ESPN trying to drum up controversy... badly.

by Marked Hoosier on Jan 8, 2008 2:04 AM EST Comment 8 comments

[editor's note, by River City Rage] Marked Hoosier was kind enough to post this. I wasn't sure how I wanted to address this issue, so I'll run with this. I'm very much upset at the whole "disrespect" angle that the Media and the New England fanbase has taken all season, and now that their "wrath" is pointed toward the Jaguars, it's inevitable that they find something to complain about. In effect, the "disrespect" issue is something that's artifically made by the traditional media to sell to fans. Getting insane about "respect" is to fall in the hands of media conglomorates. Grow up. Think for yourself. The New England Patriots don't need bulletin board material in order to win, they need Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, etc.

I'll quote the suddenly asteriked Vic Ketchman on this one:

What does it matter? It has no effect on the game. They're just words. All last week, I kept hearing about bulletin board material in Pittsburgh and in Jacksonville. What effect did it have on the game? None. It was essentially the same game I saw three weeks earlier. The sporting public has become way too concerned about what is said. If it wasn't as concerned, you wouldn't see the media dedicate as much attention to it, for the obvious reason. The media will give you whatever you want because your eyes and your ears represent sales. Don't be used as a tool by the media. If the war of words bothers you, then ignore it. It means nothing. How players perform is all that matters and if their performances can be influenced one way or another by what is said, you've got the wrong players.

And This:

(q)A website has a link to your rankings, where you note (via asterisk) that the Patriots "cheated in one game." They speculate that this may become bulletin board material for them. Your thoughts?

Vic: So the Patriots are gonna get motivation from the words of a man who drives a Nissan Sentra that has 94,000 miles on it and a CD changer that's stuck. What can I say? The truth is the pure defense.

Thanks Hoosier for posting this

-Chris

WTF with this talk about Paul Spicer? If you haven't heard (which means you don't watch or listen to any sports news...):

If the undefeated Patriots need bulletin board material for their playoff game Saturday night against the Jaguars, they have it now.
If Jacksonville defensive lineman Paul Spicer had his way, the Patriots wouldn't have even qualified for the playoffs because of the Spygate scandal.
"Do like the NCAA and kick them out of the playoffs or something," Spicer told The Associated Press after news of the scandal broke. "Put them on probation; they can't go to no playoff games. Roger Goodell has definitely enforced some new rules. He's been hard on players. Now let's see how hard he's going to be with a team."

Did you catch the bolded part? His made the comments MONTHS AGO! Trying to make a controversy from nothing, they asked him to comment.

"I don't regret saying what I said. I'm a man of my word. I always speak my mind and that's what I felt at that time," Spicer said.

I know that the annoying sports writers have tried every week to come up with some sort of "disrespect" card for the Pats, but come on! They just had a 3 minute report on ESPN where all they did was ask Pat players what they thought about Spicer's bad eeevvviiiilll comments! This is the best they can do? Dig for months old comments to try to drum up outrage?

Just when you thought ESPN couldn't go lower, they get a shovel.

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It's unreal

Between the Media and the Fans, you'd think that the Patriots were the least emotionally stable team in the NFL. I understand needing an edge, but it's just plain absurd.

If you go over to Pats Pulpit, they talk about how Jaguars.com Writer Vic Ketchman puts an * next to the Patriots in his power rankings and says "Cheated in One Game".

Of course, they ignore that he's ranked them number one for like 14 consecutive weeks, and go crazy over something that's an absolute truth. They also cite John Henderson getting flagged for a Horse Collar Tackle as "cheating" and equivocating that with the Camera thing. Cause a desperate tackle by a player is the exact same thing as an organized attempt by the team at the highest level to acquire information about another team that is explicitly prohibited by the NFL. Clearly a conspiracy involving the head coach of an NFL team is just a little more serious than a clearly unintentional horse collar tackle.

Like I said, there's I've never seen a team or fanbase that is so desperate for disrespect. They've gone 16 and 0, they look unstoppable, why do you need to muck through a season's press conferences and websites to find fuel to care. Is being an outright favorite not enough?

This whole thing is absurd. I don't know if it's the Media or the Fans or what, but I can't wrap my mind around this disrespect thing. I hate it when Jaguar fans whine about it, and I have no sympathy for Patriots fans who are searching for some sort of edge. The "Best team in the League"* shouldn't need to feed off of silly stuff like this.

-Chris

Jags Blogger for SB Nation Big Cat Country!

by River City Rage on Jan 8, 2008 12:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

unreal

No need to get all worked up over New England's motivational use of dumb statements (old or new) made by members of the team you follow, as you said it's just absurd. Just as adsurd as the Ketchman asterisk, as no games played this season were effected by the videotape snafu. I'm sure Ketchman is amused by his footnote to the Pats undefeated regular season but, we love it because you know damn well that Belichick has a huge print-out taped to the locker-room wall.

