October 28, 2013
As the hardreading staff noted the other day, both local dailies either missed or glossed over the National Anthem Flub by Sickly Sweet Baby James Taylor at Game 2 of the World’s Serious.
To its sort of credit, however, the Sunday Boston Herald did sort of correct the record (without actually acknowledging the omission).
From yesterday’s Inside Track:
After James Taylor’s mini-flub on the national anthem in Game 2 of the World Series, the pressure was on Game 3 singer Colbie Caillat to hit it out of the park last night — and the “Bubbly” singer was feeling it! . . .
Taylor, a grizzled veteran who’s done three World Series anthems at Fenway, had a little blip in Game 2 when he started singing “America The Beautiful” instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
No such recalibration in the Boston Sunday Globe Names column, though.
The hardbetting staff is laying plenty of 8-to-5 there never will be.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: America the Beautiful, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Red Sox, Inside Track, James Taylor, MLB, Names, National Anthem Flub, Sickly Sweet Baby James, St. Louis Cardinals, The Star Spangled Banner, World's Serious | 
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October 27, 2013
As the hardreading staff noted yesterday, both local dailies outsourced their obituaries of Celtics great/Hall of Famer Bill Sharman. We ended the post with this:
Very likely both papers will have remembrances in their sports section tomorrow. But for today, Sharman lost home court advantage.
Actually there was nothing in the Boston Herald, and almost nothing in the Boston Globe. Just this at the end of Gary Washburn’s Basketball Notes column:
Jerry West had some wonderful things to say after the death of former Celtic player and Lakers coach Bill Sharman: “This is a very sad day for me. Bill Sharman was, without a doubt, one of the greatest human beings I have ever met and one of my all-time favorite individuals, both as a competitor and as a friend. He was the epitome of class and dignity and, I can assure you, we find few men of his character in this world. We will miss him.”
To varying degrees, that is.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Basketball Notes, Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Gary Washburn, Hall of Fame, Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA | Permalink
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October 26, 2013
Boston Celtics legend Bill Sharman died yesterday, and both local dailies outsourced his obituary.
The Boston Globe picked up the New York Times obit (apparently the Globeniks are not listening to the redoubtable Dan Kennedy at Media Nation).
Bill Sharman, in Hall of Fame as Celtics all-star and NBA coach; at 87
NEW YORK — Bill Sharman, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame twice, first as a sharpshooting guard who helped establish the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1950s and then as the coach who led the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers to a record 33-game winning streak and 
the NBA title, died Friday at his home in Redondo Beach, Calif. He was 87.
A perfectionist as both player and coach, Mr. Sharman is also credited with introducing what is now a fixture of the pro and college games: the morning shoot-around, a light game-day workout to loosen up, set strategy, and prepare for the evening’s contest.
For 10 seasons beginning in fall 1951, Mr. Sharman teamed with the playmaking guard Bob Cousy to form one of the NBA’s legendary backcourts . . .
The Boston Herald went for the Associated Press sendoff.
Bill Sharman, at 87, played on Celtics champion teams
LOS ANGELES — Bill Sharman effortlessly straddled both sides of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, winning championships and making friends from Boston to Los Angeles during a unique basketball career.
Even when he struggled to speak in his later years with a voice worn out from passionate coaching, Sharman remained a beloved mentor and a hoops innovator who saw great success from almost every perspective in more than a half-century in the NBA.
Sharman, the Hall of Famer who won multiple titles both as a player for the Celtics and a coach for the Lakers, died Friday at his home in Redondo Beach, the Lakers announced. He was 87.
Very likely both papers will have remembrances in their sports section tomorrow. But for today, Sharman lost home court advantage.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Associated Press, Bill Sharman, Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dan Kennedy, Media Nation, NBA, New York Times | Permalink
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October 26, 2013
Sickly Sweet Baby James sang both the national anthem and “America the Beautiful” for Game 2 of the World Series Thursday night, as both local dailies kind of reported.
Boston Herald Inside Track:
Growing pains for Sweet Baby James Taylor
Five-time Grammy Award winner James Taylor is doing his part for a Red Sox World Series victory … and he’s getting some heat for it on the homefront!
“Well, you know it takes a long time for me to grow a beard, and this one is a couple of weeks old, and it’s not really a beard, I just look like an unshaven person,” Sweet Baby James told the Track. “There’s a lot of pressure on me at home to shave this thing off.”
But Taylor, who performed the national anthem and “God Bless America” at Fenway for Game 2 last night, said he’s committed to taking one for the team.
