I have enjoyed reading writer Jamison Hensley's work since he was a key contributor of Ravens news for the Baltimore Sun and felt happy for him when ESPN brought his talents to their website to cover the AFC North Division.
Following John Harbaugh's controversial comments regarding the punishments that the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots have undergone, a media storm of negativity has unfortunately blown his comments way out of proportion. Among the media, I am specifically targeting Jamison Hensley for his somewhat surprisingly one-sided thoughts on the matter.
The controversy stems from a statement John made about the Patriots being punished for the "Spy-Gate" incident in 2007 that found the team recording defensive signals from the Jets' sideline. When asked about the Saints bounty hit's scandal on Baltimore's 97.9 FM, John directed the attention towards the Patriots first and then stopped himself from mentioning the Saints.
Listen to the radio interview here: http://thejoint.98online.com/_Coach-Harbaugh/audio/935921/13306.html"In the end, everything is brought before the light of day, when it’s all said and done," "What happens, even the thing in New England, no matter whether those things had any impact on whether they won their championships or not, they got asterisks now. It’s been stained."
When Hensley goes on to make an argument that Harbaugh should have kept his mouth closed because Bill Belichick was the one to give Ravens' owner Steve Bisciotti a good referral for their head coaching vacancy, it wreaked of a mafia like mentality.
"Harbaugh was right in saying that the Patriots' championships will always be questioned because of Spygate. He was the wrong person to say it, though." "This shows a lack of loyalty on Harbaugh's part."
Jamison Hensley's article: http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/47401/harbaugh-was-wrong-to-call-out-belichick
I certainly understand the point that Jamison is making but so what if John mentioned the Patriots organization cheated. In the democratic nation that we supposedly live in, anyone regardless of their position should be able to speak their mind within reasonable limitations. John simply stated a thought that was already shared by the public as well as the NFL without a malicious purpose. What's with all the backlash? Below are his comments as he tried to clear up his statements from the radio interview.
"My reference was to the perception out there that came as the result of the league’s actions," “I could have been more clear that I was referring to those viewpoints. I totally believe that the Patriot and Saint coaches and players earned those championships. Bill [Belichick] and Sean [Payton] both know that."
As a continued consequence of their actions, the Patriots as well as the Saints will be forever "stained" as Harbaugh mentioned originally and they will always provide teams a good example of how not to conduct business on the playing field. Why should he have had to retract his statements? Sure the media's reaction might have been better if his statement remained the same without the Patriots name in it but can we really be too harsh on a coach whose likely still losing sleep over a dramatic and controversial Championship loss?
Being a long time fan of Jamison's writing, I expected a different perspective from his media peers but I was sadly mistaken. Instead of being enlightened after reading his article I felt enraged. If he did indeed feel that Harbaugh was wrong for his comments and wrote his piece with sincerity than great for him but something tells me that he blindly instead jumped on the "Bash Harbaugh" bandwagon. With the way ESPN likes to latch on to minor stories and make them seem larger than life, I get a suspecting feeling that Jamison merely became a pawn in this situation.
John Harbaugh stated exactly what he was feeling and was unfortunately persecuted as a result. I for one long for the days of true speech without inhibition and excuse him of any wrong doing even if my opinion is drowned out by the masses.
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