But yeah, the worst things that happened to older sportswriters in this town were the 2001 Patriots and the 2004 Sox. They can’t push “those” buttons anymore and aren’t capable of using their intellect.

A further dumbing down of our culture.

The twists on anything Patriots is akin to the news spin that comes out of Fox news and Oreilly. Claiming to be balanced, but really just drivel and propaganda of the worst kind. They will say nasty things, true or not, in the attempt to claim that they are objective. Then they will tell you they love the team.

It is ridiculous. If I want to hear rumor bashing about the Pats I will go read some blog in Ne York. What I want is the news about the Pats. I want to read honest interpretation of events, good or bad, and of course, I want to hear the good things about our team.

The team has worked hard to build a dynasty, but most of the writers are doing everything they can to tear it down. What a shame. This is their chance to report on the glory years of the Patriots, and they are blowing it.

There are only TWO reporters in Boston that are worth reading, because they LIKE the Patriots, and they are objective, and intelligent. One of those is my favorite, Mike Reiss. He will report the news. He will give his opinion, if asked, and it isn’t always positive. He will NOT, however, delve into the smut these other writers do, and he doesn’t report baseless rumors unless he can confirm what is going on. THAT is what a sports writer should do.

In most cities you have two kinds of sports writers. All lament their inability to play the game. SOme of them live vicariously through the players and their writing. Others fall into the dark side. Thei bitterness at not being good enough to play comes out in their writing, as they trash the game they reportedly love. What a shame that we have so many of those here in Boston. WHere can we turn for decent reporting a fan actually WANTS to read about their team?

Cassale, Felger, and Begoise (whatever his name is) are NOT examples to follow in the sportscasting world. They belong on Fox News, their idols.

I don’t live in Boston, and am not a PFW subscriber, so I have no first-hand knowledge of most of the stuff you mention here (only filtered knowledge via PatsFans.com and other boards).

I don’t know how much involvement the Krafts had in the hiring/firing decisions at PFW, but it wouldn’t surprise me if (A) Casale managed to “hide” his true self just long enough to get hired, and (B) once that happened, it was pretty much a given things were going to end badly. For example, if Casale had been fired over the CJ “story,” isn’t it likely that would have been portrayed as “the Krafts can’t handle honest criticism”?

Of course, if the Krafts knew what they were getting, and did it anyways, then it’s hard to sympathize.

Dale Arnold, Michael Holley and yes, Glen Ordway, are legitimate radio talents. These guys are not, but if they stuck to their beans, they would have been fine. They didn’t and listening to them was a complete waste of time. I stopped long ago.

Scott, you’re right, the Krafts are blowing an opportunity. Fan-flavored analysts like Vic Ketchman of the Jaguars website are tough to find, but you can’t tell me Casale was the next best alternative.

I would not be surprised to see aggressive changes between now and the start of the season. Lower level management at PFW blew this one by not firing Casale a while back. Upper level management blew it by not holding PFW to their task.