FanHouse John Tomase

When the Boston Herald's John Tomase first reported on the Patriots, allegedly, filming a St. Louis Rams walk-through prior to the 2002 Super Bowl, it did nothing but throw a burning barrel of gasoline on an already raging inferno of season-long spy-gate hysteria. Simply put: it was chaos. Especially since it all came out the night before the Patriots were getting themselves ready to take on the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Naturally, instead of focusing on trivial matters like, you know, the upcoming Super Bowl, the topic of discussion was a game that had taken place five years earlier. And not only a game that had taken place five years earlier, but whether or not somebody had video tape of the Rams walking around in their shorts and helmets (turns out, they didn't). In other words: chaos.

In the wake of the Patriots' stunning loss to the Giants, (some) fans in New England turned their anger and rage towards the most logical and sensible whipping boy - the team's beat writer, presumably for drumming up yet another needless distraction. A distraction that was proven to be incorrect.

Last week we noted that the Boston Herald had posted a want ad seeking a journalist to cover the New England Patriots for the paper. The obvious conclusion was that the Herald was replacing Patriots beat writer John Tomase, who inaccurately reported that the Patriots had taped the Rams' final walkthrough practice before the 2002 Super Bowl.

The Herald's sports editor later told Boston Sports Media Watch that he wanted to move Tomase to the Red Sox beat, but for now, Tomase is still covering the Patriots. Tomase was at the Patriots' training camp practice yesterday, and he has stories in the paper today that indicate that the team is still giving him access -- he had quotes from players and from coach Bill Belichick.

Still, that ad indicates that the paper is looking for a new reporter to cover the Patriots, and in the long run, that has to be bad for everyone. Newspaper beat writers who become the story are going to have an awfully hard time continuing to cover their beat objectively.

Note: One of Tomase's stories today, about running back LaMont Jordan, says, "Jordan actually arrived in time for Saturday night's walkthrough." How strange do you think it felt for Tomase to type the words "Saturday night's walkthrough," given the circumstances of the last time he wrote about a Saturday walkthrough?

On the day before this year's Super Bowl, the Boston Herald ran a story by reporter John Tomase alleging that the Patriots had taped the Rams' final practice prior to the 2002 Super Bowl.

The Herald later recanted that story, and although the paper publicly stood by Tomase, there have been questions about whether he could continue to be the paper's main Patriots beat writer. It appears that the paper has concluded that he can't. From JournalismJobs.com:

The Boston Herald, the authority of hard-hitting sports coverage and analysis in Boston, is seeking an experienced NFL reporter to cover the New England Patriots. Candidates should have at least five years of experience covering professional sports in a competitive market and should have enough NFL contacts to be able to impactfully deliver local and national stories, produce a weekly NFL notebook and blog on the newspaper's Web site.

That ad doesn't mean Tomase (who also writes about the Patriots for The Sporting News) is totally finished covering the Patriots. But Tomase now mostly writes about the Red Sox, and the JournalismJobs.com ad basically describes his old Patriots job. Tomase could still write the occasional Patriots piece here and there, but it looks like the Herald is no longer comfortable having him cover the team on a daily basis.

Via PFT.

Over the last week I've heard from several people who think Boston Herald reporter John Tomase should have been fired -- not just forced to apologize -- for his February 2 story suggesting the New England Patriots had taped the St. Louis' Rams' walk-through practice before the 2002 Super Bowl.

So why wasn't Tomase fired? Tomase's friend Seth Mnookin makes the case for Tomase keeping his job, and it basically breaks down to this:

1. Tomase made clear that the taping was just an allegation from a source close to the team, not that the taping had definitely happened.
2. The Patriots didn't categorically deny the allegations.
3. Tomase's editors should have reined him in.