Nigel's lates blog

[johnmolinaro]

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2009/09/inconsistency_the_poison_that.html

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

[CretanBull]

Hey John, can you do me a favour?

Ask Cummins if he still thinks that TFC are a good road team :smilielol5:

[Baggio2TFC]

Hey John, can you do me a favour?

Ask Cummins if he still thinks that TFC are a good road team :smilielol5:

:yesnod:

[TFC07]

Hey John, can you do me a favour?

Ask Cummins if he still thinks that TFC are a good road team :smilielol5:

ROFL!

I seriously hope someone start questioning CC's tactics (why is Dichio and Gerba not starting?) and putting pressure on MLSE to fire Mo.

BTW, where is Mo hiding? I haven't heard from him for a while.

[MartinUtd]

It must be hard holding back the I told you so's given the expense of future interviews

[johnmolinaro]

It must be hard holding back the I told you so's given the expense of future interviews

Actually, it isn't hard at all. And Chris did admit the team's road form sucks after the Chivas game.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

[MG42]

Actually, it isn't hard at all. And Chris did admit the team's road form sucks after the Chivas game.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro


glad to see he hasn't done anything about it :lol:

[CretanBull]

Actually, it isn't hard at all. And Chris did admit the team's road form sucks after the Chivas game.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro


I missed that. So before Chivas you were Judas for questioning the team's road form, and after the game he suddenly realized where you were comming from?

[johnmolinaro]

I missed that. So before Chivas you were Judas for questioning the team's road form, and after the game he suddenly realized where you were comming from?

Well, I think deep down he knew before the Chivas game, but he was just trying to rally his players and stand behind them ahead of a crucial road trip.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

[CretanBull]

^ I assumed that was true at the time, but its still a revealing move on his part...

[Blizzard]

Well, I think deep down he knew before the Chivas game, but he was just trying to rally his players and stand behind them ahead of a crucial road trip.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

He certainly has a bit of a mischevious streak doesn't he.

[johnmolinaro]

He certainly has a bit of a mischevious streak doesn't he.

Well, at the time I understood why he said that (didn't want to throw his players under the bus before a crucial road trip), but at the same time I knew it was BS because there's no way anybody can put a positive spin on the team's road record.

I should also set the record straight, because more than a few of you have asked: I don't have any personal issues with Chris.

My challenging him about the team's road record, pursuing the Dichio thing and pressing him in the scrums isn't about some personal dislike I have of him - it's about trying to hold people and the team accountable.

If Carver was still coach, I'd be asking the exact same questions.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

[RPB_RED_NATION_RPB]

Well, at the time I understood why he said that (didn't want to throw his players under the bus before a crucial road trip), but at the same time I knew it was BS because there's no way anybody can put a positive spin on the team's road record.

I should also set the record straight, because more than a few of you have asked: I don't have any personal issues with Chris.

My challenging him about the team's road record, pursuing the Dichio thing and pressing him in the scrums isn't about some personal dislike I have of him - it's about trying to hold people and the team accountable.

If Carver was still coach, I'd be asking the exact same questions.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

Keep up the good work John!!

[Pigfynn]

^^+1

[CretanBull]

My challenging him about the team's road record, pursuing the Dichio thing and pressing him in the scrums isn't about some personal dislike I have of him - it's about trying to hold people and the team accountable.

I'm not sure how anyone could think that its personal, nothing that you've said or done has come across as malicious or vendictive. I'm glad someone is willing to hold the team & it's representatives accountable. I mean, when to coach is asked to tell reporters that Dichio isn't healthy enough to fly (?!?!) you shouldn't be the lone voice questioning the plausibility of that. Coach Cummins had to feel like and idiot when he was asked to say that, but it's looking increasingly obvious that Mo is setting up Cummins to be the fall guy - essentially buying himself another year without being held responsible.

[mighty_torontofc_2008]

Well, at the time I understood why he said that (didn't want to throw his players under the bus before a crucial road trip), but at the same time I knew it was BS because there's no way anybody can put a positive spin on the team's road record.

I should also set the record straight, because more than a few of you have asked: I don't have any personal issues with Chris.

My challenging him about the team's road record, pursuing the Dichio thing and pressing him in the scrums isn't about some personal dislike I have of him - it's about trying to hold people and the team accountable.

If Carver was still coach, I'd be asking the exact same questions.

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro


John its not your Job to hold the team or people accountable, thats the
ownerships job..your in the media write about the team on field results, off field should be private, no media acess. The media in this country have too much rights and should have them cut back , ie news, sports, etc. Like at the celtic game a media guy with a tv camera put the camera in my face and asked something stupid ..why are you here? i grabbed his camera told him to F**K off i was trying to watch a football match..like i said you media think you own the world you dont.

[CretanBull]

John its not your Job to hold the team or people accountable, thats the
ownerships job..your in the media write about the team on field results, off field should be private, no media acess. The media in this country have too much rights and should have them cut back , ie news, sports, etc. Like at the celtic game a media guy with a tv camera put the camera in my face and asked something stupid ..why are you here? i grabbed his camera told him to F**K off i was trying to watch a football match..like i said you media think you own the world you dont.

I keep trying to figure out if you're for real or if you've just created the funniest character ever.

[FluSH]

Great blog by Nigel Reed... he was much missed yesterday as commentator!

[Shakes McQueen]

John its not your Job to hold the team or people accountable, thats the
ownerships job..your in the media write about the team on field results, off field should be private, no media acess. The media in this country have too much rights and should have them cut back , ie news, sports, etc. Like at the celtic game a media guy with a tv camera put the camera in my face and asked something stupid ..why are you here? i grabbed his camera told him to F**K off i was trying to watch a football match..like i said you media think you own the world you dont.

This paragraph is breathtaking.

- Scott

[CretanBull]

This paragraph is breathtaking.

- Scott

Don't you think he should have ended it with "...and if I ever catch you kids on my lawn so help me God..." ?

[Shakes McQueen]

Don't you think he should have ended it with "...and if I ever catch you kids on my lawn so help me God..." ?

Well, he definitely sounds like an old crank - but in addition to that, it has to be the most concentrated pile of verbal dog vomit I've ever seen.

It's not the media's job to hold the team accountable? The media should have their "rights" scaled back?

A healthy, free press is one of the pillars of modern democracy, you dope.

Basically, mighty doesn't want reporters to be reporters. He wants them to be stenographers. I just don't know where or how he comes up with these batshit statements.

- Scott

[CretanBull]

^ Like I wondered earlier, is he for real or has he just created an awesome character to have fun with us? Serious question....

[Flipityflu]

John its not your Job to hold the team or people accountable, thats the
ownerships job..your in the media write about the team on field results, off field should be private, no media acess. The media in this country have too much rights and should have them cut back , ie news, sports, etc. Like at the celtic game a media guy with a tv camera put the camera in my face and asked something stupid ..why are you here? i grabbed his camera told him to F**K off i was trying to watch a football match..like i said you media think you own the world you dont.


wow

are you serious. you really don't think its the media's job to hold anybody accountable?

no really, are you serious?

[Shep]

ROFL!

I seriously hope someone start questioning CC's tactics (why is Dichio and Gerba not starting?) and putting pressure on MLSE to fire Mo.

BTW, where is Mo hiding? I haven't heard from him for a while.


He's been trying to get a hold of you, but he said he lost your number.

He rang me for it, but I don't have it either. He wanted me to let you know he's doing fine though, and not to worry.

[Shep]

wow

are you serious. you really don't think its the media's job to hold anybody accountable?

no really, are you serious?

Maybe back when the media wasn't run by the corporations. These days they don't do shit. And when they do, there's usually a hidden agenda.

Less so with sports writers than political investigators, but nonetheless JM probably does not have the 'freedom of the press' as we'd like to believe.

If he writes something that pisses off the wrong people it comes down on him. Same can be said with most of the news services these days. If they are sanctioned they get seen and published, if not they sit on the fringe and hope intelligent people catch wind.

