Maybe BB gets a coaching salary and a front office salary?That primarily.
Maybe BB gets a coaching salary and a front office salary?That primarily.
This is of course all correct but one other thing I left out since the Cooks stuff was dumb enough but another part of Volin's plan was to cut Gillislee. Obviously not a big deal in itself but as you noted Burkhead and Lewis are FAs so that leaves you with White as the only RB under contract(maybe Bolden, not sure of his contract status but don't really care either).What Volin conveniently ignores is that the Pats would have to also replace or resign their starting LT, one of their starting DB's (Butler), 2 of their starting RB's (Burkhead and Lewis). And guys like Matt Slater and their backup OL's (Fleming and Waddle).
Saying that the Pats could simply "find a way to make it work" is wishcasting at best, utter incompetence at worst.
Agreed. The fact is, the Pats just don't deploy their cap space in the way that they'd have to in order to execute this plan...they always spread, they always build the middle, and they never borrow from the future. I just don't buy they'd change all that, and also that they'd believe it best protects the team to do so.Anyone with access to Miguel's website could figure out how to create space, Volin is a fucking moron. The whole problem is you'd undermine your roster for 2018 to make it work.
This just proves the old adage that the further away from a problem you are the easier it is to solve.Volin on twitter figured out how to come up with the money to franchise Jimmy G. The major part of that would be cutting Cooks who Ben theorizes they may not feel is worth his contract. That is the same contract he had last year when they traded a number 1 pick for him by the way.
I don't think there is any way that BB is ever a lame duck Coach/GM. Certainly would surprise me if he was.That assumes, of course, that he was contractually bound. I don't think we know anything about the term or conditions of BB's contract.
I look forward to this, because that is when the whole story will be squashed (at least through the rest of the playoffs.)God help the people who ask about this at the next B.B. presser.
There's a reason he's called "Mittens."Volin is a fucking moron. I can't wait for him to leave the New England market.
I thought Lombardi said he didn't know about it, but that "he's been gone a while".K&C asked him about the whole player of the week award and he doubled down saying that it's absolutely an award and that Mike Lombardi said the same thing.
I posted about this up thread. Fauria lofted him a softball about how he has never heard of "Patriot of the Week", expecting Lombardi to laugh and say the same thing. Lombardi kind of fumbled around a bit then said they did it when he was there but he doesnt know now because he hasn't been in the building in a long time.I thought Lombardi said he didn't know about it, but that "he's been gone a while".
And how fucking hard is it to ask the ex-Patriots that work in media about this? Christ--Bruschi, McGinest, etc.
Also Lombardi on this specific issue is pretty far from the most objective person (admittedly so) as he has been the driver of the Jimmy G bandwagon for years (which basically admits).I posted about this up thread. Fauria lofted him a softball about how he has never heard of "Patriot of the Week", expecting Lombardi to laugh and say the same thing. Lombardi kind of fumbled around a bit then said they did it when he was there but he doesnt know now because he hasn't been in the building in a long time.
However, while I like Lombardi a lot, he's not the person I would trust hte most on issues like that. If anyone has listened to him on a podcast, he's not the best with specific details. (IE pronunciations, names, etc) Patriot player of the week vs. some other award that sounds similar is something I'd expect him to mix up/
This is what I would have guessed is what was meant by Patriot of the Week. This does give some credence to Dave Portnoy's assertion that Lombardi was "the leak" (I'd guess IF he was a source he was one of a few and definitely not the main one)Matt Chatham said that they do have an award like this, but it's not Patriot of the Week (at least it wasn't), and they give out game balls on Monday to offense, defense, ST.
I doubt we will be so lucky, considering that John F'n Tomase is still somehow employed around here and also apparently just came out of his hole to write some (I'll assume garbage) piece about this story.Volin is a fucking moron. I can't wait for him to leave the New England market.
In the 2008 season, there was a video of BB giving Matt Cassel a game ball after a key win against the Raiders. [Note: IIRC, Cassel lost his father earlier that week].Matt Chatham said that they do have an award like this, but it's not Patriot of the Week (at least it wasn't), and they give out game balls on Monday to offense, defense, ST.
The journalistic standards you posit are more than appropriate for coverage of, say, the President of the United States. Maybe those same standards should apply to coverage of professional sports as well, but I think it’s pretty clear that they don’t as a practical matter. In particular, sports journalists get a lot more leeway with anonymous sources than their colleagues who cover hard news. To pick one example: how much of Peter Gammons’s work over the years would’ve been nixed by his editors at the Globe if they held him to the same standards as the writers on the news pages?He has bigger journalistic problems than our fan base, some of which humorously labeled a non-hit piece as a hit piece, and a few of which lobbed the beat-to-death charge that ESPN is attempting to sabotage the season.
