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OK, Tedy Bruschi is not dead. Our Redux has it covered. But how on earth did this Bruschi-Is-Dead mess get started?
Someone contacted Fox 25. And all hell broke loose somehow.
Tom Curran at the NBC Sports blog put the rumor to rest. And then he changed his post a little bit. An astute observer in the comments noted what Curran took out:
Why'd you take out the earlier reference to Fox 25 in Boston? The first version of this story had it as Fox - what are you in witness protection? The scum that started this should be brought forward and flogged.
We are not advocating flogging anyone. It sounds like a rumor that got out of control. But why not say where it started?
The message board suggests that the call came from a worker or workers at Mass General who maybe saw a Tedy Bruschi lookalike in a state of serious trouble. True? Or not?
Also interesting is how news outlets other than Fox 25 are handling it. WCVB is very kind and doesn't name names. They say that the story began with an "anonymous e-mail," and it involved nurses at Mass General spreading the word.
As of this moment, we don't see anything about the story on Fox 25.
Image of Tedy Bruschi from AllPosters. Is he outrunning the Grim Reaper?
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The bit that gets me is the fact that after FOX 25 the first media source got the tip, suddenly other media types knew about. What happened to the "hi, I'm cultivating a tip in order to scoop the competition" aspect of journalism? I always think of that as a perk!
So WCVB "takes the high road" and doesn't say which member of the media (though we now know its someone at Fox) started calling Bruschi's teammates and other newsmen, but they have no qualms saying that it started with nurses at Mass General??
So hang a nurse (if it really was a nurse) out there, but don't call into question the reporter?
I used to think that FOX 25 was the apex of journalistic integrity and the industry heavyweight when it came to factual reporting. My world is turned upside down!