[jloome]

Maybe back when the media wasn't run by the corporations. These days they don't do shit. And when they do, there's usually a hidden agenda.

Less so with sports writers than political investigators, but nonetheless JM probably does not have the 'freedom of the press' as we'd like to believe.

If he writes something that pisses off the wrong people it comes down on him. Same can be said with most of the news services these days. If they are sanctioned they get seen and published, if not they sit on the fringe and hope intelligent people catch wind.

This is both vaguely true and ridiculously over the top. I've worked in newsrooms for 20 years.

1) Media is crap right now because instead of plurality of ownership, several large companies have bought everythign up, then cut its staff and resources to the bone. It's getting worse, because they're now hiring cheaper and cheaper, and have decided that the "medium is the message" extends to the marketplace: people will buy anything labelled "news", so it doesn't have to be good, just cheap.

2) While there are the exceedingly rare occasions where a story is spun or killed for corporate reasons, it's usually just the idiot individual reporters or editors adding bias, and their equally unqualified supervisors not even noticing.

It's just incompetence , Shep, not skulduggery. Their agendas aren't hidden, they're advertised on the Op-Ed pages.

AS for sports, you're 100% wrong. Sports reporters are absolutely complacent and complicit. Molinaro works for CBC, which still holds its reporters accountable somewhat for doing the job right, because it's a public body, not a private corporation.(It has many, many problems as a media organization, but that's a differnet story.)

In fact, most sports reporters agreed over a decade ago to take it easy on the teams they cover in order to keep locker room and player practice access. Most sports reporters I know havent' had any formal journalism training -- or even self-motivated re-training for what can be an exceedingly complex craft -- in the 30 years since they left a cut-rate, two -year community college program.

Frequently, they have the best turn of phrase at their local outlet: they're often the best natural writing talent. But most of them have never worked news, and never worked for a motive higher than "I like sports", so they don't ask tough questions, don't ask detailed questions. Watch ANY press conference involving Cummins and hunt desparately for anything insightful from the broadcast corps; the print sports guys are no better.

Plus, sports reporters now have 20 years of most papers allowing them to write "column style" by injecting opinion, vitriol etc. So they utterly colour their readers' perceptions, arguing that "hey, the real fans saw the game, they know what happened" to make up for it.

Believe me, dude, this is one fucked up industry. But it's not because of corporate pressure, political conspiracies or any of that hackneyed movie crap. It's just a) greed and b) incompetence.

[Roogsy]

This is both vaguely true and ridiculously over the top. I've worked in newsrooms for 20 years.

1) Media is crap right now because instead of plurality of ownership, several large companies have bought everythign up, then cut its staff and resources to the bone. It's getting worse, because they're now hiring cheaper and cheaper, and have decided that the "medium is the message" extends to the marketplace: people will buy anything labelled "news", so it doesn't have to be good, just cheap.

2) While there are the exceedingly rare occasions where a story is spun or killed for corporate reasons, it's usually just the idiot individual reporters or editors adding bias, and their equally unqualified supervisors not even noticing.

It's just incompetence , Shep, not skulduggery. Their agendas aren't hidden, they're advertised on the Op-Ed pages.

AS for sports, you're 100% wrong. Sports reporters are absolutely complacent and complicit. Molinaro works for CBC, which still holds its reporters accountable somewhat for doing the job right, because it's a public body, not a private corporation.(It has many, many problems as a media organization, but that's a differnet story.)

In fact, most sports reporters agreed over a decade ago to take it easy on the teams they cover in order to keep locker room and player practice access. Most sports reporters I know havent' had any formal journalism training -- or even self-motivated re-training for what can be an exceedingly complex craft -- in the 30 years since they left a cut-rate, two -year community college program.

Frequently, they have the best turn of phrase at their local outlet: they're often the best natural writing talent. But most of them have never worked news, and never worked for a motive higher than "I like sports", so they don't ask tough questions, don't ask detailed questions. Watch ANY press conference involving Cummins and hunt desparately for anything insightful from the broadcast corps; the print sports guys are no better.

