Tim_White's Blog

I can admit, too, when I am wrong.

In my previous blog (read below) I stated I'd like to see the editor's at the Herald write an explainer like Patriot's beat writer John Tomase did.

It turns out they did.

Though from the Editor-In-Chief and not the sports editor... and painfully lacking any details as to the process (or lack there of) the paper went through to vet the story.

However, the management staff needed to bow their heads as well -- and I commend them for doing that.

-Tim White

I thought I was done with this... but since the Boston Herald insists on milking their dirty diaper to sell more papers...

Here is the latest installment of the Boston tabloid's "We're Sorry" saga. It printed Friday. Patriots beat writer John Tomase, vilified for blowing a story that the Patriots videotaped a Super Bowl walkthrough of the St. Louis rams, has written a piece on what happened.

It takes courage to fess up to all of New England. But where is the explanation from the editors who let this thing go to print? In journalism, it takes two (3, 4, 5...) to tango.

I took a moment to scroll through some of the comments posted on the Herald's website. If they are an accurate sample of reader's feelings, Tomase and the Herald have a long way to go.

-Tim White

There is no question the Boston Herald will see newspaper sales like never before today.

A blazing apology on the front and back pages of the Boston tabloid is getting a lot of radio play and will undoubtedly be the talk of the town.

The Herald is begging forgiveness for a February 2, 2008 article by Patriots beat writer John Tomase, where he reported the New England patriots videotaped a St. Louis Rams walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI.

As we all know, following evidence and testimony from former Pats’ photographer Matt Walsh… that never happened.

Ouch.

OK, so the Herald is trying to win back fans with a full-color apology. (Don’t think for a moment this isn’t also an effort to sell more papers).

I commend them for making a retraction – I certainly won’t cast aspersions or produce a boring blog-lecture on “checking sources” or “verify verify verify.”

However, there is something that is really driving me nuts.

Tomase, the reporter who wrote the stink-bomb, was covering the NFL story yesterday in New York!

How do the editors at the Herald (who are also to blame for the massive error) send the very guy who dropped the ball, to cover Matt Walsh?

Don’t they have someone else?

On Page 79 is the apology (Herald readers flip back-to-front)… on page 76 is Tomase’s by-line with the headline “Commish: Case closed.” Are you kidding?

I have never met Tomase, but I can say he’s a very good writer, and except for this one (enormous, possibly career-debilitating error) he’s a good reporter. And he sure as heck won’t make that mistake again; expect squeaky-clean reporting from here on out.

But how can the reader’s trust his reporting on this issue?

Tomase is radioactive.

The Herald should have sent someone else to New York, plain and simple.

If there is any question as to how heavily-favored the New England Patriots are in this weekend’s AFC Championship game, just ask the bookies.

The latest line out of Vegas favors the Pats over the banged-up San Diego Chargers by more than 14 points (as of this writing; lines change frequently).

The more telling story is the confidence they have in the yet-to-be-decided AFC team in the Super Bowl. These odds would change if the Chargers pulled off an upset… but the line now is a 14-point favor for the AFC team.

Of course, sports betting is illegal here. Yet, the Providence Journal still publishes the odds. Rhode Island State Police Major Steven G. O’Donnell, a veteran mob investigator, says the key reason those lines are printed are for bookies.

Very thoughtful of them.

-Tim White

Nothing says "thanks fans!" like jacking up the cost of tickets to Fenway Park by 9 percent. Today's Boston Globe reports barely a week after the Sox won the World Series, owners decided they needed more revenue and passed that along to the Fenway Faithful.

Check out this Globe graphic:

Have fun, kids.

Looks like the Paw Sox have become more attractive.

I swore I would not be one of those journalists who flips over and writes about sports just because the Red Sox were in the post-season and The Patriots were red-hot.

Please join me as I break the promise with myself:

This entry begins, in earnest, with a confession: somewhere around the 7th inning of Saturday night's 10-5 win against Colorado, I drifted off to sleep. It wasn't for long, maybe a batter or two. But I woke up in start, fearing I had missed a big play. I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and stuck around long enough to hear Joe Buck inform the bleary-eyed viewing audience that we had just watched the longest non-extra-inning Word Series game in history.

Master-of-the-obvious factoid: post-season games are longer than regular season match-ups. There are more moves made by the coaching staff that tends to slow the pace down. I know it, the fans know it, the players understand this... how about Major League Baseball?

Never mind me and my sad excuse for consciousness post 10 p.m. -- Why are our kids being forced to miss out on history? An 8:35 p.m. start is too late.

Talk to any Red Sox fan with a kid under age 14 (my daughter just turned one, so of course, she prefers football) and they will tell you they either bent the rules and let them stay up, or woke their children up to watch the last out. Some just decided, for the sake of sanity, it would be best to let them sleep and pretend the game is "live" with Tivo. (White lies are OK with your own kids, right?)

My oldest brother, who has 4 boys under the age of 8, put sleeping bags in the living room. He's a good dad (arguably a bad husband), but they dozed during most of the action.

This is a missed opportunity for Major League Baseball. They built a national addiction decades ago. Not giving kids an opportunity to feel the drama of a 9-inning nail-biter when it matters the most is letting that opportunity slip away.

I watched post-season games as a kid with my dad. There were actually day games back then. Can you imagine? I don't understand why the east coast is forced to go prime time. The audience will be there, the advertising dollars will be there... move the game at least one hour earlier and put a weekend match-up in the afternoon.

This isn't the Superbowl, with a guaranteed national audience. The World Series is watched predominantly by the cities that have a stake in it (which is why there was probably a collective groan at Fox Network when the National League Championship Series pitted the smaller markets of Colorado vs. Arizona). Hey MLB: we'll be there, no matter the time slot.

Now excuse me, it's nap time.

-Tim White