By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

The outsanding Jessica Heslam at the Boston Herald (and the equally outstanding Messenger Blog) revealed on Thursday yet another example of Ron Borges’ plagiaristic ways and the non-reaction by the Boston Globe leads us to believe just one thing: They are not taking these incidents seriously. At all.

And for that, the Globe needs to be called on the carpet. We’ve been saying all week long that further investigation into Borges’ practices need to be undertaken by the Globe. If this was on the news side, that process would certainly be underway and would have been announced at the time Borges’ suspension was revealed.

If an investigation is currently being conducted, then sports editor Joe Sullivan or editor Martin Baron needs to make that public in hopes of restoring some faith in the consumers who buy (and trust) the Globe’s news divisions.

In announcing the suspension earlier this week, Baron said, in no uncertain terms: “The Globe does not tolerate plagiarism. Extensive passages written by the Tacoma reporter were used verbatim in the column by Borges, and that is prohibited.”

Well, now it is clear that “extensive passages” written by the Sun-Sentinel’s Alex Marvez were also used verbatim. How Baron, Sullivan or Borges can claim otherwise is simply beyond us.

(UPDATED 3/9 1:30 p.m.: Both Marvez and editor Brian White at the Sun-Sentinel respectfully declined comment when contacted by Shots.)

Especially suspicious is the line in Borges’ Jan. 28 column saying that the player, John Tait, had said a specific quote on “Monday.” The same quote, duplicated 98 percent, appeared in Marvez’s notes column on the 21st, crediting it to Tait having said it during the previous week (which would be the week of Jan. 15). Borges gets the exact same quote (including Tait’s misuse of the word “come”), but he got it on what would have been Jan. 22?

We were born, but we weren’t born yesterday. The timing does not add up.

The same, it appears, can not be said for the Globe, its sports desk and its ultimate decision makers. They seem to want to believe Borges hasn’t been doing this in other instances and that desire is skeing their perspectives.

Couple this with the additional (but admittedly smaller) quote grab that shots pointed out earlier this week and the overall picture being painted is not a rosy one for Borges.

At the very least, the Globe needs to amend the suspension to an “indefinite period of time” so that a full and proper investigation can be conducted by an independent third party.

Some have speculated that this is a power play by the Globe’s union and that Borges (a reportedly strong union leader) is using the union’s leverage to save his job. If this theory is true to any extent it tells you all you need to know about the state of the Globe. The inmates must be running the asylum.

There are also some who say, “Lighten up. It’s the sports section.”

Do I even need to reply to that? It’s the Boston Globe for Pete’s sake, the sister (or daughter) publication of the almighty New York Times. Do we even need ot get into the mistrust that still exists for the Times over, chiefly, the Jayson Blair incident?

. . . On a much different note, we can’t overstate the incredible response to Alan Greenberg’s untimely death that has been documented here. Whatever you may think of this website and/or the need for such a place, you can not argue with what Bruce was able to do this week in order to honor Alan’s memory.

And the human side we were able to see with many of the writers who offered condolences was nothing short of heartwarming.