[Smilin' Joe Hesketh]

Bruce, I really hope you put all those quotes in the front page random quote generator.

High comedy, indeed.

[Bruce]

Have to add this one in here:

Borges, 9/12/2004

Quote

Parallel universe

Green Bay coach Mike Sherman and St. Louis coach Mike Martz share more than a first name. Both became head coaches in 2000, and they have posted identical 43-21 regular-season records and 2-3 playoff records. Each has won two division titles. One difference, of course, is that Martz led the Rams to a Super Bowl title.

[Len]

Borges is from some universe. I'm not sure if it's parallel though.

[Bruce]

Let's document these things:

Quote

Correction: Because of an editing error, the NFL notebook in the Sunday Sports section misstated that Mike Martz "had led the Rams to a Super Bowl title." Martz was an assistant coach when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000, but his team lost to the Patriots in 2002 when he was the head coach.

http://www.boston.co...for_the_record/

[Smilin' Joe Hesketh]

Bruce, on Sep 15 2004, 04:58 PM, said:

Let's document these things:

Quote

Correction: Because of an editing error, the NFL notebook in the Sunday Sports section misstated that Mike Martz "had led the Rams to a Super Bowl title." Martz was an assistant coach when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000, but his team lost to the Patriots in 2002 when he was the head coach.

http://www.boston.co...for_the_record/

Nice catch. Maybe you should have a running Borges correction page linked off the front page. :lol:

[Bruce]

From the front page, 11/8/2004

Quote

Back to Borges, on the WBCN pregame show, he was on fire, he and Dan Shaughnessy were guests
and they were in the process of comparing the Red Sox and Patriots, it was noted that the Red Sox are a much
more open, freewheeling and loose group. Borges commented that the Patriots players are individuals as well,
and that "a lot of the players don't like how things are done here, but they put up with it." Yeah, winning is awful.
Later, the topic turned to Mike Martz's alleged role in getting the competition committee to enforce the illegal
contact rule, and Borges went nuts. He railed on, saying that the Patriots organization complained for 25 years
about a non-call holding incident against the Raiders and made the inference that they are hypocrites now for
complaining about a group that simply wants the rules called as they are written. He said if you watched the AFC
title game last year, it was clear that the Patriots went against the rules, inferring once again that they cheated.
He also went on to suggest that Randall *** and Asante Samuel can not play, and that they would be torched by
the Rams, he pronounced anyone who saw these guys make some plays as nickle and dime backs as "giddy"
people who know nothing about football. He picked the Rams to win yesterday, but perhaps a little gun shy
over his 73-0 pronouncement the last time these teams played, he refused to pick a score, something the
other members of the panel had to do.

[Len]

If Borges hadn't skipped the preseason to take his extended vacation, maybe he'd know that G_y and Moreland could play. Borges was MIA on the football beat until the regular season began. What a turd!!! Maybe he should check in with the summer intern for his notes. :angry:

[Smilin' Joe Hesketh]

Len, on Nov 8 2004, 04:18 PM, said:

If Borges hadn't skipped the preseason to take his extended vacation, maybe he'd know that G_y and Moreland could play.  Borges was MIA on the football beat until the regular season began.  What a turd!!!  Maybe he should check in with the summer intern for his notes.  :angry:

Ronnie was too busy serving his suspension for beating up old crippled beret-wearing men for him to notice that *** and Moreland could do a passable job out there, and that Troy Brown had been getting work at DB for just this scenario.

[Patrick Pass]

Smilin said:

Ronnie was too busy serving his suspension for beating up old crippled beret-wearing men for him to notice that *** and Moreland could do a passable job out there, and that Troy Brown had been getting work at DB for just this scenario.

Don't know if this got passed over or not, but I was listening to the WBCN pre-game show prior to the Super Bowl, a few hours before, and old Ron was on saying his sources were that there was no way Seymour could play and would have surgery shortly after the Super Bowl. The show the Pats went through having Seymour practice the week prior to the Super was just that, a big show, and Seymour was seriously injured and couldn't play at all. He claimed to have excellent sources on this. For the record, he also said Terrell Owens wouldn't play for the Eagles either and had sources on that as well.

Seymour then went out and started in the game, playing excellently, including a big sack while Owens started and caught 9 balls for 122 yards.

[tiny]

Patrick Pass, on Mar 2 2005, 11:49 PM, said:

Don't know if this got passed over or not, but I was listening to the WBCN pre-game show prior to the Super Bowl, a few hours before, and old Ron was on saying his sources were that there was no way Seymour could play and would have surgery shortly after the Super Bowl. The show the Pats went through having Seymour practice the week prior to the Super was just that, a big show, and Seymour was seriously injured and couldn't play at all. He claimed to have excellent sources on this. For the record, he also said Terrell Owens wouldn't play for the Eagles either and had sources on that as well.

Seymour then went out and started in the game, playing excellently, including a big sack while Owens started and caught 9 balls for 122 yards.

good stuff, pat

[Bruce]

Quote

RB: I like Tony Dungy, I’m on the record as saying that.

