131 replies to this topic

[Dropkick Izzy]

I bet Jason Wolfe is masturbating to this thread right now.

[Blacken]

I bet Jason Wolfe is masturbating to this thread right now.

Why, because it means nobody's looking at WEEI's Incredible Shrinking Numbers?

[redsahx]

Some people don't side with Watney for the same reason they don't side with the PR flack for a dirty corporation. Sure, they are just doing their job. But that doesn't really win people's sympathy.

The problem with that analogy is that if Heidi were like a true PR flack in this case, she'd be the one leaking the rumor that Terry had drug and marital problems, and then the backlash would be justifiable. There really was no point in dragging her into this though except Felger and Maz love to milk the Sox/Liverpool/Rousch/FenwayBricks/LeBron/NESN brand thing for all it's worth to stir up the hornets nest. Rationalize it all you want, but if someone feels the need to lash out at Heidi in all of this, they're quite silly.

[soxfan121]

She's still not going to date you.

[templeUsox]

We'll see.

[dolomite133]

The problem with that analogy is that if Heidi were like a true PR flack in this case, she'd be the one leaking the rumor that Terry had drug and marital problems, and then the backlash would be justifiable. There really was no point in dragging her into this though except Felger and Maz love to milk the Sox/Liverpool/Rousch/FenwayBricks/LeBron/NESN brand thing for all it's worth to stir up the hornets nest. Rationalize it all you want, but if someone feels the need to lash out at Heidi in all of this, they're quite silly.

I think you're confusing PR flack with a whistleblower/anonymous source. PR people wouldn't leak rumors that damage their company.

[steveluck7]

Jokes about the Tek rumors aside, Heidi's job credibility is directly tied to her having a positive relationship with the players and coaches. She's not getting quotes nightly and "reporting" them to the masses. In her role, if she pisses off too many players, they will blow by her immediately after the game, on the field, not sit with her pre-game, and certainly not appear on the "Ultimate Red Sox Show" which she hosts.

Edited by steveluck7, 14 October 2011 - 09:33 AM.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

No one on this world is expecting Heidi to break any news. She's there to get banal quotes from the players and manager immediately after games, give tidbits during games, and for the eye candy appeal. People expecting her to go all Bob Woodward on us are deluding themselves.

[ForKeeps]

Some people don't side with Watney for the same reason they don't side with the PR flack for a dirty corporation.

And some people don't look at sports like a morality play. I repeat: Would of any of these "journalists" (I like the performance art analogy by Merlin) who look down on Heidi Watney think twice about doing her job if it meant more money/fame/status? And should they?

Edited by ForKeeps, 14 October 2011 - 09:41 AM.

[dolomite133]

And some people don't look at sports like a morality play. I repeat: Would of any of these "journalists" (I like the performance art analogy by Merlin) who look down on Heidi Watney think twice about doing her job if it meant more money/fame/status? And should they?

Again, if you read my prior posts, I acknowledge Watney is not the person who should be expected to break hard-hitting stories. She is paid to be a team mouthpiece, meaning she (a) Really has no journalistic "integrity" and (b) Shouldn't be held to the same standards of "integrity" as independent newspaper/television/web reporters. Furthermore where were these other journalists (no quotes because it is their job, after all) when this shit was going down? They are paid to gain access and break stories. Just because they are not team flacks doesn't mean they are prevented from getting inside information.

And I think some sports journalists truly would turn down the Watney job on grounds of principal and that they are already getting paid decent money. However, it would be interesting to see who falls into what camp.

Edited by dolomite133, 14 October 2011 - 09:49 AM.

[TheRooster]

In her role, if she pisses off too many players, they will blow by her immediately after the game, on the field, not sit with her pre-game, and certainly not appear on the "Ultimate Red Sox Show" which she hosts.

Highly unlikely. The same people pay the players AND Heidi. They are told to do post-game interviews and URSS appearences.

