March Madness

Congratulations to L. Keller and R. Usher, who lead the CHFF March Madness picks and also are in the 99.9th percentile nationwide.

Keller has 7 of his final 8 left and all final 4, Usher has 7 of 8 and 3 of 4.

Also congrats to the four people who couldn't figure out how to make picks, including CHFF fearless leader Kerry Byrne.

Go fight win!

Anybody out there?

Colonel Comey here. It's cold out here in cyberspace.

The girl pictured at right is my favorite, found on some random web excursion a couple of years ago.

It's apropos of nothing, but always worth a smile.

So .... speaking of chicks, my wife (not pictured, but also cute when eating toast) is having our first child any day now. Cray-zee shit. I'm 36, my wife's 36, we've been married for 11 years, yet it seems like we're just barely ready for this. I guess you're never ready.

I try not to think about it all too much, because I don't want to ruin the surprise of what it's actually like to be a parent. But I do kind of take peeks into the future.

I worry about my ability to teach him things. Like football, for example. I want him to grow up with an appreciation of sports, and be a football fan -- but he might not give a shit. I guess some of it depends on the kid and some of it depends on how you try to drum it into them.

My friend Spooch loves wrestling, as much as a 33-year-old man can, but his 7-year-old son is absolutely fuckin' NUTS for wrestling. He is a wrestling savant -- can name all the WWE guys, spell their names to a T, even the tough ones, knows their music, their costumes. Everything. But another friend -- whose wife loves football as much as he does, and loudly -- his kids could give a shit about football.

That must be tough, but I guess that's something I have to prepare myself for. I put people through it when I was a kid. No one in my family liked sports at all, but I obsessed on them. So they just got out of my way and let me compile my fake stats and make weird lists. Still doing it.

My grandfather, who was more like a dad to me growing up, loved cars. At one point in the 50s he collected three Porsche Speedsters, one of which he owned for more than thirty years. But I never cared about cars like he did -- I loved riding in cars, but I didn't have any real interest in them. In the last few years of his life, my grandfather talked a lot about cars -- even as he softened with age, they still fascinated him. By then, I saw them through his eyes, and still try to.

Anyhoo .... hope you enjoyed the girl, and the ramblings, and anyone with any tips on fatherhood, I'd love to hear them.

Cassettes: I Hardly Knew Ye

Where the hell did all my cassettes go?

Are they still out there somewhere? Is somebody, at this very minute, carefully inserting my old copy of Wham's "Make it Big" into their boombox and dancing about willy nilly in an oversized neon T-shirt?

I hope not.

In this high-tech world of ours, it's hard to believe that anyone still has a soft spot for tapes. They're still sold, but they cost just as much as CDs — so obviously, only fetishists continue clinging to their fading plastic allure.

After all, we've come so far. Yogurt comes with a built-in spoon now, and I guess they're cloning babies, too!

When wonders like this are possible, the idea of listening to "The Very Best of Cream" on a worn-out cassette seems downright sacriligious. I enjoy the song "Born Under a Bad Sign" as much as the next guy, but do you think I'm going to waste precious seconds fast-forwarding through less-popular Cream favorites just to hear the one I'm looking for?

Not likely, friend. I've got things to do, you know?

Let's face it, tapes were a bad idea. They never sounded as good as LPs (if you're still in high school, just nod and pretend you know what LPs are), they wore out fast, and they had an awful tendency to get permanently stuck in the tape player. There was no worse feeling than getting your favorite tape caught in your car's player; after an hour of digging, your fingers would end up bloody and bruised, and you were no closer to hearing "Led Zeppelin III" blasting from the back-seat speakers.

Compact discs are superior to tapes in the same way that peace is superior to war. If we knew CDs were coming, we could have stuck with records and 8-tracks and used tapes for their only legitimate function: to record childish skits, singalongs and episodes of "Dukes of Hazzard."

Now those tapes, I wish I had. I made hundreds of my own tapes over the years, mix-tapes for road trips, random snippets from everyday life, my own songs, comedy bits — all meticulously labeled in my bad handwriting on the little foldout inserts. But these cassettes are all gone, long gone, as if they never existed in the first place.

As far as I can tell, tapes were really only the No. 1 option for eight years or so, from 1981 to 1988. This era is usually referred to as "The Reagan Years," but I see no reason why it can't be referred to as "The Memorex C-60 Years." During these years, I saved all my spare cash so as to buy the newest cassette releases by The Fat Boys and Eurythmics. Now that's good money management.

I was big on "cassingles," too. Cassingles were good when you weren't sold on a new artist's ability to deliver two full sides of quality. Many times, these plastic one-hit wonders got tossed out of car windows after one listen, or placed under the front tire of the school bus. Cassettes were made to be thrown away. They had a cool sound when you threw them through the air, a whirring of some sort. I can't really explain the sound, but I would definitely recognize it if someone threw a tape at me when my eyes were closed.

Still, I have to wonder where the majority of my good cassettes wound up. I don't believe these would have naturally biodegraded yet, and I'm almost certain I didn't recycle them. I probably sold a bunch of them, or just gave them away.

I'm sure some of them found homes, but most of them probably just got tossed. They're probably all huddled together as we speak, slowly fading away at the bottom of some God-forsaken landfill in the middle of New Jersey somewhere, right between an six-pack of Dr. Pepper cans and a Rubik's Cube.

Godspeed, tapes. May you find a home.

Anna Nicole: Her Amazing Impact.

Funny shit. You won't regret this link.

If cable only had 5 channels, which would you choose?

I think I'd be happy enough with just five channels on my cable dial, especially if it cost less than $100 a month or whatever the hell I pay.

