By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

After an overwhelming response to the initial incarnation of this playoffs feature, it seemed like the appropriate time (with the Patriots sitting at 18-0) to trot it back out as the hours slowly - ever-so-damn-slowly - tick down to kickoff.

Here is a Chai-full list of media-related things that we are not particularly anxious to see as the final hours of the NFL season unfold. They are, in no particular order:

1. Babbling Bob Lobel. This week he parked in the wrong lot at the stadium and decided his gaffe, complete with a golf cart to the proper location, would make good footage for the CBS4 website. It didn’t. Does he really need to give us ammunition that proves he’s a bumbling Bob well beyond his best?

2. Boston.com’s repetition. We were all for sending the enterprising and tech-savvy Chris Forsberg out to Arizona to augment some coverage for the website. Finally, we thought, Joe Sullivan, et al were using the whole of their resources in a fruitful manner. Through Thursday, all we got out of “Double Coverage” was triple repetition of what Mike Reiss and Christopher L. Gasper were providing from the “formal” events. Forsberg would have been better served off-the-beaten path, a point proven by Ann Silvio’s chat with “Pini the Barber.” The point of having a blog dedicated to the nation’s biggest sporting event is to offer different perspectives in unique ways. “Do it for Pini, Tommy!” That would not include re-hashes of Tom Brady’s cute comments or leftovers from The Spa.

. . . Meanwhile, score one for the print side as Bob Hohler delivered a well-reported reminder of the Pats’ most compelling story of the season.

. . . Score another for the Boston Herald’s Super Bowl supplement from Thursday. It’s 24 pages of some ever-green material, of which the Ring Pyramid was maybe our favorite element. But solid writing and good layout also buoyed the JetBlue sponsored-section (with some additional advertising inside).

3. Butch Stearns, Who’s better at embarrassing the Boston media corps than Butchy, Maria?

. . . Enough with the “team” jackets too. If I’m Columbia or whichever brand is balancing the TV logo, I’m not so sure I want to be associated with the majority of these folks.

4. The Puppy Bowl. Actually, this is a lie. We’re not sick of the Puppy Bowl in any way, shape or form. Those little suckers are cuter than Gisele in a bikini. Percy the Dog is requesting that we DVR the event and he’s even picking between two potential Most Valuable Puppies ( Dixie and Jack).

5. The Inside Track Gals. Listen, we understand that spelling errors are part and parcel of writing. Believe me, we understand. But shouldn’t a major metropolitan newspaper, its editors and its “writers” be able to verify spellings of subjects they write extensively about? On Wednesday, the Trash Girls couldn’t quite master the spelling of Ines Sainz, preferring instead to create a new surname for the bombshell reporter of Saniz. Good work, Gail Fee and Laura Riposa - keep it up.

6. The newsies from the local stations. Anyone else feel like Dan Hausle is just waiting for a riot to break out? He’s constantly on the look out for a fire or sudden death. The guy’s an ambulance chasing tabloid journalist of the highest order. Why is he with the Pats? And the new guy from CBS4? He did a piece early in the week on how hard it was to get his media credential. Except it looked pretty damn easy. Having been to a few bowls as a credentialed media member myself, it’s not exactly excruciating stuff. Especially if you have patience and a clue. Guess his Arizona background made him a logical choice to go and shuttle around Lobel and Steve Burton. Which reminds us. . .

7. Steve Burton. Oh my. If it weren’t Alice Cook, ‘BZ wouldn’t have any competent sports people at all.

. . . Likewise, the NESN savior all week from the desert has been Jayme Parker. Hazel’s extreme hair issue on Wednesday evening was show-stoppingly distracting.

8. Hammerin’ Hank Goldberg. How is this guy still on TV? And does he have the same lifetime deal as Beano Cook? Or are they the same person? So many questions, so few answers.

9. Follow-the-leader storylines. Do any of these people - print and electronic combined - have minds of their own? Or do they all just do what the other guy is doing? (Hohler, again is excused, and so are some of the national folk.

10. Bloggers at their first Super Bowl. If I read one more entry from one more pseudo-mainstream blogger who is experiencing their “first media day” or their “first media party” or their “first arrival of the pretty people,” I’m going to throw up on my keyboard. The beauty of most bloggers - 95 percent, shall we say? - is that they are detached from the events they “cover” and therefore don’t get jaded by the rigamarole that a Super Bowl inevitably spews forth. With all these 20- and early 30-something bloggerheads joining the fray, it appears they all are simultaneously jumping the shark.

. . . This DOES NOT include Dan Steinberg who has been consistently brilliant for many moons now.

11. Babbling Bob Lobel. The de facto two-time listee: When did his wing heal, by the way? We swear we saw the sling go away and then return, as if it were alive and controlling Lobie. We fully expect it to re-emerge for post-game on Sunday so he can get sympathy interviews.

12. Chris Berman. “Boomer” just about tongued Tom Brady on the QB’s way to the podium on Tuesday and then in one of the stranger moments of the week, he joined the NFL Newtork’s on-site crew at their anchor desk during media day. I’m sure the ESPN Suits were real thrilled with that. Nothing like using your material for later in the day on the competition’s network. Guess we know who REALLY runs the Worldwide Leader.

13. Background wavers. The get-a-lifers who stand behind the various networks’ sets and wave and gyrate and make general fools of themselves. I went to the Super Bowl and all I did was wave at TV cameras t-shirts will be flying off the vendors’ tables.

