Matt Walsh, Matt Walsh, Matt Walsh…
What can I say that hasn’t been said already by someone else, somewhere else, most likely in better English and maybe with a few added expletives?
I’m actually not THAT mad at the mysterious Mr. Walsh.
I discovered recently, through his own reported testimony and the stolen video tapes he returned to the NFL, that Matt Walsh didn’t attempt to destroy the Patriots’ Super Bowl weekend.
It wasn’t him.
Sure, he did his part to ruin the first half of the offseason for Patriot fans.
I mean, Matt, you didn’t have a Rams’ walk-through tape. You KNEW, presumably, the entire time that you didn’t have a walk-through tape.
Would it have killed you to say so?
But I’m not holding that against him, and neither should anyone else.
I’m still bitter against former employers that did far less than fire me for illegally taping conversations.
I was once fired from a D'Angelo Sub Shop because I refused to wash the dishes after I completed my deliveries for the day (the other delivery guy left early for the second time that week…I was completely in my right).
That said, I probably deserved to be fired…after all, I’m not sure a manager who’s just been called a “bleep-eating cow” can do anything BUT fire you.
Joke was on her though—she had to do the dishes.
Point is, if some newspaper reported allegations against D'Angelo Sub Shops, and I had the chance to make their life miserable for a couple of months, I’d gladly take it.
Heck, I might even make something up when Senator Specter came knocking…especially if I had a signed contract that said I couldn’t get in any trouble for it (which I would have demanded).
Why did Matt Walsh do what he did?
The better question is, who wouldn’t have?
Turns out, I was mad at the wrong guy.
This whole time we all assumed Matt Walsh was the source of the now erroneous Boston Herald article claiming that the Patriots taped the Rams walk-through.
We were wrong.
Apparently, the same rumors I read on a St. Louis Rams message board a couple of weeks after the Super Bowl upset was repeated to the Boston Herald reporter by…someone. Not a Patriots employee, or a former employee. But someone.
Maybe Marshall Faulk, between forgetting who plays on the Buffalo offensive line and downplaying the Patriots’ perfect regular season, decided to place a call to the Boston Herald.
After all, there’s no way the Rams could have lost that Super Bowl without the Patriots cheating. Big upsets never happen unless someone cheats.
You hearing me, Eli!?!?!
Whispers and unfounded rumors were all the Herald needed to run to print the day before the Super Bowl.
But, it’s the bloggers who have no integrity and are ruining the sports media, right Bob Costas?
It’s not even the writer, whose name I will not mention, that deserves most of the blame.
SOMEONE at the Herald should have known better. Someone at the Herald should have put integrity ahead of selling papers.
Someone at the Herald should have nixed this ridiculous, unfounded, and irresponsible article.
ESPN and Fox Sports both acknowledged hearing the rumors about the Patriots taping the Rams’ walk-through, but claimed it didn’t meet the journalistic standard required to run with the story.
Like I said, I read the rumor back in March of 2002 on an AOL message board.
Do you think ESPN and Fox Sports didn’t want to break that story? Of course they did! But they realized, as the Herald should have, that there was no basis for the rumors. Nothing. Nadda.
It was easy to believe, because the Patriots had already been caught legitimately breaking the rules earlier in the year. So the Herald threw it out there in the hopes that it was actually true.
It wasn’t. Now they must pay.
The writer should be fired. The guy who allowed the story to go to print should be fired. And his boss should go with him.
The Patriots are already talking about a lawsuit, which I support wholeheartedly. I’ve heard some fans calling for a boycott, which I would support if I ever actually bought a Boston Herald in the first place.
I’m sure Specter is going to call for firings, suspensions, more fines, and the end of the NFL Network (he is on Comcasts’ payroll, after all).
But if he has any integrity at all (which he doesn’t), the only head he’ll be calling for tomorrow is the head of the guy who runs the Boston Herald.
For wasting his time, the NFL’s time, and Patriot fans’ time.
Screw you, Boston Herald.
Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer at Bleacher Report. You can email him at scrowe@gmail.com. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.
comments (10) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Good stuff. You really spelled it out, and put the blame where it belongs. Plus, I liked how you were able to equate what Walsh did with domething in your past. Too bad you didn't do that with me--I enjoy my job, but I work at an arts organization in Berkeley, CA, and it is so predictably liberal (to the left of me!): I was told I should not have fired someone who was persistently insubordinate and then would not leave when I told her she had to go home. You coulda said whatever you wanted to in my face and only gotten written up!
from 2 months ago
That's communist!
It's every boss' God given right to fire disobedient, lazy, foul-mouthed slugs. It's what this country was built on.
2 months ago
Great article - what has really bothered me is that as you wrote, ESPN and Fox Sports and I am sure many others, knew the Herald story was unfounded and didn't meet the necessary journalistic standards - yet once the Herald ran the story, ESPN and Fox Sports and everyone else, had no problem taking the story and running with it - and not once putting their reservations about the story in print or on the air.
from 2 months ago
Thanks!
I think they (ESPN, Fox Sports, SI, etc) reported it with the thought that the Herald got the story from Walsh directly, which is what they implied. If it came from Walsh directly, the person who reportedly did it, it gained credibility.
The only thing they're guilty of is giving the Boston Herald too much credit.
2 months ago
I hope that Kraft sues the Herald for the sum of $750,000 and gives Belichick $500,000 for his testimony in court.
I'm still dumbfounded that a paper based in Boston, with distribution going to all 6 New England states would publish such garbage the day before the Super Bowl-how could a business insult an organization with such a large following in their marketing area? That's not only bad business, that's just plain stupid. I wouldn't want to be the idiot that wrote that article....imagine the first drunken Pats fan he runs into on the street.....ouch!
Also, I agree with you.....[rant]screw you Boston Herald. Screw you twice. Morons.[/rant]
from 29 days ago
Once again Steve, we are in complete agreement.
Anyone living in the Herald's circulation area knows that it is an irresponsible rag, a local version of the National Enquirer. No surprise they would take a rumor and run with it.
2 months ago
It is really unfortunate that the Partriots got CAUGHT cheating....you guys do know they got caught right!!
from 2 months ago
Great comment, thanks for the input. You must've done a lot of research to come to that conclusion, and we Pats fans appreciate it.
2 months ago
What's the Boston Herald?
2 months ago
Sean
I've moved past Spygate, so why can't everyone else?
Two groups won't let it go: Patriot haters and Patriot lovers.
The league did their best to cover it up, but realized that they couldn't so they stepped in and took measures. All evidence is now in and I'm satisfied.
If they get caught again, that will be a another issue. Then some people - such as Bill Belichick - may find himself banned....
Pats fans don't want to believe that their dynasty may be tarnished. Pats haters want to see the dynasty totally discredited.
They didn't cheat last season and almost went undefeated, so how much did all of this covert activity REALLY help them? Not enough to ruin their legacy, but enough to place SOME doubt. Thats about it.
Everyone, please, let's move on
write a new comment