The planets are aligned and the tomato cans are in place.. 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. Enter a Crossword Clue Sort by Length Weaknesses: The opposite of prolific, the cost of Finns higher quality content is less of it. He was that good. Strengths: Tomase shows some creativity, rather than just rehashing news that has already been covered by one of the dozen other media members in market. So, a focused Cowens responded with a stellar 28-point, 14-rebound game as the Celtics prevailed, 102-87. How could you omit Steve Buckley? Take Dan Shaughnessy. How about John Gilloly(sp) or Huck Finnegan or Bob Coyne (cartoonist). Diverse approach at the keyboard, with good coverage that blends a focus on local events with national context. The Boston Globe, New England's largest newspaper, has a habit of hiring journalists who fabricate information, misrepresent sources, or plagiarize writing. Matthew Berry is Mr. Fantasy Football for ESPN. Gary Smith is a great writer, who happens to write about sports. Judy Battista brings a wealth of knowledge and information to Twitter. I wasnt saying I wouldnt include him in the discussion, because obviously, I did include him by bring his name up. If you happen to be a big fan of the New York Giants, Ralph Vacchiano should be your main man. As great as Ryan is, Montville was better. True, its more often basic metrics like OPS+ rather than, say, xFIP or WAR, and he remains skeptical when it comes to the accuracy of modern statistics. First, the football writer Tom E. Curran, of Comcast SportsNet New England, took to Twitter, writing that Shaughnessy couldnt name 5 Texans. 1) Ray Fitz. Prone to substantial, unacknowledged factual errors. But while his relationships are none of my business, his coverage, to some extent, is. Its not every day that one of your heroes not only lives up to, but exceeds your expectations. He also covers NASCAR for the paper. As the public relations man for the NFL, McCarthy is an elite source for the most secretive information. #ada-button-frame { 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. Let me first say that Deadspin isn't for everyone. Kevin Garnett yelled Anything is possible! after the Celtics won their first NBA title since 1986. Ater he retired joe became an official score keeper at Fenway.__My other choices are Timmy Horgan, Peter Gammons and Joe Fitzgerald. You are basically obligated to follow him if you're an NFL fan. i remember those columns as being classicwould love to re-rea that one from 84. In the dugout, Sox manager Terry Francona winked at Roberts. One single writer and the subtle, self-contained perfection of the game itself, of course was all it took to turn a rooting interest into a lifetime of obsession. 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. My time will be spent elsewhere, on writers with more substantive agendas to pursue. Egan, who was nastier than Borges without the knowledge. 7 Jason Whitlock - The Kansas City Star. 5 John Feinstein - The Washington Post. And in 2017, the NBA awarded him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. At present, the Herald looks to be largely treading water, doing just enough to keep from drowning but not enough to adapt itself to an increasingly competitive market. You know, Danny, Willie didnt have to call the power brokers. Dave Cowens and the Celtics outlasted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1974 NBA Finals. Peter Gammons invented the Sunday notes column, and as a baseball writer/reporter, he was peerlessabsolutely peerlessin the 70s and 80s. While he retweets quite a bit, Caplan also does a good job at providing depth into team situations and team needs. Few people provide quality draft content on Twitter like Josh Norris. Comcast Sports hasnt made the same effort that WEEI has to establish relevancy, and because Comcast competes with other media outlets McAdams ability to make relevant market media appearances is limited. For those that love combining pop culture and the NFL, you'll likely enjoy following a man like Jason McIntyre. I think he does, and so do you. Jason La Canfora is as honest as they come as a writer and he doesn't lose any of that honesty on Twitter. [5] Were just here to play a hockey game, Mike Eruzione said. But thats probably as it should be, and the relevant point is that hes not afraid of numbers, or of learning more about them. He and his fellow Boys of Winter played the greatest one in Games history and I wrote about it from the overflowing press box. Engaging and open to dialogue; hes responded to a couple of mentions on Twitter, which in my experience is rare. So it remained 2-0, not 4-0, when Bucky Dent broke his bat on a running fastball from Mike Torrez, then launched a slider into the screen. On the minus side, Edes can be a bit of a traditionalist. He was the first Boston sports columnist that I truely adored, and the Globe has been the same since he left. The list is sort of subjective, so I didnt include Peter Gammons, as I think of him more as a baseball writer than a general columnist, while Will McDonough did mainly focus on football, but wrote columns about all sports as well, so hes on the list. Adam Caplan has a wide range