Boston Globe Names column:
Singer James Taylor, who’s been hard at work at his home in the Berkshires on a new album, took the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston to sing the national anthem (and, with wife Kim and son Henry, “America the Beautiful” during the seventh-inning stretch).
But here’s what just about everyone else reported (representative sample via The Hollywood Gossip):
James Taylor Sings Wrong Patriotic Song to Kick Off World Series
James Taylor sang the Star Spangled Banner prior to Game 2 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals last night.
Eventually, that is.
But the veteran artist initially thought he was on hand to belt out a version of “America the Beautiful,” getting a couple of words into that ode to this great nation before course-correcting and serenading fans at Fenway Park with the national anthem.
The hardreading staff will let you know if today’s local dailies admit the omission.
And whether “God Bless America” is the same as “America the Beautiful.”
Oh, wait – it’s not.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: America the Beautiful, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Game 2, Henry Taylor, Inside Track, James Taylor, Kim Taylor, Names, national anthem, Red Sox, Sickly Sweet Baby James, Star Spangled Banner, Taylor sings wrong song, The Hollywood Gossip, World Series | Permalink
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October 24, 2013
Two of the best columnists in town – the Globe’s Joan Vennochi and the Herald’s Margery Eagan (yeah yeah, she’s technically not an op-ed columnist but couldn’t resist the headline) – land on the same square today in their coverage of the Boston mayoral race: The “phony class war” as Vennochi puts it, or the “‘washerwoman’ fixation” as Eagan has it.
From the former:
BOSTON DOESN’T need a phony class war, fueled by labor supporters of mayoral candidate Martin J. Walsh — not when it faces the prospect of a real one.
Forget about new Boston versus old Boston. The real issue is rich Boston versus poor Boston and whether the next mayor cares enough to do something about it.
From the latter:
This “washerwoman” fixation is about politicians battling over who’s had a tougher life. That’s supposed to determine which candidate would make the better mayor, senator or governor — though I’ve yet to see any proof.
Both pieces are worth reading. Vennochi’s conclusion:
Where the next mayor came from matters less than where he wants the city to go — and how many Bostonians get there with him.
Eagan:
[Y]ou can’t fight class warfare if you’re both smart, powerful men in the same class. Vote Connolly or vote Walsh. But prince vs. pauper this race is not.
They’re both right.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston mayoral race, Joan Vennochi, John Connolly, Margery Eagan, Marty Walsh, phony class war, washerwoman fixation | Permalink
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October 21, 2013
A woman buying memorabilia at Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration told the New York Times (roughly) “When we want to celebrate something, we do it with merchandise.”
Say hello to your 2013 American League Champion Red Sox.
Those two ads ran in both local dailies.
But only the Boston Globe ran these two:
Oh, yeah – and throw in this NESN ad for good measure.
So, what to make of this lopsided show of Soxabilia? Are Globe readers better fans than Herald readers?
Or just richer?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2013 American League Champions, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Modell's Sporting Goods, Red Sox, Soxabilia, Sports Authority | Permalink
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October 20, 2013
World-Series-bound Red Sox owner John Henry is also newspaper-bound Boston Globe owner John Henry.
But not so fast, says crosstown rival Boston Herald.
Globe holds off closer
Sale with John Henry slides
The John Henry era will soon begin at The Boston Globe — though not as early as originally hoped — as the broadsheet prepares to end 
two decades under the control of its out-of-town overlords.
A source close to the deal told the Herald yesterday that finalizing the purchase and executing the formal transfer of the newspaper from the Times to the Red Sox owner — which had been expected to happen sometime over the weekend — likely won’t take place until next week at the earliest.
Both the Globe and a rep for Henry declined comment yesterday, and a Times spokeswoman did not return calls or emails.
Big surprise there, yeah?
But no surprise here: Others say otherwise.
From NECN:
Money Matters: Henry to close purchase of Boston Globe Saturday
According to the Boston Business Journal, Red Sox Owner John Henry will close on his purchase of the Boston Globe this Saturday. Henry is buying the New England Media Group, including the Globe, from The New York Times. The BBJ said he’ll also pay $65-million, down from the original $70-million bid.
Tiebreaker to come.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Business Journal, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, John Henry, NECN, New England Media Group, New York Times, Red Sox, World Series | Permalink
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October 18, 2013
Interesting his-and-his guest op-eds in the local dailies today.