[steveluck7]

Highly unlikely. The same people pay the players AND Heidi. They are told to do post-game interviews and URSS appearences.

True. Perhaps I should have said that if she pisses too many people off we'll get more "go ask the captain" type comments. Also, regardless of her physical appeal, if she ruffled too many players' feathers, she would be let go or re-assigned. Most "real" journalists in this town seem to relish being hated by, well, everyone

[ForKeeps]

Well, it may be their job description, but I disagree with the entire premise that integrity = breaking stories, gaining access, or being critical. That's the kind of thinking that makes people like Michael Felger believe their jobs are actually important beyond mere entertainment.

[Average Reds]

The problem with that analogy is that if Heidi were like a true PR flack in this case, she'd be the one leaking the rumor that Terry had drug and marital problems, and then the backlash would be justifiable. There really was no point in dragging her into this though except Felger and Maz love to milk the Sox/Liverpool/Rousch/FenwayBricks/LeBron/NESN brand thing for all it's worth to stir up the hornets nest. Rationalize it all you want, but if someone feels the need to lash out at Heidi in all of this, they're quite silly.

You must not know many people who work in PR.

[dolomite133]

Well, it may be their job description, but I disagree with the entire premise that integrity = breaking stories, gaining access, or being critical. That's the kind of thinking that makes people like Michael Felger believe their jobs are actually important beyond mere entertainment.

These qualities do, in fact, contribute to journalistic integrity. If you're reading articles written by someone who isn't breaking stories, gaining access or being critical, then you're either reading something on the team web site or listening to a team cheerleader. These qualities actually do make professional journalists important. And on a related not, this is the same reason people are so critical of Fox News and CNBC, because both have traded in their integrity to support the party line (or so it would seem).

Heidi Watney is a professional broadcaster. But she is hardly a professional journalist in her current role. It remains to be seen if she ever will be a professional journalist.

Edited by dolomite133, 14 October 2011 - 11:39 AM.

[HomeBrew1901]

I'm still trying to figure out why this is still a story. If I have my facts of the story straight:

Felger said something on the radio that has been wildly rumored for years.

Instead of attacking Felger's comment about the rumor she tweets about him not being in the locker room and having no journalistic integrity.

Felger, gives a mini mea culpa a little while after her tweet and cuts off callers that want to bring the rumor up again.

From there we have a pissing match between Hags who was saying Watney wasn't a real reporter and Heidi who claims that she is.

Heidi goes and cries on T&R yesterday. Felger offers another mini mea culpa. Haggs goes on T&R (didnt' hear interview) today.

We are still talking about this why? It was a fun news story at first because it offered a distraction as to what was going on at the time but it seems to have run its course.

I'm not trying to play thread police but it's going to be a long long off season if this is the type of stuff that is going to stir a debate.

[JohntheBaptist]

From there we have a pissing match between Hags who was saying Watney wasn't a real reporter and Heidi who claims that she is.

You were doing OK up until here. Unless I missed it she never claimed this, and it didn't seem like a pissing match, it seemed like a pile on.

Also,

Felger said something on the radio that has been wildly rumored for years.

Instead of attacking Felger's comment about the rumor she tweets about him not being in the locker room and having no journalistic integrity.

The implication here seems to be that a) since its been rumored wildly it was cool for public consumption and b) "attacking" Felger for bringing up a sideline reporter's personal life without provocation somehow wasn't kosher. Not buying either, personally.

Considering her role, the discussion cut right at her career. Honestly it seems like Heidi was the one who handled herself pretty well and everyone else was just being attention whoring morons. This whole postseason series events has taken on the feeling of a big city riot, and now that there's all this chaos, you can go run and steal that TV you want and take a juvenile swipe at that pretty sideline girl that just gets under your skin.

That she used the phrase "no journalistic integrity" to mean "you're talking about shit you have no idea about" means the worst you can say is she might be a bit of an idiot. Picking that apart is just ignoring the obvious.

Again, would love to hear what folks would have done in that situation. Its on the radio, you have no power to control it and did nothing to earn its airing out.

[HomeBrew1901]

You were doing OK up until here. Unless I missed it she never claimed this, and it didn't seem like a pissing match, it seemed like a pile on.

Also,



The implication here seems to be that a) since its been rumored wildly it was cool for public consumption and b) "attacking" Felger for bringing up a sideline reporter's personal life without provocation somehow wasn't kosher. Not buying either, personally.

Considering her role, the discussion cut right at her career. Honestly it seems like Heidi was the one who handled herself pretty well and everyone else was just being attention whoring morons. This whole postseason series events has taken on the feeling of a big city riot, and now that there's all this chaos, you can go run and steal that TV you want and take a juvenile swipe at that pretty sideline girl that just gets under your skin.

That she used the phrase "no journalistic integrity" to mean "you're talking about shit you have no idea about" means the worst you can say is she might be a bit of an idiot. Picking that apart is just ignoring the obvious.

Again, would love to hear what folks would have done in that situation. Its on the radio, you have no power to control it and did nothing to earn its airing out.

How was it a pile on? Felger said something, she got pissed at him, he backed off. Then Haggs starts in and she gets pissed off and he doesn't back off and they have a twitter battle. It's not like Felger kept pounding her on the air waves while Haggs took to the twitterverse while she was helpless to defend herself.

As far as what she could have done, you're right there, she handled herself about as well as she could have, but instead of running to twitter she could have called into F&M immediately to take him to task.

edit: Just looked a few pages back and you're right she never called herself a reporter, Northeastern met her at some event and she said she could talk sabermetrics but wasn't paid to (paraphrasing), so she was simply taking Felger to task by calling him an ass.

This is all really silly and I agree, that Felger took a swipe that I think he regrets taking.

Edited by HomeBrew1901, 14 October 2011 - 12:30 PM.

[JohntheBaptist]

How was it a pile on? Felger said something, she got pissed at him, he backed off. Then Haggs starts in and she gets pissed off and he doesn't back off and they have a twitter battle. It's not like Felger kept pounding her on the air waves while Haggs took to the twitterverse while she was helpless to defend herself.

As far as what she could have done, you're right there, she handled herself about as well as she could have, but instead of running to twitter she could have called into F&M immediately to take him to task.

Well, just pile-on in the sense that it started coming at her from all sides (har har) with the Haggerty thing, who wasn't involved at all. You're right though, probably stretching the phrase a bit.

Totally agree that the twitter element of this doesn't exactly make any of them look good, which it rarely does.

[mrsbeasley]

Well, just pile-on in the sense that it started coming at her from all sides (har har) with the Haggerty thing, who wasn't involved at all. You're right though, probably stretching the phrase a bit.

Totally agree that the twitter element of this doesn't exactly make any of them look good, which it rarely does.

I think it's fair to note that Heidi admitted on T&R that she let her emotions get the best of her on Twitter and that she regretted it. And she didn't come across as going on there to "cry" as much as she did to fully explain her side better than she could in 140 characters. By the end of the interview, to my ears, she sounded more mad than teary.

And as far as piling on, Haggerty was the only member of the media to jump on via Twitter, but thanks to what Felger said, a glance at her timeline shows you she suddenly starting fielding a lot of idiots tweeting "So did you really screw the captain" messages that she, inexplicably, responded to. I'm sure she felt like she was being attacked from all sides solely because Felger threw her name into a discussion she didn't have to be involved in.

[Koufax]

Heidi was on EEI last night as well. Mike Adams spoke with her for quite awhile. Her basic point was that everthing in this shitstorm is being taken out of context, including Ortiz's comment about the drama, Gonzales's comment about having to play Sunday night games, etc. She even looked pretty on the radio.

[redsahx]

Heidi was on EEI last night as well. Mike Adams spoke with her for quite awhile. Her basic point was that everthing in this shitstorm is being taken out of context, including Ortiz's comment about the drama, Gonzales's comment about having to play Sunday night games, etc. She even looked pretty on the radio.

