Every now and then you think the sporting media in New York cannot go any lower, and then something comes along that recalibrates your expectations lower still. Today, the New York rags were working in overdrive, The New York Posts’ cover featured New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick Photoshopped onto a turkey, and the New York Daily News also made Belichick its back cover with the headline "Brain Freeze."

Both rags were making clumsy, over dramatized and boneheaded references to Belichick keeping Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in for the final extra point of Sunday's blowout win over the Colts. Gronkowski broke his arm on the play and had surgery Monday.

What they are missing is glaringly obvious. This is professional football. Not college ball. There are smaller squads, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and have your guys on the field. What they are also missing is that no doubt Gronk, who simply loves playing the game of football, probably wanted to be on the field anyway.

Above and beyond those obvious points, their greatest mistake, other than taunting a superior team, other than talking trash when you are trailing badly in the standings and other than making fun of a vastly superior and more decorated coach is their taking the exceptionally slimy path of making jolly of a players injury. That’s just pathetic. Making fun of an injury is one of the last remaining taboos in sports journalism

Most don’t do it. Even the more fringe online entities don’t do it.

The Post and Daily News seems to think it’s ok though, poking fun at a serious injury that stops a man from doing his job. Really base stuff, scraping the bottom of the barrel, but then with the Post in particular, this is basically nothing shocking. This is actually The Post living down to their lowly expectations.

Hopefully the Post and Daily News get their kicks out of their eye catching headlines today. The acid test will come Friday morning, we will see who is laughing then.

Current game handicap?

New England -6 points.



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