The Score: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, legal issue over Tayla Harris’ ‘The Kick’, James Hird to commentate on Triple M
Bill Belichick is renowned as much for being one of the greats coaches in world sport as his dislike of the media. One NFL beat writer decided to do a breakdown of his latest press conference.
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Bill Belichick is renowned as much for being one of the greats coaches in world sport as his dislike of the media.
The New England Patriots coach is the king of never answering questions and if he does it’s always with the motto of ‘the less said the better’.
As part of the annual coaches breakfast during the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix, Belichick fulfilled his media commitment in his normal unique style.
But this time one of the NFL beat writers decided to do a breakdown of the six-time championship winner’s press conference.
For 43 minutes Belichick fronted the media and fielded 116 questions with equates to 2.7 questions per minute.
He said 1790 words which is an average of 15.4 per response with his most frequent phrases being “we’ll see” (21 times) and “I don’t know” (13 times).
ESPN had a crack at deciphering what Belichick’s minimalist approach really means. Here’s one example about the recruitment of Philadelphia Eagles pass rusher Michael Bennett:
Question: How will the acquisition of defensive end Michael Bennett help the team?
What BB said: “We’ll see when we get everyone out there and practice. We’ll see how it goes.”
What he means: I wasn’t investing a $6 million base salary in him this year without having an idea of how he will help … but I’ll keep that to myself because there’s no need to advertise that to our opponents right now.”
A legal brouhaha has erupted over “The Kick”.
In a David v Goliath scenario, the AFL has ordered a popular online footy fan gear site to stop selling T-shirts in support of Carlton forward Tayla Harris, declaring that it’s in breach of copyright.
The merchandise in question depicts an NBA-style logo featuring a silhouette of Harris in full flight, which League Tees says is an original design created in-house, not a copy of the now-famous photo captured by AFL photographer Michael Willson in the final home and away game of the season — the photo at the centre of the social media storm surrounding Harris last week.
Anthony, who runs the site, told the Herald Sun’s Lauren Wood that he’d received communication from the league — after the gear had been on sale for almost a week — which accused his site of unauthorised use of intellectual property owned by the AFL.
But while the shirts and badges — dubbed “#standwithtayla” — have been removed in an effort to “move on”, the site wasn’t going down without contesting the claims.
League Tees is adamant that it has used original artwork, and that it has not reproduced any photos owned by the league.
The AFL is working with Tayla to put together an official T-shirt design, with proceeds to be forwarded to a charity of Harris’ choice.
James Hird is making his return to football in the Triple M commentary box.
The former Essendon coach will make his debut on Saturday, calling his old team’s clash with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.
Hird hasn’t been involved in football since he was sacked as the Bombers coach in 2015.
“I love the game and always have loved the game,” Hird said.
“To step back into it wasn’t an easy decision and something that we’ve been weighing up for a couple of years.
“I want to be back enjoying football and I think this is a great way to be back commentating with some interesting characters.”
Meanwhile, another Brownlow Medallist is set for a new career path with Adam Cooney to return to the playing ranks this season.
It’s understood the former Western Bulldogs and Essendon player has been training strongly with Western Region Football League Division 1 contender Spotswood and put pen to paper with the club on Tuesday night.
Cooney is likely to be rolled out in the opening round of the campaign and could play up to 10 games around his media commitments.
THE WHISPER
An interesting side note to the furore over Channel 7 commentators not using Marvel Stadium over the weekend. It turns out one with close ties to AFL headquarters seemed to break ranks and continually used the sponsor’s name.
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