1. ESPN. Yeah, it's standard, but what are you gonna do? ESPN is like salt and pepper -- you take it for granted, but you'd be lost without it.

2. NFL Network. Another no-brainer. Today, it's an eight-hour marathon of NFL Films outtakes. What on TV would be better than that?

3. FOX. Here's my rationale: I'd get whatever local news I need, plus Family Guy, American Idol and NFC football games.

4. Game Show Network. My wife and I have to watch something together, plus Richard Dawson.

5. NBC. I'll take Sunday night football, plus The Office and E/R, over AFC football and crap on CBS. It's a tough call though.

Note: We're having our first baby in a month, so soon my five channels will probably have to include something that involves "Sesame Street." Fuckin' kids.

March Madness

I used to be the biggest college hoops fan on the planet. This was back in 1987, when I was a junior in high school -- I could have named the starting five for literally every team in Division 1, right down to Cleveland State.

Now, I can name three players -- Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Stefan Curry of Davidson.

Who is Stefan Curry? Well, my all-time favorite athlete is Dell Curry, who was a shooting guard for the Hornets in the 1980s and 90s. Why? I'm not sure. I adopted him when I was 14, and my email address as a 36-year-old is dellcurry@comcast.net. I have a mini Starting Lineup figure of him on top my computer, a signed photo on the wall. His college jersey in my closet. His game-worn shoes.

It's a sickness.

Anyhoo, it happens that Dell's son Stefan is tearing it up as a freshman at Davidson, averaging over 20 points a game and shooting threes like his daddy. Despite my years of stalking Dell Curry, I didn't hear about his son until recently.

It's pretty exciting to have a team to root for now -- I don't have an alma mater, and none of the big schools do it for me. I root for my old favorite, Va. Tech, Xavier, Oklahoma, but now I'm all Davidson all the time.

Unfortunately, their nickname is Wildcats, which should be permanently retired as a nickname. But that's ok.

Go Cats!

The Power Rankings that matter

From Forbes.com, here are the 20 richest people in the world. You can click on any of the people to get to the Forbes piece.

To put things in perpective, imagine having a net worth of $100,000. You'd probably be happy with that, right? Well, Bill Gates has 56,000 times that much money.

Further perspective. If Bill Gates lost $250,000 on a hand of blackjack at the casino, that would be like you losing $5. A million, to Bill Gates, is like $20 to the man worth $100,000.

F***. That's rich.

Rank	Name	Citizenship	Age	Net Worth ($bil)
1	William Gates III	United States	51	56.0
2	Warren Buffett	United States	76	52.0
3	Carlos Slim Helu	Mexico	67	49.0
4	Ingvar Kamprad & family	Sweden	80	33.0
5	Lakshmi Mittal	India	56	32.0
6	Sheldon Adelson	United States	73	26.5
7	Bernard Arnault	France	58	26.0
8	Amancio Ortega	Spain	71	24.0
9	Li Ka-shing	Hong Kong	78	23.0
10	David Thomson & family	Canada	49	22.0
11	Lawrence Ellison	United States	62	21.5
12	Liliane Bettencourt	France	84	20.7
13	Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud	Saudi Arabia	50	20.3
14	Mukesh Ambani	India	49	20.1
15	Karl Albrecht	Germany	87	20.0
16	Roman Abramovich	Russia	40	18.7
17	Stefan Persson	Sweden	59	18.4
18	Anil Ambani	India	47	18.2
19	Paul Allen	United States	54	18.0
20	Theo Albrecht	Germany	84	17.5

Brad Johnson, you've got to be kidding.

To paraphrase Brad Johnson's feelings about being a Cowboy, it's this: I hope you break your leg, Romo.

(read story now, then come back)

Has this guy been reading Drew Bledsoe's blog or what?

Sweet. Just what the always optimistic Cowboys wanted - another guy who doesn't understand his role.

Who would have thought Terry Glenn would be the picture of stability one day?

Hey, fans are dumb too!

I don't know why this caught my eye, but it did.

Reading an ESPN bit on Randy Moss to Tampa rumors (a possibility, I guess). some reader left the following comment: "It wont really matter if the BUcs dont have a QB. Simms is the worst QB to ever play the game. H can thank his dad for getting him the job."

Hmm. Now, I know we unwashed masses are collectively Time's defending Person of the Year for our media-producing efforts, but ...

This post for some reason confirmed something in my own mind: most people still don't know shit. Or how to type a coherent sentence.

Do people really think Phil Simms is so powerful that he can get his son to start in the NFL? Then why isn't Bill Gates' son in the NFL? And that Simms is really that terrible? Nah, I think people just love to open their mouths and let the excrement pour loose. When you don't have anything to say, say that something sucks and give a random reason why.

Of course, no one that would read CHFF would be so crass.

Here are a couple more:

A Bengal fan that wants Adrian Peterson.

Our offense would be unstopable. It would be better than the 88 team. I dont care what we have to do to get him. Trade Justin for picks and use those picks plus our 1st rounder to move up. Where is he projected to go? Dont give me that draft defense crap either. They have no clue how to pick players on d. Our D sukks and we can draft superman and it will still sukk. Peterson is the best weapon in this draft and would be the top pick if he stayed healthy in college. Also please cut John Thorton and thank Jesus we didnt sign sorry ayss Joey Porter.

Here's a Ram fan who thinks they have too much offense (they just signed Randy McMichael):

Good move just another piece added to our new and improved deadly offense but does Linehan realise there is only one ball allowed in play at any one time?....how the hell is he gonna share the ball around all of these players, one thing is for sure, i would not pick any Rams WR or TE to be on your fantasy team this year:

Jackson
Holt
Bruce
Bennett
McMichael
Klopfenstein

Jamal Lewis in French: le terrible

Jamal Lewis fits the profile of the over-the-hill running back, following the same career path of so many before him. A promising start, a rapid decline.

