BSMW has been only sporadically updated for some time now. As I find less and less of the on-air sports media to be even remotely palatable, it is difficult for me to find the desire to write much about it.

I toss around occasional ideas for revamping things here, but time is sparse. When the mood strikes me, I’ll likely come here and write a bit, but the days of covering every little happening with a blog post are pretty much over and have been for a year or more.

I’ll welcome guest columns, and my friend Chris will be trying to contribute a weekly Patriots column here too.

These days, Twitter is where you’ll find my observations and opinions, and even if you don’t use Twitter, you can check the feed to the right here.

Thanks for all of your support over the years. This isn’t good-bye, but I felt I owed you all some sort of statement about the site.

See also: Avoiding Toxic Sports Media

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

25 thoughts on “BSMW Status Update”

  1. Reading this really bummed me out. I truly enjoy your insider information and perspective as it pertains to sports radio. On the other hand, you couldn’t be more spot on with your assessment of Boston’s sports media as it stands today.

    Thank you for all your good work.

    All the best,

    Ted

    😥

    On Wednesday, October 19, 2016, Boston Sports Media Watch wrote:

    > Bruce Allen posted: “BSMW has been only sporadically updated for some time > now. As I find less and less of the on-air sports media to be even remotely > palatable, it is difficult for me to find the desire to write much about > it. I toss around occasional ideas for revamping th” >

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Bummer. I’ll still probably check the site once a day, I’ve really enjoyed the site ever since I found it and shoot, it must have been like 4-5 years ago at this point.

    Slowly but surely though, I’ve found myself divorced from the heh Boston Sports Media. I barely listen to radio anymore (thank you podcasts), I surely don’t read much of a local perspective on sports because they tend to just feed me takes.

    Anywho, thanks for all the fun Bruce.

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  3. Bruce, this is your rodeo and it’s free and accessible. I appreciate all the work you put into it. Whatever you decide is fine with me. Thanks for the update, and I will continue to follow you as long as you have this site.
    regards,
    Derek

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Bruce, likewise on the media landscape. Like any media consumption, less and less even for sports talk, which was my “background noise” in the office, shop or the car.

    I think one of the things that killed some of the discussions was the comment system. I know you’re restricted being on WP vs. hosting your own, but there’s a reason most utilize a Disqus or third-party site. (Yeah, I know who your employer is.)

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  5. Bruce…life has a way of ebbing and flowing. Who knows…a year from now you might miss doing daily posts. You might not. In any event I don’t think you owe your adoring public anything more…as for following the twitter feed…I suggest you get a gab.ai account…twitter will be bankrupt and gone by the end of the year.

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    1. Yeah, sadly, Twitter doesn’t have a bright future. Took in too much $, tried too hard to become FB, etc. Postmortum is a matter of when not if, now. There’s no way to salvage what it is unless someone wants to write-off a ton of debt.

      Sadly, It’s my single source of ‘news’ since you can customize and follow/un-follow for the past 8~ years. No clue what might replace it.

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  6. I have thoroughly enjoyed the site, Bruce, and hate to see less content but the trend has been evident now for quite some time so your post is not a surprise.

    If its time constraints then, fine, I get it. But if it’s the state of media I say MORE content here is the answer, not less. As the endless drivel of talent-less hosts and scribes fills the Boston sports landscape we need a counter-punch and this site has served as such. Please reconsider, again, if time is not the main issue.

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  7. Bruce, you’re the man. That is all I can say. This site has been indispensable, IMO, and I’ll still keep checking. I still check your Twitter feed on the right hand side of the page every day anyway, and I find a lot of your retorts very poignant.

    BTW, did anyone catch the CHB’s latest slam of Patriots fans? It’s something that only could drip from the poison mind of Shank.

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  8. Bruce, thank you for the (quality) entertainment over the years. I’ve checked this site daily for as long as I can remember. I’ve always appreciated your effort and objective thoughts and opinions. Keeping the media trash honest isn’t easy and you’ve done an admirable job.

