The Boston media did its best to live up to its reputation in 2011, creating and reporting on controversy throughout the year. Some of the issues were initiated by the players themselves, via tweets and press conferences. Others were started by former players who have moved over to the dark side.

With that in mind, we present our list of the top 10 Boston sports media controversies of 2011.

10. MLB institutes a dress code for media members

Although the dress code itself was not out of the ordinary, it was significant that MLB was the first professional sports league to police the fashion of its media members when it announced the policy in December. Items on the list of banned clothes include tank tops, short shorts/skirts, ripped jeans, visible undergarments, one-shoulder or strapless tops, clothes with team logos and flip-flops. The dress code came one year after the NFL had a situation on its hands when Mexican TV reporter Ines Sainz was the subject of catcalls from members of the Jets after wearing a tight pair of jeans to a practice.

Baseball Writers’ Association of America vice president Susan Slusser served on the guidelines panel and acknowledged: “I believe the baseball media in general could dress slightly more professionally,” adding partly in jest: “Don’t dress like a hobo and don’t dress like a ho, those are the extremes they’re looking at.” This would be disappointing news to fans of Heidi Watney, but she left NESN anyhow.

9. Rodney Harrison rips Patriots defense on NBC

After Ben Roethlisberger carved up the Patriots secondary for 365 yards on Oct. 30, Harrison, the former Patriots safety who now serves as an NBC analyst, questioned the defensive strategy of coach Bill Belichick and ripped the passive style of the secondary.

“I look at that secondary, and they’re playing really soft coverage, that bend-but-don’t-break defense,” Harrison said. “I hate that. I think you have to challenge your players more. You have to start blitzing, force the quarterback into making mistakes. I know you can’t stop everything. I know they were afraid of their speed. But sometimes you’ve just got to go challenge them. And I just don’t see them doing it.”

Earlier this month, Harrison took his criticism a step further, saying, “They should be concerned, because that secondary is probably the worst secondary I’ve seen in the last decade.” Added Harrison of Tom Brady: “He feels like he has to shoulder a lot of the pressure because that defense is so bad.”

Responded defensive lineman Vince Wilfork during a Dec. 12 appearance on The Big Show: “I want to [call the Patriots critics] all the time and tell them to shut the ‘f’ up.”

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For the final 10 days of 2011, WEEI.com will count down the top 10 stories of the year in Boston sports. Our next entry in the countdown is No. 3: The Red Sox’ manager/GM turnover.

Check out our previous entries:
No. 10: NBA lockout
No. 9: NFL lockout
No. 8: Celtics’ playoff loss to Heat
No. 7: Patriots’ acquisitions of Albert Haynesworth, Chad Ochocinco
No. 6: Jacoby Ellsbury’s MVP-caliber season
No. 5: Patriots’ playoff loss to Jets
No. 4: Celtics’ trade of Kendrick Perkins

Terry Francona and Theo Epstein faced the media following the Red Sox' September swoon, and shortly thereafter both were gone from Boston. (AP)

On Sept. 29, a visibly frustrated Terry Francona sat beside a similarly frustrated-looking Theo Epstein in the Fenway Park media room. Epstein wore a navy blue Red Sox zip-up. He sat hunched forward while Francona leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed across his chest and a glower on his face. The two men attempted to explain why the Red Sox — a team that had been in first place going into September and was the best team in baseball at times during the summer months — failed to make the playoffs due to a 7-20 September.

But neither man had a satisfying explanation for the club’s September swoon, and neither man was willing to address his status with the team going forward. Francona appeared to be in a more precarious position than Epstein. The manager had just completed the last year of a three-year, $12 million contract that had an option for the 2012 and 2013 seasons that ownership would have to decide to pick up.

Epstein had one year left on a four-year deal that would keep him in Boston until the end of the 2012 season.

It was Francona who addressed his contract status first, as he met with Red Sox brass behind closed doors the morning after his tense press conference with Epstein. There, Francona said he informed ownership that he felt it was time for a new managerial voice to help guide the team.

“I passed along my frustrations at my inability to effectively reach the players,” Francona said in a statement after the club announced he would not be returning. “After many conversations and much consideration, I ultimately felt that, out of respect to this team, it was time for me to move on. I’ve always maintained that it is not only the right, but the obligation, of ownership to have the right person doing this job. I told them that out of my enormous respect for this organization and the people in it, they may need to find a different voice to lead the team.”

After Francona’s departure, more details emerged about the troubled times over the course of the season that led to his desire to leave the organization. Francona said he felt like the team was not coming together over the course of the season the way teams typically do, and after leaving the Red Sox Francona said he did not always feel that ownership supported him.

