Tom Brady’s car accident on Thursday morning resulted in a media maelstrom, as sports, news and gossip reporters fought each other to try and be the first to break details of the wreck.
It was variously reported that Brady had crashed his Bentley (it was an Audi), that he was transported to the hospital (he refused transportation to the hospital) and that the "Jaws of Life" were required to extract him from the car (it was a passenger in the other vehicle).
For perhaps the first time, I found myself annoyed with new technology and media. In the rush to get the information out there, multiple corrections were needed, and in my Twitter list of Patriots Beat Reporters, Tweets came fast and furious – most all saying the exact same things.
For once, I was wishing for the old days, where it might take an hour or so, but when you got the report, it was accurate. No ups and downs. You might be worried for that hour, but you got the right information the first time.
I also could’ve done without the local news helicopter flying over Patriots practice to get a glimpse of Brady.
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Last week, a big deal was made about WBZ staffers being "forced" to wear shirts with the Patriots logo during the preseason TV broadcasts aired on the station.
Media types like Dan Shaughnessy and Tony Massarotti were among the loudest voices heard, decrying the absence of "objectiveness" in the WBZ telecasts.
Is there such a thing as "objective" journalism in this day and age, especially when it comes to sports coverage? Tony Massarotti is on his high horse over WBZ staffers wearing Patriots shirts, yet he wrote a book with David Ortiz of the Red Sox. Are you telling me there is no conflict there?
Shaughnessy spent nearly 15 years pimping his "Curse of the Bambino" book, basically making more money each time a Red Sox season ended without a World Series title, until the franchise finally broke through in 2004. Seems like a conflict to me.
The old analogy about throwing rocks in a glass house doesn’t seem to apply to these guys.
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In a departure from their recent "lifestyle" programming announcements, NESN sent out a release this week announcing that they will air a special, two-hour Back To Work: Bruins Training Camp Live at the Garden Thursday, September 16, at 9:00 P.M. EDT.
With the addition of the No. 2 pick in this June’s NHL draft, Tyler Seguin, there is a renewed buzz around the Bruins, and it is indicated with NESN wisely producing this first-ever preseason special on the team.
The special will be hosted by Kathryn Tappen, who will be joined by Andy Brickley, Mike Milbury and Naoko Funayama.
NESN also announced this week that NESN National – a version of the channel that contains everything regular NESN has except for the live Bruins and Red Sox games -- will be available for the first time on cable in North and South Carolina via Time Warner Cable.
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If you haven’t had a chance to check out the NFL Network’s series on the Top 100 Players of all time, I highly encourage you to do so. It’s outstanding, especially when they go over players from older generations and bring out the old footage. Normally "ranking" shows like this aren’t on my favorites list, but this series is as much about the history of the NFL as it is about the players. Outstanding.
Links of the Week:
Richard Deitsch has everything you could possibly want to know about the NFL broadcasting crews and programming for the 2010 season.
Patriots wipe their slate clean for 2010 season
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald got the real story about the Patriots removing pictures from their facility this offseason. It was previously reported that it had been photos from the Super Bowl teams, Rapoport notes that photos from all teams were removed from the walls in an effort to start fresh.
Tweet of the Week:
1st thing I did after I talked 2 @Revis24 yesterday in #Jets lockerroom: Bench Anquan Boldin,who's on my fantasy fball team.True story #nfl
Manish Mehta
TheJetsStream
If Shaughnessy and Massarotti think that certain members of the Boston media are in the tank for the Patriots, then what would they think of this guy from the New York Daily News?