Let me first say that Deadspin isn't for everyone. Not only are his relationships within the organization extensive, his understanding of the clubs history relative to individual players is of real benefit, because much of whats happening with the Red Sox at present is the product of multi-year planning cycles. I covered every postseason game. During the 70s, Leigh Montville wrote a weekly pro football picks column on Fridays in the Globe. I cant speak for other fans, but I can say that his conduct there dented his reputation in my view. There had been four previous winners from the Boston chapter of the BBWAA: Peter Gammons,. You know that this man is obsessive about fantasy football because he's already starting to put out fantasy mock drafts one week after the Super Bowl. By Peter Abraham, Bob Hohler, Bob Ryan, Dan Shaughnessy, Michael. His wit and snark and brutal honesty had my attention from the first column. He is so classy and so informative that following him on Twitter is something that absolutely needs to be done. No question is stupid or ridiculous to him, and you can tell he truly loves the NFL and what he does. For those that want an early jump on their fantasy football leagues, Fabiano is the man to get your information from. Like Finn, Abrahams outlet the Boston Globe is unfortunately aggressive with its late 90s, AOL-style pop-under ads. None with more panache than Brady. his willingness to back up the truck for Gonzalez occasionally skews towards fan and away from hard evaluation. And the biggest chunk of that world belongs to the NFL. Boston Globe Employee Reviews for Sports Writer - indeed.com The US hockey team was about to play the Soviet Union in the Olympics but their countrymen seemed ready to go to war. Secondly, McDonough. Kaese who wrote for the Globe long after the Transcript folded. I mean, seriously? Differentiated content within the local market. There must be someone out there in the sports writers fraternity who remembers The Colonel. TV, radio, and the Internet all have a big presence in the media landscape. Since he was one of the best to ever play the game, he has loads of knowledge about what really goes on inside the world of the NFL. The Boston Globe, New England's largest newspaper, has a habit of hiring journalists who fabricate information, misrepresent sources, or plagiarize writing. and the Celtics . Besides, how can you not recognize a guy as cool as this: http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2008/08/infamous-moments-mcdonough-punches-out-clayborn. Today, the papers sports section remains synonymous with Ryan, now semiretired, and his fellow columnist Dan Shaughnessy. I dont need the players sugar coated, but neither do I want to be besieged by sordid little details, daily. The tabloids also had Mark Murphy and Steve Bulpett covering the Celtics since the days of short shorts, and it even hired Ron Borges as a columnist after he departed the Globe following a plagiarism scandal. Too many media members, both locally and nationally, are doing things simply because thats the way theyve always been done. it was the best. [5] To help you sort the rational from the irascible, here are our Boston Writer Rankings for 2010. Austin Lake, who I loved but can not really give a concrete reason.. what, no mention of Joe Giullotti? Some sportswriters just cover the draft or just cover the games, but Brooks can literally do it all. He also covers NASCAR for the paper. Help Select The Best All-Time Boston Sports Columnists Which is to his credit. Setting the larger question aside, however, there remains the issue of McAdams tone and language following the Okajima incident. Whether its been in print or as a guest on WEEI and such, McAdam has exuded calm in a sea of irrationality. Sando has all the information you could ever want about the NFC West, and he does a great job at keeping you up to date via Twitter about the happenings in that division. A note on bias: I lean towards statistics, clearly, but not exclusively. The only other one even in his hemisphere is Leigh Montville in his prime. He seems to break the biggest stories, have all the inside information and is able to give great insight into the league as a whole. Thats the way I went into this fight. Thats what I planned to say if I got the chance to meet him at the Hot Stove, Cold Beer event in April. You have to not give a shit about ultimately looking like an idiot or saying a lot of things that you regret.. I miss reading her. When Will McDonough, Bob Ryan, and Peter Gammons began showing up on TV, they evolved from working writers into celebrities. His knowledge of the sports world could not be challenged, Ray Fitzgerald- The Grandaddy of them all. All yo have to do is read Shank or Nickles dreadful impersonation of his Baseball Notes after he left to see that he was different and what he did was deceptively difficult. During the 30s, 40s and 50s no true Boston Sports fan went to bed before reading The Colonel Former Boston Globe writer who was voted the #1 Female - Crosswordeg In most game stories, theres a conspicuous lack of creative analysis, which is compounded by the local medias apparent allergy to the type of advanced statistics that other outlets have used to shine new, interesting light on old sports. Likewise, a bit more depth of metrics in the Buchholz vs Wakefield decision would have benefited his analysis. McAdam and several of his colleagues publicly called him out on this behavior, justifying their actions with claims that it was affecting Okajimas teammates. As the public relations man for the NFL, McCarthy is an elite source for the most secretive information. The Fellowship of Awful, Miserable Boston Sportswriters There has to be a willingness to put yourself out there and make statements without knowing what youre talking about, Rich Levine, an online columnist for CSNNE, told me. Analysis is frequently emotionally driven. Or 10 Patriots. Then, right on cue, Shaughnessy appeared on The Sports Hubs Gresh & Zolak show, on which he managed to name five Texans and 10 Patriots. However, when you need a good break from your day and need to know if Tom Brady was mentioned more than Eli Manning on SportsCenterlast week, Deadspin is the place to go. These days, theyre all trying to be loud and provocative so they can become fixtures on TV and radio. He wouldnt vote for Felix Hernandez this year because he believes that wins still matter. Which might be fair if Hernandez team score more than two and a half runs for him per game, but they didnt. If you're an NFL fan, here are 50 sportswriters that you simply must follow on Twitter. If youre a halfway decent beat writer in this town, said Mike Felger, cohost of the afternoon show on The Sports Hub and a CSNNE anchor, youll get on Comcast, or NESN, or Sports Hub, or EEI., Felger, of course, should know. She's covered the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics. Kevin Garnett yelled Anything is possible! after the Celtics won their first NBA title since 1986. Sports - The Globe and Mail Heres my list, which are all guys Ive actually read: Fitzgerald (You need this book.) Mike Barnicle - Wikipedia By advantaging data at the expense of overheated speculation, McAdams voice has always been one to listen to and look forward to. Longtime Boston Globe baseball writer has died after collapsing at the Red Sox's spring training ballpark. Check it out. Quotes were the chief information-dispensing device of other NBA writers. . display: none; Man dead in Oxford after family dispute - The Boston Globe Man dead in Oxford after family dispute By Ava Sasani Globe Correspondent, Updated March 27, 2022, 5:45 p. Four people were killed and seven injured in a shooting Tuesday afternoon at Oxford High School in Oakland County, roughly 45 minutes northwest of Detroit. The mood on Main Street outside the Lake Placid arena that afternoon in 1980 was defiant, almost militant. A columnist at The Boston Globe, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, fabricated people and quotations in four of her columns this year, and the newspaper has asked for her resignation, The Globe. There was nothing like it and there probably wont be either since the nuggets of info he dispensed he was able to keep to himself all week. But in 1976, at 10-3, they had already clinched a playoff spot and were headed to Tampa Bay for the final regular season game. He also mentioned Ray Fitzgerald (I think) holding up a note in the press box during the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, with two men on and two outs and the pitchers spot due up, that had the words Bernie Carbo scribbled on it, and then he said both of them nodded at each other from across the room. Boston Globe Sports. Dave Cowens was renowned for his intensity, but he played with particular passion in Game 7 of the 1974 NBA Finals versus the Milwaukee Bucks because he felt he had let his team down with a 5-for-19 showing in a losing Game 6. The difference between the two approaches was night and day. Lynn hit a liner toward the right field corner, which, if it had begun the long run around the corner, would have scored at least two runs. Thats where I discovered Leigh Montville. Good God. Clif Keane - Boston Globe Larry Claflin - Boston Record/American/Herald Harold Kaese - Boston Transcript Austen ''Duke'' Lake - Boston American Bob Ryan - Boston Globe Will McDonough - Boston Globe Tim Horgan - Boston Herald Dave Egan - Boston Record Dan Shaughnessy - Boston Globe Ray Fitzgerald - Boston Globe Leigh Montville - Boston Globe As an example, Im not including those who divide their time between baseball and hockey like Joe Haggerty (CSNNE) or Joe MacDonald (ESPNBoston). interesting angles. It all came together. Love him or hate him, Deion Sanders is actually a pretty good football analyst for the NFL Network. WEEI.coms Alex Speier, who specializes in incorporating advanced stats into articles meant for the average fanand who is therefore one of the citys few inventive sportswriterstold me that everything has changed now that readers no longer depend on print for all their news. Having met him, I mistook him as a hoop centric guy, but he quickly correctly me, and said Beisbol been berry berry good to me. The better part of that story, is that we were both sharing a beer. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. They came back to the bar at The Baileys Hotel in London in their Marvin Hagler, Destruction and Destroy T-shirts. As far as his Friday football picks, the one that stands out the most for me is his one and only college pick when in November 84 he not only called the correct final score, but had Doug Flutie winning the game with a Hail Mary pass as time expired. Tight end Aaron Hernandez offered this enlightening bit of pablum: Weve still got one more to go to get to the big dance, so weve got to keep playing and come to play next week. And defensive standout Vince Wilfork was captured saying, Its sweet playing in the AFC Championship. Another big shocker. There aren't many journalists out there who can do as much as Bucky Brooks. . Incredibly, it happened. Plus her basketball writing was the best. He was almost elected Commissioner of Basketball for crying out loud. I had the pleasure of reading him for a couple of decades. Bob, Powers asked, why aren't Globe readers hearing from the athletes? How could you omit Steve Buckley? One of them was Eruzione, the teams irrepressible captain. Bob Ryan The next bearer of Ray Fitzgerald's mantle. Gammons would compare the Sox to battles from mythology and make it work. Deford was very good---found humor and pathos . Loved the fact that he could really master the but, after all, its just a game air without getting pompous about it (Hello to the Toy Department referencers out there!). While his favorite sport may be basketball, Simmons does a great job of referencing the NFL on his Twitter account. Eight Globe sports writers recall moments they'll never forget Id have to go with Montville as well; as someone else noted, regardless of the topic he could make it worth reading, which is probably about as good a compliment as a writer can get. Former WEEI host and current Barstool Sports podcaster Kirk Minihane caught Boston Globe metro beat writer and longtime tough guy Kevin Cullen fabricating sources and lying about his . Oh, FWIW, I couldnt stand Ernie Roberts. Leigh Montville (I learned how to fly a few minutes before midnight on Oct. 27, 2004.), 2. Snyder held the flag high and promoter Bob Arum stood and began to sing God Bless America and everyone in the room maybe 25 people stood and sang with him. Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo dies at 62 | AP News Strengths: A versatile reporter adequately conversant in modern baseball statistics, one with contacts that bridge the traditionalist / new school divide in front offices. My time will be spent elsewhere, on writers with more substantive agendas to pursue. Like his more experienced colleagues, has not actively embraced statistical analysis although he has not taken a line against them, either. He is easily the least well known of all sportswriters on this list, but he absolutely deserves to be followed on Twitter. Craig Ellenport has been around the NFL for a long time. Another Pulitzer winner with New England ties is Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein, who won for commentary. I've also heard that when he blinks, he makes rainbows. Strengths: Tenured reporter with excellent contacts. While Ralph Mancini specializes in NFL draft coverage, he still has a great sense of the league as a whole. It didnt feel that way for Sox fans. I wasnt saying I wouldnt include him in the discussion, because obviously, I did include him by bring his name up. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Boston Sports Media He cites sources, gives insight and has great knowledge about the game of football. And an honorary mention of Will Mc. he used write lists, very funny and informative. Tears, my friend. While Jay Glazer has moved more towards the MMA side of the world, he is still one of the top reporters in the business. Chad Finn, who like Speier and national writers such as Will Carroll, has enjoyed favorable attention from Gammons, is one of the remaining bright lights for me at the Boston Globe. Good guy, struggled recently with a huge personal loss, and still sticks to his beliefs. Honorable mention too to John Updike, who only did two, but man . Better, hes genuinely funny in an understated way: think the Sports Guy less Vegas humor, reality show references and sexist jokes. It was still a year of magical thinking. June 24, 2021 at 11:36 a. When Bill Russell Wrote for The Boston Globe - Sports Illustrated Excerpt: When Bill Russell Wrote for the Globe In 1969 the Celtics' player-coach, who had a complicated relationship. He's honest and stays true to his opinions. The players, who called him "Scoop," alternately respected and resented the Boston Globe writer. Shauhnessy Got to absolutley love the contraian "curly