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Heidi Watney is leaving NESN after four years. (AP)

Following a historic collapse in September, Red Sox fans knew there would be plenty of personalities around the Red Sox that would be out of Boston. Some of the early losses include manager Terry Francona, general manager Theo Epstein and closer Jonathan Papelbon. But Red Sox fans were stung with one of the more surprising departures Wednesday when NESN announced sideline reporter Heidi Watney was leaving the network after four seasons of coverage. The Red Sox failed to win a World Series with Watney as their sideline reporter and finished no higher than second in the AL East during her tenure. While Red Sox management now focuses on finding the next Red Sox manager, NESN will turn its focus to finding the next Heidi Watney. Here’s a list of ten possible candidates to replace Watney.

Katie Couric

If NESN is looking for someone with more of a news background, Katie Couric could be a good pick. Couric, like Watney, is a blonde. She is familiar with the team through her previous relationship with team chairman Tom Werner, but those ties may be permanently severed after the two split in 2005 following a four-year relationship. Couric also is not shy about revealing anything in front of the camera, as she underwent a live colonoscopy on the Today show in 2000 in order to raise awareness for colon cancer. She has proven she can ask the tough questions, as she did in an interview with Alex Rodriguez about steroids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVcqLt9sJLs&feature=relmfu

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Tony LaRussa retired Monday, creating a possible job opening for Terry Francona to fill. (AP)

When former manager Terry Francona left the Red Sox early in October, those following the Red Sox wondered where Francona would end up, as it seemed at the time that, with the Cubs situation still unsettled, there were no concrete openings for a manager in Major League Baseball.

But an interesting potential opportunity emerged on Monday, when Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa announced his retirement from baseball.

In just the few hours after LaRussa’s announcement, writers across the nation began to speculate as to who his successor may be, and Francona’s name has popped up quite a bit.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz put Francona at the top of his list for the Cardinals to consider. The only argument he had against Francona taking over as manager in St. Louis was if Francona wanted to take a year off.

The St. Louis Beacon’s Zack Stovall also had Francona at the top of his list for outside managerial candidates the Cardinals should consider. He claimed that Theo Epstein‘s departure to the Cubs could cause the Cardinals to pick up Francona as a type of rivalry maneuver and noted that Francona is a player’s manager, has a winning experience in big games and could be interested in making a splash in the National League after eight years in the American League.

USA Today’s Seth Livingstone argued that Francona is the clear man for the St. Louis job. He said that it would help fuel the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry to pit an ex-GM in Epstein and ex-manager in Francona against each other. He also noted that Francona has a “circle of life quality” that makes him a good fit for the Cardinals. Livingstone explained that Francona has National League experience, managed against the Cardinals in the World Series and has a connection to the club through his father, John “Tito” Francona, who played for the Cardinals during the 1965-66 season.

(Overlooked in that assessment was the fact that Francona finished his playing career with the Cardinals. In 1990, he signed a minor league deal with St. Louis, hitting .263/.291/.379/.670 in 302 plate appearances, while allowing just one run in 7 1/3 innings spanning five appearances as a left-handed knuckleballer with the Triple-A Louisville Redbirds.)

An interesting twist in the St. Louis manager speculation is the inclusion of Joe Maddon in many of the writers’ lists. Many in the Boston area speculated since Francona’s departure that the Red Sox would want a Maddon-like manager, but shied away from suggesting Maddon as a legitimate candidate because he has enjoyed his time and some success in Tampa Bay and told WEEI.com recently that he has no designs on pursuing a job elsewhere. The Cardinals writers seem to ignore that obstacle, as both Miklasz and Stovall suggested Maddon as a possible successor to LaRussa.

Dick Williams

Dick Williams transformed the Red Sox in 1967. The team had not had a winning season in eight years, and attendance had dwindled. In came Williams, who turned a nightmare into an “Impossible Dream,” leading a squad of players including Rico Petrocelli, Jim Lonborg, Sparky Lyle, Tony Conigliaro and Carl Yastrzemski to an American League pennant and the organization’s first World Series appearance in 21 years. Though the Red Sox lost to the Cardinals in seven games, Williams and his team had restored the franchise.

With Williams’ death Thursday, WEEI looks back at the 10 most memorable managers and coaches in Boston sports since that 1967 campaign. These men aren’t necessarily the best Boston has ever seen (some were downright awful), but they are the coaches and managers whose personalities, triumphs and struggles left an indelible mark on the city’s sports history.

