Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Boston have kind of a reputation as a tough sports media town? People like Dan Shaugnessey and Will McDonoiuh used to hold sports figures accountable and actually had sources within the teams.
That’s just not the case anymore.
WIth all of the hoopla surrounding the New England Patriots debacle of a season, the firing of Jerod Mayo, and the eventual hiring of Mike Vrabel, these reporters who claim (and are paid to be) Patriots insiders have embarrassed themselves.
One person has been scooping them left, right and center on all of the stories they SHOULD be reporting on first. No, that person is a national reporter like Adam Scheffter. That person has been Kirk Minihane. What Kirk has done is taken the jamokes in the Patriots media and made them like incompetent hacks. He literally made them look bad at their jobs by doing it better in 3 weeks than they’ve done in years.
It all started after Jerod Mayo got fired roughly 27 minutes after winning a meaningless game to cost New England the first overall pick. We all knew his goose was cooked. But inevitably, with a coach getting axed, speculation ran rampant about who would be next. The most popular name that came up was former Pats linebacker and Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel. A good fit one might think. A guy with head coaching experience and someone who knows the Krafts and how they operate. Well, a lot of “insiders” were saying that the Patriots didn’t want to go that way and names like Ben Johnson, the Offensive Coordinator of the Lions were their pick.
Well, Kirk Minihane went on his podcast and said that according to his “sources” that Mike Vrabel would be the head coach. Welp, that happened. Kirk was right on that. With all due respect to Kirk, it was a short list of guys available. I think we all know Byron Leftwich who interviewed for the job wasn’t going to get it.
But after that is where things get much more interesting.
On January 15th at 6:18pm Kirk tweeted the following, ”Sources: Robyn Glaser is no longer with the Patriots organization. She was executive VP of football business and senior adviser to Jerod Mayo last season.” When I read this, like many of you, I had not a clue who Robyn Glaser was. I had heard the name, but it meant nothing to me. Some advisors to a dread head coach hire left. Big deal.
But the next day, Albert Breer, who works for Amazon and is known as an “insider” went on the radio and said that Glaser leaving was erroneous. Boston Globe Football writer and known story fabricator Ben Volin said something similar on X. If you want to read more about his nonsense, go to this link: https://www.blindowlblogs.com/post/trollin-colin-got-trolled
Well, guess what? Robyn Glaser later announced her resignation from the organization. So, uhh, Kirk was right.
Then, other reporters and both Volin and Breer reported the story and didn’t give Kirk credit. People like Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston and Greg Bedard of whatever he does now. As a matter of fact, on the Zolak and Bertrand show on 98.5 The Sports Hub even mentioned his name. Some sources even went as far as to credit Barstool Sports and not just say Kirk’s name. It’s truly amazing to say the least.
Then, on Monday, Kirk, on his podcast said that Josh Mcdaniels, former Patriots Offensive Coordinator and former Broncos and Raiders Head Coach, would be the OC in New England. Had one of these insiders like Bedard, Volin, Breer or anyone else reported this? Nope. Then, of course, McDaniels was hired as OC and yet again. No credit.
For a group that claims to hold people accountable, these wimps can’t seem to take it when someone one ups them and beats them at their own game. Imagine the lawsuits and tantruming that would go on if AdamSchefter stole a story from Volin?
The double standard at play here is wild. Kirk seems to legitimately have sources in the Patriots organization, that is actively working against these media bums that claim to be insiders. Kirk said on his show this morning that one of his sources said as much.
But none of this should be shocking. These kinds of beat reporters and insiders just call the Patriots media liaison and he feeds them their info that they claim came from a “source.” And now that they’ve been exposed they’re circling the wagons and trying their best to protect their fragile egos. These guys actually think they’re part of the team they cover. Who could forget Greg Bedard saying once that he was getting a job with the Raiders because of his relationship with Josh McDaniels. It’s truly sad.
My advice to any of you Pats fans out there, don’t listen to these quacks who claim they know it all about the Patriots. In reality, they no diddly-bop-squat. No more than you, me or anyone else on the street. Kirk proved that this week and will continue to do so.
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