Dan Shaughnessy Calls Best Buddies "Hostile and Petty"
In the wake of Best Buddies booting a Boston Globe photographer off the premises of Tom Brady’s Harvard Stadium fundraiser, it was only a matter of time before the failing paper fired back. Dan Shaughnessy, in one of his lazy, perfunctory, mailed in, paid-day-off Picked Up Pieces columns called it “a bad look.” And predictably stuck up for his own paper over those vicious, jackbooted goons who run security for a charity that exists to bring joy into the lives of developmentally challenged children.
A thoroughly researched report on the relationship between a local star athlete and his favorite nonprofit charity does not constitute a “hit job.” Tom Brady is doing nothing illegal in his high-profile role for Best Buddies International. … Brady – like many celebrities who work with charities – asks that a portion of the proceeds. In this case, $3 million since 2011) be paid toward Brady’s own charitable trust. Some folks are bothered by this. Most Brady fans are not. But let’s not shoot the messenger. It’s called disclosure. … Best Buddies does itself no favors by escorting a Globe photographer to his car when he shows up to cover Friday’s Brady Best Buddies event at Harvard Stadium. No credentials? Please. … There is no indication Brady was aware of this Nixonian maneuver. Nevertheless it was hostile and petty and put a bad light on a good guy and a great charity.
First of all, I love the use of “Nixonian.” Because if you’re trying to reference a president who fought with the press, you really do have to go back 42 years. Don’t ever update your pop culture references, Shank.
Second, the original article was not “a hit job,” it was “disclosure”? There’s a lot to unpack there, but let’s start with the fact the Globe felt it necessary to look into Brady’s charitable arrangements. While we should all be fine with reporters watchdogging multi-million dollar entities of any kind, why this one? Why this particular athlete? Was it because the whole Brady/Best Buddies arrangement looks sketchy? Or did have more to do with a certain orange-skinned golf pal of his? The fact the Globe invested the man hours to dive into Brady’s charitable endeavors looking for corruption as opposed to say, every single elected official in Massachusetts, was the direct result of a MAGA hat.
But still, if they had something, they’d have something. And you live with the consequences. But when you don’t – when you dig into all the documents, financial reports and filings with the AG’s office and you find that all that’s happened is 7.5 percent of the $46.5 million Brady raised went to other important charitable causes – you call it a day. You make that into a one paragraph item in a notes column and move on. Bob Hohler spun it into a total hatchet job filled with innuendo, supposition and negative spin. Just a few examples, with my comments:
“The payments, made at Brady’s request, support his Boston-based Change the World Foundation Trust, whose giving has focused almost entirely on causes tied to Brady’s personal interests.”
Right. His personal interests. Like Ohio State University (Brady’s a huge fan I’m sure), his high school, Santa Monica Catholic Community, the Dana-Farber Cancer Center, Mission of Hope Haiti, the nursing home that cared for his grandfather, the Navy SEAL Foundation and the charities of Vince Wilfork, Deion Branch and Wes Welker. But don’t let the fact the Globe says “his personal interests” like he’s building a cabana with a wet bar next to his infinity pool make you think this is a hit job.
“Independent charity monitors … questioned why someone of Brady’s wealth has taken large sums for his foundation from another charity that has its own priorities and needs.”
The Globe really good at telling other people how to spend their money. THIS IS NOT A HIT JOB!
“Brady ‘really can’t take credit for being a great philanthropist when he is using other people’s money to help his own organizations,’ said Daniel Borochoff, president of Charity Watch.”
This from the news outlet that lets all its baseball writers take a golf weekend in the Dominican, with all the expenses paid by David Ortiz’ personal charity. But their paychecks all have the same signature on the bottom as Ortiz’, so you won’t be reading any Charity Watch quotes about that.
“Brady, the sole trustee of his private charity, initially funded the nonprofit with a donation of $490,000 in 2005. Since then he has not made a significant financial contribution.”
Look, we’re not saying is he’s not really being generous by putting so much time and effort into raising $46.5 million Best Buddies would otherwise not see. We’re just saying he’s cheap as hell. It’s disclosure!
“[N]onprofit watchdogs said the arrangement could diminish Brady’s charitable image. … ‘It’s not all bad, because he is helping an important cause,’ Borochoff said. ‘But he could help Best Buddies to a much greater extent if he didn’t take their money’ for his own charitable trust.”
Exactly. And as far as the schools, cancer centers, hospice care, his teammates charities, the Navy SEALs and the rest? Fuck ‘em.
“’Sometimes … a celebrity gets credit for caring about something when the reason he actually cares about it is because he or his foundation is getting paid,’ Borochoff said.”
All they want is for the people who appreciate how much Brady is doing for the cause to knock it off. Stop feeling grateful and recognize what a selfish bastard he really is. Nothing personal!
And like Dave and I wrote Saturday, now the snowflakes at Globe are painting themselves as the victim of a hate crime. When they were the ones who started this war. And they’ll lose. Because while they used to say about celebrities doing battle with newspapers, “Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” Well with their subscription rates, they’re buying it by the toner cartridge. And they shouldn’t pick fights with someone with five Super Bowl rings. “Most Brady fans are not bothered by” Best BuddiesGate is the one thing Shaughnessy got right.