Caller: Yeah, but I mean this season when the season comes up after all that happened in that playoff game, I mean, you know, head to head matchups and stuff, you won’t concede a checkmark early or…

RB: I think Tony Dungy is a great coach. I don’t think they got outcoached in that game. You think that’s way they lost the game?

Caller: No, I uh…I think he did get out coached. I don’t think it was the reason, but ah..

RB: You thought he got out coached? So in other words every time a team wins, the other guys get outcoached or if the team loses he outcoached the other guy?

EA: Dan, do you remember the last words that Ron, that uh, Jags said before he went to Pawtucket?

Caller: I…I…

RB: What was I doing?

EA: The last words he said was ‘you know something, I just want you to know, Eddie, everybody was right, Brady is a better then Peyton Manning.’

Caller: laughs

EA: So I’m expecting you (Borges) to say, ahhh, that Bill Belichick is a better coach than Tony Dungy.

RB: I don’t feel that, so why would I say it?

EA: Well at some point, you might feel it.

RB: Well, I might feel…if I feel it I’ll say it. But I don’t feel it.

EA: I said at some point I expect you to say it.

Caller: I um, Ron I mean um, … is it going to be… I just want to know …this is getting.., are you going to

RB: Well what are you basing this on?

Caller: I’m basing on that what, fourth and inches when he wouldn’t go for it in that playoff game, a lot of things, the Colts only scored 3 points in that playoff game when everybody a lot people in this town were picking Indianapolis, you know, say what you want about Bill Belichick…you know, Tony Dungy…you’re right, the players do make the difference, but…I think Bill Belichick outcoached him that day, in a big time playoff game. You know.

RB: And you’re basing that on what?

Caller: I’m basing that on the head to head matchup.

RB: Well, no, you’re basing it on what? That he got outcoached. Give me an example how he got outcoached. How’d he get outcoached?

Quote

EA: I wanna ask you a question, assuming Bill Belichick was a free agent, and assuming Tony Dungy was a free agent, and assuming money didn’t make any difference, who do you think the Indianapolis team would sign as coach?

RB: I think Polian would hire Tony Dungy.

EA: Nooooooo

RB: Well I do, you asked me…

EA; Your nose is growing!

RB: You think Polian is going to give up all his authority to Bill Belichick? No he’s not. So its…ludicrous…he would never do that.

EA: Well you’re bringing in something else.

RB: Well, no, you just asked me the question, I gave you the answer.

Quote

.RB: …I don’t understand even more so why it’s such a big deal.

Caller: Because Tony Dungy hasn’t accomplished, Ron,

RB: He’s the winningest coach in the league the last five years! I hate to tell ya!

Caller: Well…

RB: Well what? He’s the winningest coach in the league since 1999. I’m sorry. Ya know, I’m sorry to break that news to you, but he is. Now you can still say he !&%$ if you want, but !&%$ or not, he’s still the winningest coach in the league since 1999.

[Bruce]

Quote

EA: Well there would be a revolution if they didn’t (Sign Tom Brady)

RB: Well, I don’t believe that there would be. I used to think that there would be because I used to think that the fans were smart around here, but they’re drunk

EA: Wait a second, Wait a second…

RB: Eddie, I’m telling you,

EA They’ll put up with a lot of things, $40 parking…

RB: If the Patriots came out tomorrow and said the only way we can get to the Super Bowl is to shoot Tom Brady, 5000 people would drive with revolvers to the Stadium. That’s just the way it’s become.

[Bruce]

Quote

RB: When Tedy Bruschi intercepts a pass, when Ty Law makes three diving interceptions, two of which in which he was out of position for the defense he was in, that has nothing to do with the coaches

EA: Guys make big plays…

RB GUYS make big plays…coaches don’t make any plays.

EA: But part of the reason they make big plays is…

RB: That’s Bullsh!t! Bullsh!t.

EA: hahahah

RB: No, that is Bullsh!t. They’re in…Ty Law made two of his interceptions not where he was supposed to be in the defense as it was designed. So does that…what does that mean?

[Mark]

This is really a shame because the Globe can bar him from the radio if Sullivan chose to take that seriously.

We can't lose the joy of Ron's on-air insanity.

[Pats67]

I'm confused. Why would Sullivan ban Borges from the air for comments like this? These are directly from Joe's Patriots-hating talking points memo.

[Frank Costanza]

Today I sent an email to Mr. Sullivan regarding our demented little friend, covering most topics that are usually discussed here. The BB-hating, Patriots-hating, changing opinions to fit the occasion, etc., and I threw in the fact I stopped subscribing to the Globe a few years ago because of Borges and don't even buy it occasionally anymore, mostly because the sports page has gone so far downhill.
I will let everyone know if I get a response...I'm not holding my breath.

[Frank Costanza]

Today I got a response from Mr. Sullivan, and as I feared, it was quite Globe-like. He simply told me Ron Borges is a Hall of Fame voter, award-winning football writer, and it's his job to look at the Patriots with a critical eye (my words: mission accomplished). Then Mr. S. got as condescending as one of his writers, telling me to go read Patriots Football Weekly or Patriots.com if I wanted just positive things. Of course, this is not what I had told him. It was more like accuracy being important instead of reading about it all in a negative way.