    I completely understand the more sporadic nature of your posts. My only request going forward, if the posts remain sporadic, is more in-depth lengthy pieces than brief thoughts and opinions. I value your views on the media landscape and when you do post I selfishly hope there’s plenty of meat on the bone.

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  9. Can’t help but laugh at this one.

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  10. So sad, but I get it. How many times can we say Shank mails it in, Mazz is a parrot, and the globe is full of haters. I have been coming here for a very long time and will continue to do so, even if it’s not as frequently.

    Hopefully the fans that do consistently post here will keep it up and can keep discussions going in the comments.

    Bruce thanks for the memories sir, someone needed to call these hypocrites out from time to time and you did it with style and class. Good for you and continued success in whatever this site evolves to. I personally hope you start your own weekly podcast but that’s just me.

    See you in the comments section…

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Enjoyed this site for many years – and while it isn’t, “Good Bye” – I hear where you’re coming from, , Bruce … The sports media in general has worn us all out– other than this site, it’s all about the actual GAMES for me now. I don’t watch or pay attention to any of it anymore—- this ..proverb?.. sums it up for me about the Sports media >>>>

    An old Arab, whose tent was pitched next to a company of whirling dervishes was asked, “Don’t they bother you?” “No!” was his answer. “What do you do about them?” “I let them whirl.”

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  12. Russo on the morning WEEI show. Sure it will be up in time if you care to waste your time listening to it.

    Listening to “Mad Dog” defend the Giants/NFL, it is impossible to describe the pretzels he’s going in to defend and mitigate Josh Brown–really the Spaulding Mara/Wellington trash. I recall his interviews where he vomited all over himself on DeflateGate. Assume this, don’t question the NFL that.

    Only thing I can give him credit is he actually talks and comes on, but is this the fucking bar with the media? Come in and sound like even more of an idiot than your writing? Peter King apparently does that on their afternoon show.

    Assuming about reading between the lines of why Goodell did Mara a favor? You can’t do that. But, do it on DG? No problem. It’s the Cheatriots and T#M CHEBRATY!

    “I don’t know how Deadspin continues to get this stuff” — Deadspin bribed the courts for public records.

    Replace Chris Russo with ESPN or almost any other dolt in the media.

    Also, according to the media, Tom Brady supports domestic violence? I just saw a headline on Twitter and, that’s it, I believe it all! I’m no longer a fan or supporter! My closet full of #12 jerseys went in the fireplace last night!

    It’s too bad Josh Brown didn’t deflate K balls, but who would care if he didn’t play in Foxboro?

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    1. I used to respect Russo, especially since his old partner on the FAN was such a toady for his NY favorites like Parcells. When Russo called out The Tuna for “running out on teams after a few years” during his coronation/press conference when he became the Jets coach in ’97, it was a glorious moment.

      But, he’s really be-clowned himself ever since DeFAMEgate happened. “But the guy called himself The Deflator!” seems to be his only response to the hundreds of narrative-exploding facts Patriots fans have presented to prove that DeFAMEgate was a fraudulent, made-up witch hunt from Day 1.

      Now he’s taking Mara’s and the NFL’s side in this Josh Brown case?

      Very disappointing.

      As for Brady/domestic violence, Jerry Thornton’s blog today has a good rebuttal post to all of the media hand-wringers out there. It’s worth checking out. (Yes, I’m to the point where reading blind homers like Thornton is becoming one of my few palatable sports media options….I don’t like it, but that’s just how bad the sports media, especially in this town, has become.)

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      1. He mumbled a few times about not having enough information, judging, not being sure. Sounds like you heard his DG stuff and it could not have been the complete opposite.

        As of a few minutes ago, the Giants are throwing a circle-jerk for releasing Josh Brown.

        I wonder if the issue dies, now. He’s out of the league and as toxic as Ray Rice. Who knows.

        We can count on the future of the media to be the same, which I think Matt Chatham had some fun with:

        And, there will be yet another issue like this that Goodell will fuck-up. The ratings thing, which who knows how many are not just “watching other things” (election), is about the only thing that will affect him in reality.

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      2. Something to consider about Russo’s frame of reference: He’s a huge San Francisco Giants fan and defends Barry Bonds.

