I actually discovered that I’m not obligated by law to follow/listen to/pay any attention to any one I don’t want to so I’ve cut all those people off, but here are some of them:
Felger & Mazz – There are full twitter accounts dedicated to railing against them, but having a HOT TAKE is what they do. People can’t not listen to them for some reason even though they know exactly what their schtick is. I don’t find it entertaining so I don’t listen.
Ben Volin – You can not follow him and literally miss zero interesting Patriots information. I’m pretty convinced the Patriots feed him misinformation to make him look bad like the Vollmer to guard thing he reported last year. The other doozy was him saying Gronk was “bursting, cutting, exploding” in camp and every other beat reporter refuting that claim. He’s blocked Jeff Howe if that tells you anything.
ESPN – Seriously, just don’t even turn it on unless the Pats are playing MNF. And certainly don’t even touch Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless with a ten-foot anything.
Hubbuch is a master and easily swings whichever way is going to cause the most buzz. He’ll go after the Jets just as easy as he’ll go after the Patriots too. It’s just what he does. Today’s comment on the Pats not wearing numbers being a shot at fans was classic him. As if he gives two shits about Patriots fans.
Honestly, I think the only local beat guys you need are Mike Reiss, Chris Price, Tom E. Curran and Jeff Howe. You’ll get a perfect array of solid info, history and fun reads and none will try to put out a piece just to get clicks.
Also Mark Daniels of the ProJo really does a nice job with long, informative pieces on players. He really filled a needed niche last season.
And JERRY THORNTON! What’s wrong with me, he’s like one of the most important ones along with Nick “Fitzy” Stevens. Those two guys are probably the best Pats entertainers out there.
Also, just had to add that those are the mainstream big outlet people. There are a bunch of really good bloggers out there who know their stuff and work really hard. To name a few – old pal Erik Frenz, Mike Loyko, James Christensen and his staff at NEPatriotsDraft.com, Steve Balestrieri, Derek Havens and the rest of the guys at Ian Logue’s PatsFans.com. I’m sure I’m forgetting some people but we’re spoiled to have so many dedicated guys following our team. These are just the ones I’ve known the longest.