So now the world knows what beat reporters evidently have long known: that [Terry] Francona is going through a divorce. So what? I don’t think anything less of Francona for that. But I do think less of all the reporters who kept that fact hidden from me all season why I was wondering why Francona seemed so helpless at the beginning and end of the season. What did all these reporters know and when did they know it?
Meanwhile, if I were a Red Sox season ticket holder, you’re damn right I would want to know what [Bob] Hohler’s piece told me. I would want to know the details from the clubhouse even if it violated some unwritten rule about how baseball teams are supposed to be covered. All of these players are millionaires, they are all public figures, they are all grown-ups. And did I mention that their play stunk to high heaven?
The gravemen of the complaint—by [Keith] Olbermann and others—seems to be that the team’s owners unfairly used their positions of power to tell ugly truths about players and coaches. The underlying principle, I guess, is that teams are supposed to stick together and hide such embarrassing details from the public—and that the motives of the messengers matter more than the message itself. What strange things for sports journalists to be so offended about!
Journalists who had used anonymous sources to get stories all year long suddenly were complaining that other journalists were using anonymous sources as well. Some of the very same reporters who miserably failed to explain the Red Sox collapse while it was happening—who hinted about clubhouse problems but never quite wrote the piece—suddenly were complaining that Hohler had written the piece. Me thinks they doth protest too much…
I’ll wait to see whether Boston’s media outlets, including the Globe itself, take a hard look at their own rules about covering the beloved team. Hohler’s story, after all, didn’t just call out players, coaches and management; it also called out many who are paid to cover the team. The Sox are in the process of mending their ways. I sure hope some of Boston’s sports reporters are, too.
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1. salvomania Posted: October 19, 2011 at 05:01 PM (#3968261)EDIT: Okay, Hohler isn't a sportswriter. Never mind.
I am a Red Sox season ticket holder and I don't really care about this stuff. What I want to know, and what no one has shown yet, is what impact this stuff had.
I think the last part of the excerpt is a valid point and is something that leaves me skeptical that these outrageous stories are really meaningful with respect to how the season ended. If this stuff was going on all year and wasn't a big deal, why was it a big deal when in September?
So true. In your alternate reality, the 2011 Red Sox would be Lovable Idiots. Although it's hard to imagine any team's fanbase and sports media taking to and glorifying "idiots"..."
That's not exactly accurate. By the end, a lot of people around here were saying \"#### these guys. I don't care if they do make it. They're just going to get swept."....now that's not everyone of course. But still...the narrative would have been "If you fat dolts had taken care of business earlier, the Sox wouldn't have burnt themselves out at the end and had to start Tim ####### Wakefield in game 1 of the ALDS."
Yeah, I'm with Dale here. They would have had to have gone awfully far in the postseason (not impossible, but not bloody likely either) to turn that bunch into something lovable.
Is it me or is Andrew Cohen just a complete #######?
What Cohen is saying is that the information is essentially meaningless, but he wanted to know it anyway. He is a proponent of the voyeur school of journalism ethics, where everybody's dirty laundry should be aired to everyone, because they might find it interesting -- except, of course, the dirty laundry of the media, since they are all First Amendment Warriors.
And I echo what everybody else has been saying -- if all this stuff was also going on during the middle of the season when the Red Sox were crushing the league, why is it responsible for the collapse at the end, but not for the success?
Hohler worked the Red Sox beat for years (including 2004), so while he might not be currently writing about sports, he is a sportswriter.
They choked, SP stunk to high heaven...and of course it's all Carl Crawford's fault.
One other thought. I've been busy and haven't followed all the wall to wall coverage, so this may have been covered, but has anyone drawn a parallel between this years pitching staff and the Loyal Order of Buffaloheads?
Hockey started, the NFL season is in full swing and it seems all Boston wants to talk about is the Red Sox. Even me, to an extent.
What was the bullpen usage like? Are Beckett, Lester, and Lackey the Rick Wise, Fergie Jenkins, and Bill Lee of our day?
It's the craziest I have seen it since the Grady fiasco - what a mess.
You know, maybe, just maybe, there is a difference between using anonymous sources to get speculation about potential trades or FA targets, and using anonymous sources to allege potentially criminal abuse of perscription medication. I really don't see why it's so hard to understand, that one of those things might require a higher level of corroboration, than the other.
But are these guys the Buffaloheads? I know that was before your time, Phil, but Joe Bivens probably remembers what I'm talking about. villageidiom might remember back that far as well.
And I'd promise you anything for another shot at life
And imperfect boys with their perfect ploys
Nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy
Having met Spaceman on a couple occasions, he seems about 1,000 times more charming than any of the current crop. So on that basis, I would have to say 'no'.
I've said it elsewhere, the media's most fervent desire is a second place team. No one pays attention to bad teams and a first place team is all sunshine and roses. A second place team (or third place in the WC era) that comes up juuuuust short lends itself to this sort of foolishness and sells papers and ad time on TV/radio.
GGC, to answer your questions;
Bullpen - We can talk a lot about specifics but Bard certainly did not appear to be used an unrealistic amount. There was an early season game against the Cubs that went south because Tito gave him the day off (and got ripped for it) and Albers got bombed. Bard has had a high September ERA in all three of his MLB seasons so his stamina has to be called into question. There were definitely some spots where Papelbon probably could have been used.
Buffaloheads - Sounds like as good an analogy as any. Does that mean Reddick = Carbo and McDonald = Bailey?
Conor Jackson might be Bailey. Weren't they both heralded as youngsters and at the end of the line by the time they got to Boston?
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