Start with MSNBC video savant Chris Matthews in the Boston Globe:
Yes, politics was once friendly
A NEW NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 78 percent of us think the country’s headed in the wrong direction. The true surprise is the 14 percent who think that things are getting better.
Government shutdowns that once amounted to a couple of days are now more than a couple of weeks. And who knows how to measure the possible cost of the threat to stop payment on the national debt?
There was once a man who personified the very opposite of this political dysfunction.
Kirk O’Donnell was chief counsel and partisan consigliore to Speaker of the House Thomas P. O’Neill. He was, by the great man’s own estimate, “hard as a rock.” Young in years, he knew the rules of the old crowd and employed them with brio.
And what was the Golden Rule of politics?
It’s applicable to marriage, work relationships, and most especially to rivalries: “Always be able to talk.”
Yes, well tell that to University of Maryland professor Peter Morici crosstown at the Boston Herald’s op-ed page, who writes this about the end of the government shutdown.
[Obama’s] doomsday rhetoric made the U.S. government appear inept and irresponsible, has eroded the primary standing of U.S. securities in global markets, and will weaken U.S. economic leadership in global forums for many years to come.
Senate negotiators hammered out a bill acceptable to the president that reopened the government and raised the debt ceiling, and House Democrats and moderate Republicans voted for it.
The president’s victory was accomplished through deception and demagoguery, by violating the will of voters expressed in the 2012 congressional elections and the Constitution, and damaging U.S. global standing.
Yeah – don’t see a whole lot of pillow talk happening between those two sides anytime soon.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chris Matthews, GOP, government shutdown, Kirk O'Donnell, MSNBC, Obamacare, Peter Morici, President Obama, Ronald Reagan, Tip O'Neill, University of Maryland, video savant | Permalink
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October 17, 2013
Several days ago the hardreading staff posted an item about the Jewish News Service running this ad in the Boston Herald but not the Boston Globe.
We also said we’d try to contact JNS founder (and inveterate publishing bunny) Russel Pergament to ask, among other things, if he’ll be advertising in the Globe anytime soon.
And so we did. Whereupon we had a nice conversation with Pergament, a media dynamo the hardworking staff has known for over three decades, ever since he was founding the Tab newspapers and we were copy chief at Filene’s.
(Best part of that job: We met the Missus.)
Best part of Russel Pergament: He’s entirely unfazed at JNS being depicted “as foaming-at-the mouth right wingers,” as he put it, referring to this Jewish Daily Forward piece.
Instead, he says this:
Even the most left-wing Jewish writers who see Israel as an aggressive Nazi-like state get nervous about reports like this one from Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet [regarding Jewish soldiers purportedly harvesting the organs of Arabs].
Pergament says a dozen papers – including Christian media and secular media that “emphasize the objective nature of the facts we send” – have subscribed to JNS. He says he’s also run ads in The New Republic and a New Britain, CT paper, while the Jerusalem Press and Chicago Tribune have picked up JNS content.
As for the Boston dailies, Pergament says he gets more bang for the buck in the Herald, and that the Herald sales rep called and asked for his business.
Hey, Globeniks – any response?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Adam Reilly, Aftonbladet, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, Chicago Tribune, Filene's, Jerusalem Press, Jewish News Service, Jewish soldiers harvest Arab organs, JNS, Russel Pergament, Tab newspapers, the Missus, The New Republic | Permalink
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October 16, 2013
From our Walt Whitman desk
Today’s Boston Herald has a swell time patting itself on the back for yet another mention by “Journalism’s own hall of fame” – that would be The Newseum – in its daily Top Ten Front Pages feature.
Under the headline “Sports Stories” there’s this:
When a sports story makes the front page, it usually gets the best play. Just look at today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which devoted half of Page One to the Cardinals’ baseball playoff loss. Of course, newspapers aren’t always so keen to promote defeat. The Indianapolis Star found a way to downplay the Colts’ loss in “Monday Night Football” by focusing on the positive. Go team!
You don’t have to tell the feisty local tabloid twice.
And don’t miss that dig at crosstown rival Boston Globe:
The Herald was the only Boston paper featured in the Top 10 list yesterday. The Herald’s front page was even tweeted out by Red Sox owner John W. Henry.
You know he’s gonna own the Globe too, right?
It doesn’t get much better than that for the Heraldniks.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Big Papi, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, David Ortiz, Gerry Callahan, Heraldniks, John Henry, Michael Silverman, Paul Keaney, Red Sox, The Newseum, Top Ten Front Pages, Walt Whitman | Permalink
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It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 