Business as usual at the Globe, and guess what, I don't see myself rushing out to buy it now, just like the last few years. :rolleyes:

[Bruce]

Frank Costanza, on Apr 25 2005, 03:06 PM, said:

Today I got a response from Mr. Sullivan, and as I feared, it was quite Globe-like. He simply told me Ron Borges is a Hall of Fame voter, award-winning football writer, and it's his job to look at the Patriots with a critical eye (my words: mission accomplished). Then Mr. S. got as condescending as one of his writers, telling me to go read Patriots Football Weekly or Patriots.com if I wanted just positive things. Of course, this is not what I had told him. It was more like accuracy being important instead of reading about it all in a negative way.

Business as usual at the Globe, and guess what, I don't see myself rushing out to buy it now, just like the last few years. :rolleyes:

That's terrible. I thought Sullivan might be above the CHB-style putdowns. So much for that.

[Bruce]

From 5/4

Quote

    Caller: Well, I just have the feeling that Belichick...we all trust him at this point...

    Borges: We don't all trust him...

    Caller: Most of us trust him...three Super Bowls, he's got a little bit of a track record around here.

    Borges: Yeah, well, you know, Emperor Hirohito had a big lead in the early days too...

And then a little bit later in the discussion:

Quote

    Borges: Most people think like George until it's too late.

    Caller: ...if you could only jettison either Belichick or Brady, which would you say sayonara to...everyone says Brady...

    Borges:You're right, that's the way people are thinking, I've long been on record, as Chuck Fairbanks once said, it's not about "X's" and "O's" it's "Jimmy's and Joe's" so I still believe in the players, and my argument is you have short...you obviously have like, not you in particular, Patriots fans, have what I would call short term memory loss, 'cause the same coach was here the first year, Tom Brady wasn't the quarterback, and won 5 games. So unless you subscribe to the fact that he went to an intensive coaching school after that first season, it has a little bit more to do about Tom Brady than it does anything else.

[Patrick Pass]

Heard some of the WBCN pre-game show. Borges was his usual jackasss self. A couple points.....Zolak said he thought Chatham could contribute, that BB had called him in during the summer and told him they were going to teach him inside linebacker and his role would increase. Borges disagreed Chatham could contribute in any way. Here's pretty much what he said:

"You know the commercial with Mike Vrabel in which he's playing football and tosses the guy into a grill? Chatham isn't even as good as the other guy, he's the grill...."

Later on when speaking of Ben Watson, a few of the other guys were saying he could contribute. Borges basically said he's always hurt, always will be hurt and won't contribute ever because of it.

Now Watson has been hurt. I agree. No disputing that. But lets see what happens as the season develops. I'll be interested to keep Borges' Exhibition Game 1 comments in mind all season as I watch Watson and Chatham to see how good 'ole Ronnie's evaluations are.

Edit: Oh, almost forgot. He also pretty much said Richard Seymour doesn't like Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick and their relationship is "purely business". He said he'd leave unless they made him one of the top 3 paid defensive players in the NFL (no mention of franchise tags or transition tags.....just "he'll leave")

[tiny]

Patrick Pass, on Aug 12 2005, 07:33 PM, said:

Heard some of the WBCN pre-game show. Borges was his usual jackasss self. A couple points.....Zolak said he thought Chatham could contribute, that BB had called him in during the summer and told him they were going to teach him inside linebacker and his role would increase. Borges disagreed Chatham could contribute in any way. Here's pretty much what he said:

"You know the commercial with Mike Vrabel in which he's playing football and tosses the guy into a grill? Chatham isn't even as good as the other guy, he's the grill...."

Later on when speaking of Ben Watson, a few of the other guys were saying he could contribute. Borges basically said he's always hurt, always will be hurt and won't contribute ever because of it.

Now Watson has been hurt. I agree. No disputing that. But lets see what happens as the season develops. I'll be interested to keep Borges' Exhibition Game 1 comments in mind all season as I watch Watson and Chatham to see how good 'ole Ronnie's evaluations are.

Edit: Oh, almost forgot. He also pretty much said Richard Seymour doesn't like Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick and their relationship is "purely business". He said he'd leave unless they made him one of the top 3 paid defensive players in the NFL (no mention of franchise tags or transition tags.....just "he'll leave")

He also bashed Asante Samuel - said he hasn't convinced him (Borges) that he can be an every down corner, in fact he has convinced him he can't. I guess last year was a mirage.

Chatam must have stolen Borges' lucky pen that Will McDonough gave him or something - that's the 2nd time I have heard him call him out. A lot of effort on a special teams player/back up linebacker. I think Borges, Sarandis, and Steve Buscemi's character in Billy Madison are the only 3 guys who have a "People to Kill" list above their bed.

