I am going to lobby for this blog to be renamed Tony Massarotti Watch. His column today was the nastiest, most ignorant piece I have ever read. It tops even Shank's 38pitches parody.
With his giant poke in the readers' eyes, Tony Mazz has taken the title for Nastiest Boston Sports Columnist (Single Column). Dan, of course, retains the title for Nastiest Boston Sport Columnist (Career).
Note: No link because I refuse to facilitate the Boston Herald getting any clicks. I suggest you find a copy on the T to read.
20 comments:
The sports media 'gray hairs' are twisting themselves up like pretzels over everything having to do with 'blogs' or 'comments sections' or the Internet in general. "How DARE our readers talk back to us!!! Don't they realize that we are SUPREME BEINGS?"
The pure hilarity is that ultra-liberal Algore is often (humorously) credited with 'inventing' the Internet. That would be the same 'Internet' that has caused these media gray-hairs so much angst and turmoil (not to mention pink slips).
Boston Asshole Sportswriters Watch has a nice ring to it, yes?
There's a common theme with all these bitter assholes:lashing out at the changing world around them.
Massarotti and Shaughnessy work for buggy whip manufacturing companies and there's nothing they can do. And OB is like Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House. "Remain calm! All is well!"
Timmy
Congratulations to Tony Massarotti on a well written and most appropriate column, although there is some considerable irony in seeing someone who teamed up with a player to make a profit on a book calling out conflicts of interest among other reporters.
What did he say that was so nasty and ignorant? That some reporters are in the tank for Belichik and Call-Me-Mister Kraft? That the Patsies and the NFL broom sweepers teamed up with their media yes men to eagerly use the non-existence of a tape as a reason to try to close the door on the spying issue? That he pointed out just how bizarre the whole "oh by the way" approach to revealing Walsh's details about telling a coach about his apparently legal viewing of a Ram's walkthrough which provided arguably significant information? That he noted the free-ride the team gets when it and players are involved in some sordid activities?
Masarotti doesn't even reach the claim of an erstwhile Patsies assistant who says he has no memory of being told that a Hall of Fame caliber player was to be used in an unfamiliar role in the Superbowl.
So what's the problem? Oh, right. Massarotti criticized people who fanatically blog their outrage over their heroes being called to task for unseemly behavior and took a shot at all the perpetual adolescents who spend money on overpriced garments in order to show off their eternal devotion to registered trademarks.
Apparently the bloggers think they ought to be immune from criticism after posting assorted half-truths and sniveling odes to hero-worship -- most of which, in an even more delicious irony, are based on things first reported in newspapers. Hey, you put it up for public consumption, you take your lumps. Unfortunately, the bloggers, when they're not resorting to vulgarities to make their points, are quite thin-skinned.
Fire away.
One last note: The Al-Gore-claims-to-have- invented-the-Internet silliness was discredited years ago, but that doesn't stop mal-informed bloggers from parading their ignorance.
It's a shit column, from top to bottom.
What did he say that was so nasty and ignorant?
Just a guess - referring to Pats fans / likely Herald Sports section readers as "official home of yahoos, hero worshipers and gutless suck-ups", "which of your pathetic, repressed middle-aged neighbors wear their Tedy Bruschi jerseys on Sundays.", and "own sorry existence".
You find this as polite and informed commentary?
That some reporters are in the tank for Belichik and Call-Me-Mister Kraft? That the Patsies
Using sophmoric, denigrating cutesie nicknames tends to subtract from the weight of your argument...
...and the NFL broom sweepers teamed up with their media yes men to eagerly use the non-existence of a tape as a reason to try to close the door on the spying issue?
I thought the existence of the walkthrough tape was the main point Walsh was bringing up? Do I have that wrong?
That he pointed out just how bizarre the whole "oh by the way" approach to revealing Walsh's details about telling a coach about his apparently legal viewing of a Ram's walkthrough which provided arguably significant information?
The walkthrough tape doesn't exist after months of us believing it did, at Walsh's behest; we're supposed to believe anything he says after that, even if you discount for Daboll's non-recollection of said conversation?
That he noted the free-ride the team gets when it and players are involved in some sordid activities?
A sports team and its players getting a pass when shenanigans occur? It's a constant, like time and gravity.
So what's the problem? Oh, right. Massarotti criticized people who fanatically blog their outrage over their heroes
You definitely sound like Shank, lol! Are you actually Ron Borges in drag?
...being called to task for unseemly behavior and took a shot at all the perpetual adolescents who spend money on overpriced garments in order to show off their eternal devotion to registered trademarks.
I'm kind of puzzled by that argument (full disclosure - my roommate gave me a Red Sox 2004 World Champion T-shirt and I bought a blue Patriots polo shirt that says 'SB XXXVI Champions' on it a few years ago. That and some Tour de France stuff is all the yahooism I'm doin'!). I think it's more of a dismissive throwaway line than anything else. If anything, it's that in general our dress codes have become more and more informal over time. Look at pictures of the U.S. in 1920 with hats, ties and such being commonplace. I haven't put on a tie since the last funeral I attended. Perhaps the public wearing of Ramirez / Beckett / Bruschi jerseys are unpalatable to certain sectors
of society, but if you're not working at that time, I have no problem with it myself. I see this as a mild form of snobbery.