        It sounds like he’s doing the same thing with the NY Giants and the NFL here. He either likes them or can’t accept that they would do something wrong, so we get: Can’t make assumptions, don’t have all the info, how can we question that, etc.

        When he dislikes a player or team (see Brady and the Patriots), then it’s okay to make assumptions and jump to conclusions.

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        1. Defends him as in “he didn’t juice” ?

          I know a few, as well, but they’re not misguided there. He did, along with a boatload of others. MLB/media loved it and ignored till they couldn’t. Only the diehard of fans can’t accept their guys (and everyone else) and you usually can’t do much.

          I think the days of “objective’ are gone but it’s just scary about how it all went down. The continuation of these events where Goodell does a favor and it implodes might be the only thing, besides ratings drops, that other owners (if any are reasonable left) start to really ask themselves about leadership/etc. questions.

          Media will never change here. Bo-bo or go-go find employment elsewhere. I find it shocking how many who are “veterans” and been around forever are this dumb but I also grew up in a media household, idolizing the industry.

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      3. Bonus points for calling out the Russo – Jets dustup -loved when the media flak asked for the caller on the conference line to ID himself and Russo did something like spell out his name. Back then it seemed like almost sacrilege to have access to a conference call “unfiltered” and I remember our local beat guy decrying that those calls were not meant for virgin ears and that the point of a press conference was to give the press information that it would then disseminate to the masses. Hard to believe that was like 20 years ago. Sadly we still have those who feel that way and it chaps them that teams and athletes go direct in real time the same way it chaps me that a-clowns from sportstainment shows get press passes without doing any work there.

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  13. Sad to see the news and I join the others in saluting this noble experiment. Through this site we went from watching what the media did to watching how they did it. It was fun to be able to use tech to not only call out but to demonstrate the bias and hypocrisy out there. If I don’t feel great about not being able to affect real change – the devolution continues as sports journalists are now their personalities – I don’t feel guilty about holding so called professionals accountable. I will claim us as having some role in the EEI implosion if only by showing CBS that there was appetite for something better .

    So from one who has been here since the days when the message board was right up here on this page – and who still chuckles at the moniker “humorless ghoul” for Sirandis…- best to you Bruce and to the entire BSMW Community.

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      1. Borges is such a tool.

        I distinctly remember Curran calling out Collins for “losing” Daniels on those two TD passes in the AFC title game last year. He was on the air 10 minutes after the game ended pointing out Collins’s errors on those plays. This is not a “new” thing for Curran just because BB traded Collins, as Borges suggests.

        Now, I’m not at all endorsing this trade or blindly reciting the “In Bill We Trust” mantra. I’m as shocked at this move as anyone, and quite concerned at how the defense will look with Collins out of the mix, especially as they start to take on better offenses as the season progresses. The seemingly low level of compensation they got for Collins is also troubling.

        However, if, as some published reports are now saying, part of the problem was that Collins didn’t fully buy into the program and didn’t always “skate his lane” out on the field, then this move is completely consistent with the way BB does business. You either buy into what he’s selling, or you pack your bags, eventually. It may drive us fans crazy sometimes, but it’s the way he does things, and he’s not about to change now.

        So……which mediot will be the first to use the “A” word (arrogant) about BB in the wake of this news? My bet is on Shank, because complete lack of self-awareness is his calling card.

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        1. He commented on this, later, after everyone people were calling him out for a #HOTTAKEHEROOFTHEMOMENT article. He did call this out after the ACGCG this year.

          I think the reality is we’ll never know.

          So……which mediot will be the first to use the “A” word (arrogant) about BB in the wake of this news?

          If we lose anywhere, especially as we get into playoffs, Borges, Felger, et. al. have their dish served fresh for where they can vomit all over them.

          It’s another, “in BB we trust.”

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          1. Wow.

            That’s next-level type of ignorance.

            Do those PFF guys also know how to manage the salary cap, or are they just sideline warriors who “know” how to evaluate talent better than people currently employed in the NFL to actually DO that job?

            Astonishing that someone would Tweet that, and then DEFEND it when called out.

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