[Patrick Pass]

tiny, on Aug 12 2005, 10:51 PM, said:

He also bashed Asante Samuel - said he hasn't convinced him (Borges) that he can be an every down corner, in fact he has convinced him he can't.  I guess last year was a mirage.

Chatam must have stolen Borges' lucky pen that Will McDonough gave him or something - that's the 2nd time I have heard him call him out.  A lot of effort on a special teams player/back up linebacker.  I think Borges, Sarandis, and Steve Buscemi's character in Billy Madison are the only 3 guys who have a "People to Kill" list above their bed.

Yep and claimed he drafted Rohan Davey because he was a "friend of a friend"....explaining that it was done as a favor to then LSU coach Nick Saban and for no other reason. I didn't know BB held 4th round draft choices in such light regard and would discard them that easily.

[Pats67]

of course, this is the pre-game show on the flagship station of the radio network of the three-time champs. Good to see we still have courageous journalists in town - isn't how that rot goes?

I wonder how WBCN can justify giving this whackjob airtime when his own paper doesn't want him writing about the Patriots.

[Patrick Pass]

Pats67, on Aug 13 2005, 08:41 PM, said:

of course, this is the pre-game show on the flagship station of the radio network of the three-time champs. Good to see we still have courageous journalists in town - isn't how that rot goes?

I wonder how WBCN can justify giving this whackjob airtime when his own paper doesn't want him writing about the Patriots.

Andy Gresh was also on the pre-game report. I found him to be a screeching moron, bordering on unlistenable, who had little or no insight on football or the Pats. However, he did have one funny comeback to Borges. Borges was disagreeing with him on something in his usual condescending tone when Gresh shot back "Ron, I don't think you could draw a blitz on the chalkboard if I asked you to right now..." Borges shut up and there were a few seconds of dead air before Ron meekly said "Yes, I could". It was funny. But, unfortunately, it was the sole Gresh highlight that I heard.

[Pats67]

Patrick Pass, on Aug 13 2005, 11:43 PM, said:

Andy Gresh was also on the pre-game report. I found him to be a screeching moron, bordering on unlistenable, who had little or no insight on football or the Pats. However, he did have one funny comeback to Borges. Borges was disagreeing with him on something in his usual condescending tone when Gresh shot back "Ron, I don't think you could draw a blitz on the chalkboard if I asked you to right now..." Borges shut up and there were a few seconds of dead air before Ron meekly said "Yes, I could". It was funny. But, unfortunately, it was the sole Gresh highlight that I heard.

Gresh is just terrible. Another guy who confuses volume with insight. I have yet to see anything redeemable about him. And its just cringe worthy when he refers to his own football days in relation to Pats talk, as he seems to be straining to leave the impression that he was merely a few steps from an NFL career himself.

[charlie]

Pats67, on Aug 14 2005, 01:41 PM, said:

Gresh is just terrible. Another guy who confuses volume with insight. I have yet to see anything redeemable about him.

He's pretty strong with Seinfeld trivia. Seriously.

[Pats67]

charlie, on Aug 14 2005, 01:59 PM, said:

He's pretty strong with Seinfeld trivia.  Seriously.

Well, all right then.

[Cooz14]

Pats67, on Aug 14 2005, 09:41 AM, said:

Gresh is just terrible. Another guy who confuses volume with insight. I have yet to see anything redeemable about him. And its just cringe worthy when he refers to his own football days in relation to Pats talk, as he seems to be straining to leave the impression that he was merely a few steps from an NFL career himself.

This sums it up:

Beaker, on Aug 9 2005, 02:44 PM, said:

For those of you that watch New England Sports Tonight, try this: I dare you to look at Andy Gresh and not spend the entire time he's on camera wondering if he cuts his own hair. I CAN'T KEEP THIS TO MYSELF ANYMORE.

:lol:

[Frank Costanza]

Pats67, on Aug 13 2005, 08:41 PM, said:

of course, this is the pre-game show on the flagship station of the radio network of the three-time champs. Good to see we still have courageous journalists in town - isn't how that rot goes?

I wonder how WBCN can justify giving this whackjob airtime when his own paper doesn't want him writing about the Patriots.

It took them long enough.

I wonder what forced the Globe's hand. There should have been several reasons, but maybe they finally had too many complaints to not make some sort of change. I bet that's it; his bosses didn't even care or realize how unprofessional he'd become, so it may not have been the quality of his work that seems to have gotten him shifted.

At least he's off the beat (we think), and that's the bottom line/

[Blinded by the Lombardis]

Thought today's insights were worth adding. Transcripts done by NAOP

Quote

EGA: “At least Ron Borges has said that if the Patriots win it this year he is going to admit that Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. And then of course he’ll have equal rights if he doesn’t win it this year. And what would you say…”
PMOW: “It doesn’t make him the greatest person of all time.”
EGA: “What would you say if they lost in overtime in the Superbowl by a safety."
PMOW: “The guy can’t coach, like I always say.”
EGA/PMOW: “Ha ha ha ha. Oh geez. Ha ha ha!”
EGA: “No one’s going to beat you. We’ll be right back.”