red-head".!!! Just a name that probably should be on the list for some consideration, Jackie MacMullan(sp?). He also happens to be rather hysterical on Twitter. Strengths: Well adapted to modern baseball coverage, both in tone and approach. Case in point is his focus on pitcher wins as the metric by which pitchers should be judged. McAdam was perhaps the most strident critic, at one point calling Okajima cowardly. The obvious question is whether this needs to be reported. You would read his work even if you had but a passing interest in his subject matter. But as far as somebody that has been consistent, uncompromised, and is well rounded, I dont think you can find anybody but Bob Ryan. Right Bruce? Of all the ESPN analysts, Trey Wingo may be the best of them all. Turd one would think that this was Bruces attempt at playing to the masses after last week but you just never know. I appreciate, as does the front office, a balance between statistical and human based analysis. The hated Yankees had destroyed the Red Sox, 19-8, in Game 3 Saturday and it was pretty clear the Bombers were going to sweep the Sox in 04. I always enjoyed Jackie MacMullan,but I didnt see her listed. How did we get to this point? None with more panache than Brady. Dave Cowens and the Celtics outlasted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1974 NBA Finals. Type 1 diabetic. Now there was a stylist. And Horgan was terrific. This isnt to say that this was the case with McAdam, but the context here is important: fans by and large do not care nearly as much about players not talking to the media as the media do, for obvious reasons. I fondly remember the Will McDounough Sunday column. Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, 11-time NBA champion, dies at 88 Weaknesses: His diverse responsibilities have led to an inevitable decline in production. The playoff run was tougher than the teams 66 regular-season wins might have suggested. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I guarantee that if you follow Lombardi, you'll learn more about football than you'd ever thought possible. He's an insider type of man who has a great understanding of the game of football. Jackie MacMullan remembers Larry Bird once saying, Bob Ryan, hes as famous as we are. Butover time, the citys sports punditocracy has expanded to include not just the truly wise, like Ryan, but any sportswriter willing to blow hot air. Injuries, contracts, trades and more are all likely to be covered by Clayton via Twitter. Gammons and McDonough were great reporters. Even if they wrote columns in Boston they were really reporters first and foremost. sometime in the late-80s. Boston Globe Sports Ill also have a prize for a random commenter in this list, but I havent picked out what it will be yet. Tom Palmer, a former editor and reporter at The Boston Globe, said the arguments against objectivity "were dead wrong back then and I believe are dead wrong even more so today." Kayana. And I write for a living. Columns are written, statements are made simply to generate buzz. Will McDonough, a former Boston Globe columnist of 44 years, was the only Globe sportswriter to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Maybe Tim Horgan doesnt deserve to be considered, so dont include him, there are no rules here other than they need to be the best. Even my mom stopped following me on Twitter. Definitely worthy of the list. While the NFL isn't technically a sportswriter, they are the freakin' NFL. When Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy get animated about a subjectparticularly basketball and baseball, respectivelythere are no two writers whose work Id rather read than these two men. How did the sports media in this town, once the envy of the nation, become so awful? Wouldnt be able to do that today. Predictably, it provoked a strong reaction. The list of potential names is impressive, but who is the best of the best? Ted Williams and his feud with baseball writers The Globe has as proud a history in sportswriting as any paper in the country, from the aforementioned Gammons to Ryan to Montville to MacMullan. You're likely to get a big kick out of his tweets. Cheesy to reply to your own message, but for Ryans most emblematic column, Id pick I-saiah. Glory days of The Boston Globe: the greatest sports staff ever Was Leigh Montville the first person to refer to Bob Irsay as Tiger? Both funny concepts that were brilliantly executed. Strengths: Excellent national context with broad coverage across the league. Winning titles was nothing new for John Havlicek and Don Nelson, but for Cowens, veteran rebound ace Paul Silas, and young backcourt stars Jo Jo White and Don Chaney, it would be a career first. Hes forgotten more about this sport than most of us will ever know, and as such he remains the once and future #1. Dont know if I could pick a third, but if I had to, it would be Egan or Ryan. The Boston Globe. However, if you ever need to know the inside and outs of the draft, look to Kiper to provide some quality