Apparently the bloggers think they ought to be immune from criticism after posting assorted half-truths and sniveling odes to hero-worship -- most of which, in an even more delicious irony, are based on things first reported in newspapers.
What the hell are you talking about? I think DB Vader is saying that Tony's column is so bad and poisoned with irrational hatred that it's self-refuting.
Can you show me an example of a blogger's (I presume you mean DB Vader) half-truth?
Hey, you put it up for public consumption, you take your lumps. Unfortunately, the bloggers, when they're not resorting to vulgarities to make their points, are quite thin-skinned.
I fail to see a single vulgarity in DB Vader's post. Perhaps you are referring to the commenters instead? Please clarify.
The Al-Gore-claims-to-have- invented-the-Internet silliness was discredited years ago, but that doesn't stop mal-informed bloggers from parading their ignorance.
Once again, you need to differentiate between 'bloggers' and 'commenters'.
That said, thus spake Al (in part): "I took the initiative in creating the Internet" (in the context of legislation). Politicians, regardless of party, will claim credit when things go well and are successful. Exaggeration of actual impact of said efforts are part of the game.
Nothing to see here, move along...
Cutting to the chase: the new media is causing old-media stalwarts to become unglued, unhinged, and unemployed. This calculus is working out just fine with me. Let the misery within the ranks of gray-hair old-media fossils continue; it makes for marvelous melodrama. I would not be surprised if there is a direct correlation between these gray-hairs and a spike in domestic violence. Like Tomase, I'm ready to go forward with this story.
Remain calm, OB! All is well!
Your pal,
Timmy
The problems with Mazz's attack on the Patriots and their fanbase arenumerous. The biggest is the premise of the piece - that the Patriots are liars and their fans are dishonest, ignorant lemings followng them blindly on a path to ruin.
Mazz has been screaming about people like Dale Arnold defending the Patriots in Videogate, and nowhere has Mazz brought any kind of facts to the table - he appears to take Matt Walsh's embellishments to his testimony o Goodell seriously, as if Walsh's serial falsifications on his resume and career, andthus the lack of credibilit he has, were unknown to him. He has yet to explain what he thinks the Patriots are somehow hiding; when he condemns the Patriots for supposedly being jealous of Red Sox attention he ignores that it is a mutual feeling throughout Boston sports teams.
Mazz attacking Goodell's "oh by the way" approach was classic reaching for something that isn't there writing. Ther was no factual basis for what Mazz wrote there or in attacking some media types as "in he tank" with the Patriots - that there are facts on the Patriots side is something Mazz apparanly does not want to accept.
OB, Walsh embellished his ass off on that walktrough story - Brian Daboll neve talked to him about it because Walsh was nothing but a glorified go-fer in the Patriots video department; he had no scouting skill and was worthless in such a role. BTW, now-Jets-coach Daboll has denied - twice - talking to Walsh.
What Massaotrotti did was belittle a team and its fanbase with zero factual basis.
Thought: Is Shaughnessy going to sue Simmons for being called a 'turd in the punchbowl' in the latter's national ESPN.com article last week? Shaughnessy can be none-too-pleased that hatred for him has 'gone national.' And suing is a favorite past-time of people in the media. Ask Mike Macklin how his Ch. 7 lawsuit is going.
I love it when people use marketing buzzwords such as "fanbase." Let's "take a meeting" and "reach out" unfettered by "pushback."
Of course you're right Monkee. If a "glorified go-fer in the Patriots video department" mentioned that a hall of fame candidate was lining up in different positions than usual, assistant coaches would most certainly ignore it without so much as a raised eyebrow.
Thanks to Roger for his commentary, which is a much more effective defense of Massarotti and the noting of the omnipresence of "yahoos, hero worshipers and gutless suck-ups" than I could even dream of writing.
1. "Yahoos, hero worshipers and gutless suck-ups" is a pretty apt description for the nouveau Patsies fans. This is a team banned from Monday Night Football because the local selectmen had too much of drunken louts who ran around electrocuting themselves with goalposts.
2. No cutsie nicknames from here. The "Mister" references to Kraft are much too reminiscent of "Mister Yawkey" for my taste. Bob Kraft is a pompous ass.
3. Am I missing something? When did Walsh claim to have a tape of the Rams walk-through? He has provided tapes showing Patriots recording signals of other teams' coaches in five games. I know of no claim that he said he had tape of the Rams walk through. Either show me where he ever claimed to have such a tape or get your facts straight.
4 Where is Walsh's "behest" (whatever that means) that the walkthrough tape exists? Kindly provide a direct quote. Trying to discredit Walsh by claiming the non-existence of something he never claimed existed is absurd.