Quote

PMOW: Can we agree on this? If they win this year I’ll come on your show, the Eddie Andelman show, and I will say that Bill Belichick is the greatest professional football coach ever.
EGA: Alright, so that’s fair enough. So that’s the ground rules.
PMOW: You left out the other half?
EGA: What was the other half?
PMOW: But if that isn’t the case I’m going to come on your show and you’re going to say that you’ve been right about Tony Dungy all along.
EGA: Well no no, I think that goes without saying.

Quote

PMOW: "I can give you a good example. A web site that has been highly critical of myself as well as the Globe, Nick, and so forth. Not too long ago they had a little thing about an article in the Herald about how the Patriots were like 9th in the... ah… on payroll and blah blah blah… and they are paying up to the cap and so forth and so on and praises the guy for writing the story. He doesn’t point out that the guy… the same… the guy who wrote that story has also been insisting that the previous 4 years that they paid to the cap, and in this story he writes now in the previous 3 years they were 24th, 21st, and I believe it was 23rd. The guy completely forgets this, so you know… people… they believe what they want to believe. They don’t care what the reality is, unless you lose."

And here's the PFW link from yesterday, just to hold onto

[Patrick Pass]

In today's Globe, 'ole expert Ron wrote:

Quote

Skeptics will point out that the Giants were 3-1 a year ago only to finish 6-10 when Manning lost seven straight starts after replacing Kurt Warner.

The thing is, Eli Manning didn't lose seven straight starts after replacing Warner. He lost six staight, then won the seventh on the last day of the year. He only started seven games for the year, so he didn't even lose 7 overall. I knew it as soon as I read it because I watched the nationally televised, night game he won last year in the last weekend of the year. It was a 28-24 win over Dallas in which Manning threw 3 TDs and had his best game of his young career. It was a big story for the NFL's final week and it was big for Manning too to be able to get his first win going into the offseason and it put the whole team in a better frame of mind for the offseason.

But of course, Borges had no clue.

[Blinded by the Lombardis]

Transcripted by NAOP on 10/13/05:

Quote

Flashkid: Ron must be very happy, the headline in the Boston Herald today “The Deuling Geniuses”.
PMOW: Yeah, there we go.  That’s really… that’s a very interesting thing ‘cause I think of Shanahan as the Pre-Belichick Belichick.  You know in 98 and 99 when they were winning two back to back Super Bowls he was the offensive version of Bill Belichick. He was a genius.  He reinvented offense, you know, he turned the West Coast offense into sort of the, you know, the Pan-Pacific offense.  And then John Elway retired and he hasn’t won a playoff game since.  So that, I believe, is now seven years ago, so seven years of genius seems to slowly dissipate when the players weren’t quite as good as the previous players.  (The last sentence said in the most smarmy voice he could muster.)

[Pats67]

Ron follows up on the Genius theme.

On the day the coach buried his father.

[Ironhead]

Pats67, on Nov 25 2005, 08:43 AM, said:

Ron follows up on the Genius theme.

On the day the coach buried his father.

Usually I am able to laugh at Borges, but this is just despicable.

[TheoShmeo]

This is my first post here and I have a similar post on SOSH, for what it's worth.

This past Sunday Borges posited that Belichick was wrong to say that the Pats would play the Miami game as if it were any other game since the plan was not to do that and it appeared that Cassel threw the ball away at the end.

I wrote him an e-mail that said that Pats fans understand that BB will be less than truthful at times if he believes that serves the goal of putting the team in a better position to win, that if he thought that BB should have said "well, we'd prefer to play the Jags than Pitt so we'll play the game like an exhibition game" that he is crazy and that most, if not all, serious fans care not even a little bit about the level of disinformation from the head coach, we care about winning.

That lead to an all day set of e-mails in which Borges was bombastic and never admitted to remotely grasping my point.

The e-mail discussion ended when I pointed out that it's odd and perverse to demonize BB for being less than truthful but, at the same time, to do business with Don King, a murderer.

Would be interested in knowing if anyone disagrees with my basic premise and, in general, getting feedback on this.

[Ironhead]

TheoShmeo, on Jan 11 2006, 12:45 PM, said:

This is my first post here and I have a similar post on SOSH, for what it's worth.

This past Sunday Borges posited that Belichick was wrong to say that the Pats would play the Miami game as if it were any other game since the plan was not to do that and it appeared that Cassel threw the ball away at the end.

I wrote him an e-mail that said that Pats fans understand that BB will be less than truthful at times if he believes that serves the goal of putting the team in a better position to win, that if he thought that BB should have said "well, we'd prefer to play the Jags than Pitt so we'll play the game like an exhibition game" that he is crazy and that most, if not all, serious fans care not even a little bit about the level of disinformation from the head coach, we care about winning.

That lead to an all day set of e-mails in which Borges was bombastic and never admitted to remotely grasping my point.

The e-mail discussion ended when I pointed out that it's odd and perverse to demonize BB for being less than truthful but, at the same time, to do business with Don King, a murderer.

Would be interested in knowing if anyone disagrees with my basic premise and, in general, getting feedback on this.

