Tyler Dunne story on McDermott - 3 parts, 25 interviews, one damning conclusion

[Einstein]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I wonder why Dunne didn't interview Micah Hyde.

 

 

 

 

He said in the article why.

 

He doesn’t have access to the team.

 

But I love that Micah Hyde is sticking up for McD. I hope this article brings the team together and they go on a tear.

[RichRiderBills]

3 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

  stop--lol come on.  he makes it clear in his piece.

 

Did he have "an axe to grind" with Rodgers and McCarthy in that long form piece he wrote in 2019 about the 2 of them?  

 

read the article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure, he fairly mentioned it. ...but he's a hack so yes, it was pretty obvious that he needed to. 

[Mr. WEO]

2 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said:

 

 

Sure, he fairly mentioned it. ...but he's a hack so yes, it was pretty obvious that he needed to. 

 

what's a hack and where in those 20,000 words you read in that article did you conclude that's what he is?

 

enlighten us

[BuffaloMatt]

10 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

  stop--lol come on.  he makes it clear in his piece.

 

Did he have "an axe to grind" with Rodgers and McCarthy in that long form piece he wrote in 2019 about the 2 of them?  

 

read the article.

 

 

 

 

If not an axe he had an agenda. 

[Mikie2times]

He rained praise down on Beane in the interview with Cowherd. He said a ton of things many of us are thinking but nobody in the Bills news circle would dare consider talking about. You can point to all these reasons he had to lie but at the end of the day nobody has disputed anything in the article. Beane didn't dispute any of it. If anything he gave it validity. So people out there do feel this way about Sean. As I'm sure some feel warm and fuzzy about him and I'm pretty sure we have read about 2,000 warm and fuzzy articles. If people want to call it a hit piece so be it. It seems like he's representing a different side to the story that any reporter close to the Bills circle would not be able to write if they want to maintain access.    

[RichRiderBills]

2 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

what's a hack and where in those 20,000 words you read in that article did you conclude that's what he is?

 

enlighten us

 

Are you Dunne? He's regularly written hit pieces on McD and Beane. Had it out for them almost from the start. He had a preamble :13 second piece filled with stretchy garbage and conjecture 2 years ago. He hits McD like a part time job. I've heard he was a Monos and Whaley fan and is sour grapes since. 

[Cray51]

I don’t think Dunne has an ax to grind, I think he has bills to pay.  He knows these types of “hit piece” articles draw interest and pull in subscribers.  No one reads an article about how many former players like Sean.  Even if he acknowledges there may be some, he can find a few that don’t and make that the large part of the thesis of his writing.

 

its not personal against Sean, it’s using him as a way to pay bills and build his career.

 

which is why I agree with Micah, it’s a low blow.  But I see why he did it. 

[Billsfan1972]

1 hour ago, wppete said:

This right here is very telling. Daboll was loved by his players on the Bills. 

 

 

Too much a friend, he had to go....

[Rico]

31 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said:

 

No press pass and never been treated w respect by the ball club. 

Don’t forget his clownshow good buddy who got tossed to the curb the day after McD’s first draft.

[Warcodered]

1 hour ago, chongli said:

 

 

So is this a positive or a negative for Dunne?

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

Hi Yolo. Happy to see your name pop-up.

 

Have to disagree though. I was listening to a Jets press conference a few days ago and their media was tearing into Saleh like a pack of dogs on a salisbury steak.

Isn't that just the Jets state of being? Or the infamous New York media, which they kind of create themselves by hyping it up.

[JPL7]

McD speaks a good game. He says all the right things that a Coach is supposed to say. But if you’re always going to say “it starts with me” and supposedly take accountability for the misnomers and mistakes, if you really mean that then you have to make changes with how you operate. What changes has he made besides firing coaches?

 

We are still seeing the same soft coverage on short pass plays. We are still seeing four down lineman on obvious short run plays. We saw him neuter Josh. If it starts with you, you have to change your method of operation.

 

The 9/11 story people are making a hullabaloo about is the least concern I’d have for him as coach. How about be more concerned by a stat like this…

 

This season the Bills have lost 6 games by 6 points or less in the first 12 weeks of the season. In the history of the nfl only 20 other teams have matched that total. One of the most recent teams to do that?? The 2012 Carolina Panthers. Any idea who their D coordinator might have been that season??

 

Which proves he DOESNT CHANGE! You can’t consider yourself “accountable” if all you do is say “I take responsibility”or “it all starts with me”. You have to actually modify your behaviors and patterns and actually change your ways.

Edited December 9, 2023 by JPL7

[Cray51]

2 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Too much a friend, he had to go....

I thought it was clear Sean was not a fan of how Daboll criticized players openly, which Daboll has had an issue with in New York as well.

[wettlaufer]

2 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

I don’t think Dunne has an ax to grind, I think he has bills to pay.  He knows these types of “hit piece” articles draw interest and pull in subscribers.  No one reads an article about how many former players like Sean.  Even if he acknowledges there may be some, he can find a few that don’t and make that the large part of the thesis of his writing.

 

its not personal against Sean, it’s using him as a way to pay bills and build his career.

 

which is why I agree with Micah, it’s a low blow.  But I see why he did it. 

 

There are TONS of people with media platforms that don't do their work and just rely on stats and highlights. Dunne is not one of them.

 

Guy gets 25 interview subjects, not all of whom are universally negative and which Dunne does not conceal, which constitutes the very soul of good journalism and hard work. He has bills to pay, sure. Just like you and me. People burning him down having zero framework for what represents good journalism, and based on one tiny detail in 20,000 words (the 9/11 dumbassery) should just calm down and read and think.