information. New York ran the score to 5-2, but the Sox clawed to within a run by the ninth. james.mcbride@globe.com . His analysis e.g. If a team nicknamed the Patsies for most of my life could, then why not the Red Sox . Montville, Ryan & Fitzgerald& Larry Whiteside should be included on list. For being such a respected writer, King has quite the sense of humor on Twitter. Rich Gossage walked Rick Burleson with one out. Ernie Roberts, the bespectacled, gentlemanly editor used the region's smaller newspapers and college. He knows everything there is to know about the Giants and tweets about them constantly. Before that Texans game, for example, Shaughnessy used his column to gleefully ridicule the Patriots opponents, calling them pure frauds. It was the same caustic, one-liner-laden junk hes been peddling for years. I finally unfollowed Abraham on Twitter because I didnt really want to read about Yankees on a Boston beat writers Twitter feed. The product hasnt been remotely Polly Anna-ish, but the criticism and concerns were always grounded in fact. Sat morning Globe was a must read because of his Sports Page 1 columns on the left. But the least I would expect from a sportswriter, particularly in an age where the commentary is growing more sophisticated at an accelerating rate, would be some basic logic to offset the emotionally driven opinions. Peter Gammons invented the Sunday notes column, and as a baseball writer/reporter, he was peerlessabsolutely peerlessin the 70s and 80s. Michael Silverman is an American journalist and sports business reporter. Prone to substantial, unacknowledged factual errors. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) Knights of the Keyboard: Ranking the Boston Sportswriters Tough to include Borges since he was being paid by Don King productions to broadcast and comment at PPV championship fights that he would also have to write columns on for the Globe. He'll often repeat what a guy like Todd McShay or Mel Kiper, Jr. said and give you his take. We won, but you didnt lose, Steinbrenner told the Boston players. I think he does, and so do you. Bestmuddy waters these days. Ernie Roberts. He was one of the best baseball writers on the Herald. Glenn Stout told me that, 20 years ago, he might have been able to come up with a dozen Boston sports-media personalities. I found this out when my mom tweeted the other day that it was time to clean up my room before dinner. He was 62. also an author. Meanwhile, Texans running back Arian Foster fell into the columnists trap, using Twitter to call attention to Shaughnessys trolling foolishness. Im with Bruce on choosing Montville, Fitzgerald, and Ryanin that order. In it, he leverages his strengths well. He was that good. The credentials said No Women or Children in the Press Box, and I had no locker room access, but the 76 Patriots were magnificent. The newspaper said Cafardo had an embolism Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, and Red Sox medical staff was unable to revive him. When Houston did get to Brady, he was 0 for 5 on completions, but those occasions, the site reported, were rare. Particularly those that trace him back through the Herald to the Eagle-Tribune. Voice is balanced, neither strident nor fawning. Clockwise from left: Marvin Hagler; Dave Cowens and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; a crowd; Kevin Garnett; the 1980 Miracle on Ice; and Dave Roberts' iconic steal. Strengths: Perfectly embodies and argues the voice of the angry talk show caller. a scout for the Pirates, and don gillis had a sports discussion program on whdh, 850 on your dial, called the voice of sports. Change). The Fellowship of Awful, Miserable Boston Sportswriters and the Bruins. Still miss that Sox postgame show he, Upton Bell, and Joe Fitzgerald used to do on 38. He was the first Boston sports columnist that I truely adored, and the Globe has been the same since he left. Whiny, petulant, entitled, self-importantno, it's not Boston fans we're talking about, it's Boston sportswriters. Not include Tim Horgan.Are you nuts or just too young to appreciate a good writer.Look up some of his columns.A great writer who never distorted the facts.He was the vboice of the fan in his era.Ray Fitzgerald was also another great writer. Not thrilled to say it, but Borgess boxing writing probably should be up for consideration. Engaging and open to dialogue; hes responded to a couple of mentions on Twitter, which in my experience is rare. Massarotti, however, is less than grounded by facts. While these types of stories have the capacity to be poeticGammonss lyrical piece after Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is considered the modern standardtodays versions rarely rise to such levels and, in the end, just end up rehashing hours-old events (as if the highlights werent immediately available online). Beat writers may blog, chat, and utilize social media now, but after games, theyre still churning out the same kinds of vanilla recaps that have long been a newspaper staple.