One problem. He's only 27.

27!

How is that possible? Lewis has been around forever, and he certainly ran like a member of the over-30 club in 2006, when he single-handedly held the Ravens back with his awful 3.6 per-carry average -- and this behind a legitimately good offensive line. Of course, 3.6 was an upgrade compared to his 3.4 average in 2005.

Put a good running back on the 2006 Ravens and they probably would be designing Super Bowl rings right now.

So, of course, who would want Lewis but the Cleveland Browns, who are to running the ball what Charlie Brown is to kicking it.

Over the past five years, here are the Browns' ranks in yards-per-carry: 29th, 22nd, 27th, 15th, 24th. I guess when you've had guys like Lee Suggs, William Green and Travis Prentice as your leading rushers, Jamal Lewis looks like a step up.

The Browns might have an improved offensive line, with the return of LeCharles Bentley from injury and the addition of Eric Steinbach in free agency. But unless Lewis discovers the fountain of speed in the offseason, I don't think it'll amount to much.

Those freedom-loving French

Sadly, there are Americans who believe that places like France, Cuba and Venezeula are nations which stand for the rights of their citizens.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/03/06/franceban/index.php

Borges, plus original football writing

Ron Borges didn't commit crimes against humanity, but ...

I used to be a sports editor of a daily newspaper, and it pisses me off that he gives sportswriters a bad name they mostly don't deserve.

I like Ron personally, but he should have known better for many reasons -- including the fact that maybe no sports writer in American history has been so scrutinized. In New England, he has legions of haters that track his every move. Duh! How could he think no one would pick this up?

Anyway, he probably deserved the suspension, and I hope he comes back to the job with some renewed energy for a job most of us would kill for.

Now let's never speak of it again.

On to football!

1. If the Falcons don't sign Joe Horn, they have no idea what they're doing. According to reports (ones that i didn't write and won't pass off as my own), the Falcons are Horn's first choice. What an amazingly perfect fit for the ATL -- a veteran receiver that is still damn good. Durability is an issue (9 games missed last 2 years), but Horn averaged almost 70 yards a game in 2006 (which projects to 1,120 yards for 16 games. Plus, he's a leader. You're on the clock, Falcons.

2. Why are all the good white receivers on the free-agent market? Drew Bennett goes to the Rams, where Kevin Curtis used to be (and is visiting the Vikings). Wes Welker is worth a second-rounder to the Patriots. And just for spice, Brandon Stokley and Sean Morey are available too. Am I missing anybody? What in the name of Steve Largent is going on here? There haven't been this many white receivers in the spotlight since "Invincible" was released in theaters.

3. The Broncos are brilliant, part two. They trade Tatum Bell (and joggin George Foster) for Dre Bly, then sign Travis Henry -- a big upgrade -- to be their RB. Nice move, especially for Henry, who could be a 1,500-yd back in 2007.

4. Another city for Brad Johnson. I like the Cowboys' signing of Johnson, even though I wanted to personally punch him in the face for fooling the Vikings into thinking he was still a legitimate starter. He was awful for my Vikes last year. But he's a great backup, smart and still with some skills left -- and with the Cowboy offense, he'd probably be decent.

5. Speaking of the Vikings. Good job, guys! You have a load of cap room, and so far you signed TE Vicanthe Sciancoe. Did I spell that right? Who cares! Get a good skill player, you assholes!

6. Patrick Kerney? Zzzzzzzz. The Seahawks spent big bucks on Kerney, who's 30 and has 11 sacks in his last two seasons (missed seven games in 2006). I'm not feeling it. But he's definitely better than me, especially at football.

7. There's no "T" in team. Now that the Patriots have Kyle Brady in camp, will Tom Brady be "T. BRADY" on his jersey and Kyle Brady be "K. BRADY"? Or will Kyle get a K. and Tom stay the same? Oh, the horror.

8. Comeback Player of the Year 2007: Daunte Culpepper. Yes, I do have a Culpepper jersey and MacFarlane figure. But that doesn't make my biased. Oh, maybe it does. Either way, I like Big Teal's chances next year -- in his poor 2006 stint with Miami, he had no mobility, but the same arm and intensity. A healthy Culpepper will be a big boost for the Dolphins. That's all I'm saying. And while the Dolphins are exploring their options, how about trading for Randy Moss. LET'S PUT THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!!!!!!!

"laziness and stupidity"

To the Globe,

The paper must make it clear that intellectual integrity still has a home on Morrisey Boulevard. The disclaimer at the end of the "notes columns"cannot be used to shield the wholesale lifting of another reporter's work. The crime may well not rise to the level of plagiarism, but laziness and stupidity on the part of the reporter and editors for allowing this sort of thing must be dealt with. At a minimum, a public apology and some time on the bench for Mr. Borges would sound good if tied to a clearly articulated statement by the paper regarding these columns.

You folks took away my favorite writer when Barnacle was shown the door and you were right for doing so after his multiple offenses. Please show intellectual integrity in this case and do so in a public way. Only then can the public continue to have faith in the Globe.

Eric M. Greene, Esquire

"there is no true excuse"

For the past several years, I've been on the brink of cancelling my decades-long subscription to The Globe, largely based on the continual decline in quality of sports coverage. The latest from Ron Borges has now pushed me over the brink. It's one thing to be clearly biased, it's yet another to be a plagerizer, and that's what Mr. Borges is.

He can come up with all the excuses he wants, but at reputable publications there is no true excuse for Mr. Borges literally cutting and pasting another writer's work without attribution, and you all know this to be true. Ron Borges should be fired, but I expect he will not be, and I will become what I never believed possible: A Herald subscriber.

