Dicks Out For Harambe - the state of Boston hockey media

Jed Zeppelin

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What the hell happened to these guys? Didn't we use to like Haggs and Fluto or am I having a cream cheese-aided fever dream?
 

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SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Oct 25, 2007
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What the hell happened to these guys? Didn't we use to like Haggs and Fluto or am I having a cream cheese-aided fever dream?
Haggs has always been less than useless.

Fluto cares too much about where he's going to eat in-between games now.

Amelie now works for NHL.com (well deserved).

Jimmy Murphy is Haggs with less calories.

DJ Bean is worth following now. Kirk Leudeke, and Dominic Tiano too. That's about it for local scribes.
 

j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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What the hell happened to these guys? Didn't we use to like Haggs and Fluto or am I having a cream cheese-aided fever dream?
I don't ever recall Haggs being useful, quite the opposite in fact. He and Murphy just make shit up and use each other as unnamed sources as far as I can tell.

Fluto used to be good but gave up caring a long time ago.
 

allstonite

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Oct 27, 2010
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What the hell happened to these guys? Didn't we use to like Haggs and Fluto or am I having a cream cheese-aided fever dream?
Speaking just for me Haggs has always been useless. Fluto was alright but should just be a food writer now. I stopped following him at the end of last season but most of last year he never consistently reported injuries, transactions, or lineups. I wish we could clone Mike Reiss
 

cshea

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I still like Fluto for the most part. A little too much food content for my liking, but his hockey work is mostly good. Unfortunately with Benjamin gone, the Chaser is getting nudged back on the beat so that sucks. He gave up decades ago.

Haggs has always been useless. His passive aggressive fights with Benjamin were a last straw for me. Plus there was that weird column from after a playoff game in Montreal. He is awful. He sucks and is hard to completely avoid because he's become the de facto national guy so he's always on the radio or TV.

DJ Bean's hockey stuff is good but he's annoying as hell on Twitter. He gets points though because he mocks Haggs.

Murphy doesn't count, he's not a journalist or reporter.
 

TFP

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I split this out from the Vesey thread because 1. I expect actual news there soon and 2. It's an interesting to talk about the current state of hockey media in town and also pay the proper respects to Harambe.

It definitely seems the overall state of hockey coverage in town has declined. DJ Bean is my go to for articles (and I like his twitter), Stephen Harris at the Globe is quite good, and Fluto still has his moments. Losing Amelie has definitely been a blow and I honestly can't think of others that qualify anymore but I might just be forgetting someone.

The level of hatred for Haggs among the other writers is amazing. They despise him.
 

Titoschew

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Was really hoping someone on another beat who, at least has some potential, would vie for the Globe gig. Maybe someone like Jen McCaffrey (Sox beat - Masslive). It would also be much better if the smaller guys like Loftus at the Ledger, Divver at ProJo or Colageo at ST, had more access. They work at papers that have next to no coverage, which hurts the whole situation as well.
 

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SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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The level of hatred for Haggs among the other writers is amazing. They despise him.
He brings a lot of it on himself with his condescension and general assholery. I also think a lot of it has to do with the fact that 1.) He's not that good of a writer, 2.) He's often wrong with what his "sources" tell him, 3.) He really doesn't understand the game he covers, like..at all.

All of that, combined with his attitude probably leads a lot of the other writers to wonder why the fuck someone less talented gets the opportunities that he does. It's so baffling that he's become the de facto "Boston hockey guy" when really, he's done nothing to deserve it.

Listening to him on T&R is so painful. They'll ask him a straightforward question and he'll go on 5 minute tangent that doesn't come close to answering the question, and shines a bright light on his lack of hockey knowledge.

Plus he has me blocked on twitter, so fuck him.
 

RIFan

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Jul 19, 2005
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I believe there is a lot more to the Haggs stuff with other beat writers than just his passive aggressive twitter crap with Benjamin. There is a reason he aligned with Murphy, no one else can stand him. I'm not sure of it was one or two big things or just his level of unprofessionalism over a longer period of time, but he is the odd man out on what is generally a fairly tight group of local beat writers. But not only does he generally suck, he's completely gone the route of click baiting. The jumping on the Murphy offer sheet crap was just shameful. CSNNE has a good stable of writers outside of hockey. It seems odd that an old school guy like Art Martone would allow someone like Haggerty to hang around.