For one thing he apparently failed to nail down the non-existence of the Patriot-of-the-week award, or whatever he called what Brady supposedly was chapped for not winning. You just don’t assume something exists — even if three sources tell you it does — when it would be notable yet failed to register even a single hit in 18 years of press coverage of this team under BB’s watch. I’ve read about the parking space many times; never this. Details matter. Every detail matters.
His huge problem is the alleged meeting lasting most of one day that reportedly resulted in the mandate to trade JG. I don’t care if 10 people told him that meeting occurred and characterized it in the same way. I am not taking the word of any source who will not personally vouch for being in attendance at the meeting and relate to me in some detail who said what.
I am very confident he did NOT have this. And it’s not just because Kraft is adamant the meeting did not happen and clear that he did not discuss this matter with B.B. after June 2017. It’s because any such meeting, if it occurred, almost certainly would have been lightly attended. Kraft. Jonathan. B.B. Caserio. That’s it.
Kraft is on the record, obviously. Unless one indulges the assumption this was a set up by the Pats, Jonathan is out. Caserio wouldn’t fucking dare considering his position and aspirations — and besides, he has much better judgment.
So this leaves B.B. as a theoretical source, which is why a few radio assholes in Boston claim B.B. is one of the sources. The story makes him look good AND it’s payback time. Problem is, although this certainly was not beyond Parcells — Will McDonough was his mouthpiece — it certainly is beneath Belichick, IMO. He would not waste his time or stoop so low. If he is sufficiently pissed and disgusted, he’ll just walk out at season’s end. With his dignity intact.
So what happened? There was probably a buzz about a meeting. Maybe there was a lengthy meeting — about something else. A few people, perhaps well placed, perhaps not, told the author the meeting was about JG. And the author ran with it, without first hand verification, illustrating the dangers of hearsay.
Either that, or the entire thing was an elaborate set up by Bob and Jonathan Kraft.
God help the people who ask about this at the next B.B. presser.
I don't think Wickersham is lying. I think he's guilty of hyperbole to serve his overall narrative (not a felony as journalistic crimes go), and I think some of his sources are misleading him or making some hasty inferences that they passed to him, at least about the mythic half-day Kraft/BB meeting. Get a couple of guys in the building giving him that info and he's gonna run with it.
I have to say that the claim he held in-person meetings at random diners off-hours is a but odd. I mean, talk about a risk - if someone identifies you and tweets it out, there goes your anonymity. This leads me to believe that many of his sources - if his claim is true - are not recognizable-well known.
The Goodell tidbit is the strangest because it seems like a non sequitur - unless his point is that Bill is friends with a guy Brady feels fucked him - and I can't think of a reason why Goodell would deny meeting with Bill on his way to Maine.
Another possibility is Steve B. based on this hypothesis as well.Also, I agree with you about BB not being one of Wickersham’s sources, but Wickersham's sources presumably thought they were doing BB a favor. I do wonder where they got that idea.
For the life of me I never understood how he got promoted from the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. I mean I understand that Russ Conway was an all time great, but that Trib was loooooong dead by the time Tomase worked there.I doubt we will be so lucky, considering that John F'n Tomase is still somehow employed around here and also apparently just came out of his hole to write some (I'll assume garbage) piece about this story.
"They could have just traded Brady."I will give five bucks to the interviewer who asks if Seth if he ever checked with a salary expert regarding the impact that keeping both QB's would've have on the rest of the roster.
The journalistic standards you posit are more than appropriate for coverage of, say, the President of the United States. Maybe those same standards should apply to coverage of professional sports as well, but I think it’s pretty clear that they don’t as a practical matter. In particular, sports journalists get a lot more leeway with anonymous sources than their colleagues who cover hard news. To pick one example: how much of Peter Gammons’s work over the years would’ve been nixed by his editors at the Globe if they held him to the same standards as the writers on the news pages?
By the contemporary standards of sports journalism, if Wickersham had two well-placed sources on that pivotal meeting, he wasn’t out of line to publish, even if neither source had first-hand knowledge (i.e., was actually in the meeting). Of course, given the loose way he cites his sources, we have no way of knowing what information he had about that meeting — but again, that sort of sloppy practice is generally accepted in sports journalism.
The “Patriot of the Week” strikes me as a rather harmless error, but it’s certainly fair to ask whether a writer who was careless about confirming that not-insignificant detail was also careless about confirming the central facts of the story.
