Comments on: ESPN responds to questions regarding Kraft relationship

By: Marima

Marima — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:10:23 +0000

“The current connection also doesn’t hurt the ongoing effort to unruffle feathers of Pats fans who hold a grudge against the Boston Herald and ESPN for the perception that they created a huge distraction in the days preceding the Patriots’ effort to complete what would have been the only 19-0 season in NFL history.”
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That was no “perception” by Pats fans, that was the reality – and all for a big, fat, speculative nothing.
The ESPN ombudsman at the time, Le Ann Schrieber, wrote a long column detailing where ESPN had gone wrong, and even changed the format of it’s broadcasts because of it. No more “specials” where analysts like Mark Schlereth could just spout off for hours, unscripted, on pure speculation and rumor. That was just the worst media build-up of nothing since Geraldo opened the empty safe.

By: texasPHINSfan

texasPHINSfan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:05:26 +0000

i find it hard to believe that ANY reporter that works for this group will make any attacks toward the Patriots, in the interest of job preservation.

By: virtueandvice

virtueandvice — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:26:04 +0000

“We have a history of separating business relationships from our news and information division, and this will continue to be the case.”
That is the funniest thing I have ever read on this site.

By: CliveRush

CliveRush — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:38:56 +0000

To those who beleive that Bristol, CT. is an area under the influence of the Boston sports market please understand this. The location of Bristol was chosen because of the strong satellite signal. It would have been in NYC if the, at the time young and struggling network, could have done so. The execs are New York centric. The New England/ Boston sports influence ends in CT. just east of the Hartford area. The studio is filled with New Yorkers and people who grew up in the NYC area. While the national perception is one where ESPN loves Boston the perception in the New England area is the opposite. The reason there is so much attention shown to the northeast area is the fan interest in the teams. Just check out the attendance figures of Boston, New York and Philly. The fans up here love their teams.

By: VoxVeritas

VoxVeritas — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:42:46 +0000

JimmySmith! Welcome back man, I was starting to get worried about you! What does it feel like to see the freaking BENGALS kick the Packers asses in Lambeau Field? I hope McCarthy’s dog survives! Have you seen your partner EskinSux anywhere?
31-24

By: DemocratsAreStupid

DemocratsAreStupid — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:21:02 +0000

I feel bad for any team playing the steelers or patriots on monday night football. espn has shown an obvious bias by hiring kraft and not covering the qb rape story. good luck to the unfortunate teams facing a pre-decided losing outcome

By: Devils Advocate

Devils Advocate — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:38:28 +0000

@Fike Mlorio
yeah right. keep drinking the kool aid!

By: preludetosmack

preludetosmack — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:32:47 +0000

“Kraft Sports Group is simply the local ad sales and sponsorship agent for ESPNBoston.com. We did not have a sales force in Boston and this was a solution for that.”
RIIIIIIIGHHHHT
Because those hundreds (thousands?) of minions they have running around in Bristol, CT (all of about 2 hours away) could NEVER sell into Boston…
Half of the Bristol employees probably live in Hartford or East Hartford anyway, putting them only about an hour or so away from Boston/Cambridge area.
There may not be anything wrong with their business relationship, but that was about the lamest excuse I’ve ever read.

By: winkel33

winkel33 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:28:05 +0000

did you really just mention Mike Fish’s reporting? it was horrible and inaccurate. you have a great point about this conflict of interest, but i think you might want to find a better supporting argument than worrying that mike fish’s reporting might be affected.

By: tj.52

tj.52 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:05:57 +0000

“The current connection also doesn’t hurt the ongoing effort to unruffle feathers of Pats fans who hold a grudge against the Boston Herald and ESPN for the perception that they created a huge distraction in the days preceding the Patriots’ effort to complete what would have been the only 19-0 season in NFL history.”
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Ya think?
ESPN is in serious ass kissing mode. I think it may have something to do with their incompetent and dispicable coverage of the Patriots 2007 season and the subsequent loss of viewership in the nation’s second largest market.
They still have years to go, but Bruschi and Reiss are a good way for them to start.

By: davis1281

davis1281 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:17:00 +0000

denverpilot says:
September 24, 2009 9:23 PM
Cant wait to see the Patriots fall into mediocrity. Is anyone gonna bring into the conversation that Josh McDaniels (aside from Dilfer) is a huge loss
*****************************************
You wont see it this yr or next yr or even the year after that. They will be on top for as long as Brady plays, just like the Colts with Manning.
Hate on Hater, Hate on……….

By: Chargers-Superhero

Chargers-Superhero — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:08:53 +0000

They are no longer the New England Patriots.
They are officially the ESPN Patriots. lol

By: JimmySmith

JimmySmith — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:08:07 +0000

ESPN has been spiraling down for years now so this is just the latest unprofessional transgression and hardly the worst. So Kraft makes a few more dollars at the direct expense of ESPN, its not like ESPN has a reputation to protect anymore and Kraft threw his away during Spygate.
Anyone have a lead on those “19-0″ t-shirts or have they all been sent to Africa?