I refuse to believe that talk radio would overreact to comments by Red Sox players and take them out of context. That's a ridiculous assertion.

[Gorton Fisherman]

Stop browbeating her! Can't you see she is sexy?

[xjack]

Did Watney explicitly deny that she had an affair with Varitek?

I suspect only she and Tek know for sure whether they had an affair. But I do know with 100% certainty that her bosses at NESN believed she was sleeping with Tek and that they told her it had to stop. (This is a few years ago.) Can't say how I know -- so take it with as many grains of salt as you wish -- but I know.

[MedfieldFan]

Did Watney explicitly deny that she had an affair with Varitek?

Sort of yes and sort of no. She referred to a rumor that she swore wasn't true but never explained exactly what that rumor was. No one even touched that subject with a ten foot pole.

I don't know what the fuss is about though, she's equally journalistically compromised from dating Nick Green.

Edited by MedfieldFan, 15 October 2011 - 12:02 AM.

[Average Reds]

I don't know what the fuss is about though, she's equally journalistically compromised from dating Nick Green.

This is kind of where I land.

I have no idea whether she was having an affair with Tek and I don't care. But she was out in public with Nick Green, and the reality is that it's just a really, really bad idea for someone with her job to date ballplayers.

I'll admit that I have some sympathy for her, because she's an easy target and takes a lot of cheap shots. But she should have known the moment she started talking about journalistic integrity that someone was going to come back at her.

[Billy Jo Robidoux]

But I do know with 100% certainty that her bosses at NESN believed she was sleeping with Tek and that they told her it had to stop. (This is a few years ago.) Can't say how I know -- so take it with as many grains of salt as you wish -- but I know.

They only told her to stop once the Tek/Green Eiffel Tower session in the Sox clubhouse came to their attention.

[Tyrone Biggums]

Did Watney explicitly deny that she had an affair with Varitek?

I suspect only she and Tek know for sure whether they had an affair. But I do know with 100% certainty that her bosses at NESN believed she was sleeping with Tek and that they told her it had to stop. (This is a few years ago.) Can't say how I know -- so take it with as many grains of salt as you wish -- but I know.

You're probably dead on with this assumption...Imagine if Watney and Tek's now ex wife ended up running into each other at a Boston Bar and got into a cat fight.....like you I just have a feeling this could have happened...

Edited by Tyrone Biggums, 15 October 2011 - 09:34 AM.

[xjack]

You're probably dead on with this assumption...Imagine if Watney and Tek's now ex wife ended up running into each other at a Boston Bar and got into a cat fight.....like you I just have a feeling this could have happened...

Again, it's not an assumption that she got a talking-to from her bosses at NESN. I know it happened... Her actual relationship with Tek is anybody's guess.

[Tyrone Biggums]

Again, it's not an assumption that she got a talking-to from her bosses at NESN. I know it happened... Her actual relationship with Tek is anybody's guess.

I was being coy, read between the lines on my post

Edited by Tyrone Biggums, 15 October 2011 - 11:43 AM.

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Did Watney explicitly deny that she had an affair with Varitek?

Sort of yes and sort of no. She referred to a rumor that she swore wasn't true but never explained exactly what that rumor was.

I truly don't care either way at this point but like I posted earlier, I thought the attack on her by other media members was uncalled for. But just for clarification, there were two rumors regarding Tek/Heidi. One was, "they're dating" and the other was, "she broke up his marriage". So even if she denies the "rumor" and is being honest, it doesn't necessarily tell the complete story.

Edited by BannedbyNYYFans.com, 15 October 2011 - 02:20 PM.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Sox reporter Heidi Watney leaving NESN


http://espn.go.com/b...ey-leaving-nesn

Didn't see this anywhere, not worth its own thread on the main board.


Never mind, just found it in the media forum.

Edited by The Flying Dutchman, 16 November 2011 - 08:40 PM.