Pats fans love it that opposing players and beat writers are slow to learn about the methods employed by coach Belichick. One of the reasons the Patriots are the best team in the league is because their coach knows that controlled emotion helps win football games.

Oh... and tell Paul Spicer that the only way to eliminate the New England Patriots from the NFL playoffs is to beat them on Saturday.

by TruePatsFan on Jan 8, 2008 4:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'll tell Paul just that....

But I don't think Vic meant anything other than a little laugh at the asterisk thing. But to get worked up over the * on a writer who's consistantly praised your team all season, as well as someone who's said that the Jaguars match up poorly against the Patriots, someone who's been extremely rational and fair, all for the sake of an "emotional edge"? I think that's just crazy.

Rodney Harrison seems to get that he's a professional football player, when he downplayed Spicer's 4 month old comments, he sounded like someone who's there to play a game, not to get wrapped up in nonsense.

I'd hope that your team is focued on what guys like Harrison are saying, not what beat writers for their opponents are saying.

That seems like a far more effective use of time before the game.

-Chris

Jags Blogger for SB Nation Big Cat Country!

by River City Rage on Jan 8, 2008 4:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

River City

I agree with all you say. Real Pats fans could give a crap about the asterisk dude's slight of the Patriots.

The Patriots coach though... he is single minded in his pursuit of victories. No one up this way has been able to figure out why Belichick would risk the ire of the NFL's powers-that-be with his continued use of the not-allowed, on-field video camera. The Patriots certainly didn't need to break the rules to be the best - my God, that has certainly been proved this season. But, I think it reveals something about his persona that I actually think is good (for a pro football coach). And that is: he is comsummed by winning football games and he desires perfection from his players ( on & off the field). Rodney got a rare pass when he was caught doing the HGH, most would have been discarded by Belichick.

The players themselves probably don't find these bulletin board statements by opposing players to be too offensive but, they believe in what their coach preaches. With New England's record it's hard to argue with his methods.

The us against them mentality has been a useful tool as season long for the Pats, they're not about to change that now.

by TruePatsFan on Jan 8, 2008 6:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

As you said...

...to believe the "disrespect" thing is to fall into the media conglomerate's pandering hands and perpetuate the BS, their hope being to continue the media maelstrom surrounding the Pats. I think the asterisk thing is just getting old and Pats fans are tired of seeing it thrown in our faces. It seems to be the only scratch in the armour (well, not the only one) and it's continuously brought up.

At any rate, I made a decision prior to the Giants game to enjoy the ride. Something like this doesn't happen often so we Pats fans should savor the moment. Now, onto some great football this Saturday!!

by MaPatsFan on Jan 8, 2008 9:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Here Here,

I second your motion, here's to a great game.

Also, welcome to my humble little site, glad to see some Pats fans stopping by. I've got many family and friends from up there, and spent many a summer or winter in South Yarmouth on the Cape.

-Chris

Jags Blogger for SB Nation Big Cat Country!

by River City Rage on Jan 8, 2008 11:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You're a brave man...

...to do Yarmouth in the summer. Traffic blows and it's super busy. Hopefully you can walk to wherever you need to go and can buy beer and food at 3AM. ;-) The great lobstah and steamahs with buttah make up for the crowds, though.

Thanks for letting me hang here; I'm looking forward to learning more about the Jags, talking alot of football and a little trash, too!!

by MaPatsFan on Jan 9, 2008 9:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

chris, does ketchum really believe the 2nd

pitt-jax game was essentially the same as the first? What an ignorant and superficial statement. Just compare the jags' rushing totals from the respective games. They did not dominate in the trenches in the 2nd game anywhere close to what they did in the first game. The first game was artificially close on the scoreboard;the 2nd really was close. So, vic's "evidence" for declaring that bulletin board material does not matter is invalid. I think vic by now probably understands that he made a mistake and is simply trying to rationalize and downplay what he did. The truth is that of course it matters. You see, you're looking at the issue through the eyes and logical prism of a normal person (to wit, someone probably of normal ht. and wt. who does not hurl himself violently at other humans at speeds in excess of 20 mph). But the best players always look for and need a psychologial edge ,no matter what the source of that edge. And no matter how trivial, silly or illogical it may seem to us. This is no media creation-teams actually use stuff like this (and I mean all teams, college and pro). From a logical perspective, I cant fathom why coaches' pre-game and halftime speeches work. They are cliched, derivative and rhetorically vapid. But they work-largely, I guess, because players dont listen on a cognitive or intellectual level, but rather on a raw emotional level. Frankly, I am shocked that you and the esteemed mr spicer dont get this. Chris, in our world, if a large black man needed to be physically abused by a small white man standing on a chair as a pre-requisite for going to work, that would be quite aberrant. But in the world of pro football, not so much.

by mordecai on Jan 9, 2008 11:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs