Lets Talk About Drew Magary
- Thread starter dirtynine
- Start date
I know he's not universally popular, mostly because of his (what I think is mock) "hatred" of the Patriots, but very few observers of the sports scene could write this: (obviously I'm speaking of the intro about fandom/ownership; YMMV on the stuff that follows):
https://deadspin.com/you-re-not-an-owner-1838736936M
https://deadspin.com/you-re-not-an-owner-1838736936M
He doesn't write about every game.
But I agree, his opening paragraphs on this Jamberoo are terrific. This is exhibit A in what I meant about Magary maturing as a writer.
https://deadspin.com/if-you-re-defending-tom-brady-s-cheap-martyr-routine-y-1839261515
This seems a bit beyond Drew’s angry man schtick and comes off a bit unhinged.
This seems a bit beyond Drew’s angry man schtick and comes off a bit unhinged.
I just finished reading this and I have to say, Hoya81 is sorta right. Within his first few paragraphs, he lost me; but in the meat of his piece, he makes a lot of really decent points. But then he wraps it up with insanity.
Like I get what he's saying, which is popular and rich people should have a sense of humor about themselves because if you do, chances are these sort of things will blow over. And fans should stop being crybabies, athletes don't care about you and defending their every action is pathetic. Again, I agree with both of these thoughts.
But then he goes off into crazy land about Pats fans and blah, blah, blah, it's like Harvey Danger playing "Flagpolesitta" one more time. Yes, I get that that song is one of your hits, but c'mon it's 20 years later, what else do you have. And while I am a bigger fan of Magary than Simmons, for all the shit that Magary gives Simmons for leaning on the same crutches when he writes, he does it just as much. Dude, we get it, when you were a PG in Maine, some Mass kids were wicked mean to you. Deadspin isn't your therapist's couch.
EDIT: at the end of the day, it's all about clicks.
Like I get what he's saying, which is popular and rich people should have a sense of humor about themselves because if you do, chances are these sort of things will blow over. And fans should stop being crybabies, athletes don't care about you and defending their every action is pathetic. Again, I agree with both of these thoughts.
But then he goes off into crazy land about Pats fans and blah, blah, blah, it's like Harvey Danger playing "Flagpolesitta" one more time. Yes, I get that that song is one of your hits, but c'mon it's 20 years later, what else do you have. And while I am a bigger fan of Magary than Simmons, for all the shit that Magary gives Simmons for leaning on the same crutches when he writes, he does it just as much. Dude, we get it, when you were a PG in Maine, some Mass kids were wicked mean to you. Deadspin isn't your therapist's couch.
EDIT: at the end of the day, it's all about clicks.
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Of course it's all about clicks. Magary has a style that attracts clicks, and anti-Pats articles on Deadspin get tons of clicks and comments. Combine them both and profit!
Yeah. I mean this is a Michael Felger Free Form Friday rant in written form with a bit more of a point.
There is literally no situation involving Brady that Magary wouldn't take as a negative thing for Brady. Brady could get mugged and beaten and Magary would call him a good dog who needs to go to the vet clinic. Brady could die in a plane crash and he'd wonder why the TB12 method didn't work for him. When your shtik is constantly the same slant, then the shock value of the takes wears off quickly.
He's a good writer and generally I enjoy his stuff, but the same horses have been beaten to death for a long while now.
He's a good writer and generally I enjoy his stuff, but the same horses have been beaten to death for a long while now.
If this had been posted on any other site, Laura Wagner would write 3000 words about how offensive it was to implicitly equate Tom Brady claiming "fake news" about how his scene was portrayed with the Astros AGM single-handedly creating a hostile working environment for three female writers.
Eh, maybe.
But I think Magary loses his rhetorical punch when the conclusion of his pieces on certain topics is always pre-ordained. He's essentially throwing red meat to the lions there, the comments will undoubtedly be the expected anti-Pats bashing and all of them will be pleased with themselves for a minute or two.
But I think Magary loses his rhetorical punch when the conclusion of his pieces on certain topics is always pre-ordained. He's essentially throwing red meat to the lions there, the comments will undoubtedly be the expected anti-Pats bashing and all of them will be pleased with themselves for a minute or two.
