Revos credibility hits a shameful low

Re: Deception and duplicity

Thanks Dad.



If someone lies about something that actually matters then I will spend time and energy being mad. But this is such a little thing. Sure it was dumb, but we are not talking about the New York times here, this was a freaking soccer broadcast.

 

The issue here is that Meterparel deliberately tried to deceive his audience by suggesting he was in Kansas City. No one has a problem with broadcasts being done remotely, and I don't blame the Revs (or EEI) if they chose not to send him to KC. If it was a remote broadcast, just don't say anything either way, because if done properly, it doesn't matter. Call the freakin' game and leave it at that.

And it is a big deal if you want to maintain trust. You need to be have a reasonable belief that certain things the media tells us are more or less true, using your own filter when needed. An example of this is Frank and Gus' widely different accounts on Brian Kamler's tenure here. You can argue about how effective he is (subjective), but if someone tries to claim he's a right-footer, then that's an out and out lie (fact). I have no problem with people offering opinions, but to mess with clear, undisputed facts is flat-out wrong.

As for the whole propaganda thing Big Frank mentions, regarding Feldman wearing 2 hats, did you hear the halftime interview with Twellman and Revs PR flack/lackey Brad Feldman? Feldman asked a question that you might expect from an independent reporter, not the club's own pubilcity guy. I don't have it exactly, but it was along the lines of TnT and JMM not always being on the same page, and if they were having difficulty playing together. Twellman openly disagreed, saying that he and JMM are working together and it was a matter of time before they were completely meshed.

Nothing all that controversial with either the question or the answer--I asked basically the same question after the LA game and got basically the same answer, but it showed me that Feldman is not a shill, and he will ask an intelligent question, one that likely the viewers are also wondering about. And he isn't going to sugar coat it, even when it comes to being critical or pointing out negatives in the play of the team's biggest stars.

So can we take this dead horse to the glue factory once and for all?

Tom

 

As I was leaving the parking lot at the Razor, I heard Meter talking about next week's game, saying that he WILL be in Columbus Saturday. I think he realizes his mistake.

The blame lies with WEEI, which doesn't take the Revs seriously in anything. Their website list themselves as the flagship station of the Red Sox, but no mention at all of their Revs coverage. They only broadcast the Revs because it came packaged with Patriots Monday.

At least the Revs have gotten some air time on talk radio out of this. There's no such thing as bad press, right?

 

While I think it was stupid to pretend to be in KC- when he wasn't, but...! As far as credibilty try to factor JM's by NESN today- even though it was one of the top two or three mentions on all the other media outlets last night and today- this morning's NESN Sportsdesk made not even a mention of Joe Thorton's weekend adventures- could it possibly be because the B's are majority owners of NESN that it was not deemed "newsworthy"?

 

If you're going to fight every battle, no matter how insignificant, then you're going to burn yourself out real quick. And your credibility too.

 

Re: Re: Deception and duplicity

This seems to imply that because it was "soccer" it's not important and it's ok to cheat the fans.

If the people involved with MLS don't care about the integrity of the league, it makes me wonder about the chances this league will last.

 

Re: Re: Re: Deception and duplicity

But this wasn't about the integrity of the league, it's about the integrity of a schmuck radio commentator. "Who cares?" is a perfectly reasonable response.

That said, it'd be nice if the Revs took the opportunity to sack Meterparel....

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Deception and duplicity

Who does the schmuck radio commentator work for?

Who is responsible for the broadcast?

 

If ANYONE out there thinks there are people in the Revs organization that told Meterparel and Noonan to pretend they were in KC, I think they're kidding themselves.

My gut tells me this was a decision made by JM and Mike Noonan went along for the ride.

And JM should be removed from the broadcasts because he treats the Revs' play-by-play job as a joke. He doesn't know the player names, he doesn't know the rules, and he doesn't know the terminology. I can't figure out how he thinks he's furthering his broadcasting career by doing a lousy job of calling MLS games.

 

What he said.

 

You know, I was trying to take you seriously (well, actually, I wasn't, but I was at least trying to pretend to take you seriously), but now I can't even pretend. If, as implied in your statement, MLS and its broadcasters and other affiliates should conduct themselves with a level of integrity equivalent to to bigger, more successful sports leagues, then they are already at or above that level. Show me any major pro sports league here or abroad, and I'm pretty sure I can't point to significantly worse patterns of behavior. From collusion in baseball and the "we sell violence, and, by the way, you owe us 30 grand for that hit" NFL to the "I've got mine, Jack, so phuque off" teams of the G14 in Europe, there are a lot of bastards out there.

Had you stuck with the an "it looks bush league" argument, I might have seriously considered it, but all that your talk of integrity accomplishes is to make me wonder what you're on and if I can get some for the weekend.

 

anyone that seriously has a problem with what meter did....if you're posting it here and NOT contacting either the revs or weei about it....then please don't bother writing anymore on the subject.

i have no beefs with anyone expressing an opinion one way or the other on this issue. but, discussing it here changes zip. spend your 5 minutes more wisely by calling their front offices.