Welcome, Theoshmeo!

Can you post some of the best stuff from Borges in :ph34r: ?

Borges is the ultimate in 'do-what-I-say, not-what-I-do' hypocrisy.

[TheoShmeo]

Ironhead, on Jan 11 2006, 03:52 PM, said:

Welcome, Theoshmeo!

Can you post some of the best stuff from Borges in :ph34r: ?

Borges is the ultimate in 'do-what-I-say, not-what-I-do' hypocrisy.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm tempted to post the e-mails but I think that it would be inconsistent with the spirit of them....I don't think he thought that what he was writing to me would get published.....Sorry.

[Feejis]

TheoShmeo, on Jan 11 2006, 10:57 PM, said:

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm tempted to post the e-mails but I think that it would be inconsistent with the spirit of them....I don't think he thought that what he was writing to me would get published.....Sorry.

Post them in BSMW only. Only registered members have access. I'm sure many here respect your decision if you choose not to, but any communication between individuals isn't private or anything. He has no right to expectation of privacy.

[TheoShmeo]

Feejis, on Jan 11 2006, 10:35 PM, said:

Post them in BSMW only. Only registered members have access. I'm sure many here respect your decision if you choose not to, but any communication between individuals isn't private or anything. He has no right to expectation of privacy.

Will think about it..Thanks

[Bruce]

More quotes for posterity:

Quote

(01/06/06) "This fellow has cornered the market on convincing people with the help of his friends that no one has ever worked harder than he does and he's out, uh, you know, when everyone else is sleeping, he's working, when everyone else is eating, he's working, uh, I could say something, but I won't...about uh, how at least some of his time is being spent..."

Quote

(Same Day)
Borges: …I don’t expect guys to tell me this that and the next thing, “Hey, we’re going to sit down…we’re going put in Monty Beisel because Bruschi’s out” I don’t expect that. But there’s a difference between that, and being purposely, uh disrespectful, number one, purposely obtuse number two and LIE rather than tell the truth.

Felger: I don’t care about any of that.

Borges: Well then you and I are different, man! I don’t know who raised you, but you know, I wasn’t raised by people who said you know, let people LIE, its ok! Let people cheat, it’s ok, let people do what they want, it’s ok let people CRAP all over you it’s ok, I wasn’t raised that like that! It’s ok if you were raised that way, I understand, you’re from Wisconsin or wherever the heck you’re from – there’s nice people out there, but I wasn’t raised to let people CRAP on me because they feel like it, I wasn’t raised to let people disrespect me because they feel like it, I wasn’t raised to let people LOOK ME IN THE EYE and tell me black is white and accept it. And I don’t accept it. I don’t go to their house, I don’t spend the summers down there. You know, I don’t do those things. But you can do what you want. It’s not a problem for me. But you know, it bothers me and it bothers a lot of people.

Quote

Bottom line is, you know, I bet he had a lot of his lunch money taken from him in sixth grade. And you know what? And you know what? I’d have had all his quarters. - Ron Borges, On ESPN Boston, 01/06/06, speaking of Bill Belichick

[Pats67]

when we talk about BB, how often do we talk about how he's the hardest working man in showbiz? I think we talk about the results, the innovation, etc., and not how he/they got there. As noted earlier, this is Ron's own manufactured strawman.

[Bruce]

Quote

Planning goes only so far

By Ron Borges | March 26, 2006

Bill Belichick has a plan. Of this we are sure. The problem, thus far, is that other people have plans, too.

He planned to sign wide receiver Joe Jurevicius to replace David Givens for a price he knew was right. Jurevicius had other plans.

He planned to sign cornerback DeShea Townsend for a price he knew was right. The Pittsburgh Steelers had other plans.

He planned to re-sign Adam Vinatieri for a price he knew would be right after the market for kickers dried up with the help -- wittingly or unwittingly, depending on whom you believe -- of Vinatieri's agent, who just happens to work for Belichick's lawyer back in Cleveland. Vinatieri had other plans and pretty soon another agent.

None of this means Belichick's plan, with some adjustments, won't in the end net him a roster that will keep the Patriots competitive in the AFC. It means only that other people have plans, too, and you can't control them, which can lead to unexpected difficulties and the need for adjustments. And so he adjusts.

Last week, there was much debate on talking-head radio about the defection of Vinatieri, who left for more money and a place where he felt wanted. It was fascinating to listen to the Friends of Bill, who once fawned over Vinatieri while mocking a guy they called ''Mike Vanderjerk," explain how suddenly the man was now ''Mr. Vanderjagt" and he was a better kicker than Vinatieri.

Vinatieri was suddenly the 19th-rated kicker in the league while Vanderjagt was sixth. Vinatieri's kickoffs were no longer deep enough. His field goals weren't long enough. His consistent conversions of every big kick since 1999 were ancient history, even though he did it twice more last season. Conveniently, the fact that Vanderjagt missed a 46-yard kick indoors on his home field with a playoff game on the line against the Steelers was downplayed, as was the fact that, regardless of how deep Vinatieri's kickoffs went, they went deeper than those of Vanderjagt, who doesn't kick off at all. The FOBs even talked about Vinatieri's age, as if 34 were decrepit. Vanderjagt is 36, but who's counting if he's coming to Foxborough?