And also: Brady was miffed that the media was taking his appearance there and immediately saying he deliberately did it as a slight to Bob Kraft. The first question he faced in the media scrum was "What were you thinking?" The assumption made that he had done something wrong. The scene itself is clearly not a shot at Kraft (how could it be, it was written four years ago). It's a cloning facility, not a rub and tug spa, and that's the joke, that Brady is so durable because he's cloned himself six times. Brady has in the past not had trouble laughing at himself, and his generally goofy posts on Instagram and Twitter sound that out. He was angry because his scene was being deliberately misconstrued as a shot at Kraft, whom he clearly deeply respects.
The thing that’s shitty about that Magary article is its recourse to random tweets as proof of concept. In general, I hate news or opinion pieces that just sample tweets. We have higher standards on this board, even. But, if you’re going to write a whole article about how people are feeling a certain way and then cite to a couple tweets with 5 likes, it’s clear you’re starting from the end and looking for “evidence” to support your phony conclusion.
But that's part of the point of his article, that Patriot fans (or fans of whatever team) have this strange compulsion to "protect" their teams and their players. He's using the tweets as evidence of this. I think he has a point, I never really understood fans who talk about the team they follow as "we" or "us", or refer to Bob Kraft as "Mr. Kraft". Magary started to explore that road and I think that it would be an interesting topic to discuss, but then he veers off into his "Pats fans are mouth breathing racists" schtick and it's like, "okay Drew. It's not your fault. It's not your fault that those kids were so mean to you."
Every team's fans do that. Every. Single. One. What Drew is missing is that the Pats get a lot of articles just like his where he takes a shit over the player and the team and the fanbase just because he doesn't like the team.
I like Magary but he's being highly disingenuous here and he knows it.
I like Magary but he's being highly disingenuous here and he knows it.
I think Magary's point is that Brady should've said that, and not gone off on what sounded to me like a really weird tangent. After all, until I found out it was written 4 years ago, I, too, thought there was a not-so-thinly veiled joke at Kraft's expense.
Magary regularly points out that he thinks Brady got fucked in the ball deflation nonsense and that he's the best QB ever. And he says in this one that every fan base reflexively jumps in front of the bus for their laundry.
This is literally the first time in the last week I’ve seen this. I watched the trailer for the show and knew it was about cloning after I saw the clip and didn’t put 2 and 2 together. I also read the interview with the show runner who said he was surprised Brady didn’t drop out of the production after the Kraft story broke. Still thought it was purely about Rudd going to a rub n tug parlor until I read your post and then Magary’s piece.
That might have had something to do with the fact that no one in the media sought to provide any context at all for the clip. WaPo:
You know what word is missing from that summary of the show? “Cloning.” As in, what that spa was a front for. Instead we learn that the spa “produces startling results.”
You would think that Magary could at least concede that the media didn’t bother to clarify this point this out before accusing Brady of taking a shot at Kraft. But that would undermine his numerous articles and accusing Brady of being a baby and so forth.
Pretty weak.
So then why is he targeting the Patriots in particular? Over something that's pretty clear why Brady's miffed?
Oh, wait. I know why.
Oh, wait. I know why.
I listen to a Podcast on Pats football and media coverage called Entitled Town (https://entitledtown.podbean.com/#.Xa8aDTh2_8g.twitter) , and they bring up this exact point: that Brady was surrounded by media at his locker about the appearance and questioned about it and not one of the people there had actually seen the clip in the context of the show because not one of them knew it was a cloning facility. Not. One. The first question Brady got was "What were you thinking?" The assumption was already made that he took a shot at Kraft.
That's shitty reporting.
It's weird to me how much this bothers y'all.
What else did you expect from Magary in an article about the Patriots? If anything, I give him credit for admitting that Deflategate was 100% bullshit.
What else did you expect from Magary in an article about the Patriots? If anything, I give him credit for admitting that Deflategate was 100% bullshit.
I'm not sure if you're being serious, but he's using Brady as an example of people who are a bit too self-absorbed to talk about something stupid that happened to them, instead of climbing Mt. Self-Righteous and pointing their finger at the media. Brady, like a lot of people who are faced with this, could have handled it a bit better, do you agree? Instead the assembled news media gets a stern lecture. Magary's point is that Brady has had a pretty smooth life and that he shouldn't freak out about a very little controversy, because that ends up blowing up. Which, again, I don't think he's wrong.
