midday sportstalk show. Beatle is out front as they talk baseball, hockey and hoops. Less time for football, Zo’s expertise, and more time for the other sports. Zo is bored because he has nothing to add. Bertrand is constantly talking because he has to. It is just a poorly conceived format. In reality what they should have done is replaced both Gresh and Zo…and then had Zo do third man in during the F&M Show when they talk football…maybe have him do three 2 hour blocks a week. They did not think through the Bertrand and Zolak pairing. The more I think about it Bertrand and Gasper (as much as I dislike Gasper as a writer he makes a good radio guy) would be a much better midday show than this mess.

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      1. Either Bertrand and Gasper or Gresh and Bertrand. G and B would have been very good. What is Andy doing now?

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      2. Excellent point. Well when they finally announce that Zo will be soley on Patriots broadcasting duties and related programing;they will be very lucky to have Jim Murray to slide right on in don’t you think?
        The Felgerizing of the Hub is in full effect.

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        1. Dino and Kirk were really getting upset with him too…lol

          Well, Dino was. Kirk was just letting him dig his own grave.

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          1. Gerry does appear to be the classic homophobe. Fortunately Neanderthals like him are a dwindling segment of society. No longer can they spew their apparent bigotry without push back. I liked their show better when the last program director squashed the political talk. All the momentum they had been building since getting Kirk has since been slipping because they’ve gone back to a lot of political commentary.

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      1. No I am okay with waiving that rule…especially the shirts…NEW RULE…YOU MUST WEAR A SHIRT WHEN POSTING HERE.

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    1. Popped over on a commercial break from T&R, had Gare Bear squawking at me about the Olympics. I don’t understand Tanger’s continued employment.

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