| T-post Tom |
09-03-2008 03:17 PM |
Know your source: Webmaster Kerry J. Byrne is a die-hard Pats fan that...
hates everything and anything associated with the JETS. Including Herm. I'm not a Herm apologist or his biggest fan, but the author of the article didn't mention Solari once in the article. Do we really know who hired Solari? Did Peterson and/or Hunt ram the hiring down Herm's throat? We just don't know. My guess is that it was another Arrowhead case of loyalty prevailing over common sense. O-line coaches generally don't make the best OCs. I think that Solari was given autonomy on the play-calling and was the main problem regarding the offensive scheme and play-calling. I'm willing to give Herm this season to prove his salt. Herm is not unlike Dick Vermeil in that he should have an experienced coordinator on the side of the ball that he doesn't specialize in. He has that now in Gailey. That's just MHO, but I'm much more confident with Gailey over Solari. The Herm-haters may well be proven right after this season. If so, I'll be the first to jump on the bandwagon for a new head coach after this season. If not, maybe we'll all be a little more optimistic on the prospect of success in the playoffs. This season's bottom line for Herm's tenure: appropriate development of current players, overall prudent play-calling on both sides of the ball and no less than six wins.
Back to the original post. Here's an excerpt that exposes the tactics of Kerry J. Byrne(Cold Hard Football Facts.com). Some might say that they're not far removed from the tactics of KC's own Jason Whitlock. (i.e. "Sack the Hack"; 810 exodus, 610 exodus, ESPN exodus, etc.)
...Earlier this year, Byrne’s site famously partnered with Bruce Allen’s Boston Sports Media Watch to compose an open letter titled “Fire Ron Borges.” The screed, which ran nearly 5,000 words (slightly longer than the U.S. Constitution), attacked Borges for being a “tactless hack” who “lacks objectivity” and “makes things up,” and is “wrong about virtually everything.” It accused Borges of being a “bully” and “culturally insensitive.” It stopped short of implying that he drop-kicks orphans and donates money to Hamas, but not by much.
...
The crux of Byrne and Allen’s piece—which ran on both men’s websites—dealt with what they perceive to be unreasonable anti-Pats animus on the part of Borges. Specifically, they wanted to know how Borges could criticize Belichick when he’s won three Super Bowls. As further evidence of Borges’s bias, they quoted the following exchange from a radio appearance on 1510 AM:
Caller: “Most of us trust [Belichick]...he’s got a little bit of a track record around here.”
Borges: “Yeah, well, Emperor Hirohito had a big lead in the early days, too.”
“At least I didn’t call him Hitler,” Borges says. “Sure, I’ve said things that would’ve been best left unsaid. I think I have a sense of humor that’s not for everybody. Sometimes I wish I had a better filter. But then I wouldn’t be where I am. Or it would be phony. And that’s worse to me.”
The main objective of Byrne and Allen’s piece was to solicit e-mails demanding Borges’s immediate dismissal. (Byrne says he received about 1,000 e-mails, all of which were also sent to the Globe; the paper contends the number is closer to a few hundred.) It was talk radio fodder for weeks. Still is, from time to time. Byrne, for one, refuses to let it die. “Borges lets his dislike for Belichick and the Pats cloud his judgment and how he covers the team,” he says.
“It’s not personal,” says Borges. “I don’t know Belichick well enough for it to be personal. He’s a great coach. But there’s not much else that’s redeeming about him—which will get me in trouble with people, but it’s true. People beat me up for saying I’d rather have Tony Dungy as my coach.” Borges has been touting the relative merits of the non–Super Bowl–winning coach for years, much to the frothing displeasure of local fans. “How many times do I have to say it? Dungy has never been on the front page of a tabloid newspaper for something other than football. That’s why I’d take him over Belichick.”
Between sips of his smoothie, Borges stops walloping Belichick long enough to show off the football knowledge that has propelled him into one of the top newspaper jobs in town. With professorial aplomb, he explains the intricacies of running pass routes, of why it’s not always the quarterback’s fault when a ball is thrown short and incomplete. Maybe the receiver ran 14 yards when he was supposed to go 11. The lesson is thorough (if a bit dry), and points to the fact that it’s not all bluster with Borges. He’s gained infamy, sure, but also respect. Since 1999, he’s been named the state’s sportswriter of the year five times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
“No one in Boston knows more about the NFL than Ron Borges,” writes Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan in an e-mail. Even Borges’s peers concede this point. “If you have no knowledge behind what you’re saying, if you’re just throwing bombs, that loses its impact really quick,” says Mike Felger, the Herald’s Pats beat writer. “Ron knows things. He talks to people. He’s been covering the team for a while.”http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/mr_popularity/ |
