Mailbag!

Dedicated reader Kevin writes:

He started out as an intern for the New England Patriots, then Will McDonough made a very important friend. Since then got himself a much, much sweeter job, handling Tom Brady’s private affairs… a job so secretive that not even his best friends have any idea what he does. Here is Boston magazine’s look at the man who rode the Super Bowl QB’s coattails to greater fame.

Click here for the article. It is a bizarre read. For those of you too lazy to click (likely, most of you), here are some of the interesting snippets:

For those who don't remember, Brady was not all that long ago a floppy-haired underdog who favored blazers with elbow patches. Even after his early on-field success, he retained a dorky aw-shucks style. He hated the podium and was unprepared for celebrity. Then, before our eyes, he became the metro-sexual who now flits about Europe, paparazzi in his wake. These days Brady seems quite comfortable in his underwear, accessorized perhaps with a sweaty bottle of Smartwater and some Stetson cologne. Compared with Peyton Manning, who hams it up for the NFL's yeasty audience and wouldn't be caught dead in a Movado watch, Brady is a fey extraterrestrial. He has leveraged his appeal in a restrained fashion that transcends his sport. The approach might even be called elegant. But the process has not been intuitive. Brady has needed help. That's where McDonough comes in.

So basically, Tom needed some dude to come in and help him dress. Kind of reminds me of the whole Al Gore/Naomi Wolf thing. Let's hear what our Republican pals think of Tommy! It continues:

At the same time, just like Eric, McDonough has his detractors, those who see him as a lucky boob. A coattailer. And they aren't afraid to voice their opinions, at least anonymously. On one blog, McDonough is called an "ass clown," a "jock sniffer," a "douche," and a "hog sucker." Other people interviewed for this story expressed a disbelief bordering on outrage at his success. Invariably, though, the critics didn't actually know him. They'd merely crossed his path at a party somewhere.

This is what reporting has come to: on "one blog", he was called an "ass clown." Wow! On a blog! It must be true! Being the crack reporters that we are here at INEPT, we decided to track these references down.


McDonough and Bruschi

Turns out the reporter meant that phrases such as "ass clown" and "jock sniffer" were actually found in the reader comments at barstool sports:

I hate to say this as an alum, but McDonough went to BC, graduated in '02. He has worked at the Pats since then and somehow became best pals with Brady. Honestly, I don't totally like Brady because he is friends with this ass clown. McDonough has been a jock sniffer for years, it finally paid off for him. Good for him, I guess.
— George Brett, Apr 25 2008, 1:27 pm

No, not that George Brett. Further down, we get this quote:

For anyone who is doubting how much of a douche will is let me assure you...he is a douche. Having not only graduated from BC w/this dbag i lived on his floor freshman year(cheverus 2nd for any doubters)....this kid sniffed more jock than george jung did coke. That's a fact. He is a douche, and will always be a douche....i now hate tom brady because he associates with this dbag.
— thekid, Apr 25 2008, 2:37 pm

And it goes on. So this is what we get from Boston Magazine: some writer looks up a blog post on Will McDonough, and then quotes the 12-year olds that comment there. Is that what print media has come to? Research that can be done in five minutes, taking quotes from 12-year old basement dwellars?

At INEPT, we go beyond print media. Way beyond. Instead of just cherry-picking the words from a few comments at barstool sports, we instead make up a comprehensive wordle of the reader response:




Wordle rules: Click on the image if it is too fuzzy

From this diagram, we get a much better sense of what people think of "Holley". Douche does stand out, you have to admit.

There's a lot more in the article. It is all pretty strange. Read the rest yourself, or better yet, don't. At least we learned one thing from the experience: use wordle.