Quality Reporting, By Ben Volin

It looks like a colleague of Shank's got punked by a commenter on Barstool Sports:

EXCLUSIVE: Ben Volin's "Report" That The Whole Building Hates Mac Jones Is Based On A Stoolie's Fake DM

If you heard this on Greg Hill this morning it was a real mess. Volin, very sheepishly, said he got a DM (according to the tweet "from someone that would know" but I didn't hear that in the audio, might've been in a different part of the interview) that "everyone in the building knows it." I retweeted it because it was pretty dumb, particularly considering that as the same time this interview was happening Jason McCourty was on Good Morning Football saying he was hanging out with the team on Monday night and everyone loves everyone.

And Now For More Boston Globe Employee Bashing

(Another installment in a continuing series)

Is Kevin Cullen ^* talking about Our Man Shank or Trollin' Volin?

Imagine taking joy in being mocked by a player you did everything you could to chase away from a team you’ve done everything to bad mouth owned by a man who your employer has done everything to see receiving a handjob? https://t.co/maQ5egMSzK

— Kevin Cullen (Parody) (@KevinCulIen) February 18, 2021

^*Parody account!

And Now For Some More Boston Globe Employee Bashing

Some tweets don't age very well, like this one:

#TBvsGB #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/4qMq3b79OF

— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) January 24, 2021

Hat tip - Boston Radio Watch

They Don't Call Him Trollin' Volin For Nothing

If anyone was wondering how Boston Globe sports reporter Ben Volin earned that nickname, it's because of stuff like this:

Hey @Patriots, got your new kicker right here pic.twitter.com/b0TgpYtx4G

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) April 12, 2020

Better that nickname than calling him Shank Jr. ...

And Now For More Boston Globe Employee Bashing

HTML - how does it work?

Best in the business, folks. pic.twitter.com/rIaFiYZMby

— You're Right, Mike! (@YoureRightMike) September 25, 2019

And Now For More Boston Globe Employee Bashing - VI

(Another in the occasional departure from covering His Shankness)

They don't call him Trollin' Volin for nothing:

Why can’t Tom Brady simply attend voluntary Patriots practices?

Um - because they're voluntary? Just a wild guess here...

Tom Brady posted a few photos to Instagram Saturday showing him throwing in private with Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry.

The photos elicited two immediate reactions.

One, shared by most Patriots fans: Good job by Brady to get in some extra work with Harry, the team’s first-round pick. The Patriots are counting on Harry to be an immediate contributor, and hope he can one day be a star. The more work Brady can get with Harry, the better.

Two, apparently not shared by many Patriots fans: Can’t Brady just get in this work at the Patriots’ offseason practices in Foxborough?

Care to guess which one of those two reactions Ben's going to side with?

For the second straight offseason, Brady is staying away from the voluntary practices. That in and of itself isn’t big news. It’s rare for a starting quarterback to not attend these voluntary practices, but everyone understands that Brady wants more of a work/life balance in the offseason. He feels he can do a better job of training himself on his own, and that’s fine. Everyone knows he’ll be in tip-top shape once camp begins in late July.

'Everyone understands' - except for Ben Volin. And now for the second problem with this column, which I believe is deliberate:

But Brady isn’t just skipping voluntary workouts. He seems to be going out of his way to not practice with his team.

It would be one thing if Brady were traveling the world with his family and tending to business matters. He appears to be away this week; on Tuesday, he posted photos of himself working out in helmet and shoulder pads on a beach somewhere. So don’t expect him at this week’s round of Patriots OTAs.

So the whole 'work / life' balance thingy would be okay if he was 'traveling the world with his family and tending to business matters'? Do you get the impression that Volin would complain about this regardless of the manner in which Tom spent the 'life' part of the 'work / life balance' thing? I sure do.

Since the Bruins are on in a few minutes, I'm invoking cricket rules - two strikes and you're out. Feel free to read the rest of the bullshit Volin invokes to criticize Brady, where the commenters rip Volin for being a huge jagoff.

And Now For More Boston Globe Employee Bashing

Tweet of the day so far:

11 hours before kickoff. I’m in the mood to read some fiction - Huck Finn, Harry Potter and Ben Volin.

Didn’t they get awarded Lamar Hunt trophy after beating Chiefs in AFCCG two weeks ago?

John Henry Fake Media Inc. https://t.co/oHmwFFV0O6

— Boston Radio Watch® (@bostonradio) February 3, 2019

And Now For More Boston Globe Employee Bashing - IV

Shank isn't the only Boston Globe sportswriter who doesn't like the New England Patriots or Tom Brady:

So Brady releases his all access documentary this week, then doesn't want to talk about it because it's a distraction? I believe that's called, "having your cake and eating it too." pic.twitter.com/LvbzDUnGQS

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 27, 2018

Did Brady take a page out of the Trump playbook?

Exactly. Brady has smartly and hilariously turned the tables on the media which has filled past playoff runs w/ nonsense distractions targeted at the Patriots. This time, TB12 tosses out a brontosaurus bone for the mad dogs to gnaw at, giving himself space to prepare for the game

— Sam (@Taghkanic) January 28, 2018

Put words in Brady's mouth? Check:

he didn't call it a distraction, the reporter framed the question that way. C'mon. I know you work for the Globe, but surely you can do better.

— Theresa (@PatsFanGarb) January 27, 2018

I think the future's already here:

Ben Volin= Future Shank. Absolutely terrible. Will say anything for clicks.

— Jeff Joel (@JeffJoel) January 27, 2018

Prize Claimed

A Patriots themed post whilst we wait for Shank to turn his lonely eyes to Foxborough...

On Monday I posted something on the David Price / Dennis Eckersley situation (for lack of a more accurate word or phrase), wherein it was mentioned an obvious truth - the Boston sports media are generally a bunch of negative assholes. A commenter who is fully versed in this local dynamic said in part the following:

I cannot wait until Belichick gives them the first hearty "go get your shinebox" of training camp come Thursday afternoon.

Newspapers can't die fast enough.

Mr. Anonymous, step up and claim your prize!

Covering Bill Belichick seems like it must be absolutely brutal. Belichick gives stubbornly unhelpful answers to almost all inquiries, and when he does elaborate, it typically involves berating the questioner.

But while this must be quite exhausting for the dutiful Patriots beat writers who have to confront it day-to-day, it’s kind of fun for the rest of us to watch from afar.

On Friday, Belichick was asked about the performance of Austin Carr, an undrafted rookie who made highlight reels with his impressive catch at training camp Thursday. Sounds like an innocent question, right? Well instead of offering some platitude about how Carr looked good and the team was excited to see what he could do, Belichick totally rejected the premise.

Here was his response, via the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin:

It may be the preseason, but Bill Belichick is in midseason media form. There's partial audio at the link. Since it was Ben Volin asking the question, I'm glad Belichick smacked him in the face with the verbal 2"x 4".