This is a thread I've started and stopped about a hundred times over the years. Like most posters, I've become accustomed to Boston sportswriters' negativity. Surely, it was a function of a lot of things, but none more than how painfully the Red Sox lost for 86 years until the fairytale of 2004.
Even as Boston has become titletown in the last decade-plus, negativity among the media has not only endured ... but taken on new dimensions. A Dan Shaughnessy has had to up his game ... merely being a troll isn't enough, so he's also patented the "Everything is so great we can't possibly lose" variety of trolling his readers, ensuring he is either A) right or B) so obviously wrong he reinforces the validity of his multi-decade trolldom. And of course, there are a number of junior league grumps, including the likes of Callahan, Felger, etc.
Tony Massarotti, tho, is another breed. A decent writer in his day, Tony has fashioned himself a different variety of negativity since he became a radio personality/shouter.
Exhibit A: The Mark Texeira non-signing. I probably needn't go into how utterly stubborn Mazz was about this ... not only killing Henry et al for "letting him go to the Yankees" (which implies we had a choice in the matter), but continuing to beat the drum about this long after it became patently obvious that, one World Series title notwithstanding, this was a very, very bad deal.
Exhibit B: Letting VMart leave. I don't listen to sports radio much but remember coming back to MA for Thanksgiving in 2010 and hearing a particularly rancid rant from Tony the day Wiktor signed with Detroit. The world had officially ended, notwithstanding the fact that the Red Sox literally had nowhere to play him with David Ortiz at DH and Youk at 1st (that would change a few weeks or so later ... tho I suspect Mazz's take on this did not).
Exhibit C: Today's column. To me this is Tony's true brand, the guy who always finds something horrible to complain about, no matter how good things or embarrassing the riches are.
He then goes on to complain that while the Patriots may be playing well ... it's not as well as you think! Because they made mistakes! FIVE of them in fact.
I suppose there's an element of adaption here ... when you've won 8 titles in 13 years and had three or four competitive Boston-based teams in almost all those years, you have to find something to complain about. The lack of utter perfection would appear to be it for Tony. But christ.
Even as Boston has become titletown in the last decade-plus, negativity among the media has not only endured ... but taken on new dimensions. A Dan Shaughnessy has had to up his game ... merely being a troll isn't enough, so he's also patented the "Everything is so great we can't possibly lose" variety of trolling his readers, ensuring he is either A) right or B) so obviously wrong he reinforces the validity of his multi-decade trolldom. And of course, there are a number of junior league grumps, including the likes of Callahan, Felger, etc.
Tony Massarotti, tho, is another breed. A decent writer in his day, Tony has fashioned himself a different variety of negativity since he became a radio personality/shouter.
Exhibit A: The Mark Texeira non-signing. I probably needn't go into how utterly stubborn Mazz was about this ... not only killing Henry et al for "letting him go to the Yankees" (which implies we had a choice in the matter), but continuing to beat the drum about this long after it became patently obvious that, one World Series title notwithstanding, this was a very, very bad deal.
Exhibit B: Letting VMart leave. I don't listen to sports radio much but remember coming back to MA for Thanksgiving in 2010 and hearing a particularly rancid rant from Tony the day Wiktor signed with Detroit. The world had officially ended, notwithstanding the fact that the Red Sox literally had nowhere to play him with David Ortiz at DH and Youk at 1st (that would change a few weeks or so later ... tho I suspect Mazz's take on this did not).
Exhibit C: Today's column. To me this is Tony's true brand, the guy who always finds something horrible to complain about, no matter how good things or embarrassing the riches are.
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2014/10/venturning_into_five-down_terr.htmlTwo weeks after a 41-14 thumping at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, the Patriots are now 4-2. Cincinnati was dismembered. Buffalo was beaten. Now New England prepares for a Thursday night meeting with the New York Jets, and all is well at Patriot Place.
Or is it?
For all of the good that took place on the field in Buffalo over the weekend, there were more than a few missteps, too. On more than one occasion, the Patriots played the part of Plaxico Burress and tried to shoot themselves in the lower body. Like Plaxico, they escaped with relatively minimal damage, though that does not negate the fact that mistakes were made.
Five plays that bugged me:
He then goes on to complain that while the Patriots may be playing well ... it's not as well as you think! Because they made mistakes! FIVE of them in fact.
I suppose there's an element of adaption here ... when you've won 8 titles in 13 years and had three or four competitive Boston-based teams in almost all those years, you have to find something to complain about. The lack of utter perfection would appear to be it for Tony. But christ.