BSJ Daily Briefing 09.14.17

Good morning!

So, as you've probably heard, there was an incident last night at Fenway that caused a mild disturbance. The question for us at BSJ, specifically Sean McAdam and me, was, do we cover it at all?

Most of you know that one of our promises to our members was to keep politics out of this space. In general, I just don't see any place for it. Most people use sports to escape everyday life. I think any sports outfit that does anything political is just doing it because they know it will gain eyeballs and listeners. It's the lowest of low-hanging fruit, and requires no talent.

That being said, we will cover social issues if they come up in the course of covering our beats. Basically, the line I've always drawn on gray areas (like player's personal lives) is this: is this affecting, or does it have the potential to affect, the team on the field?

So, I told Sean to leave it alone, unless one of the players said something meaningful. They did not, so we left it alone. I just can't justify writing an article on it, or even running a photo. How did what happened last night have anything to do with the Red Sox' season and their push for the playoffs? It didn't. I'm all for freedom of speech and have seen the power for change that sports can have on the population at large, but that wasn't going on here.

Was that the right choice? I think so, but I don't know. Like we said at the beginning, this is your site: "By Boston, for Boston." We serve at the pleasure of our members. Our postion on this and other things is written in pencil, not ink. We're always trying to evolve and improve here at BSJ. If you feel strongly one way or the other on this topic, please let us know at help@bostonsportsjournal.com.

Thanks, and away we go...

CATCHING UP

Bruins

Everything you need to know about Bruins training camp.

You should take the kids over to Warrior Ice Arena. Have done it myself (and will again). Haven't had to pay, even for parking. You take the elevator up, and you're right there in the stands. Little chilly, so bring a jacket.

Red Sox

Doug Fister's slow starts might be a big problem down the line.

David Price is getting closer, even though the pitcher and the manager don't seem to be on the same page (shocker).

Live Coverage of the 7-3 loss.

Patriots

Brandin Cooks is ready to take on his old team. And the Patriots could use a big game out of him.

These videos of Tom Brady... I'm mildly alarmed that he's continuing to talk about this stuff.

Amendola, Hightower, and Slater didn't practice on Wednesday.

Interesting discussion: Ranking the Pro Football Hall of Fame chances of the Patriots' nominees.

ON TAP

11:30 a.m.: Bruins media availability. Players, followed by Don Sweeney and Bruce Cassidy. (McDonald)
1:35 p.m.: Athletics at Red Sox, Fenway — NESN, MLB Network (McAdam)
5 p.m.: Live Q&A — Brian Robb, Celtics.

PARTING THOUGHT

Tom Brady's is waiting to see how his team will react on Sunday. Patriots fans...