of knowledge concerning every team in the NFL. There aren't many journalists out there who can do as much as Bucky Brooks. Honorable mention too to John Updike, who only did two, but man . Whats equally apparent is that his former ties rub some fans the wrong way. Too many media members, both locally and nationally, are doing things simply because thats the way theyve always been done. what, no mention of Joe Giullotti? His knowledge of the sports world could not be challenged, Ray Fitzgerald- The Grandaddy of them all. . Its partially offset by his discovery of the asset that is Alex Speier who heads this list and is clearly cut from the same cloth, but less Bradford cannot be spun as a positive for Red Sox fans. Boston sports fans have seen broadcasters come and go over the decades, but only some are remembered as legends, the guys who we let into our homes like knowledgeable uncles who can talk. Sat morning Globe was a must read because of his Sports Page 1 columns on the left. For the National Football Post, Bunting covers every prospect and big event related to the NFL draft. 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. very in your face, with a lot of good information. Of course, you're likely to get complaints about the quality of looks at the Playboy Mansion, but it is definitely worth it for the NFL business information you'll receive. Senior staff writer and columnist Kevin Paul Dupont. His pen dripped blood, more often than not Ted Williams blood. If thats the case, theres no question, the king is Ray Fitz. 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. Fitzgerald and Montville in that order, and no one else on that list comes close when it comes to informative and witty writing that is must read. Case in point is his focus on pitcher wins as the metric by which pitchers should be judged. Hes better than that, I believe, regardless of what Okajima did or did not do. Im not naive enough to expect something erudite and grounded to ever sell well on a volume basis; Mencken, better than any of us perhaps, understood this. The truth is that Massarottis primary role, at present, is to generate controversy. Good or bad, it doesnt matter, he wrote on his website, Boston Sports Media Watch. 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. If you want to see some of Zerkle's crazier side, I recommend you follow his alter-ego, @PUNTE. Michael Lombardi is one of the most well known NFL sportswriters there are. The sun was still above the left field roof, blinding Piniella. Longtime Boston Globe baseball writer has died after collapsing at the Red Sox's spring training ballpark. One of them was Eruzione, the teams irrepressible captain. It doesn't get much better in sports writing than Peter King. Montville, Ryan & Fitzgerald& Larry Whiteside should be included on list. While the stuff he posts isn't always about the league, when he does put up information about football, it is guaranteed to be gold. Definitely worthy of the list. When he does write, however, its worth reading. 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. It was the final crescendo to a season in which the Red Sox and Yankees, two historical rivals, ended with identical records. Meanwhile, the Globe has continued to employ a number of longtime veterans, like Cafardo, who seem to have hung around forever. As I stood beside him on that February night, it occurred to me: This guy might be pretty special. Bud Collins makes whatever he writes about interesting, regardless of whether it would be interesting outside his column. I mean, seriously? The truth is that ESPN does a fine job at covering the NFL and their analysts, like John Clayton, provide great information on Twitter. Right Bruce? Simply put, Speiers as good as youll find in this market at present, and if comments like Gammons are to be believed, would stack up well across the pool of national writers. Constructs arguments rather than arguing opinions. The 20 wins, the consistency, the toughness, and what is generally regarded as absolutely nasty stuff put Beckett slightly over the top.. he bill liston, a beat writer, bob chick whalen. 4 Bob Ryan - The Boston Globe. All the Boston teams did back in 2002 often in spectacular fashion. The players, who called him "Scoop," alternately respected and resented the Boston Globe writer. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. As a former NFL player, Matt Bowen has the great ability to give you information regarding what NFL players are thinking. . He would lecture me on the evils of camel cigarettes that i smoked for some 45 years. I promise that this is the last ESPN Twitter account for right now. Courtside sat 29-year-old fledgling sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Red Sox Trading Deadling Performance byWAR. Tears, my friend. Good guy, struggled recently with a huge personal loss, and still sticks to his beliefs. What still sets them apart is access, which Speier uses brilliantly, getting everyone from Anthony Rizzo to Keith Law to Mike Hazen on his podcast. As for numbers, Abraham will use them, but perhaps not to the extent he should: his dismissal of Miguel Cabreras value, for example, was curious. I still can see him vaulting over the dasher, heading for open ice, taking a pass from the corner, and scoring the shocking goal that capped off the Miracle on Ice. While Jay Glazer has moved more towards the MMA side of the world, he is still one of the top reporters in the business. 