Run
out of town?
So Josh Beckett believes the Boston media played a role in him being traded from Boston to Los Angeles last week. The former Sox staff ace was interviewed by WEEI.com and former Gloucester Daily Times sports editor Rob Bradford and had this to say about the Boston sports media.
”Once they want you out of there they want you out of there,” Beckett said. “By them I don’t necessarily mean the fans. There are certain people in the media who painted me out to be a monster with horns, and that’s just not the case. I said that in my press conference. People out here hear (that portrayal) from certain media members.”
Beckett then went on to compare his treatment to that of former Red Sox closer Keith Foulke, both were former World Series heroes who fell on bad times with the team.
“If I saw anything that was similar to what I went through this year it was Keith Foulke in 2006, because 2004 he was a monster,” Beckett said. Then two years later … I’m sure everybody has a reason why they did that to Keith Foulke, but this guy won the World Series for you and you hadn’t won one in 86 years and he got painted the same way.”
Beckett has it all wrong here. It wasn’t the Boston media that drove him out of town, it was his ERA that was hanging around 5.00 for the last three years and the fact that he was involved in several distractions to the team all while making $17 million a year.
Beckett was certainly a World Series hero in 2007 and that should not be forgotten in these parts, but ultimately the reason why he was shipped out of town was his lack of production, questionable attitude or not.
Replacement Refs
It’s official, the NFL season will begin with replacement officials after the league could not come to an agreement with its regular officials.
This is a big blow to the league because the NFL is very well officiated and the replacement officials have been pretty bad in the preseason. It’s going to be a frustrating season for fans and teams with these second rate referees. Be warned, there are going to be bad calls going against every team on a regular basis this season.
-Compiled by Nick Curcuru