14. Gino Cappelletti. There is stiil, Shots is told by Foxborough moles, the distinct possibility that Gil and Gino will be calling their final game together for the Rock Radio Network on Sunday. The Santos portion of the team is likely to remain (ala Joe Castiglione), but we are told to expect a quiet push of Gino to the front office and the introduction of younger, sharper, former Pat player as the Gil partner going forward. “They just hope he goes out on top,” said one spy, who could have more than a passing interest in the potential position.

15. Larry Ridley. Time to loosen up a bit, Larry. You’re telling a great story, don’t be so somber.

16. Glenn Ordway. His increased Comcast SportsNet minutes combined with his regular minutes of afternoon yuks pushes the Ordway Ordeal into overdrive. Fortunately, Shots has been able to avoid major chunks of all the local talk radio.

17. Dan Le Batard. With the Wilbon absence (get well, Michael), we have been reminded that Lebs is best in small doses. His whines of “Tone” to Kornheiser on “PTI” are almost unbearable. Bam!

18. Fanatical Fan stories. Who was the biggest bonehead of the week? Captain America Patriots fan? Rent an apartment in Weymouth for tickets guy? Or is it entered a raffle and won tickets lady at the airport?

Or, as I fear, is it me for having seen all these people and so many more in my TV viewing?

And, if perchance the Pats win, No. 19: Parade Day. Not only will it be Super Tuesday, it will be super impossible to avoid the yahoos and bandwagoneers who will be alongside Shots performing our civic duty in this pivotal election year.

• Bravo to the Boston Herald for starting a MediaBiz column and a bigger bravo for having the scrappy and in-tune Jessica Heslam as its auteur. You still can’t tell me that the city doesn’t need a Sports MediaBiz column at each paper, but at least the Herald is going to fill the void to some extent.

. . . Heslam was, however, duped into believing that Dennis & Callahan were held out because of their time slot. They remain in Boston all week because of money and nothing else. ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” are doing just fine with pre-recorded content for the first couple of hours and live guests in the second half of the show. A little creativity by the Entercommers and they could have had their Morning Drive guys in ‘Zona too.

• Seems as though WEEI and Entercom - despite a boffo recent ratings book - are still finding ways to trim costs. The latest move has been dumping part-time flash updaters and going with the Metro update service. The result for listeners is negligible at best, although it does mean fewer new voices getting a chance to show their chops. If we’re not mistaken, at least two of the full-timers are doing or will be doing their updates from Bulfinch Place instead of the New Balance Building where the Boston Metro wing is run out of.

• Remind me to laugh heartily the next time Comcast SportsNet starts talking about its news-gathering operation. A recent check of the network’s website showed a laughable dearth of recent and relevant video content. If you’re going to be a news organization in the current climate of the media world, you damn well better be building it from the Web up.

• Was Gerry Callahan messin’ with us all when he made a Shaughnessy-esque “Animal House” reference in his winner on Thursday? Mercy, I hope so.

• Also, was the Globe’s Kevin Cullen just rubbing it in that he can write and none of the rest of us can measure up with this one? (A story which reads differently when you see it with the picture and with the YouTube video as your background music.)

. . . Damn, dem Umies can write. Can I get an Amen!?

• Wicked week in Hartford between the Courant (especially) and Jim Calhoun. Just beautiful stuff ever since last Friday in Bloomington.

• I’ve wrestled with the news of GateHouse not sending a soul to represent its interests in Arizona (as mentioned by Bruce earlier this week and discussed somewhat coherently here (with Michael Gee even!).

It’s definitely sad that the writers who did such diligent work all season long were not rewarded the way their counterparts at other news organizations (and entertainment outlets) were. It’s sadder still that a man with Lenny Megliola’s perspective and writing chops isn’t chronicling the events from Arizona.

That said, there sure is a lot of repetition from a whole lot of folks in Cactusville and the fact that the Globe has been granted a reported 35 credentials, only shows how mismanaged some of GateHouse’s competitors truly are. The execution of the decision by GateHouse’s higher-ups is clearly misguided, but the idea of using a few people’s work to serve a mass audience can’t be a bad one in cost-cutting times. Perhaps instead of this Cleveland scrapper, Eric McHugh and Lenny Megs could have been playing their craft at the Pink Taco.) Funny thing is, Lenny’s finding other things to write on quite well, thank you.

• A life regret of mine is already proving to be that I just recently decided to buy into the hype of HBO’s “The Wire.” I mean, “Sopranos” had it going on, but this show is something to behold. And the media underlay to this season? Brilliant at every turn. Shame on me for not getting in earlier. (Similar to my regrets about “Weeds,” but not as strong.)

• “Ophelia” by The Band? Completely and forever underrated. Especially when it’s done by these folks, on Beale Street.

• On a serious note, we’ve received an admirable number of inquiries into how the Ryan family is holding up and whether funeral arrangements have been finalized yet. To the best of our knowledge, the body of Bob and Elaine Ryan’s son, Keith is back in the states and the family is hoping to be able to hold services the beginning of next week. If appropriate and when we are given permission by the Ryan family, we’ll gladly pass on more information, including addresses for the delivery of formal condolences or notes of sympathy.

For now, we’d just continue to share our deepest, most heartfelt sentiments with the Ryans and hope you will do the same in some way.

• Shots is back on the road next week, so no regularly scheduled Shots to speak of. We’re heading into crunch time on a lot of projects, not the least of which is college basketball in general, so please don’t be disappointed if we’re not around these parts as frequently. We’ll be here when we can and if we need to be.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

His work – and weekly college hoops report card – for CSTV.com can be found at the Hang Time blog on Mondays and The Glass Sneaker throughout the week. You can also listen for the weekly Professor’s Podcast, also at CSTV.com in iTunes at The Daily Buzz.