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. Will McDonough Fabulous, witty, candid, funny, yet called it VERY much like is was.I miss this guy! On a glorious October morning in 1978, I grabbed my Olivetti and briefcase and began the walk through the Fens. In that spirit, everything he might want to know about me can be found here. Can still picture his bespectacled visage in the upper left-hand corner of his column. Ray Fitzgerald. Overall, hes a tremendous asset to the market and one that I look genuinely forward to reading, even if I dont really appreciate the baseball cards. Cafardos willfull ignorance, then, is regrettable. Marring this reputation, if only slightly, was an incident last season in which Okajima essentially ducked commentary following an ugly appearance, which is reportedly his custom. McAdam and several of his colleagues publicly called him out on this behavior, justifying their actions with claims that it was affecting Okajimas teammates. 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 Priority on this list, with a few exceptions, is given to writers focused exlusively on the Red Sox. I know tennis was his main thing, and Ive never been a big tennis fan, but he certainly had the longevity, wrote engagingly about his love, and became a nationally-known figure. It sounds absurd looking back, it was! 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. Hes got the talent to do the job, clearly, but is either unable or unwilling to reconsider his perspectives in light of new teachings. Matt Miller has been covering the NFL draft for years, and with such a wealth of knowledge, he's definitely worth following on Twitter. Whether its been in print or as a guest on WEEI and such, McAdam has exuded calm in a sea of irrationality. 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. They called him. Quotes were the chief information-dispensing device of other NBA writers. Granted, some promising young guys coming up in new mediums, but the shoes are very large to fill. Later that week, the New-Hampshire-based sports-media critic Bruce Allen summed up the entire episode. It seemed that he never was in the paper as often as Id like,which is the ultimate compliment. The US hockey team was about to play the Soviet Union in the Olympics but their countrymen seemed ready to go to war. While the CEO composed his concession speech in executive Box L-1, Kevin Millar drew a leadoff walk against Mariano Rivera and was called back to the bench for a pinch runner. The first two rounds were a slog, with Boston struggling to win each in seven games against the Hawks and the LeBron James-led Cavaliers, respectively. It makes no difference whether I'm on there or smashed up against the windshield of a car. Weaknesses: Doesnt stand out in a crowded market place, lacks a clear niche advantage versus the competition. Bob, Powers asked, why aren't Globe readers hearing from the athletes? Best Red Sox minor league coverage this side of the excellent soxprospects.com, and easily the best amongst mainstream media outlets. I dont need the players sugar coated, but neither do I want to be besieged by sordid little details, daily. Not thrilled to say it, but Borgess boxing writing probably should be up for consideration. This is Detroits best sports writers, isnt it? The difference between the two approaches was night and day. Solid reputation in the market both for integrity and rationality. (LogOut/ It was 4 oclock in the morning when sparring partners Robbie Simms and Danny Snyder went to their room to get the American flag. Ryan replied, "I'll tell 'em what they ought to know!" Were just here to play a hockey game, Mike Eruzione said. Strengths: A versatile reporter adequately conversant in modern baseball statistics, one with contacts that bridge the traditionalist / new school divide in front offices. Its little things like his dispatches from airports that allow readers to identify with him in ways that they cant with traditional beat writers, whose columns and even blog entries are typically sanitized and overedited. But the Celtics took care of the Pistons in six, setting up a showdown with their rivals, the Kobe Bryant led-Lakers. Roberts stole second on a close call, scored on a single by Bill Mueller, and the Sox won it in 12 on a David Ortiz homer. The way the local media covers games is stuck in the past, too. Gammons would compare the Sox to battles from mythology and make it work. 