They didn't talk about the fact that only one kicker among the top 19 scorers attempted fewer field goals than Vinatieri or that Vanderjagt kicked 11 more extra points, which was nearly half the difference between them. They did talk about how Vinatieri was now overpaid, because we all know no one in the NFL except Scott Pioli can add and subtract. Then Vanderjagt signed with Dallas and he was back to being Vanderjerk again.

Boston is a strange place to be a professional athlete. When you're on the way in, you're better than you really are. On the way out, you aren't worth a damn. You have a rag arm if you're Johnny Damon, and you're old if you're Willie McGinest (despite the fact that the last time he played in Foxborough, he jumped on the opposing quarterback 4 1/2 times to set a playoff record for QB abuse).

If you're Vinatieri, you're weak-legged, your back is killing you, and although you weren't overpaid a year earlier, when Belichick made you the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, now that somebody else is paying you, you aren't worth the money.

Despite their slow start, the Patriots, like every other team, do indeed have a plan. They will find a new kicker and time will tell how that works out. They'll replace Givens, and if it's with Eric Moulds, it would be an upgrade. If Moulds goes elsewhere, it will of course be because he wanted too much money.

For a few days, some talk-radio types thought part of the plan was to sign Keyshawn Johnson, until he went elsewhere, too -- for too much money, of course. Many e-mailers thought Vanderjagt would replace Vinatieri; his agent even said he was talking with the Patriots. Then they got to Dallas and never left. Why? Somebody else had a plan -- and he got too much money.

That's the problem with putting so much of your faith in plans and so little of it in players. Sometimes the plan works. Sometimes others intercede. And sometimes you end up with Tyrone Poole, Duane Starks, Chad Scott, Chad Brown, Monty Beisel, and Jarvis Green expected to make significant contributions to another trip to the Super Bowl. Well, at least Brown's team made it last year. Unfortunately for the Patriots, it was his former team.

The Patriots diverted from their plan of not overpaying aging players last spring when they handed Corey Dillon $10 million in guaranteed money that they didn't have to give him. He responded like most 31-year-old backs. He gained half as many yards as the year before, when he played for half the money. No one on Patriot Monday asks much about that part of the plan.

In professional sports, you can't plan for everything. For much of the time since Belichick and Pioli arrived in Foxborough, they've hit on their plans well in excess of the norm. They were right on some big decisions like signing Rodney Harrison and Mike Vrabel, getting Dillon when he was cheap, drafting Richard Seymour, Dan Koppen, Matt Light, and several other solid starters. (Leave out Tom Brady, because when you draft a tight end from Harvard ahead of a guy who wins three Super Bowls, that's not a plan -- it's luck, which every successful plan needs.)

No plan works all the time, however. Neither do the majority of the players you import. You have hot streaks and cold streaks. Sometimes fate intervenes. Sometimes bad luck. Sometimes you might even make a mistake. That's how it is.

It is much too early to say whether the Patriots' plan will work this year. It did for three years. It didn't last season. Now all we can do is what Bill Parcells used to advocate: Wait, and then go by what we see.

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QUICK SHOTS
'In Bill (Belichick) We Trust' . . . still?

March 26, 2006

NICK CAFARDO
You should never buy into anything all the way in sports. Sports are cyclical, and those who run the teams won't always
be at the top of their game. You can have great stretches like the Patriots have had and you can have long droughts
like the Celtics and Bruins. ''In Bill we trust?" Sure, for the most part. But communication could be much better.
There's no reason why long-term players, who have helped build a three-time champion, should leave because
they don't know where they stand. There's no reason fans who pay the highest ticket and parking prices in the
NFL should be left guessing on why certain things are being done.

[Bruce]

Fun stuff:

Quote

NOW IT'S TEAM'S TURN TO TAKE THE LUMPS
Author(s): RON BORGES
Date: September 25, 2001
Page: F1 Section: Sports
FOXBOROUGH - Two weeks my foot. Or, more to the point, Drew Bledsoe's chest.

The New England Alliance of Drew Bledsoe Bashers now will get its wish. It will get to see first-hand what life without Bledsoe will be like, because he won't be in New England anytime soon. At least not in a football uniform.

Yesterday, while sources told the Globe that Bledsoe had suffered what was believed to be a collapsed lung and had begun throwing up blood in the locker room Sunday after a 10-3 loss to the New York Jets before being taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was saying Bledsoe had "a little bit of bleeding" after a defeat that has become a far bigger loss.

Late Sunday night, the team medical staff told Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft that it appeared Bledsoe had suffered a ruptured spleen, a potentially life-threatening injury that surely would have meant he was lost for the season because it would require surgery to close off an artery.

That diagnosis was consistent with the type of trauma (a severe blow), the location of the injury (upper left side of his abdomen and chest), and the internal bleeding.