 

Agreed. I sent an e-mail to Jason Wolfe (damn, I almost called him Josh), who is the program director at WEEI. His e-mail is jwolfe@entercom.com.

Each time I've contacted him, I've received an automatic reply of "Tom, thank you for your comments," but if he gets enough feedback about this idiot, maybe something will change. Or, let's put it another way, if we don't tell him what we think, then nothing will change.

Jon, I agree that the Thorton story not being reported by the Bruins-owned NESN is a bit fishy. Although I think it was pretty much a non-story, the fact that other media reported it makes NESN's potential conflict seem even greater.

Tom

 

Meter is a Joker and a Joke

Knowing John, I'm certain this was just a joke. He's the whipping boy at WEEI, and gets beat up all day about his soccer connections.

You all need to lighten up about this, after all, do you think there were more than 25 people actually listening to this midnight delayed broadcast?

And WEEI really dosent give a rats arse about soccer, so don't waste your time with them. They're all upset about their mandated 25-50% pay cuts which were recently demanded.

 

Oh, I think we've done more than enough. I'm sure they'd prefer if we didn't "bless" them with any more bombs!

 

Re: Meter is a Joker and a Joke

Ho-ho-ho! What a riot that guy is. See, there are several different kinds of "jokes." The kind you tell your all-male group of friends well into a night of drinking are a lot different than the kind of joke you'd make if you were giving a speech to a professional organization you belong to. This "joke" was about as funny as the time someone posted that JMM and Twellman were hurt in a car accident. Ha-ha-ha, you really got us there!

That's probably true, but I think it was Steve The Man himself who said that a true professional doesn't need a big crowd to be on top of his game (good thing for us!), and that you play the same way if there were 50 people watching or 50 thousand. If Meterparel wants to be in the same universe as the word "professional" it means you take your job seriously when you are on the air, no matter what.

Again, them not caring may be true, but damn, there are so many trees I can't seem to find the forest. Why is it that they all have to take huge pay cuts? Maybe it's that people are listening to other stations instead of WEEI? And by trashing one of your own programs, you are helping retain your listeners how?

Tom

 

Re: Re: Meter is a Joker and a Joke

Lets make the players act more professional too. I was always taught to "Act Like You've Been In The End zone before". You know, don't get too excited, over react, rub it into an opponent, show off, taunt, hump a corner flag, etc, etc. Maybe all the profanity laced crying (you know Rusty) over calls, and our post goal celebrations should be eliminated because they are "unprofessional". And lets stop the profanities coming from the Fort. In fact, lets stop having fun altogether. These foolish acts are tougher to explain to my daughter than a poor midnight re-broadcast.

Listen to any announcer and you'll hear lots of humor and unprofessional comments. Listening to Jimmy The Greek, Howard Cosell, Marv (a.k.a panties boy) Albert, John Madden, and Bill Walton make Meter look like a choirboy.

BTW, did any of you actually hear the entire re-broadcast on WEEI?

 

Re: Re: Re: Meter is a Joker and a Joke

You are mixing apples and pickup trucks, Krafty. A goal (or touchdown) celebration is often a spontaneous moment of joy. Twellman's infamous flag incident was just that. When asked about it,he said it wasn't planned, and he had no idea what he was doing, it just came to him. For better or worse.

Others have done pre-meditated celebrations, like pulling up a t-shirt with a message underneath or Juan Dely Valdez with his telephone call in Colorado a few years ago, to correographed stunts like the "Ickey Shuffle" in the NFL.

My rule of thumb is that anything spontaneous is OK, even if the result wasn't all that great (Twellman). Some planned moves are OK, but others are ridiculous, like The Baby Jesus being the second player in the game to do the Brandi Sports Bra gag. It was funny and fresh when Rooney did it the first time, but to see the same gag 10 minutes later is just lame.

And it is OK for broadcasters to use humor and show personality, but it should not overshadow the game itself. One of my favorite instances of this was last year when Rooney, very audibly yelled to the ref on a non-call, "hey, that's a F--in foul!" Nothing a broadcaster can do about that, but Adrian, working without a net said "Apparently Ricardo Valenzuela (or whoever the ref was) didn't think it was any sort of a foul. That all releates to the game, as opposed to trying out your material for open mike night at the local comedy club. What do Meterparel's "jokes" about Ted Kennedy drinking too much have to do with the game?

As for players swearing in the heat of the game, that has always been there, in all sports. It's just that now with microphones all over the field and little crowd noise, we hear it more clearly.

The re-broadcast isn't the issue. It's his lack of respect for his audience. If he can't be bothered to learn the players' names and the sport's terminology, why should anyone listen? If no one listens, that hits the station in the wallet.

And I certainly don't mean to tell a parent how to do the most important and most difficult job in the world, but as for explaining things to young kids, how about something along the lines of "some people act in an unacceptable way, and just because you see people doing these things doesn't make them OK?"

Tom