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!). Like his more experienced colleagues, has not actively embraced statistical analysis although he has not taken a line against them, either. It was a moment. You're likely to get a big kick out of his tweets. Help Select The Best All-Time Boston Sports Columnists, View BostonSportsMediaWatchs profile on Facebook, View 100226618267166606506s profile on Google+, A Fathers Day Miracle (for NESN to run again and again), Infamous Moments - McDonough Punches Clayborn, Distraught Arnold Wishes He Left WEEI When He Had The Chance, Remembering Tony Conigliaro the Sportscaster, Where Are They Now - 1510 The Zone Personalities, Tom Coughlin's Encounter with Bill Belichick after Super Bowl XLVI, #6 The Death of Will McDonough (and others), Formula 1 Presents Unique Opportunities for Disney Advertisers, ESPN Continues All-Women Led NBA Game & Studio Broadcasts in Celebration of International Womens Day on March 8, NCAA Womens Ice Hockey Post-Season Play Takes Center Ice on ESPN Platforms, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Eredivisie on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes, Mar. Id like to create a list of the best all-time sports columnists here in Boston. When you want to know about the business side of the NFL, there is no better man to follow on Twitter than Darren Rovell. He covers every sport known to mankind in a humorous way, but he especially excels at mixing laughter and the NFL. Hes opinionated, but rational. I had the pleasure of reading him for a couple of decades. The primary goal for reporters seems no longer to be merely producing great and interesting work. . Tony Massarottis defection set it back, as did Sean McAdams abbreviated stint and subsequent departure for CSNNE. display: none; 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). Tim Horgan is without question the greatest sportswriter of all time. The . He also happens to be rather hysterical on Twitter. But Bostons defense limited the Lakers to 33 points in the second half and they took a 3-1 lead. There are times when Albert Breer gives more information about his personal life than you want, but it's definitely worth hearing about his latest ski trip to get his inside NFL information. Michael Lombardi is one of the most well known NFL sportswriters there are. Some sportswriters just cover the draft or just cover the games, but Brooks can literally do it all. He is hilarious and absolutely needs to be followed for his unique take on situations. Predictably, it provoked a strong reaction. The US hockey team celebrates its victory against the Soviet Union. Ron Guidrys velocity wasnt what it had been, so Lou Piniella took eight steps from right-center toward the right field line. What more could you ask? Feel free to include any stories or reasons why you feel the way you do about your list. None with more panache than Brady. As an example, Im not including those who divide their time between baseball and hockey like Joe Haggerty (CSNNE) or Joe MacDonald (ESPNBoston). Leverages his strengths and advantages well. He has a fantastic sense of humor and is fearless about taking shots at whoever deserves it. More perhaps than any of the other writers on this list, Abraham gets the difference in tone between traditional outlets and blogs. Its good to have him back from the national beat. They are sure to cheer you up. From his flawed valuation of Clay Buchholz to his contrived and misleading assessment of the Jason Bay contract to his interminable crusade against our failure to sign Teixeira, Massarotti has shown little inclination to let the facts get in the way of a good argument. He passed away in January 2003 and was best known for his coverage of the Patriots and the National Football League. Romanticizing the Globe of the 70s and 80s has become almost clichdand for good reason. Incredibly, it happened. He has all the who, what, where and hows of the draft, and is always up for some quality draft talk. He and his fellow Boys of Winter played the greatest one in Games history and I wrote about it from the overflowing press box. I covered every postseason game. Robert Bob P. Ryan is an American sportswriter, born on the 21st day of February in the year 1946. Former Boston Globe sports writer and foreign correspondent Steve Fainaru, now with the Washington Post, received the International Reporting Pulitzer for his stories on private security contractors in Iraq. I knew Will, he was a regular guy, his fame never over-took him. Okay, I'm kidding about that last part, but Eisen is definitely the best when it comes to Twitter. Witness the limitations of its technology infrastructure. Gammons and McDonough were reporters to me, not columnists. }Customer Service, Vice President, Innovation & Strategic Initiatives, Senior Assistant Managing Editor, Express Desk, Senior Assistant Managing Editor, Production, Senior Assistant Managing Editor for Audience Experience, Senior Assistant Managing Editor for culture, talent, and development, Assistant Managing Editor, Hiring and Development, Manager of Programs and Operations, Opinion, Love Letters Columnist and Features Writer, Director of Visual Strategy for Globe Opinion, Editor, Sunday real estate and realestate.boston.com, Assistant Business Editor for News Innovation, Senior editor for multimedia storytelling, Editor of the Great Divide education team, Editor-at-large in Globe Opinion, former editorial page editor. Russ Lande is another NFL draft guy, and he may be one of the most well respected ones of the bunch. Both funny concepts that were brilliantly executed. We won, but you didnt lose, Steinbrenner told the Boston players. Alone amongst colleagues like Cafardo and Massarotti, Finn is at least not against statistics, even if theyre not a focus for him. Particularly those that trace him back through the Herald to the Eagle-Tribune. 