You owe it to your readers to take corrective action.

Kevin Fitzgerald
Medfield, MA

"looking elsewhere for news"

I am truly disgraced with the latest attempt at sports journalism by the Globe. Ron Borges and Dan Shauhnessy continue to get a forum for their agenda ridden content.

As a new England native living out of the area I have used your website to keep up with the news. I have already turned to other sources for Redsox content and am now at my end with Borges.

His latest attempt at a column this weekend in which he absolutely contradicts himself with what he said on Friday is ridiculous. With the news of him Plagiarizing other columnists I strongly suggest going in another direction with your columnists'. I would like to say that Mike Reiss has done a tremendous job and feel he is the only person that can be relied on for sports news from your newspapper. With that being said this is one customer who will be looking elsewhere for there news.

Thanks for you time.

Allen Costa

"laughable"

I just wanted to share my opinion that for Ron Borges to pass off his recent column as his own is laughable at best. His simple disclaimer at the end simply put just doesn’t cut it. Lifting someone else’s work and then calling it your own is uncalled for at this stage of the game.

Keith Davis '04
Grove City College

A quickie

RON Should be fired!!!


- Tony Pereira

"tired of Ron Borges"

As an avid reader of the "Boston Globe", I've grown tired of Ron Borges opinion pieces being dressed up as sports news every Sunday. Do the managers and editors of the Globe really believe that their readers are so dim that they can't figure out Borges has personal agenda against everything Patriots?

It doesn't matter what the Patriot organization does, if it's news worthy, I know I can count on the Globe and Borges to give me the negative slant. Now as predictable as that is, I've come to deal with it, however I have to wonder what has become of the Globe when they let their writers plagiarize other writers work, carry out personal vendettas in the pages of their publication, and openly contradict their own writings from one publication to another. Where's the credibility??? The bottom line is that this is not "NEWS", and as long as Borges is affiliated with the "Boston Globe", I'll be purchasing the "Herald". Thank you for your time.

- W.S.

Another "borrowed" snippet

March 4th 2007 Globe, from BORGES:
Good job for the kids
The Redskins replaced one son of a coach with another as their offensive quality-control coach. Bill Khayat, son of former Eagles coach Ed Khayat, replaced Coy Gibbs, son of coach Joe Gibbs, who has returned to a career as a racecar driver. Khayat had been Arizona's offensive quality-control coach the past three seasons after four years at Tennessee State coaching tight ends, running backs, and coordinating recruiting.

Feb 24th 2007, from CBS SPORTSline:
--The Redskins replaced one son of a coach with another as their offensive quality control coach on Thursday. Bill Khayat, son of former Eagles coach Ed Khayat -- a Redskins defensive tackle in 1957 and 1962-63 -- replaced Coy Gibbs -- son of coach Joe Gibbs -- who has returned to his previous career as a race-car driver.

- A. Belisle

"Laughing stock"

Good Afternoon,

I guess the belief is that controversy sells newspapers. How about plagiarism?

Once again Ron Borges finds himself in trouble. Will the Globe act this time or will you once again slap Mr. Borges on the wrist And allow him to return to the Patriots Beat?

Do you realize what a laughing stock he has become?? He has a personal problem with the coach of The Patriots and he does not care who knows it, (have you asked him?-do you listen to his radio gig?do you read his column?)

He is a regular Guest on The Michael Felger Show on ESPN radio show. He is not an objective observer of the team it is getting out of hand. He hit a new low a couple weeks ago on the radio show when he had the audacity to criticize the way that Coach Belichick mourned after the death of his father. Who does he think he is?

J.C.Smith
Globe Subscriber

Well, it could have been worse

Come on, let’s hear you all stick up for this sorry man again… are you going to say he didn’t plagiarize? Well, at least he wasn’t physically assaulting disabled individuals.

And you wonder why your paper is losing readership by the day?

- Dennis Baker

A sports insider goes to bat for Borges

OK, this is right from the chief troll ... it's not one of those letters to us and to the Globe, like all those posted below.

Here goes:

I talked on the phone today to a sports-industry insider about the Ron Borges incident, after he contacted us via e-mail.

He did not want us to use his name, but apparently knows both Borges and Tacoma News Tribune reporter Mike Sando fairly well. We’re familiar with this individual’s work and have every reason to believe he’s on the up and up with his information.

Basically, he thinks we’re unfair to Borges, and wants us to know that there’s a very good explanation for how un-attributed copy was lifted from a previously published column and found its way into a Boston Globe column, virtually verbatim.

(For the record, we despise unnamed sources. It’s not our style. It’s an easy-way-out employed mostly by big-media hot-shots. But we’re using one here, if only because the source is critical of us. We wouldn’t bludgeon others with un-named sources. That’s a Borges technique).

In any case, our source said there are private media forums out there for exchanging content. Sando and Borges both participate in one of these private media forums. Apparently, it’s understood that information that appears in this forum is open for use by any other participant – at least according to this source.

He says that he knows that Sando published his Feb. 25 column in this forum and that the assumption for other forum participants, such as Borges, was that it was free for him to use.

Our contact actually blamed Sando for publishing his entire piece verbatim in this exchange of ideas, rather than summarizing it.

He acknowledged that Borges “made two, maybe three mistakes” in this incident, “but that he was much as victim as anything.”

This version may very well be the truth. There’s no reason to doubt that this contact is sharing accurate information.

But it doesn’t pass muster with us. Nor will it with you.

You can’t just lift un-attributed copy from another outlet, slap your name on top of it and pass it off was your own.

Maybe it’s just us.

We do know this: the ONLY people to go to bat for this practice are folks in the media. To everybody else, it’s wrong. Plain and simple.