But by yesterday morning, doctors surmised it was not a ruptured spleen causing the bleeding. The collapsed lung was part of the problem but whether it was all of it remained unanswered at that time.

Last night, a different team source but one in an equal position to know Bledsoe's status said, "He lost a tremendous amount of blood. It was significant. They're trying to figure out why."

At noon, Belichick acknowledged that Bledsoe "did have a chest tube put in to remove the blood. His situation is stable now. There was no surgery or anything of that type and we expect he'll be relased [Tuesday] morning.
"My guess would be that this would probably be something that would be a couple of weeks before he would be able to play. But that is strictly a guess. Don't hold me to that, but based on the way it sounds, until they have a chance to look at him a little bit longer, my guess would be that he would not play for at least a couple of weeks."

Bledsoe is a tough hombre by any accounting or definition, but he is not playing football in two weeks, whether or not he ends up needing an operation to repair his lung or other internal damage.

A source close to Bledsoe said yesterday he already has been told he will miss at least six weeks and possibly the season, although knowing Bledsoe, it's not likely a collapsed lung and a chest half-full of his own blood will keep him out until 2002.

The truth, most likely, lies in the middle, where it usually does, but in any case, long before Bledsoe gets back in the saddle, his critics will have been stilled.

All those who have insisted he's not mobile enough or accurate enough or talented enough or brave enough will learn what should be obvious, and that's with no disrespect for his replacement, young Tom Brady.

The simple fact is, the bulk of Bledsoe's problems in recent seasons have not been caused by him; they've been caused by the people around him.

His offensive line is not good. An NFL defensive lineman who played against it earlier this year said yesterday, "They got no running back and you can just run through their linemen and go get Bledsoe. What's he supposed to do it about it?"

Bledsoe has been sacked 100 times the previous two seasons and another five times this year. If you want to know how many times he's been hit the last two-plus years, multiply those numbers by four. Or maybe five.

A former NFL quarterback who was at the game Sunday and had a good view of the field from a luxury box said, "It was like watching live game film, and almost every time I saw a Patriot receiver downfield, there was a white shirt right next to him. It doesn't give the quarterback anywhere to go with the ball.

"He looks like he's flinching to people because he's checking down, going through his reads, and he's seeing two different color jerseys everywhere he looks. At the same time, he knows he isn't going to get time to get to the third receiver."

In other words, Bledsoe didn't have a chance the last few seasons, and he certainly didn't have one Sunday when Jets linebacker Mo Lewis leveled him.

The Patriots acknowledge he was knocked out before he was sent back into the game after a brief respite. Although the quarterback's family is upset about that, in his defense Belichick had no way of knowing blood had begun to leak into his quarterback's chest, and Bledsoe was clearly walking and talking, indicating he wanted to return.
Belichick, with the approval of the medical staff and the player, put Bledsoe back in for one series. But the coach said yesterday, "I felt like after the series I wish I hadn't put him in. I thought when I was putting him in that he was in a little different state than what he was really at."

With the ball on the Jets' 39, Belichick didn't ask Bledsoe to do much in that series, handing off twice and throwing what would be a costly shovel pass to fullback Marc Edwards. Edwards fumbled, the Jets recovered, and Belichick had seen enough to decide his quarterback was not functioning as he should.

One thing certainly is clear. Bledsoe was knocked cold and sent back into action only minutes later, something not even prizefighters are asked to do.

In boxing, if you are concussed (i.e. knocked out), you cannot fight or spar in a gym for 60-90 days, depending on the state. In pro football, if you get concussed (i.e. knocked out), you cannot play until you wake up. That long has been the nature of football, and it is certainly medically wrong and probably not the safest way to deal with people. But that is not Belichick's fault. He only did what any NFL coach would have done. He put in his best quarterback when the medical staff and the player said he was able to function.

The league probably should adopt a rule that if you are knocked out, you stay out until the next week. Let's face it, when you come to, you may look all right (as Bledsoe did) and speak coherently (as Bledsoe did, even making Brady laugh at something he said), but you are not all right.

Clearly that is Bledsoe's condition today. He is far from all right. He has a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, a drain in his chest, possible other internal problems, and no chance of playing football for a lot more than the next two weeks.

That is a shame for him and a problem for his team. How big a problem it becomes will show a lot of people just what he means to the Patriots. It's a big price to pay to make people finally understand his value, but he's been paying his own high price with his body for the past two years just to play at all.

Now somebody else will pay that price and the football world will see exactly what the cost of losing Bledsoe's services will be in Foxborough. The cost of playing without Drew Bledsoe will be high for the Patriots - just as the cost of playing with the Patriots has been for him for far too long.

[Ironhead]

Reading this makes me insanely happy.

[Corner Blitz]

Required reading that is mandatory for all staff and students.

[Nicky B]

Ironhead, on Sep 15 2008, 11:37 AM, said:

Reading this makes me insanely happy.

You truly are a piece of work. How can someone take so much glee in the failings of someone else? We get IH, you don't like Bledsoe, did he take your lunch money or ignore you when you were looking for an autograph?