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. I miss reading her. On the eve of the game, we sat on the beach and Russ played songs hed learned growing up in Hawaii. It appeared the series would be tied at 2 when the Lakers took an 18-point halftime lead in Game 4 in Los Angeles. For the second consecutive year, Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy submits a Hall of Fame ballot with only Jeff Kent marked, ignoring David Ortiz. On the plus side, hes got excellent context for the market, having covered it for so long. So, a focused Cowens responded with a stellar 28-point, 14-rebound game as the Celtics prevailed, 102-87. I have a certain bias (or lack of perspective, I guess) as my family has been Globe subscribers for generations, so the only time I read other papers regularly was when I delivered them. Marvin Hagler winning the. Patriots beat reporter and writer for the @BostonGlobe. I just look at this as something for my portfolio of basketball experiences. And I regard this first Celtics championship I was privileged to cover as a highlight in my portfolio of journalistic experiences. If you've ever got a question about the NFL, send it over to him and he'll likely reply with the answer you are looking for. 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. Im sorry, but leaving him off is like leaving Lawrence Olivier off a Best Actors list because he only did Shakespeare, really.. ET ON CNBC AND PEACOCK. He's honest and stays true to his opinions. However, if you ever need to know the inside and outs of the draft, look to Kiper to provide some quality information. Weaknesses: His diverse responsibilities have led to an inevitable decline in production. And its not just the citys core sports personalities that havent changed much. Photo by Landov (McDonough). Gregg Rosenthal has been in the world of the NFL for quite some time and as such, he provides great insight. Now he counts three dozen. Its just that too many of our sportswritersahem, sports personalitieshave become adept at using these 21st-century tools to serve up what is little more than the same old slop. In fact, not much in the Boston sports media hasnot even the photos on the wall. While he doesn't spend as much time on Twitter as others on this list, the information he does tweet is simply amazing. One of the best things about Mortensen on Twitter is how much he interacts with fans. Weaknesses: The move to CSNNE has lowered his visibility for this fan. Hes transformed himself from a sharp Patriots reporter for the Herald into a contrarian media personality. His radio cohost, the former Red Sox reporter Tony Massarotti, has done the same thing, if somewhat more shrilly. 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. I still miss his Sunday column. Roberts stole second on a close call, scored on a single by Bill Mueller, and the Sox won it in 12 on a David Ortiz homer. Bob Ryan is the standard bearer but Peter Gammons, Will McDonough and Dan Shauhnessy are soooo ever so close as well it's a tough call. james.mcbride@globe.com . Strengths: Well adapted to modern baseball coverage, both in tone and approach. The Globe and Mail Sports section provides sports news, post-game analysis, in-depth features and video on Canada's teams. As one of their top NFL analysts, Clayton is always up to date on the biggest happenings around the league. He also loves his mom, which is a great thing. Nothing good in sight now it's all TV illiterates and the worst of all, the ESPN circus. He's easily their top analyst, even though the information he gives seems a little far off at times. his willingness to back up the truck for Gonzalez occasionally skews towards fan and away from hard evaluation. High School Sports Writer (Former Employee) - Boston, MA - September 20, 2018. Ironically, its the success of this citys sports-media past that is at the root of todays problems. Since columnist Michael Holley left the paper for a radio gig at WEEI eight years ago, its hard to think of a single distinctive voice the paper has developed and held on to. Change). There are few people on Twitter who are as in-the-know about the NFL as Adam Schefter. The worst of the worst? 1. Ernie Roberts, the bespectacled, gentlemanly editor used the region's smaller newspapers and college. As a result, the list of young, talented sports reporters who have moved on from Boston media grows longer every year: There's the NHL executive Chris Snow (the Globe ), the NFL Network's Ian. 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. And I write for a living. As the lead NFL writer for Bleacher Report, Josh Zerkle has established himself as a unique talent in the writing world. With that context, herewith are the rankings. Massarotti, however, is less than grounded by facts. Not agents or team sources, but the actual players. a lot of your list were beat writers and not columnists. My parents made me a Red Sox fan, but it was Peter Gammons that made me a baseball fan. Jim Trotter is what I like to call a serial tweeter.
Gilbert Artemus (Artie) Darrell