As for the charge that we're unfair to Borges, we have to respectfully declare that any such charge is bullshit.

We published links to two different articles that offered the same exact content. That's not unfair ... that's called honest reporting.

Apparently, there's not much of it going around these days. So when people see it on Cold, Hard Football Facts.com, they're somewhat shocked.

Globe squashing dissent on its boards

E-mail from a reader named Dave at 1:23 p.m. (ET):

You'll find it funny how quickly the Globe is deleting any refrence to Borges' plagiarism off of their message boards.

I've seen at least a dozen disappear in the last 30 minutes. It's as if Ron himself took time away form his elderly street fights to be the mod today.

"Borges needs to be reprimanded ... or dismissed"

Regarding Ron Borges' article from the Sunday edition.

Those similarities are too much. It's clear that Borges plagiarized. If the globe wants to sustain it's perceived integrity then I think Borges needs to be reprimanded or, more appropriately, dismissed.

"worst columnist I've seen ... in my 58 years"

Good afternoon:

As a 35 year Patriots season ticket holder I am an ardent reader of the Boston Globe and have thoroughly enjoyed the sports pages of the Globes my whole life and not only football but all of the sports. I think Mike Reiss is a great young writer and reporter and his blog is the first item I bring up when I go on the computer to check on my favorite team. He always seems to be ahead of the curve and is highly informative with the proper perspective that Patriots fans are looking for.

My friends and I have commented many times lately that Michael Felger of the Herald has become more negative and looking for ways to attack the Patriots management and we laughingly say "he is trying to become a mini Borges". He is starting to turn us off, which Borges had done 4-5 years ago. Which brings me to my point. Sunday morning I got up early and on to my computer to read about the Patriots big free agent splash of Saturday and went first to Mike Reiss's article in the Globe and then to the Herald and then on to all the major web football sites.

I then went and read the Globe obituaries and after getting a little depressed I went to Ron Borges Sunday article "On Football" as is my normal custom to get a good laugh and remove my depression. This had to be the absolutely worst column I have ever read by him as it was so slanted to take away from a Patriots fan's enjoyment because of his so obvious bias against Belichek and so contradictory to what he had written previously about Adalius Thomas and his abilities.

I also had heard him on Felger's show talk about Thomas in glowing terms and comment that the Patriots would never make an effort to get him. I think I spent about 2 hours talking to friends about what a jerk he is and how we all should stop reading his articles as it is not worth looking for information from someone who has such an agenda and will spin his stories to make the Patriots look bad.

So now I read about how he plagiarized a portion of his column from a writer in Tacoma Washington and fully realize that he has gone over the edge. I also have heard that the AFC source he was quoting in knocking Thomas was that high character loser of a coach, Marvin Lewis. He really knows how to bring in quality players.

I know this will not happen, but I feel that a very high quality newspaper like the Boston Globe should not have a person like this writing for them and urge you to disassociate yourselves from any further services with Borges. I will never read another article written by Borges or watch him on Folger's FSN TV show.

I don't need to be lied to by a person like this, as sports is for my enjoyment, not to make me angry. He has gone past laughing at and is the worst columnist I have seen in Boston in my 58 years of watching and reading about Boston sports when my father introduced me to the Red Sox, Braves, and Celtics at the age of 6. All the great columnists that have come out of the Globe (Gammons, Montville, Ryan, Edes, McDonough, Holly, Cefardo, Reiss) must be ashamed that Borges is allowed to write for the same great paper.

Thank you for any attention you might give this letter.
Samuel R. Starr Boxborough, MA

"it's a shame"

I’m not sure what excuse will be pulled out to explain this blatant copying of text from another paper, but I would think with the decline in circulation newspapers are receiving, it better be a good one.

Let’s be realistic, hasn’t the Times organization suffered enough because of this kind of rubbish?

Jayson Blair – NY Times
Mike Barnicle – Boston Globe
Ken Powers – Worcester Telegram
Barbara Stewart – (freelance) Boston Globe
Steve Erlanger – NY Times
and now Borges.

Your newspaper and your parent company continues to lose its value and it’s a shame.

have a nice day
Alex Belisle

"questions ... journalism standards"

I’ll admit I wasn’t a big Borges fan before this with his constant criticism of Patriots brass, but this questions his journalism standards and practices.

- Sean Gildea

Globe columnists "bitter and lazy"

Dear Sir/Madam:

I have been a reader of the Globe for 40 years. While I have lived out of state for the last 15 years, I have continued to read the Globe online every day.

One of the great pleasures of the Globe was its Sports page. Sadly, over the years, the great columnists have been replaced with the mediocre, and increasingly the bitter and lazy. Finally, this week we find that Ron Borges is a plagiarist. For years any astute sports fan has been aware that Borges writes solely to satisfy his own needs. He settles his scores, he makes his veiled accusations and he spews his unresearched opinions across your pages.

As a regular reader I was amazed that the Globe management have defended Borges in the way they have (it's opinion, he's supposed to be controversial…etc). These defenses were always hollow. I have always been shocked that you would so willfuly ignore the transparent bias. Now finally we find your columnist simply copied his work from another. Will the Globe finally act?

Will you finally defend your paper's reputation? Will you finally stand for some minimal level of journalistic integrity?

Sincerely,
Michael G. Bator, New York, NY

"time that Borges goes"

It is time that Borges goes. I will no longer purchase the Globe or read it online as long as he is still in your employ.


S. D. McDonald
Dartmouth, MA

Short & sweet

Stop protecting this HACK!

- James Tobin

"shit-can him!!!!"

Borges is an embarrassment to the Boston Globe.

