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Rob, great stuff. You should have been doing this a long time ago. It's good to have sensible insight on the Sox and the direction of their players, especially Manny D and the pitching. Kepp it up.
Vinnie in Okinawa
Good job, nice to read someone that doesn't go on and on and on. Brief is sometimes better, good job of reducing the mental masterbating most writers use. (mental masterbating - credit to Woody Allan)
Rob, I've really enjoyed reading your blog this year--word for word the highest quality information I've seen this year, and I appreciate the responsiveness to our questions. But I'm really surprised and disappointed that your first recommendation to a newbie of another blog was Boston Dirt Dogs. Once in a while the guy comes up with a funny headline, but the rest of the time he drags out the same issues and makes fun of players in the cheapest way possible. "Fatsuzaka." Brilliant stuff. Manny! There's an issue we haven't seen discussed in a while, and look at the fresh spin he brings to it! Jokes about Keith Foulke and Burger King! Timely!
Please.
Boston Sports Media Watch is a great resource both for its own commentary and for its links--I wish you had started your response there.
Looking forward to more of your good work. I personally won't stray too far!
I have absolutely enjoyed your blog so far. However, I do have to take you to task about the BDD recommendation. First off, BDD is NOT a blog. Second, Steve Silva tries to have it both ways - he claims to be nothing more than a blogger when he is criticized, but also tries to keep one foot over as a "real journalist"
There are so many other good blogs out there with original, often funny, content. There are a number I could rattle off the top of my head that are leaps and bounds better than dirt dogs, but the heads of the class are Surviving Grady, Call of the Green Monster, and Soxaholix.
For straight information, I go to any number of reputable sources, not to a guy pretending to be a blogger, pretending to be a real journalist, and is nothing but a hack.
No self-respecting Sox fan touches BDD with a ten-foot pole. Hell, there are colleagues of yours who refuse to speak with the guy.
Steve Silva is a racist attention-whore who has done nothing but sully the name of the general Sox fan with hateful and unintelligent headlines to random photographs. That's not blogging, it's not original, and it sure as hell is not the "alternative" view of the Sox, as the Globe would put it.
I can't count how many players have endured Silva's worthless venom, but my right hand would be enough to count how many of them were white. You're the good guy, Rob. We are just extremely shocked and dissapointed you would point to Dirt Dogs as a reputable source of Sox info.
Rob, I have to add my voice to the choruses of disappointment that you would use your blog to promote Boston Dirt Dogs. I, too, have enjoyed your blog thus far. You're fresh air in this world of stale sports writers and I've directed many people to your space here, but it's tough to defend visiting a blog that would promote BDD as a good place to get information on the Red Sox.
Most fans have realized that Steve Silva's goal in life is to take down as many Red Sox players as he can (Are you unaware of the fabricated story he printed about Nomar not wanting his World Series ring? Only one in a vat full of transgressions).
I'm sad that you would automatically jump to a hate-mongering site like BDD when there are so many other great blogs out there (the ones already mentioned are definitely the cream of the crop).
"Sam Jackson's Lovechild" said it best. If you're looking for an alternative to mlb.com or the local newspaper coverage of the Sox, there are many more reputable places to get your information.
I'd be ashamed to be a Red Sox fan if I thought everyone believed that BDD represented us the way Steve Silva's inflated ego thinks he does.
Rob, ASSUME the closer situation positively works its way out this spring: Tavaras seems to be a solid low cost option for a team looking for a #5 starter. Any thoughts on him being traded and what type of young talent can you expect to get in return? I think the Sox need to cut some dollars off the payroll.
BDD? WHF?
I was directed to your blog by another Sox fan and have enjoyed it, and look forward to your take on the season as it unfolds. However, I echo those who have already taken BDD to task. To be blunt, it's vitriolic crap. While I don't believe a player should never be criticized, and that we as fans should be blindly loyal, BDD comes across as nothing but sarcastic and even hateful of the team it's supposedly promoting. The fact that this is tied in anyway to Boston.com is frankly disturbing. I urge those searching for good, balanced Sox coverage to avoid it like the plague it is.
Rob, great reading here. It's nice to see coverage of the Sox that's genuinely enthusiastic and informative. I live on the west coast so I'm lucky to avoid the bombastic and (frequently) vitriolic sports press that comes out of Boston.
So it stands to reason that I would be appalled that someone I respect would give a shout-out to the Boston Dirt Dogs website. Steve Silva epitomizes everything that is wrong with Boston sports "journalism" and the rush to sensationalize even the most trivial of sports news. Another commenter pointed out the false reporting regarding Nomar's WS ring - that's what turned me off to BDD for good. That was rag journalism at its worst.
There are plenty of websites with excellent insight and thoughtful writing. Steve Silva is the Kitty Kelley to their David Halberstam.