 

The Chad Hall thing was the worst piece of it. It's insane. But the late game failures, which all reflect upon McD's being tight and unable to act as a member of a coaching team, are all on Sean.

 

Dunne didn't claim these things -- 25 colleagues of McD said this in a journalistically integral, hard-working piece. Do people understand this is a lunch pail profession? These people don't get paid much and it's sometimes very noticeable. In the case of Dunne, it's obvious he is well-sourced and credible.

[Mr. WEO]

14 minutes ago, BuffaloMatt said:

If not an axe he had an agenda. 

 

what's on his agenda?

 

8 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said:

 

Are you Dunne? He's regularly written hit pieces on McD and Beane. Had it out for them almost from the start. He had a preamble :13 second piece filled with stretchy garbage and conjecture 2 years ago. He hits McD like a part time job. I've heard he was a Monos and Whaley fan and is sour grapes since. 

 

You can answer my question now.  Where, when reading this long form article, did you discover his hackery and sharpening axe?  what should he not have written about?

[BananaB]

38 minutes ago, schoolhouserock said:

25 former coaches, players, and other personnel speak anonymously about someone else’s accountability. Ha!

 

I loathe everything about this.

I think the biggest question is the number of guys he used info from for this story. He may of interviewed 25, doesn’t mean they all gave him similar info. No doubt in my mind one of the major contributors is Quentin Spain. 

[wettlaufer]

1 hour ago, BuffaloMatt said:

That's why he lessened his credibility by using something that he didn't need to use. But instead he chose to use it and that shows his intent. 

 

It was on a laundry list of weird behavior by McD, not a headline item. Yeah, he used it. It's weird. But it was a very minor part of the story. His intent has been very clear in his work as a journalist: to be thorough, ethical, diligent in pursuit of his duties, and entertaining. He did that here.

[Cray51]

2 minutes ago, wettlaufer said:

 

There are TONS of people with media platforms that don't do their work and just rely on stats and highlights. Dunne is not one of them.

 

Guy gets 25 interview subjects, not all of whom are universally negative and which Dunne does not conceal, which constitutes the very soul of good journalism and hard work. He has bills to pay, sure. Just like you and me. People burning him down having zero framework for what represents good journalism, and based on one tiny detail in 20,000 words (the 9/11 dumbassery) should just calm down and read and think.

 

The Chad Hall thing was the worst piece of it. It's insane. But the late game failures, which all reflect upon McD's being tight and unable to act as a member of a coaching team, are all on Sean.

 

Dunne didn't claim these things -- 25 colleagues of McD said this in a journalistically integral, hard-working piece. Do people understand this is a lunch pail profession? These people don't get paid much and it's sometimes very noticeable. In the case of Dunne, it's obvious he is well-sourced and credible.

I understand why he approached the article in the way he did.  I’m not preaching about Sean, and he has valid criticism.  But Dunne uses terms and descriptors to point the reader towards a negative association of Sean.  He does a good job being thorough, and he isn’t a hack.  But it’s not boring to a point, it’s sensationalized in its descriptors in an effort to carry the reader through an article.

 

its JJ Reddick without the player perspective.

 

i guess I just don’t have a lot of care for this type of journalism.  I don’t care if Sean is an ass, as long as the results show.  And really, nobody cares about Chad Hall or former players opinions or the 9/11 comments if the team is winning.  So when we have 70 pages of people talking about it, I guess I just don’t care for it.  It doesn’t really matter.  So the timing, coming off of a bye, leading to the most important game of the season, I find annoying because it takes the team away from the focus they need… winning the game.  
 

im probably old man on this, but I now know this will become a discussion point of the Bills, and if they lose anyone can point to this as a reason, and now we

open the door to this being a major part of this teams brand moving forward

[Wayne Arnold]

24 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said:

 

Are you Dunne? He's regularly written hit pieces on McD and Beane. Had it out for them almost from the start. He had a preamble :13 second piece filled with stretchy garbage and conjecture 2 years ago. He hits McD like a part time job. I've heard he was a Monos and Whaley fan and is sour grapes since. 

 

When did Dunne write a "hit piece" (oh the drama, Good Lord) on Beane?

[stevestojan]

So we lose a heartbreaker to the Eagles but then head into the BYE week so at least nothing bad can happen; guys can rest up.

Then, our insanely overpaid DE gets arrested for domestic violence, and it comes out that our HC compared his team to the 9/11 hijackers a few years ago, and that former players and coaches hate him. 
 

Where is that thread telling me to never use the phrase “Billsy” again? 
 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by stevestojan

[HardyBoy]

So subordinates buying a new truck for a supervisor that has massive decision making power and control over future earnings is at best a massive perceived conflict of interest.

 

The source saying he "thought it was the coolest thing ever, but McD was jealous of the relationship the coach had with his players because McD did not have that type of relationship..."

 

So that really makes me question the lens through which the sources are seeing things through... I'm not saying the source is being at all dishonest, but I would be livid if I was a CEO of a company and found out that an employee bought their manager say a $5k vacation as a thank you for helping them do so well and get promoted.

 

It doesn't raise into question the honesty of the source at all, but it makes it very clear that that source does not have an understanding of what might have caused McD to behave how he behaved and attributed something to jealously, when I think it would be more McD felt subordinates giving gifts of value to supervisors is a huge at best perceived conflict of interest and there are potentially huge civil liabilities for that type of stuff/even if not the case, would absolutely be something I personally would not want as a part of my organizational culture...gifts should not flow up stream in an organization for a wide range of reasons