Also, I agree with you about BB not being one of Wickersham’s sources, but Wickersham's sources presumably thought they were doing BB a favor. I do wonder where they got that idea.
He also got the date of the trade deadline wrong. In itself, it is a harmless error. But after a couple harmless errors occur, you simply have to question the accuracy of the writer.The “Patriot of the Week” strikes me as a rather harmless error, but it’s certainly fair to ask whether a writer who was careless about confirming that not-insignificant detail was also careless about confirming the central facts of the story.
Belichick’s leaving to be commissioner of the new XFL.On Mobile....whats the tweet?
Conclusion: At least two of these sources (I think it’s much larger than two) are waaaaaayyyy down the payroll. Like clubhouse laundry or assistant to the travel coordinator down the list.
Amendola just told OMF that earlier this season he got "Patriot Employee of the week" and they have pictures up on the walls of the hallway.Every team gives game balls. It's a common enough practice that a writer would just say "Brady hasn't gotten a game ball since X," instead of coming up with a fugazi award title.
I dunno, I think there is a wide range in sports journalism about what standard of reporting is acceptable. I think you are totally right that when, say, Woj tweets or writes a quick article saying that he is hearing from sources that Player X is on the trading block or whatever, it would be ridiculous to accuse him of being sloppy because he didn't specify more particularly who his sources were or whether they had first-hand knowledge. On the other end of the spectrum, though, you have things like the early-to-mid-00's reporting on steroids in baseball where the absolute highest standards had to be applied because players' livelihoods were at risk if you got any facts wrong.By the contemporary standards of sports journalism, if Wickersham had two well-placed sources on that pivotal meeting, he wasn’t out of line to publish, even if neither source had first-hand knowledge (i.e., was actually in the meeting). Of course, given the loose way he cites his sources, we have no way of knowing what information he had about that meeting — but again, that sort of sloppy practice is generally accepted in sports journalism.
Me too. Keepin’ it real, for better or worse.Amendola just told OMF that earlier this season he got "Patriot Employee of the week" and they have pictures up on the walls of the hallway.
Also, when asked about his relationship with Guerrero, he said (paraphrasing) that he likes to subscribe to his own DA80 method and uses every tool available to him.
Love me some 'Dola
You guys can dismiss this writer and his report all you want, but there are certain elements of that article that only a few people would know of. And of those people, only a few would have the currency and balls to leak them. That would have to be a person or persons from a camp at Patriots Place that held "all" the cards with no fear of retribution and-or backlash.So this leaves B.B. as a theoretical source, which is why a few radio assholes in Boston claim B.B. is one of the sources. The story makes him look good AND it’s payback time. Problem is, although this certainly was not beyond Parcells — Will McDonough was his mouthpiece — it certainly is beneath Belichick, IMO. He would not waste his time or stoop so low. If he is sufficiently pissed and disgusted, he’ll just walk out at season’s end. With his dignity intact.
Ridiculous. I'm laughing at you for this take.You guys can dismiss this writer and his report all you want, but there are certain elements of that article that only a few people would know of. And of those people, only a few would have the currency and balls to leak them. That would have to be a person or persons from a camp at Patriots Place that held "all" the cards with no fear of retribution and-or backlash.
My interpretation is the following: BB doesn't want to leave. But he also didn't like how things went down in the last few months (he wants 100% control - not 99%) and this is his way of saying to Kraft, Brady and Company "knock it off".
Or make up.You guys can dismiss this writer and his report all you want, but there are certain elements of that article that only a few people would know of. And of those people, only a few would have the currency and balls to leak them. That would have to be a person or persons from a camp at Patriots Place that held "all" the cards with no fear of retribution and-or backlash.
My interpretation is the following: BB doesn't want to leave. But he also didn't like how things went down in the last few months (he wants 100% control - not 99%) and this is his way of saying to Kraft, Brady and Company "knock it off".
Let me get this straight...Your measured assessment is that Bill Belichick leaked this story to a reporter to show Robert Kraft who's the boss? Yeah....OK.You guys can dismiss this writer and his report all you want, but there are certain elements of that article that only a few people would know of. And of those people, only a few would have the currency and balls to leak them. That would have to be a person or persons from a camp at Patriots Place that held "all" the cards with no fear of retribution and-or backlash.
My interpretation is the following: BB doesn't want to leave. But he also didn't like how things went down in the last few months (he wants 100% control - not 99%) and this is his way of saying to Kraft, Brady and Company "knock it off".