On the heels of the Texans beating the Cincinnati Bengals in a 19-13 snooze-fest you could be granted a pardon for thinking that this weekend's tie against the New England Patriots is going to be the last game of the season the Texan's play. On the heels of a 42-14 throttling at the hands of the same Patriots this Texans team doesn't look like the same team that went 11-1 (versus mostly inferior competition) and they're hardly storming into Foxborough with momentum on their side. In a way then, the dust-up between Houston media talkers and what appears to be a sixth-grader with a perm is par for the course in the rapidly diminishing in importance world of professional sports journalism.
Journalism, and sports journalists, love a good controversy, and if there's not one to be found between the teams then they'll take it upon themselves to whip one up whether or not they have any factual basis behind their writing. I've no doubt that Boston Globe bloviator Dan Shaugnessy has watched a lot of Boston-area sports. I've no doubt that he's been writing inflammatory columns for a long time as well. I also have no doubt that what he is writing is designed to generate page-views in lieu of honest sports analysis. Finally, I have no doubt that whatever he decides to write will have little effect on the actual game played on the field.
Let's be honest, it's very easy for me to sit behind my keyboard and say that the Texans have a quarterback problem, that their defensive backfield, despite having better numbers on Saturday, still left wide-receivers too-wide open. It's easy to say that Tom Brady will not miss the openings that Andy Dalton did. It's also easy for Shaugnessy to say that Kubiak and co. wet themselves when thinking about Belicheck, it's ridiculous on it's face, but it's easy to say.
The reason these things are easy to say is because there are no repercussions are either of us wrong. Our season isn't over, we don't lose out on our playoff bonuses, and we're running no major risk of a career threatening injury by churning out opinion from time to time. Besides, no one is going to care if our analysis is wrong. The players and the coaches on the teams however are a different story. They actually have something on the line and are the ones making the sacrifice.
Because of this it seems wise to keep player criticism to the events on the field. Don't call out someone's manhood because it's going to be infinitely greater than your own. For all of Shaugnessy's attempts at humor his little piece really boiled down to nothing more than first grade pee jokes and (no matter who you're rooting for) that really doesn't add anything to the conversation at all. Oh sure, it might fire up Houston's talk radio and sports writers but, and I can promise you this, I doubt JJ Watt is concerned that Shaugnessy (and Keyshawn Johnson) don't think he's worthy of being the defensive player of the year*.
What JJ is worried about is getting more pressure on Tom Brady in Texans vs New England v 2.0. Gary Kubiak isn't soiling himself thinking about Belicheck, he's (hopefully, if you're a Texans fan) scouring game tape trying to figure out what could work against a team that's clearly better than his right now.
There's a larger point to be made here about the downfall of sports journalism over the years that I truthfully believe needs a full vetting. At one time fans looked to their sports columnists to provide them with the sober view of what's happening, to sort through the team PR and give them the real scoop. Today's sport's writers typically feel the need to inject themselves into the story. We see this with John McClain in Houston all the time. When he's not reminding us he's on the Hall of Fame committee he's reminding us that he's been doing this for 30+ years. What Shaugnessy's reminded us of is that he's nothing more than a man who can somewhat turn a phrase but who doesn't have any respect for the players he covers. The result is equivalent to a 6 year old going "nyah nyah nyah".
While that type of taunt might fire up Houston's sport's media and some of the fan base it's not going to move the needle at all with those who matter, The Texans. Because of this none of the sound and fury you hear over the coming days will do anything to move the line on the game, it will not get the Patriots one additional yard and it will not change the fact that the Texans need to figure out a way to improve massively on both sides of the ball.
In other words, Shaugnessy has done nothing more than stick his tongue out at recess. It's time for the bell to ring.