Plus, sports reporters now have 20 years of most papers allowing them to write "column style" by injecting opinion, vitriol etc. So they utterly colour their readers' perceptions, arguing that "hey, the real fans saw the game, they know what happened" to make up for it.

Believe me, dude, this is one fucked up industry. But it's not because of corporate pressure, political conspiracies or any of that hackneyed movie crap. It's just a) greed and b) incompetence.


One of the best explanations of what is wrong with reporting (and specifically sports reporting) today.

Anyways, however it is explained, we can all agree that sports reporting today, sucks. The only competent reporting that is being done right now is the Score (fantastic job) and John@CBC (seems to be the lone ranger on this one). Other than that, most sports reporting regarding Toronto FC is just as bad as the reporting on the rest of sports in this town. I guess we shouldn't expect more and just be thankful for the exceptional job of a few.

It doesn't mean we have to be happy about it though.

[Shakes McQueen]

While I agree with your point that it's more laziness and incompetence, than a conscious attempt to distort the news, I also think corporate and political influences play a huge role in many cases.

For example, you can't really ascribe what Fox News does, to laziness or incompetence. That is a clear case of a news network making a conscious choice to spin news a certain way, for political and corporate reasons.

Consequently, if you look at a network like CNN... that's just pure incompetence and laziness.

The one thing that really annoys me about mainstream news, is the insistence on false equivalency. Every issue gets treated like there are two logical, reasonable sides to take, even in some cases where this obviously isn't true, or one side is woefully unsubstantiated compared to the other.

- Scott

[S_D]

Well, he definitely sounds like an old crank....
- Scott

http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/00244/slapper_244633l.jpg

http://www.redpatchboys.ca/forums/showthread.php?p=698024

couldn't resist :)

[Roogsy]

Sometimes I wished I lived in England, where the BBC has it's problems but is probably one of the best news organizations in the world.

The CBC could be up there if it wasn't for it's beaurocratic bumbling and failure to find ways to create revenue to supplement federal funding.

[Redcoe15]

^ +1

[Shakes McQueen]

Sometimes I wished I lived in England, where the BBC has it's problems but is probably one of the best news organizations in the world.

The CBC could be up there if it wasn't for it's beaurocratic bumbling and failure to find ways to create revenue to supplement federal funding.

It's a pretty ironic twist, that the only decent news these days, largely comes from government-owned sources.

The mandate to make ever growing profit, has seriously poisoned the media as an estate. News organizations have stopped trying to dig deeper into political issues, for example, and now spend 90% of their time focusing on the peripheral political drama.

The health care debate is a perfect example of this - there are so many important issues to be discussed and illuminated about the proposed solutions, and the costs, but all the cable news networks focus on, is people being ignorant and screaming town halls, or which Senator is "slamming" another senator in public. It's pathetic.

The great thing about the CBC and BBC, is that since they are divorced from the need to make more than they spend, they can focus on doing their jobs properly.

- Scott

[Roogsy]

It's a pretty ironic twist, that the only decent news these days, largely comes from government-owned sources.

The mandate to make ever growing profit, has seriously poisoned the media as an estate. News organizations have stopped trying to dig deeper into political issues, for example, and now spend 90% of their time focusing on the peripheral political drama.

The health care debate is a perfect example of this - there are so many important issues to be discussed and illuminated about the proposed solutions, and the costs, but all the cable news networks focus on, is people being ignorant and screaming town halls, or which Senator is "slamming" another senator in public. It's pathetic.

The great thing about the CBC and BBC, is that since they are divorced from the need to make more than they spend, they can focus on doing their jobs properly.

- Scott

I agree.

Except the BBC does a much better job. The CBC is too inconsistent, occasionally peppered with agendas from it's own personalities and can't manage their finances properly with the funding they do get.

If they sorted that out...they could be North America's "BBC".