Ditto above, with emphasis. BDD is not a "blog," it's pointless hate-mongering aimed at the mouthbreather crowd. I'm flabbergasted that it is in any way linked with the Boston Globe, and (worse!) that the Globe has agreed to translate it to Japanese as part of their Matsuzaka Mania global empire building. STAY AWAY. Get your morning blog kicks from Surviving Grady and Soxaholix, some perspective from Seth Mnookin, and real analysis from SoSH. That (and your blog, of course) is all you need.
Good afternoon from London, Rob. I'm really enjoying your stuff here thus far; it's a nice cocktail of reportage and impression. All in all a pleasure to take in. It's apparent from reading these comments that your mention of the Boston Dirt Dogs site has raised a few hackles. I have a feeling that this is because people hold your writing in high regard, because of the enthusiasm, expertise and balance it exhibits, and are hostile towards BDD because of the total absence of these qualities on that site. I know you're not recommending that we buy a car from BDD, but it does seem like an odd fit.
Anyway, I have you bookmarked. Keep doing what you're doing!
Rob, I can only hope that your recommendation of BDD is attributable to your "blog doldrums," or perhaps the Florida sun has gotten to you.
For heaven's sake, BDD is an embarassment to Red Sox fans. Hateful, unfunny, stupid, vindictive and racist. I'd tell any baseball fan to avoid it at all costs.
I read BDD because it's funny most of the time. I didn't like the Fatsuzaka headline, but if you look at BDD like it's the "National Enquirer" it is better.
"I read BDD because it's funny most of the time."
Not funny ha-ha. funny like a clown. a mouth-breating assclown, to be exact
//but if you look at BDD like it's the "National Enquirer" it is better.//
And I'm sure if you looked at Tim Hardaway like the brainless homophobic tool he is, then it makes it a lot easier to listen to him.
Doesn't mean he deserves promotion as a good source of current events.
//but if you look at BDD like it's the "National Enquirer" it is better.//
But it isn't publicized that way, nor did Rob describe it like that. (And even the Enquirer would get taken to task for some of the things Silva has 'written' over there.)
Rob already posted today, and didn't mention BDD, so we got our answer. Apparently, he's good with promoting a racist, hate-filled, website.
I'm truly disappointed.
//I read BDD because it's funny most of the time.//
Funny like pulling wings off flies. I suppose that amuses some people.
It's a shame that Bradford would promote a site like Dirt Dogs that is routinely racist and homophobic and is run by someone who can best be described as psychotic. This is a "man" who threatens cancer patients, makes fun of the handicapped and has routinely published false information on his site to advance his racist agenda, all of which has been well, well documented.
ditto on the BDD - some insight to it:
1- three years ago he (silva) was cracking stories and was really cleaver....funny and had some good inside information (simmons?)
2- he sold out the boston globe, although he is still contributing to it (BDD)
3- he is not respected, not liked in the globe building where he shows up once in ahwhile.
4- I agree with the racist comments above.
many good blogs listed above and there are many more. my rule for blogs:
limit blog reading to one cup of coffee, otherwise you'll be there all day.
bradford bumped one blog - keep it up.
true dat on BDD...that guy is a menace.
i generally tune out BSMW on baseball stuff, to avoid things like "the tigers aren't even any good" from a mod in the middle of the yankees getting stomped last year. the anti-red sox PR cabal, while well-founded in spots, gets really really shrill really really quickly.
This is a shame, I really liked your writing, right up until you recommended Dirt Dogs, which is, without a doubt, the worst Red Sox web site ever. Steve Silva is an evil racist moron with absolutely zero integrity. He represents everything that is wrong and souless in the Red Sox fan base.
The BSMW message board is a separate place from the front page blog. The message board can go shrill at times, but the blog is always good.
The mod you mention is on the messageboard.
I don't think we should all bash Rob for suggesting one blog that some of us do not like. I agree with all that has been said and I also don't like BDD. However this was not the only blog Rob reccommended. He also reccomended Boston Sports Media Watch, Baseball Think Factory, and Baseball Musings. Rob has nothing to do with this blog other than having simply reccomended it.
I am going to continue to read this blog because so far I really like Rob's commentary and news he is providing us. Rob keep up the good work. Your blog is awesome.
becky,
eh...the bsmw blog goes that same route from time to time especially as it plays to its own messageboard. but the good intention is there, i agree.
Great blog Rob, really enjoying it and enjoy hearing your occasional appearances od WEEI.
I know it may be considered beating a dead horse at this point. but I too wanted to express my dislike of BDD. BDD is by no means a resource for sox fans. It is a non-readable cyber trash rag that just needs to go away. There are SO many better sox blogs out there that your readers should be aware of. My favorite is Survivinggrady.com. By far the funniest and best put together sox blog out there, SG is also a gathering place for many intelligent and passionate sox fans. Thanks for listening.
I hope this doesn't suddenly show up thrice, as my earlier comments didn't seem to show up, but -
I'm really glad to have been directed to this blog, too. Nice work, Rob.
And, for those looking for a really funny Sox blog, I have to recommend "Jose Melendez's Keys to the Game." It's witty, erudite, and good-hearted, all things that that hateful crap at BDD isn't.