At the very least you should go back to the old grammar school days......give him a detention and make him write 1,000 times "I will not plagiarize".

Make the A-hole look up the definition first!!!! And when he's done shit-can him!!!!!

John Chaisson

"exceed(s) ... boundaries of ethical journalism"

Dear Mr. Gilman,

As a Boston Globe subscriber from Hanover, MA., I'm writing this email to you in order to express my outrage at the numerous acts of plagiarism committed by Ron Borges. The most recent examples of his "work" in stealing verbatim text from a writer in Seattle WA. (Mike
Sando) exceed in any measurable way the boundaries of ethical journalism and I believe reflect very poorly upon your newspaper.

As you are aware, this is merely the latest in a long string of inconsistencies associated with Mr. Borges, who often times states one opinion in your newspaper and at the same times states a diametrically opposite opinion in another forum - radio interview or Internet outlet.
An example of this can be found as recently as this past Friday (March
2nd) when Mr. Borges stated that then Baltimore Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas was his #1 choice for best value player and was destined to make an impact on whatever team drafted him (paraphrased).

Two days later in the Sunday Globe, he questions whether or not Thomas is good enough to play for the Patriots.

Another example of of his inconsistency is your publication of his football "picks". He picks one
group of selections for the Globe and selects different teams for other outlets. When confronted with this issue, Mr. Borges responded on a local radio show (ESPN-Boston) that he doesn't even make the picks for the Globe - he said an intern does.

Either way, this places his credibility firmly in question and makes me wonder what else is being misrepresented at your newspaper.

His lack of objectivity is annoying to say the least, and in my opinion believe that your newspaper will be a far better publication when Ron Borges is fired. If the Boston Globe is to maintain any level of credibility, you must terminate him immediately - to do any less would
be a disservice to your other fine writers and to your readers who have every right to expect that what they read every day in the Globe is accurate, unbiased, and original.

Sincerely,
Paul Austin

"This is gross"

All at The Globe,

I am not fan of Borges so I read him to be the role of devil's advocate. But this is gross and know that I will no longer be reading his articles and will be surprised if The Globe does not respond to his actions for the sake of your readers who trust your paper.

Stephen
Globe customer
Cohasset, MA

"I have been disgusted"

As an avid Patriots and Red Sox fan I've been rather surprised by the tone and reporting style of Boston Globe local sports coverage over the years. And at times I have been disgusted by said reporting. Ron Borges, in particular, is such an anomoly in quality, style and tone that I cannot read his articles anymore. You have a right to continue to employ him. And I can choose to ignore his work as I do not think it provides an acurate picture of the teams he covers and, thus, is not in the least bit informative.

Though I have questioned the quality of his work before I did not suspect him of plagiarism. I guess I assumed that though I did not find the Globe sports coverage informative. It was still held to appropriate journalistic standards. Seeing the infomation below posted on the Cold Hard Football facts website makes the charge of plagiarism in this instance very strong.

I am not a journalist but would very much like to know how and why the article written by Ron Borges in his football notes column on 3/4/07 does not constitute plagiarism. It seems clear to me that it is a shocking and straight forward example of plagiarism. In which case it is more then enough cause to terminate Borges' employment with the Globe.

Hopefully, Globe leadership is already evaluating this issue and will take swift action. If he is not terminated over this offense, though, I would really appreciate an explanation as to why/how this does not qualify as plagiarism.

Thank you for your time.
Maggie McCarthy

What are they waiting for?

When are you guys going to get your heads out of the sand, and fire the guy!! Anyone else would be long gone!

- Henry Richardson

Nova Scotia Seahawks/Sando fan is pissed

To all,

I'm a Seahawks fan and Sando is a top notch reporter for our team. He is my source for everything. He obviously works his tail off, as evidenced in his blog. You can ask him questions near real time and get responses. He's got a connection to the fans. I don't know him personally, never met him. But I'd go to bat for this guy. His work speaks for itself.

The fact that Borges is stealing his work is terribly offensive. Sando works for a small publication, and I'm guessing it's by choice because he has the ethic to move ahead. A big body like the Boston Globe should discipline harshly... Borges should never write under your name again. I couldn't get away with this much plaguirism in high school and Borges is pulling it off under a major publisher. An apology is in order to Mr. Sando.

Send him his check and fire Borges!


Sincerely,

Jason Pape
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Colts fan could be more objective than Borges

A regular poster in the CHFF Football Forum, Warhawk, sent a link to this site that touches on the Borges rip job:
http://helmet2helmet.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=24956

A few posts down you'll see a great line:

"I think I, as a Colts fan, could probably be a more objective writer (than Borges)."

We're still waiting ...

... for somebody to come out and defend Borges.

Haven't got one e-mail in his favor yet.

Usually we do ... but lifting an article from another reporter seems to have silenced even the most outspoken Borges apologists.

- KJB

"Borges has sickened me"

Hello,

As a former newspaper reporter the behavior of Mr. Borges has sickened me for some time. We all know he has a personal vendetta against Bill Belichick and has been allowed to play that out in your pages. But now he's just lifting intellectual property from other newspapers. How long can you let this go on. At least I still have Michael Felger for a "contrarian" viewpoint that doesn't involve personal vendettas and stolen copy.

- Eric Woodman

"blow hard"

Are you guys awake? How long will you let this guy Borges run loose? You continually prop him up, pat him on the back and tell all of us how wonderful he is and what a great reporter he is.

It's time to set the alarm clock. If you want to see and read his blow hard comments, make him a columnist. If not please do something about this guy. Wil McDonough must be rolling in his grave.

