I made these my referee and judges, Hagler said, holding up his two fists. As one of their top NFL analysts, Clayton is always up to date on the biggest happenings around the league. Quotes were the chief information-dispensing device of other NBA writers. Bob Ryan The next bearer of Ray Fitzgerald's mantle. I dont see some of the older elitist being so inclined to drop down to the class of the fan. It didnt feel that way for Sox fans. He'll sometimes appear to be swayed by the media, but he sticks to his guns and gives great information about draft prospects on his Twitter account. His insight into the actual business of the league (contracts, rules, etc.) Peter Gammons WOW!! All yo have to do is read Shank or Nickles dreadful impersonation of his Baseball Notes after he left to see that he was different and what he did was deceptively difficult. The Boston Globe, New England's largest newspaper, has a habit of hiring journalists who fabricate information, misrepresent sources, or plagiarize writing. It sounds absurd looking back, it was! Its got to be Fitzgerald, Montville 1& 2. 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. And Horgan was terrific. When the Globe made me the first woman to cover the NFL as a beat in 1976, I had no idea what to expect. The US hockey team celebrates its victory against the Soviet Union. Accepting at face value his contention that beat writers dont root for teams, its nevertheless unreasonable to expect that they dont root for people on those teams. Gone forever. If you're into that fantasy football thing, Michael Fabiano is a man that you must follow. The truth is that ESPN does a fine job at covering the NFL and their analysts, like John Clayton, provide great information on Twitter. Patriots beat reporter and writer for the @BostonGlobe. The Boston Globe / Chad Finn / Jul 18 "Greg Bedard, who covered the Patriots and the NFL for the Globe from 2010 until leaving for Sports Illustrated's Peter King-helmed Monday Morning Quarterback site in 2013, is launching his own independent site, four months after he was caught in the most recent layoff maelstrom at SI." Cafardos willfull ignorance, then, is regrettable. I wasnt saying I wouldnt include him in the discussion, because obviously, I did include him by bring his name up. What made the game special for me was the local angle four of the players were from Boston University. Instead of focusing on their craft they focus on their next ESPN-NESN-WEEI appearence and their writing suffers because of it. One of the best things I've seen on Twitter happened by Bowen after Ricky Williams retired. Now he counts three dozen. A fellow Boston Globe writer named John Powers once noticed that Ryan didn't include many quotes in his game stories. I'm the Twitter equivalent to a gnat. 1) Ray Fitz. Im with Bruce on choosing Montville, Fitzgerald, and Ryanin that order. I still miss his Sunday column. he used write lists, very funny and informative. Like Finn, Abrahams outlet the Boston Globe is unfortunately aggressive with its late 90s, AOL-style pop-under ads. While Dan Wetzel covers every sport for Yahoo! If a team nicknamed the Patsies for most of my life could, then why not the Red Sox . He was that good. Tony Massarottis defection set it back, as did Sean McAdams abbreviated stint and subsequent departure for CSNNE. For some audiences, tainted by his mistake in moving forward in publishing spygate claims without proper substantiation. It was 4 oclock in the morning when sparring partners Robbie Simms and Danny Snyder went to their room to get the American flag. 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. He also covers NASCAR for the paper. Apart from the benefit it saw as an outlet for one of the rival factions during the Red Sox front office schism, the Herald Sports Sections fortunes have been in decline for years. And an honorary mention of Will Mc. Tears, my friend. Strengths: An original innovator in the Boston media landscape, brought an evolved approach to the market, properly leveraging his access to provide differentiated coverage. The 20 wins, the consistency, the toughness, and what is generally regarded as absolutely nasty stuff put Beckett slightly over the top.. (Businesses: Want to donate a prize and get mentioned? I loved to read him, and wasted a lot of time perusing the wire for any of his columns that I had missed. I really need more suggestions, in fact. it was the best. His analysis is always spot on, he never jumps to conclusions and is generally one of the nicest individuals you could follow on twitter. Before you check out The Onion Sports Network, I must warn you that the majority of their articles are false. Weaknesses: Occasionally gets bogged down in metrics, losing the forest for the trees. He was covering spring training in Fort Myers, Florida when he passed away. The mood on Main Street outside the Lake Placid arena that afternoon in 1980 was defiant, almost militant. Another name for consideration, though how about Bud Collins? On the plus side, hes got excellent context for the market, having covered it for so long. display: none; He knows players, people and teams and whether they'll fit together nicely or not. Its a similar story over at the Herald, where old mainstays like Gerry Callahan and Steve Buckley continue to occupy top billing. He was said to be the basketball guru in America and also was recognized as 'the quintessential American sportswriter.' He started his career as a sports intern with 'The Globe'. He continued to write columns for The Evening Globe, then the Boston Globe, until 1998. Thats what I planned to