5. Never confuse the "main point" someone is "bringing up" with the real story.
6. The Patsies have been treated with kid gloves like nothing I've seen since the 1972 Bruins. It is unbridled hero-worship, by much of the media and too many of the fans.
7. "Are you actually Ron Borges in drag?" How sophmoric, denigrating and cutesie. To coin a phrase.
8. Casual clothing is one thing. Casual clothing at exorbitant prices in order to attach a registered trademark is quite another.
9. Contrary to glib and uninformed view that Massarotti's views were "poisoned with irrational hatred" I would suggest that his was a very rational observation about a complete loss of perspective on the part of many in the media, in the stands and in front of the television set.
10. One of these days, I'm going to have one of those name on the back Sawx jerseys made up. For my favorite Red Sox of all time: Felix Mantilla. I promise to wear it to a game so you may fling overpriced clam chowder in my direction. So if you see a Sawx jersey with #12, it's not Pumpsie Green, Wendall Kim or Stan Papi, it's in honor of a man who hit 36 percent of his major league homers during the 17 percent of his major league games played at Fenway Park (and who was among the last amateurs signed by the Boston Braves)
11. Al Gore did take the initiative in creating the Internet we known today. But he never said he invented it. It's all in the legislative history and it was also central to his 1988 campaign for president when he repeatedly spoke of the "information superhighway" before anyone ever heard of a dot-com.
Let's hustle along folks. Nothing to see here, just a parade of the ignorant.
OB, your sarcasm betrays your ignorance - coaches won't even broach the subject to video go-fers because they aren't qualified to talk to coaches about it.
Yahoos, hero worshippers, and gutless suck-ups? Why, because the town banned MNF games 1981-95? And how is Bob Kraft a pompous ass? He's a guy who was a fan and worked with that passion to become perhaps the best team owner in the history of New England sports and by far the best team owner in the NFL.
Just how are the Patriots supposed to be treated, Bruce? You decry hero worship - could it be they earned it? And where is the media hero worshiping them? They condemned the Patriots for the Deion Branch issue even though the Patriots were right, they rip the Patriots when they lose playoff games, and I've a hard time recalling when the press in this town ever admitted their constant second-guessing of the team was wrong.
BTW, you ignore Matt Walsh's weasily comments about how "I have something" damning against the Patriots in the NY Times piece that came out before Tomase's piece.
Algore is like Matt Walsh, embellishing his ass off - he was never relevent to the Internet; it was the armed forces that created it and the free market that popularized it. Algore had nothing to do with it.
You're better off wearing a Reche Caldwell jersey than a Felix Mantilla one.
Thanks to Roger for his commentary, which is a much more effective defense of Massarotti and the noting of the omnipresence of "yahoos, hero worshipers and gutless suck-ups" than I could even dream of writing.
In other news, day is night & the Pope is jewish...
The underlying premise of the column was based on ignorance. The Mouse that Squeaked raised the red herring of Walsh watching the walkthrough while setting up. But he never acknowledges that the Walsh's presence was not a violation of any rules and was not present to watch, but to work. Instead, he relies on the opinion of Specter.
Proceeding from his ignorant understanding of the issue he goes on to call fans yahoos and and immature.
The fact that you cannot see how Spazz was nasty and ignorant stuns me, and you realize what a low opinion I have of your reasoning ability. Maybe you are just a yahoo and journalist suckup.
"The Patsies have been treated with kid gloves like nothing I've seen since the 1972 Bruins. It is unbridled hero-worship, by much of the media and too many of the fans."
With the exception of Dale and Holly and The Big Show, WHO was defending the Pats OB?
Can you please show some examples of how protected this team is, especially in the national sense. What ESPN writer or personality, national writer, etc is defending the Patriots? Schlereth? Palantonio? Hodge? Prisco? Borges?!!!
Who?
I'm sure Mike Reiss will be one of the names you use. I'd love for you to show us some more examples... Then your point might hold wieght
Well, would you look at that? There's a graveyard and good ol' OB is skipping past it, whistling a happy tune!
Your pal,
Timmy
Good News everybody! I found part of an answer to my own question today from my post last night!
Armen Keteyian is a national media member who is on Belichek's side!!!
(I infer this since I've seen him interviewed numerous times by Keteyian in what OB could only describe as "fluff" pieces meant to prop up BB and defend the "Patsies" (by the way, snarkiest nickname you've EVER come up with Bruce) )
Yes!!!! I found one!!! I'm so happy!!!
Always remember, gang: Those who can, write.
Those who can't, write sports.
Those who can't write sports, write for the Herald.
Okay?
Your pal,
Timmy
OB:
Felix Mantilla, Pumpsie Green, Wendall Kim, Stan Papi?
Someone's been googling past Red Sox players and coaches!
Atta boy, OB!
Your pal,
Timmy
And OB, here's another challenge - to those media people who have defended the Patriots - where are they wrong?
God, here's another challenger to Shank's title - Bob Ryan and this duplicitous piece on Belichick. Ryan appears to have drunk the Matt Walsh Kool-aid.
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