Thanks for your time,
Mark Constance

Devil's advocate has gone too far

Dear Gentlemen and Ladies:

I like Mr. Broges and his columns, and I feel that he often brings balance to the Globe's sports coverage. I applaud him for playing "Devil's Advocate" and representing less popular opinions when necessary. This is why it saddens me so that a talented writer like Mr. Borges would lift almost an entire article from another writer. I do not believe that the disclaimer at the end of his March 4, 2007 article "Seahawk is a Better Catch" is sufficient to excuse his line-for-line replication of Mike Sando's February 25, 2007 article "Seahawks Intend to Shop Jackson" in the Tacoma News Tribune.

I used to receive the Globe at home, and now buy the Monday-Friday editions at a newsstand on the way to work. I normally would not have seen this particular article, but I was intrigued by the coverage of this was receiving on WEEI and decided to take a look for myself. I urge you to do the same, and to do the right thing, and protect the integrity of the Boston Globe, the most beloved and respected paper in the region. Mr. Borges must face serious (and public) reprimand at the very least, but due to his unfortunate unpopularity, it may be better for him to move on altogether.

Thank you for your time and attention,
Michael L. Rybacki

Borges, Globe "laughing stocks"

Borges is an embarassment to the Globe.

Not so much because of the recent plagarism, but because he is such a gratuitively venomous critic of almost all aspects of the Patriots organization when the Patriots as an organization have shown that they are a successful team franchise and a pleasure to the Boston fans.

Why the Globe has chosen to continue to employ someone who writes such biased and proven incorrect slanted articles is very difficult to fathom.

Borges - and the Globe by association - are the laughing stock and butt of innumerable jokes in print and television media.

Borges - and the Globe by association - are the laughing stock and butt of innumerable jokes among Boston sports fans.

Why don't you do YOURSELF a big favor and get rid of this nasty malicious "journalist".

- Richard L. Brewer

Fraud

borges is a fraud. time to cut the cord!!!

- scott

"blatant rip off"

Re: Mike Sando's article published in the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington, on Feb. 25, and Ron Borges' “Football Notes” column in the Boston Globe on Sunday, March 4.

This blatant rip off of another reporter's work makes the Boston Globe look sophomoric, at best.
I would expect higher standards from such a (formerly) prestigious paper. I won't pick up another copy of The Globe until you remove Ron Borges from your staff and recommit to the high level of journalistic integrity that your readers deserve.

Kai Rostcheck, Hopedale, MA

"most biased writer I have ever seen"

Rob Borges has gone from beating old men walking with a cane to plagiarism. What will it take for you people to fire this idiot. He is the most biased writer I have ever seen letting his personal hatred of all things Patriot so effect his views that he has alienated the entire New England region. Not only is the column referred to below with examples show his plagiarism, his personal hatred was demonstrated by declaring Adalius Thomas the best free agent available two days before saying it was a terrible signing by the Pats and tearing the player apart.

As long as Borges writes for the Globe I will never buy it

The bulk of his March 4 column was plagiarized from the News Tribune of Tacoma, WA column by Mike Sando on Feb 25.

- Martin Favorite

"I will be cancelling"

Enough is enough--your newspaper has lost any credibility that remained--I will be cancelling.

- Chris

"Worse than Barnicle"

Can you condone Ron Borges’ article? This is worse than Barnicle.

- Mike

"hateful, despicable columnist"

Ladies and Gentlemen,
You must remove Borges from your pages immediately. He is the most borish, hateful, dispicable columnist at the Globe and thats quite a statement at your paper. Borges' off the charts bloated ego has finally caused his down fall as everyone without his blinding arrogance knows that you cant get away with blatant plaigerism in this day and age. He does not want to get fired, he is just tired and lazy and feels "entiltled." I always harken back to the glee he displayed upon the death of Will McDonough as he couldnt wait to have a HOF vote.

Borges suffers from the same inflated feeling of self worth that we saw from well known Mass Dems such as Flaherty and Finneran and he needs to share the same fate. Get rid of him...
By the way, the above thoughts and words are my own.

Thank you,
Jeff Morrill

"Sports reporting has been corrupted"

I have subscribed to your newspaper for years and I have always disagreed with the politics of the Boston Globe. The only reason I have continued to buy the paper is for the sports section, but now even your sports reporting has been corrupted. Having read the comparisons of the passages in the Globe and the Tacoma News Tribune the only conclusion I can draw is that they were copied. Do the right thing and fire this chump!

Don Petry

Short & sweet

FIRE Borges

- Frank

Note from a job seeker

If you are paying writers (like Borges) to surf Mike Sando's articles and hit CTRL+C and CTRL+V, I'd like to apply for a job.

Thank You.

"A liar, a snake and now a plagiarist"

You need to fire Ron Borges. He's a liar, a snake, and now a plagarist. Remember poor ol' Barnicle? Will you now be hypocrites?

Anthony P. Costine
Contoocook NH

"malignancy ... allowed to percolate far too long"

I am extremely disappointed that you continue to employ a completely biased writer, who has now been revealed to have copied the work of others and claimed it as his own.

It's high time that you got rid of this malignancy. It has been allowed to percolate for far too long.

- A New York reader

"plagiarism ... pure and simple"

I cannot believe that Ron Borges will still be working for you any more.

You fired Mike Barnicle for making up stories to enhance a point but surely the wholesale copying of someone else's work without giving credit is worse than that. Ron has consistently written disparaging pieces about the Patriots and has alluded to a personal vendetta against Bill Belichick to the point that I no longer read his work because I disagree so strongly with his continually negative slant.

This however represents an editorial choice that I have to respect as it is a valid point of view, even if I disagree with it. Wholesale plagiarsm is in an entirely different category and is surely one that will not be tollerated by The Globe. Ron's Sunday Football notes column is plagarism of an article written in the Tacoma News Tribune on Feb 25th pure and simple. Please, enough is enough, its time for Ron to go.