say if I got the chance to meet him at the Hot Stove, Cold Beer event in April. Change). He cites sources, gives insight and has great knowledge about the game of football. Bowen tweeted what a stiff arm from Williams felt like. And in 2017, the NBA awarded him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The Boston Globe. interesting angles. She is especially known for . Currently, he works as a sports business reporter at The Boston Globe in Greater Boston. On the minus side, Edes can be a bit of a traditionalist. If you happen to be a big fan of the New York Giants, Ralph Vacchiano should be your main man. In 2007, the year in which Sabathia won the Cy Young, Cafardo gave him a fourth place vote, with Beckett getting the nod for #1. One of Ray Fitzgeralds best columns had nothing to do with sports, but was about his daughter recieving a doctorate degree. Honorable mention too to John Updike, who only did two, but man . Take Dan Shaughnessy. Id like to create a list of the best all-time sports columnists here in Boston. He'll often repeat what a guy like Todd McShay or Mel Kiper, Jr. said and give you his take. 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. Winning titles was nothing new for John Havlicek and Don Nelson, but for Cowens, veteran rebound ace Paul Silas, and young backcourt stars Jo Jo White and Don Chaney, it would be a career first. Thats the way I did it.. As forward-thinking as that sounds, the newspapers core approach to sports coveragewhich still relies on boilerplate game recaps, columns, and weekly notebooks offering bullet-point takes on the happenings from the various sports leagueshasnt changed much over the years. Over the next nine years, each team was crowned champion. 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. Egan, who was nastier than Borges without the knowledge. I also liked tim horgan. 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. He's always got more inside information than anyone else, and he's also able to add a wealth of information to the draft and scouting of prospects. 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. Reporters will almost universally argue that it does, but what they typically dont address is how much of the need to report it is driven by frustration with or dislike for the player at issue. Jason La Canfora is as honest as they come as a writer and he doesn't lose any of that honesty on Twitter. Russ Lande is another NFL draft guy, and he may be one of the most well respected ones of the bunch. None with more panache than Brady. So, a focused Cowens responded with a stellar 28-point, 14-rebound game as the Celtics prevailed, 102-87. The Globe has as proud a history in sportswriting as any paper in the country, from the aforementioned Gammons to Ryan to Montville to MacMullan. To this day, I remember it. They are sure to cheer you up. My parents made me a Red Sox fan, but it was Peter Gammons that made me a baseball fan. However, they are also some of the funniest sports-related content on the planet and definitely worth a read. I covered every postseason game. Note that clicking the link below will block access to this site for 24 hours. Case in point, his recently launched Minor Details podcast. Matthew Berry is Mr. Fantasy Football for ESPN. Right Bruce? 1) All 3 are globies back in the days of the best sports section in the country. Im sorry, but leaving him off is like leaving Lawrence Olivier off a Best Actors list because he only did Shakespeare, really.. I found this out when my mom tweeted the other day that it was time to clean up my room before dinner. Turd one would think that this was Bruces attempt at playing to the masses after last week but you just never know. 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. Engaging and open to dialogue; hes responded to a couple of mentions on Twitter, which in my experience is rare. Jack Thomas, the former Boston Globe reporter who wrote powerfully and poignantly last year about receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, died Sunday at his Cambridge home at the age of 83,. The ESPN Boston property is sadly afflicted with autoplay video, one of the least popular inventions of the modern web. Kevin Garnett yelled Anything is possible! after the Celtics won their first NBA title since 1986. Jim McBride Retweeted. One of them was Eruzione, the teams irrepressible captain. Nick Cafardo, former Boston Globe sports columnist, poses in this undated photo. Usually, sports reporters give more. He is easily the least well known of all sportswriters on this list, but he absolutely deserves to be followed on Twitter. The first is that he knows what he is talking about. Rich Gossage walked Rick Burleson with one out. 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. 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. And how we would re-double our efforts. June 24, 2021 at 11:36 a. It was full of tid bits and humor and occasionally an inside scoop. Erudite, clinical, and with a wide range of interests beyond baseball, which he wasnt afraid to bring to the column. Today, the paper's sports section remains synonymous with Ryan, now semiretired, and his fellow columnist Dan Shaughnessy. Baseball could not, would not be the same w/o PG's insights and observations sending lots of warm wishes for MANY more years of PG's vision, intutiion and knowledge! We got beat, he told me. While controversy does little for me personally, however, Im cognizant of its role in selling newspapers. Incredibly, it happened. Peter Gammons isnt officially ranked here, because that exercise would be pointless.