I agree with what most have said. Amalie was the best and is missed on the beat. DJ Bean is decent, but his twitter feed sucks. Fluto used to be good, but is seemingly in semi retirement. He's splitting the beat with KPD this year, so I'm not expecting much from the Globe. Joe McDonald was good on the beat, but he mostly does national stuff for ESPN. Stephen Harris of the Herald is straight vanilla and almost non-existent on Twitter (he still has an egg). If Divver did more Bruins centric reporting than the local stuff he focuses on he would be the best. He still is a must follow if you have an interest in the local scene. There's a huge opportunity for someone to rise up and make a name for themselves.
 

TFP

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He brings a lot of it on himself with his condescension and general assholery. I also think a lot of it has to do with the fact that 1.) He's not that good of a writer, 2.) He's often wrong with what his "sources" tell him, 3.) He really doesn't understand the game he covers, like..at all.

All of that, combined with his attitude probably leads a lot of the other writers to wonder why the fuck someone less talented gets the opportunities that he does. It's so baffling that he's become the de facto "Boston hockey guy" when really, he's done nothing to deserve it.

Listening to him on T&R is so painful. They'll ask him a straightforward question and he'll go on 5 minute tangent that doesn't come close to answering the question, and shines a bright light on his lack of hockey knowledge.

Plus he has me blocked on twitter, so fuck him.
I believe there is a lot more to the Haggs stuff with other beat writers than just his passive aggressive twitter crap with Benjamin. There is a reason he aligned with Murphy, no one else can stand him. I'm not sure of it was one or two big things or just his level of unprofessionalism over a longer period of time, but he is the odd man out on what is generally a fairly tight group of local beat writers. But not only does he generally suck, he's completely gone the route of click baiting. The jumping on the Murphy offer sheet crap was just shameful. CSNNE has a good stable of writers outside of hockey. It seems odd that an old school guy like Art Martone would allow someone like Haggerty to hang around.

I agree with what most have said. Amalie was the best and is missed on the beat. DJ Bean is decent, but his twitter feed sucks. Fluto used to be good, but is seemingly in semi retirement. He's splitting the beat with KPD this year, so I'm not expecting much from the Globe. Joe McDonald was good on the beat, but he mostly does national stuff for ESPN. Stephen Harris of the Herald is straight vanilla and almost non-existent on Twitter (he still has an egg). If Divver did more Bruins centric reporting than the local stuff he focuses on he would be the best. He still is a must follow if you have an interest in the local scene. There's a huge opportunity for someone to rise up and make a name for themselves.
The big gist of it is that he listens in on 1:1 interviews and steals quotes from other writers to pass off as his own, and also doesn't actually do any reporting while mocking others. I recently had a conversation with one of the beat writers about Haggs listening in on a 1:1 interview (that was specifically sought out by another writer) then going on T+R and repeating the quotes as if he had the story (I also heard that interview). He also generally rips off other peoples ideas, peddles it on CSN and TSH, and acts like he's the face of the Bruins beat. Then he starts stuff with other reports and it all goes downhill from there. It's not a one time thing at all.


Also - turning drunk, and having a cum have entered my daily vocabulary. So shouts to Gifboy and Deeeeej for that.
Brunch is #2 in my podcast rotation after Pardon My Take. I can't even describe why I love it, and I shouldn't, but I do despite there being zero hockey talk on it.
 

burstnbloom

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Jul 12, 2005
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DJ is probably the best writer left, unfortunately. He is insufferable on twitter, especially the last couple of months, but keep in mind, its the down season for him. He's pretty good during the year. I miss Amalie as she was the only really good writer of note in the market for the last few years. I agree with many of the points made above. The market is dying for a Alex Speier/Mike Reiss who we can trust to give us the real news and not just click bait.

Also Jimmy Murphy is so bad it actually makes me angry. I can't help but give him shit after I see a tweet by him. What a piece of crap.
 

TFP

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DJ's articles are excellent. He does a fantastic blend of rational analysis, inside sourcing, opinion, and advanced analytics. He's easily the best writer on the beat if you just look at the articles.

His Twitter/podcast/TV personality is definitely not for everyone. I honestly see him similar to a millennial version of Buccigross. Instead of golf and #bucciOTchallenge, he's all about the internet culture and music. If you can separate the two (or if you like both), he's the go to person on the beat.

Joe MacDonald and Amelie effectively haven't been replaced at either ESPN Boston or The Globe and are very much missed.
 

TFP

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And another one bites the dust. DJ Bean is joining Comcast and not doing Bruins beat anymore. Really disappointing to hear because the Bruins beat is just getting gutted, but obviously happy for DJ. Can't wait for him and Haggs to be coworkers now.

 

NickEsasky

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And another one bites the dust. DJ Bean is joining Comcast and not doing Bruins beat anymore. Really disappointing to hear because the Bruins beat is just getting gutted, but obviously happy for DJ. Can't wait for him and Haggs to be coworkers now.

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