[CretanBull]

1) Media is crap right now because instead of plurality of ownership, several large companies have bought everythign up, then cut its staff and resources to the bone. It's getting worse, because they're now hiring cheaper and cheaper, and have decided that the "medium is the message" extends to the marketplace: people will buy anything labelled "news", so it doesn't have to be good, just cheap.

2) While there are the exceedingly rare occasions where a story is spun or killed for corporate reasons, it's usually just the idiot individual reporters or editors adding bias, and their equally unqualified supervisors not even noticing.

It's just incompetence , Shep, not skulduggery. Their agendas aren't hidden, they're advertised on the Op-Ed pages.

Perhaps best suited for an off-topic discussion, but I think that's only partially true. I think what you're describing is true of the 'ecco-chamber' media, the news papers and other media outlets that more or less simply repeat the news (off the AP wires for example) but there's a different level of influence among the agenda setting media - the outlets that shape opinion (both in the public and in other media outlets)...the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wallstreet Journal etc.

[Oldtimer]

I agree.

Except the BBC does a much better job. The CBC is too inconsistent, occasionally peppered with agendas from it's own personalities and can't manage their finances properly with the funding they do get.

If they sorted that out...they could be North America's "BBC".

Not to mention that the CBC falls into the trap of having a strong political tilt overall, something that the BBC doesn't have. I haven't yet seen the BBC be forced to apologize from some over-the-top blogger on their website like the CBC has.

[Roogsy]

Not to mention that the CBC falls into the trap of having a strong political tilt overall, something that the BBC doesn't have. I haven't yet seen the BBC be forced to apologize from some over-the-top blogger on their website like the CBC has.

Agreed.

They need to get rid of that to help their own credibility. That being said, they don't have as much an obvious agenda as say the Star or the Sun or the National Post.

[CretanBull]

Agreed.

They need to get rid of that to help their own credibility. That being said, they don't have as much an obvious agenda as say the Star or the Sun or the National Post.

When it comes to the CBC, I think that they tend to be tougher on Conservative politians in things like interviews (I saw one the other day that was almost embarassing to watch), but when it comes to their coverage of the news I don't see much of a bias at all. I think because they aren't tied to corporate ownership they can do the types of stories that might come across as 'liberal' (ie stories about income disparity, about corporate culture etc.) but I don't see that as espousing a political view, they are simply reporting news (and those stories are news-worthy, Canadians have a right to be informed) that other outlets won't cover.

[mighty_torontofc_2008]

I keep trying to figure out if you're for real or if you've just created the funniest character ever.

a little from isle a and a little from isle b..but as far as the canadian media goes..i m real hate it with a passion..bbc or cnn for me.

[TFC USA]

Not to play police since I've received 2 infractions since I signed up....but it's really annoying that:

A.) Mighty is somehow still on this site.

B.) The last several CBC related posts have turned into bitching about the CBC or bitching at John.

C.) Personal attacks towards CBC personalities (calling Brenda Irving a hooker).



Come on guys....

[S_D]

Not to play police since I've received 2 infractions since I signed up....but it's really annoying that:



only two? :D

[TFC USA]

Miraculous, eh?

One for me pissed off at Velez after the KKKrew game and one back when I was new suggesting a user was giving Mo Johnston a blowjob.

[Yohan]

dont worry dude. i get infractions too :p

[Roogsy]

USA...if you have issues with the way this site is moderated I suggest you take it to PM with an admin. However, I should note that the way you have portrayed the matter is actually factually incorrect. Nonetheless, taking issue with mods publicly like this is actually enough to get you an infraction! LOL! Needless to say, lets not derail this thread into something else. Keep it on topic please.

[TFC USA]

It's not a moderation thing, nothing personal Roogsy (outside of mighty). But that's not a big deal anyway.

[Roogsy]

I understand your frustration but you are indeed making it a moderation matter by making statements about infractions and board access.

It's even worse by the fact that you left out facts probably because you weren't aware of them. One of the reasons why bringing a moderated matter on to the public board is discouraged.

All we ask is that you don't do it again.

[TFC USA]

Alright no problem.