Peter

"What does it take?"

Remember, the letters we're publishing here have all gone to the big-wigs at the Globe.

"So, just what does it take, boys and girls? When this stuff is tolerated it further solidifies the public perception that Media Types just circle the wagons and the truth be damned. ...oh, that's right, I forgot, "Truth? What is Truth?"

- Dave & Susie

Tacoma reader "offended"

As a regular reader of the Tacoma News Tribune, Seahawks Insider Blog, I’m offended at the March 4th "Football Notes" article. The similarities between the discussion of the Seahawks’ Darrell Jackson situation in the March 4th "Football Notes" article bear an uncanny resemblance to the work of Mike Sando of the Tacoma News Tribune on February 25th, 2007,

Firstly, I’d expect a journalist for a paper as esteemed as the Boston Globe to behave more responsibly. Secondly, Mr. Borges’ lapse in judgment is perhaps more egregious as to cleave the credit for the work from the very hard-working, oft-blogging Mike Sando of the less heralded, but well regarded, Tacoma News Tribune.

I’m hoping the proper steps are taken to rightly attribute much of the work for the article to Mr. Sando, and I should think that Mr. Sando and your readers deserve some assurances that this event will not be repeated.

Brian Perry
Redmond, WA

"Mr. Borges lifted whole sections"

Dear editors:

I am a subscriber and reader of The Boston Globe. I believe it is a newspaper of great character and quality reporting. This is why I believe that The Boston Globe should remove from its staff sportswriter Ron Borges.

Mr. Borges has committed in the past several questionable actions which have prompted complaints. But now, he stands accused of a highly damaging charge in the world of journalism -- plagiarism. It is clear that Mr. Borges lifted whole sections of a Feb. 25 column by Mike Sando of The News Tribune of Tacoma and used them in his March 4 "Football notes" column.

I demand as a reader of the Globe sports page that only those that follow the rules of journalism be allowed to write for this publication. Mr. Borges does not meet these standards and he must be released immediately from the Globe staff. Please consider this request so as to further the great name of The Boston Globe and to provide the people of Boston the best quality news available.

Sincerely,
Dan Rozenson

Media pro chimes in

Wow, folks.

As a veteran of three Scripps Howard newspapers (the now-defunct El Paso Herald Post, the Knoxville News-Sentinel and the [Denver] Rocky Mountain News), I can't see how Ron Borges should escape punishment after his blatant plagiarism of Mike Sando's March 4 article for the (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune.

I don't know Mr. Borges, nor had I ever noted his name until tonight, as far as I can recall. I am, however, very familiar with the good name of the Boston Globe, and I don't see how you can allow Mr. Borges to lessen your good name with his unprofessional conduct.

Alexander A. Papesh
Englewood, CO

Enough is enough

I've officially canceled my subscription to your newspaper. Ill now be recieving the Boston Herald, at least the writers there write their own stuff.

Ron Borges has turned into a JOKE. As long as he's associated with your paper I will not spend one penny on your paper.

yours truly
John D.

"He's a fraud"

I can only hope that the Boston Globe maintains it's level of quality and does the right thing with Borges. He's a fraud and should not be writing for your paper.

Regards, Mark Hickenbottom

Borges-Gate: "He's cooked"

Readers started last night zipping letters off to us and to Globe management about the Borges thing. We'll start posting them here. One of the first was short and sweet:

"He's cooked," wrote reader Andrew Martin.

First Borges response

The first note to the CHFF cardboard-box world headquarters was a very brief, preliminary note from the executive editor of the News Tribune of Tacoma, Dave Zeeck:

"We'll look further."

We'll follow up with them later today to get a more detailed response.

Surprise cut

Wow. The Steelers cut Joey Porter loose for cap reasons Thursday.

This is nothing new for the Steelers, who treat 30-year-old linebackers like clingy hookers: by kicking them the hell out. Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Levon Kirkland -- they all got the boot.

Porter will get paid somewhere, for sure -- I'd take an angry Joey Porter for a year or two, no problem. With all the money out there this year, he'll do fine.

Also, the Saints cut Joe Horn, another veteran getting the gate. Check out Horn's quotes:

"Right now it's going around that (the Saints) wanted to restructure my contract and I asked to be released, but this has nothing to do with money," Horn said told The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. "I wanted to retire as a Saint. I've been through hell and back for that city and that organization. If I wanted out of New Orleans that bad, I would have just kept my mouth shut and let them move the team to San Antonio.

"I just don't think [coach] Sean Payton wanted me back. I asked to be released because I felt betrayed by a head coach who wanted to prove he could win without Joe Horn."

Ouch. Horn was having a big year for the Saints while healthy, and he's another guy that will provide big value for 1-2 years.

Broncos-Lions trade

According to SI.com, the Broncos will trade T George Foster, RB Tatum Bell and a fifth-round pick to the Lions for Dre Bly.

Interesting move. Bly is still kinda sorta considered a top notch corner, and if he's good the Broncos could be scary in the secondary with Bly and Bailey.

Clinton Portis for Bailey, Bell/Foster for Bly. Probably both steals. I don't think Bell is a star in the making, and the Broncos had soured on Foster.

Give the Broncos credit for their willingness to make ballsy moves -- there's a reason they're good every year.

Also on the Broncos, the fact that they had two young players die in the first two months of the offseason is just bizarre and terrible. One Bronco, WR Brandon Marshall, was with Darrent Williams when he was killed and also was with RB Damien Nash when he died of a heart problem. What a horrible burden to bear.

I've always been kind of a Bronco hater, but something like that makes you realize that hate is kind of a stupid emotion to have for a football team.