By: AdamEagle5

AdamEagle5 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:38:45 +0000

1) Ain’t this the kettle callin the pot black? Florio, you yourself are a corporate tool. Scratch that, corporate power tool. As biased as ESPN is (and that would be very, very biased), PFT is hardly a bastion of objectivity.
2) It isn’t like this will change anything. ESPN has been balls deep on Boston’s short dong since the Sox won the WS and Boston fans started watching sports again. They wouldn’t have criticized the Pats anyway.
Cot damn, I wish I had better sports alternatives…

By: darrius_heyward-bey-butterfingers

darrius_heyward-bey-butterfingers — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:36:59 +0000

The critics say The Jay Leno show sucks, but NBCPFT says it’s totally AWESOME! It’s ok that you got in bed with the man, and things have been ok since, but you are no longer an independant site in a position to call out others on conflicts of interests. I love this site and ESPN sucks, but don’t go there, please. And where is the updated response from the NFL on the Louis Murphy catch?

By: stanjam

stanjam — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:13:39 +0000

ESPN favors the Pats? That would indeed be something new. Many of their player analysts carry a longstanding grudge against the Pats, and it shows. That is why many Pats fans boycott ESPN.
Also about the comment of the Pats sliding into mediocrity. Slow down pal! The Pats may well do that. It has to happen sometime. They can not forever be competitive every year. Some day they may slide. I think that you are a bit quick to assume it is happening right now. After all, we are just two weeks into the season. If the Pats start scoring some TDs instead of kicking field goals, things will change pretty quickly. No one should be quite ready to write them off yet, you just might end up looking like a fool (common place to be for Pats haters in the past).
Also, if the Pats DO slide into mediocrity, it will not be because they lost Josh. Heck, they instantly became a better team without him! When I can call what play the offense is going to run on just about every down, that is not a good sign. With Josh every second and long was a run play. I see that a bit in the NFL. Why on Earth do teams do that? You aren’t fooling anyone. I mean, doing it once or twice a game, and it might fool a defense, but when it is called consistently, it is almost always going to fail! Last year every team knew the Pats were running on second and long, and the Pats got killed on second and long pretty consistently.
Josh has since gone and proven that he was a bas OC, by taking his idiocy to the head coaching level. He has turned the Broncos from a very good team, and turned it into a joke. He won’t last long in the NFL. He reminds me of Norv Turner, a coach who had a good record as OC when he had a team so filled with talent on offense that Peter Griffin could have done well.

By: geogibso

geogibso — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:46:17 +0000

“So is it really worth it, then, to undermine the credibility of the coverage of one of the primary teams that ESPNBoston.com will be covering, all in the name of not hiring an in-house advertising sales staff?”
ESPN would’ve had to have credibility to begin with for this to cause any real change.
The Patriots now have ESPN and CBS (CBS Scene attached to Gillette Stadium) in their pocket. They just need to rope in FOX and NBC and they’ll control all four of the major NFL media outlets.

By: ItalianArmyGuy

ItalianArmyGuy — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:28:21 +0000

How horrible it must have been for Bellicheat to be reminded of his own transgressions in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Hey Bill – got a deal for you – next time, don’t cheat, and you won’t have that problem.

By: DanFoutsBeard

DanFoutsBeard — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:24:17 +0000

I thought that site was a joke until I just went there. Are you kidding me? ESPN is a joke.

By: Fan_Of_ Four

Fan_Of_ Four — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:14:14 +0000

So we can expect ESPN to be about as fair and balanced as Faux News when it comes to the Pattys ? Ah well, who really cares, its the Patty’s

By: ClassicRockProfessor

ClassicRockProfessor — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:09:17 +0000

ESPN would need the money from the Krafts. Considering Cell Phone Salisbury planning to sue the network. Not too mention his tell all book ESPN Exposed. http://deadspin.com/5365919/sean-salisbury-has-a-few-things-to-get-off-his-chest http://deadspin.com/5366926/sean-salisbury-gets-the-final-word-i-think

By: Shackman v2.0

Shackman v2.0 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:59:02 +0000

Even though I've noticed a distinct change in the flavor of your blog ever since you've partnered up with NBC, consider yourself doing the Lord's work, Florio.

By: Dan Mateus

Dan Mateus — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:50:07 +0000

Florio are you serious?
Hello kettle this is pot ….you’re BLACK!

By: sim448

sim448 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:48:11 +0000

well said devils advocate. umm. florio, do you think espn has a problem being critical of the patriots when that idiot mike fish brought up the “super bowl walkthrough tapes” that never came to fruition. yeah, i bet kraft would love for them to do that 3 days before trying to win the super bowl. i am starting to realize your no more an expert than any of us.

By: Furious George

Furious George — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:44:20 +0000

By: Anrkist

Anrkist — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:43:09 +0000

I’m confused, don’t you post entries about NBC shows now? You’ve had it out for ESPN since time began, never quiet put my finger on it… but it seems pretty obvious why. They are your biggest competitor.

By: bearsrule

bearsrule — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:36:39 +0000

So what ? They can give out all the bullshit answers they want. They’re making up the rules as they go along. If nobody likes it, tough titty…..That’s their attitude, not mine. Berman gave Ralph Wilson’s intro speech to the HOF and his daughter is employed by the Patriots. They answer to no one.

By: Fike Mlorio

Fike Mlorio — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:34:00 +0000

hey devils advocate, stop hating on florio for doing whats best for himself, if you dont like the site get off

By: Roynp3

Roynp3 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:33:20 +0000

and it’s not a perception that ESPN and the Herald created a huge distraction, it’s a reality. Matt Walsh’s story turned out to be flat out wrong. The guy was a bizarro Roy McAvoy out for his 5-seconds of fame.

By: Fike Mlorio

Fike Mlorio — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:32:54 +0000

espn favoring the patriots? yeah that would be new