His second point was that there is a certain type of fan who likes to circle the wagons around their team, favorite athlete, celebrity, political party, when things go wrong and will defend that person/team to the hilt despite it being pretty ridiculous. He's specifically going after Pats fans because his story is about Brady but says that all fans do this for their teams/binkies. Again, I don't have a huge gripe about this, because a. it's true and b. Patriot fans can be whiny babies.
Where, and I've mentioned this before, Magary loses me is when he goes off his meds and rips Pats fans for the same thing that he says earlier that all fans do. I'm not sure why Magary expects Patriots fans to act better than other fans, but again, I think that he has some New England PTSD that he should work through.
How could Brady have handled it better? He was accused of taking a cheap, dirty shot at Kraft. It was blatantly untrue, and the accusation hurt him because he obvious has deep respect for Kraft.
Brady was rushed by the media at his locker (the video clip shows them 8 deep) and immediately and incorrectly accused of taking pot shots at Kraft. He reacted with disappointment, took offense with their suggestions, and told them to be better. Again, IMO, considering not a one of them got the actual context of the scene correctly, doesn't strike me as unreasonable. This is the same media corps that crucified him during Deflategate, so he's got history with these guys.
What should he have done, in your opinion? I'm serious.
Brady was rushed by the media at his locker (the video clip shows them 8 deep) and immediately and incorrectly accused of taking pot shots at Kraft. He reacted with disappointment, took offense with their suggestions, and told them to be better. Again, IMO, considering not a one of them got the actual context of the scene correctly, doesn't strike me as unreasonable. This is the same media corps that crucified him during Deflategate, so he's got history with these guys.
What should he have done, in your opinion? I'm serious.
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What would I have said? Something along the lines of, "I know what this looks like guys, but it's not what you think." I wouldn't have wagged my finger and accused them of bringing down America. This is what he said, "“I think it’s this type of media atmosphere that you create. The blame-and-shame media atmosphere that has kind of percolated for a while. I think there is a lot of things that are said that are taken out of context that you choose to make a headline of, as opposed to understand what it’s actually about.”
Explain what the scene is about, because like Dokes said, it was written four years ago (I had no idea), he was coming out of a cloning spa (again, no clue) and have a little humor and understanding about the out-of-context scene that people just saw. I mean, it's kind of funny that Brady's boss gets busted for a rub and tug and then eight months later his quarterback is smiling and leaving a spa. When I saw that scene, I thought that for sure Brady was being a lil' stinker about the whole thing, which I thought was really uncharacteristic of him. I also thought that it was pretty funny too.
So maybe instead of being a humorless prick about it, he could have told the assembled media what the scene was about.
What did you think the scene was about when you first saw it? There's a reason why the producers/Netflix chose that particular scene to hype up the show, no?
The bottom line is that it wasn't a great look for Tom Brady. And it could have been handled a bit better.
Explain what the scene is about, because like Dokes said, it was written four years ago (I had no idea), he was coming out of a cloning spa (again, no clue) and have a little humor and understanding about the out-of-context scene that people just saw. I mean, it's kind of funny that Brady's boss gets busted for a rub and tug and then eight months later his quarterback is smiling and leaving a spa. When I saw that scene, I thought that for sure Brady was being a lil' stinker about the whole thing, which I thought was really uncharacteristic of him. I also thought that it was pretty funny too.
So maybe instead of being a humorless prick about it, he could have told the assembled media what the scene was about.
What did you think the scene was about when you first saw it? There's a reason why the producers/Netflix chose that particular scene to hype up the show, no?
The bottom line is that it wasn't a great look for Tom Brady. And it could have been handled a bit better.
What part of this statement is incorrect? Given this is exactly what they did?
I think a big issue with Drew Magary is that he's a huge fraud. He's completely tried to change his change his writing for political reasons and it ends up leaving him coming across as bizarre, disingenuous or both.
He's a lot like Howard Stern but it's even more obvious because writing is so personal. I understand people change and I'd like to think I've evolved or just learned more about people and that has changed my thinking and therefore, my writing. But with Magary, it doesn't feel like a totally honest change.
I don't think he's still a gay basher and I'm sure he winces at other things he's written but he is still trying to have this bombastic writing style that tries so hard to be rebellious and it just falls flat or in this case is confusing. I think if he stopped trying to be this internet rebel and just wrote honestly (like he did about his brain issues and recovery which was very well done), you'd have a better writer.
Tough to be a rebel when you are trying so hard to be part of the system.
He's a lot like Howard Stern but it's even more obvious because writing is so personal. I understand people change and I'd like to think I've evolved or just learned more about people and that has changed my thinking and therefore, my writing. But with Magary, it doesn't feel like a totally honest change.
I don't think he's still a gay basher and I'm sure he winces at other things he's written but he is still trying to have this bombastic writing style that tries so hard to be rebellious and it just falls flat or in this case is confusing. I think if he stopped trying to be this internet rebel and just wrote honestly (like he did about his brain issues and recovery which was very well done), you'd have a better writer.
Tough to be a rebel when you are trying so hard to be part of the system.
Those are good points, Berry. I wonder if going forward we'll see a change in Magary's writing style/personality due to the brain injury he suffered; such a thing would hardly be unprecedented.
"The Night the Lights Went Out" was one of the finest pieces of writing I've read anywhere. I hope for more of that from Magary. Others have comments that the Why Your Team Sucks series, which is his other style, has seemingly run out of steam after so many years of doing it; bringing up the rage again and again is getting a bit stale for him.
"The Night the Lights Went Out" was one of the finest pieces of writing I've read anywhere. I hope for more of that from Magary. Others have comments that the Why Your Team Sucks series, which is his other style, has seemingly run out of steam after so many years of doing it; bringing up the rage again and again is getting a bit stale for him.
But why should Brady do their jobs? They call themselves journalists, maybe do a little journalism and figure out what the show was about at least before you run with a completely out of context cameo and spread it all over the internet and airwaves for clicks and content. I would have been pissed if I was Brady too.
They were doing their jobs. The scene was released on Friday (I think?), Brady talked to them on Sunday (I believe). Do you expect the Boston sports media to sit on this story while other news agencies are reporting this? This is what happens when you run a football team like the Kremlin and limit access and explanation, people sometimes take stuff and report it the way they see it. You simply can't have it both ways. And I guarantee you the scene was released for this exact reason, there is no explanation of why Brady is coming out of a spa with a goofy grin other than the reason that most people came up with. The producers wanted you to (erroneously) connect the dots and see why for some reason Brady was shitting on his boss.
When the media asked him about it, they got a lecture. Would it been so hard for Brady to talk about this on Friday or Saturday and explain what people were seeing? Even something along the lines of, "Check out the movie, see what happened and then we'll talk."
I get that the media is always the bad guy because they don't score touchdowns and sometimes report news that not everyone loves, but sometimes, the players have some blame in this dance too.
I don't believe that timeline is correct JMOH. I think the scene was released Thursday and they talked to Brady on Friday. I could be wrong but I thought that's how it went down. They interviewed him at his locker at Gillette; they were in NY Sunday night getting ready for Monday's game.
The media got a lecture because they drew the worst possible insinuations from the scene while 1) being wrong factually about it, and 2) without actually having seen the episode for full context. It was the classic "How long have you been beating your wife?" scenario and Brady clearly didn't appreciate the insinuation that he was taking a shot at Kraft.
The media got a lecture because they drew the worst possible insinuations from the scene while 1) being wrong factually about it, and 2) without actually having seen the episode for full context. It was the classic "How long have you been beating your wife?" scenario and Brady clearly didn't appreciate the insinuation that he was taking a shot at Kraft.
I guess if their job is to blow something up that was factually incorrect to start with then swarm Brady to ask him about said wrong information and media storm then sure they were doing their jobs. If their job is to gather and report news, then no they weren't doing their jobs. At all. I guess we just have different views of what their job is.
According to this, Brady made his statements on Saturday, so my timeline was a bit off.
Come on. What were they supposed to think when they see a scene of Tom Brady leaving a strip-mall spa with a goofy grin on his face? Are you serious right now? What did you think? You don't think that this scene was just randomly picked, do you? This media storm is exactly what the producers wanted and the media fell into the trap (great job, BTW tricking these geniuses). Where Brady loses points with me is how serious he took it.
It wasn't a spa! That's the entire point. It was a cloning facility, which was the joke, that Brady's lasted so long because he's cloned himself six times. The media based all the insinuations on something that was completely wrong.
"Tom, why did you take a shot at Kraft by shooting a scene that had you coming out of a rub and tug spa?"
"It was a cloning facility, which is the joke."
'WHY SO DEFENSIVE TOM? YOU'RE SO SENSITIVE AND YOU HATE KRAFT."
If someone told me I was an asshole (which is true) because I have webbed feet (which isn't true), I would get annoyed by that. And then if they used the "fact" that I had webbed feet to make the case I hate all land-based creatures, I'd be doubly pissed.
I may have gotten sidetracked there.
"Tom, why did you take a shot at Kraft by shooting a scene that had you coming out of a rub and tug spa?"
"It was a cloning facility, which is the joke."
'WHY SO DEFENSIVE TOM? YOU'RE SO SENSITIVE AND YOU HATE KRAFT."
If someone told me I was an asshole (which is true) because I have webbed feet (which isn't true), I would get annoyed by that. And then if they used the "fact" that I had webbed feet to make the case I hate all land-based creatures, I'd be doubly pissed.
I may have gotten sidetracked there.
Tom's beef is with the show's producers who chose that clip to release, knowing it would start a shitstorm.
Blaming the media is a bullshit way of not dealing with a topic, or deflecting blame.
Tom learned well from the guy in DC.
Blaming the media is a bullshit way of not dealing with a topic, or deflecting blame.
Tom learned well from the guy in DC.
I just rewatched the trailer and it was called "Top Happy Spa" and there was Asian characters on the sign. This is not the Snake Canyon leap that you think it is. BTW, a cloning facility is not a real thing.
"They should have just known it was a cloning facility without any sort of backstory! That's just obvious!" Are you being serious now?
And BTW, I think that Lose is right. Brady is probably angry at the producers, but can't yell at them publicly.
And if the reporters had done any research at all and found out more and watched the show, or made a few calls to find out the backstory, they would have realized it's a cloning facility. Which would immediately show them that any attempts to turn this into Brady taking a shot at Kraft were asinine.
The producers might have done him dirty, but this whole shitstorm was started by Jim Murray sharing the clip on Twitter with the thinking emojis without any context. And it wasn't a clip the producers dropped, the show actually launched last week and Murray took a clip from his tv he knew was out of context and shared it for content. And no need to bring Trump into this at all.
Because it's not his job for the media to be mildly informed about the questions they ask. Could he have handled it better? Probably. Did he handle it poorly? IMO no, especially since it was the media (a sports talk radio flash boy, to be exact) that made this non-story a story by their trolling / unwillingness to learn.
And instead of saying something remotely close to that, he posed like George Reeves at the beginning of the Superman TV show to make some point that went far beyond "you guys missed the point" that was both ridiculous and barely coherent.
OTOH - If someone called you a webbed-foot asshole and your response was "I dont have webbed feet and it's your fault people are dying in the streets of Siberia," people might think you're Tom Brady, which might have benefits.
I understand, but finding a few random tweets by nobodies that have fewer than ten likes isn’t really evidence. I’m sure I could find a few tweets by users with Patriots jerseys saying they don’t believe in evolution or that certain minorities suck. It’s a flimsy basis to build a thesis around.
It’s basically a step up from a Yahoo news story about “fans rebel against new Star Wars trailer” that collates a smattering of tweets.
I’d also imagine that if I had Twitter I could find 3 tweets from Patriots fans saying Brady handles this poorly.
I think I have ever seen Brady try to make two actual jokes.
One was about a MAGA hat. The other was about not fighting ISIS.
On one hand, he should maybe get out if he comedy business. On the other, I can see how he’s fed up.
Tom Brady is comfortable talking about football. He's a lot less polished and comfortable talking about other things, especially when hounded by reporters that haven't bothered to do 5 minutes of actual research into the situation. That's hardly the crime that it's being made out to be.
I thought the Isis line was great, I am apparently in the minority on this.
50% for a novice seems good