Jackie MacMullan is doing the Lord's work. In the minutes following the Patriots' throttling of the Steelers, the veteran Boston Globe columnist gave a 24-year-old second-year player one more chance to clarify his mid-week "guaranteed Pittsburgh victory" comments.
"Anthony," I asked him, just minutes after New England shredded his team, 34-13, by scorching the secondary for 399 passing yards and four touchdowns, "If you could do it over, would you guarantee the win again?"I've mentioned before that I don't put much stock in players making guarantees. Ultimately, it comes down to execution (John McKay is in favor of it), and yesterday Smith was dreadful. Apparently, MacMullan had no interest in writing a story that wasn't completely predictable, and that's why she posed the question to Smith after the game. Can't Stop the Bleeding offers a different, more nuanced take:
"Yes," he answered. "I come out every game to win. In this league, if you walk into an arena planning to lose, you're not a guy anyone will want to play with."
In theory, he is correct. But Smith not only heaped undue pressure on himself with his misplaced arrogance, he also juiced a weary Patriots team...
Perhaps this would've been a good time for some mature observer - Mike Tomlin? Jackie McMullen? - to suggest that perhaps Smith is more naive than arrogant. His "guarantee" of a Pittsburgh win wasn't volunteered out of the blue, it came from being questioned about the Steelers' chances. Can we presume that if any members of the Jets profess to being scared ... of facing the Pats next Sunday, McMullen and colleagues will applaud their honesty rather than questioning their desire?Yes, I think that's right, because MacMullan and colleagues are forever searching for the truth. I mean, we're not talking about blogs, for cripes sake.
Seriously, I understand MacMullan's angle -- nobody's wants to read about the possibility that Smith didn't grab a reporter's tape recorder and just started yelling "GUARANTEE! GUARANTEE!" Or better yet, MacMullan asking her question this way: Anthony, if you could do it over, would you answer the "are you guaranteeing victory?" question a reporter posed to you?
So consequently, here we are.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-10-2007 @ 7:26PM
theomnivore said...
What was the biggest subplot coming into the Pats-Steelers game? Who was the biggest on-field goat in the Pats-Steelers game? EGADS! The answer to both of these questions is Anthony Smith. So when a reporter asks the center of hype and attention about his pregame comments, dont get indignant. I'm a STEELER fan, and I wanted to read a story about Smith's reaction after the game. It was the best, most obvious post game angle, and she took it. WTF is the problem with that?
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12-10-2007 @ 7:35PM
rich said...
You know what? Nobody forced Smith to gaurantee a win. If the Steelers won, Smith would be hailed as a genious for calling it. There'd be no end to the ass kissing heaped upon him by the local Pittsburgh media and Steelers fans. Well, now that the Steelers lost the game, every Pitt supporter is coming out saying, "Smith didn't mean it. His comments were taken out of context. He's just young and naive."
Too bad. I don't care if all of that is true. If Smith is going to make a stupid gaurantee, his supporters should be prepared for him and the steelers to get ripped in the media, and expect stupid, predictable questions, especially after being handed such a humiliating loss.
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12-10-2007 @ 10:09PM
tophercl said...
You make me glad that blogs generally don't interview athletes if your analysis is that Smith shouldn't have been bothered with responding to his guarantee that didn't come to fruition. It's not as if the Fanhouse brought up Anthony Smith multiple times before the game or anything. The only reason one might think that Smith was a stupid, young, naive player would have to be biting on that play action when the Patriots hadn't run all game. He's a professional football player, grow up.
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12-10-2007 @ 11:43PM
doug said...
Whats up with the pats and the #91 patch on the helmets?? All the rest of the league was Honoring #21 from the redskins??
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12-11-2007 @ 12:03AM
OD said...
91 refers to backup defensive lineman Marquise Hill, who died shortly before the start of the season.
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12-11-2007 @ 1:47AM
dmackenz said...
This is annoying. Why must everybody on fanhouse constantly try to belittle anything AP or any non-blogosphere source does? I understand that they take shots at blogs all the time, but if you're so much better why be childish back? It's just annoying to read knowing that there are such better things to talk about with all the talent here on the fanhouse.
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12-11-2007 @ 7:59AM
Bill said...
It's not just that Smith guaranteed a Steeler win. He also called out the Pats receivers saying the Bengal receivers were better, and that they shut them down.
The AFC North teams tend to yap a lot. Ravens can't shut up, Steelers were worse when Joey Porter was there but seem to have a guy or two liking to yap, Bengals and browns have their yappers. Dallas, Giants, Skins can't ever shut up either.
Smith's comments fired up the Pats but, as Brady said, it would have been far different if Steelers the Pats respected like Polamalu, Ward, or Roethlisberger had made the comments.
Bill
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12-11-2007 @ 11:54AM
joe wallace said...
Why do we talk about this? Why do reporters ask the same stupid questions? Bloggers, too? I mean, nobody cares. I don't have an agenda, or anything. I think I will devote one, no, make that TWO blogs today about this thing that we should not be talking about.
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