Where Was the Red Sox Media?

_{It appears the Media was just as fat and lazy as the players were. (SawxBlog Illustration)}

"...sportswriters are a kind of rude brainless subculture of fascist drunks whose only real function is to publicize & sell whatever the sports editor sends them out to cover...." -Hunter S. Thompson, Epitaph for Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail - 1972

There's a new game in Red Sox Nation, and I'm sure the wizards over at NESN are already producing a pilot on it. It'll be hosted by some clown with an over the top fake Boston accent and called "The Blame Game". The format will be loosely based around a classic debate structure, and the contestants will pontificate on a myriad of choices for why the 2011 Boston Red Sox Collapsed. If I were lucky enough to be selected I'd go for the unique view of blaming the media.

As I previously stated, there isn't one reason for this collapse, and it's becoming quiet clear that there are multiple layers of fault to spread around from the ownership to the players. The reason I fault the media most, and specifically the Boston media, is because they didn't report on this until the Manager was gone and the season over. For all the reputation the Boston Media has for being "tough" it's looking like they were just as fat, lazy, and comfortable as the players themselves. They're the only people who have daily access to the clubhouse and the players, and they're lack of actual journalism is disgusting. How are these revelations about pitchers drinking beer during games and Tito having problems with players just coming out now? Are the beat writers too worried about protecting their own asses and not ruffling any feathers that they decided to not do their jobs in order to keep them? I mean, for Christ's Sake, there were four starting pitcher's in a God awful country music video called "I Like Beer" before the season started, I mean, really?

Of course now that they have no acting Manager to upset more stories will be coming out about the Red Sox dysfunction - but I ask, where in the hell were these stories one, two, three months ago? Don't you think if one of these beats did their job and made this public knowledge something maybe could have been done to prevent the collapse? Isn't it the media's responsibility to report on the truth, and not on spin? I can't stress enough how the fault of the Red Sox collapse needs to be spread around to all, but it's an abomination on how the Red Sox media behaved while the ship was sinking. They're no more reporters than they are Public Relations Interns for the Red Sox and they're just as disgusting as the millionaire athletes they cover. This is the same thing that happened during the steroid era, nobody wanted to lose any exclusives or rock the boat so the real story was never written until it was safe to come out of the shadows and feed on the garbage like rats. And Boston Meida, you are all rats for your silence, and nobody likes a rat.

Comments

[da ex-boss]

that video makes me dis-like beer

[Tomopants]

I'm a bit torn about all this. When you are winning games, it's fine. The '03/'04 teams were clearly running a frat house, with shots before playoff games and the such. But we won those games. Hell, we were winning a fair amount of the summer this year. We went 72-37 from May-August. It was April and September that we went a combined 18-35. So if it was working all summer, do you put the hammer down during a skid, or just try to ride it out?

Now, obviously after two weeks into September, the hammer should have come down and you've got to step up and be professional and get the job done before you can let loose. And there is probably an argument to be made that the clubhouse in 2004 was a totally different place. But I'm really struggling to point fingers at some behaviors we encouraged in the past to suddenly find to be wrong. I still can't sort out how i feel about this. Or any of it, really. Maybe I'm just still a bit shell shocked.

[Derek Hixon]

I think the biggest contrast between the 03/04 Team's as opposed to the 2011 Team, is that the 2011 Team didn't like each other and weren't as together as a unit. Also, those shots in '04 came only when down 0-3 in the playoffs, and well before the first pitch and was more of unifying thing. The pitchers were actively drinking during games...

Still, what bothers me most is how muzzled the media was on any of this.

[Erik]

You forgot to mention that you guys are similar to how the Yankees were. Corporate, smug and boring. It's facts Derek. Payroll is large and the aura: similar. Eerily similar.

Once we got Damon and Swish... our clubhouse changed. Swish still keeps it live... so we have a good mix of idiocy and class.

That being said I dont think its paying off in this rain ruined series. The 5 games series is a joke btw. Good for Yankee haters sure, but not fair after 162 games... what-so-ever.

And now the ball gets handed to Burnett.

I know you love my perspective Derek. (Commence eye rolling)

[Derek Hixon]

Dude this had and has nothing to do with the Yankees. Lay off man, your obsession with the Red Sox is creepy dude.

[Erik]

Derek. I honestly will NEVER post here again. You're a fool. Peace FRIEND

[Kris Chandler]

No, the fool is the one who comments on a post about the local Boston media with a blurb about the Yankees. Not once were the Yanks mentioned in this post, yet you deemed it necessary to talk about your team, the state of the 5-game playoff series, shit even the weather. Get a grip. If you have something valuable to input, then keep commenting. If you don't, then I'm sure there are several Yankees blogs out there for you to comment on.

Peace, ACQUAINTANCE.

[Scott MacKinnon]

I grew up in the midwest a Tiger fan. At that time the D. Free Press had a sports press that was light years ahead of anything I've every experienced in my last 25yrs as a Sox fan. What a joke! It's more like a crew of writers and radio folks for entertainment tonight. Boston deserves better. First never listen to talk radio. In fact, even though they reside in the employment of The Sox, Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are the only credible media left.

You lost out on a playoff bid by one game! Getting rid of arguably the best GM in MLB and certainly a manager that is in the top 10 (even I didn't like a lot of Franconas managerial decisions but he was a winner.) Who knows what was really going on with ownership and management in sox nation, but one things for sure, lots of petty crap and lots of blame to go around.

Bobby Valentine....are you kidding me? The guys a joke! Talk about beating the Yankees! they wanna be the yankees! Nothing but a circus in bean town next year. You think last year sucked. They won't make the playoffs for at least 5yrs. May not even be competitive for a decade...at least won't threaten to win any WS for ten years until they find their sanity again. For the media and the soap opera clowns (and the knee jerk reactionaries) this will in all likelyhood be a great year...or five. For serious baseball fans...sorry I'm a Tiger fan again!