10. Bill Fitch, Celtics

Although K.C. Jones coached the Celtics to their height of success in the mid-1980s (two NBA titles among four straight NBA fnals appearances), it was Fitch who started the resurgence when he coached the Celtics to a championship in 1981. He was named NBA Coach of the Year with the Celtics in 1980. A former Marine Corps drill instructor, Fitch brought that same discipline and intensity to the Celtics, and Larry Bird would later say Fitch had a strong effect on the development of Bird’s legendary work ethic. He had to win over his players, but nothing does that like a championship.

Fitch went on to coach the Rockets, Nets and Clippers and retired in 1998 with 944 career wins, ranking him eighth in NBA history. It wasn’t always easy, though, as some players rebelled against Fitch’s hard-line ways. Check out this video highlighting an incident with the Nets when Chris Morris refused Fitch’s order to return to a game. Look for a young Doc Rivers toward the end of this clip.

9. Harry Sinden, Bruins

The Celtics may have owned the 1980s, and the Red Sox and Patriots have battled for control of the 21st century, but the 1970s in Boston belonged to the Bruins. Sinden inaugurated the Bruins’ reign with a Stanley Cup title in 1970. He coached two of the most beloved Bruins ever in Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Like Dick Williams and Bill Belichick, Sinden turned a losing team into a champion, but he left just days after in a contract dispute. The Bruins put him on the voluntary retired list, keeping him from signing with a new team the following season.

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Good Morning and welcome to the Wednesday edition of the LEEInks!

Leading off is our belovedRed Sox leaving Comerica Park with a fairly impressive 5-1 win in the Motor City. Dice-K earned his first victory on the season and helped manager Terry Francona get the 500th of his Red Sox tenure.

Our very own Rob Bradford recaps last night’s game with a focus on Francona’s meteoric rise to the managerial elite. Francona will be a guest on today’s Dale and Holley show as a part of Red Sox Wednesday.

Also on the diamond, San Francisco Giants living legend lefty Randy Johnson goes for win No. 300 against the Nationals tonight. The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell takes a look at the Big Unit’s illustrious 21-year run, but this blogger will always remember this moment of Johnson’s career.

Moving off the diamond, and onto the ice, the Penguins got their first win of the Stanley Cup Finals. Thanks to Maxime Talbot’s two goals, the Pens won 4-3 in front of their home crowd at Mellon Arena.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier attributes the Pens win to a healthy serving of luck. Any win against a formidable team like the Detroit Red Wings, certainly gets filed under the lucky category.

WEEI.com’s very own Chris Price even weighed in on the Stanley Cup Finals. In case you missed it, here’s his column linking the Wings to another dynastic team that New Englanders know and love.

Seemingly, the only news being made on the hardwood is the “handshake-gate” scandal surround LeBron James. However, there is a great bit of news involving Magic shooting guard Mickael Pietrus.

This season, Pietrus has been wearing shoes endorsed by his Laker counterpart Kobe Bryant. With the Finals around the corner, Pietrus is kicking his kicks to the curb.

Keeping with the topic of sports fashion, have you ever been at a game and seen a random jersey of a player long since gone from the team’s roster? If you love such sights, check out Straight Cash Homey, a wonderfully snarky look at athletic apparel from a “bygone” era.

And yes, if you’re wondering, the site’s name does come from this infamous Randy Moss quote.

Well, hope you enjoyed that special Wednesday morning brunch buffet of LEEInks. Enjoy this beautiful Wednesday and stay classy, New England!

Here is the transcript from Red Sox manager Terry Francona on Dale & Holley Wednesday afternoon:

Dale Arnold:  This is a baseball philosophy question that we’ve discussed in the past but it came up again yesterday in the second inning.  Mike Lowell singles, J.D. Drew walks, you’ve got Julio Lugo at the plate with runners on first and second with nobody out—do you consider bunting in that situation?

Terry Francona: Yeah but I don’t think it’s the right thhng to do.  That early in the game, you’re trying to get a crooked number.  If you bunt, you’re giving an out trying to score basically one run, I think we ended up scoring two anyway. The other thing is you’ve got to look at the speed you have on the bases, which we didn’t have much, and who’s coming up.  We [had] George [Kottaras] coming up and [Jeff Bailey], who, although they did something good, they’re hitting eighth and ninth.  So you don’t usually bunt for the bottom of your order.

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Mark Teixeira may or may not wind up in Boston. As you wrap up your holiday shopping, wondering if he’ll wind up under the Red Sox Christmas tree, may we offer a one-stop shopping source on all things Tex.

Red Sox quiet on the Teixeira front.

Theo and Tito air it out for jetBlue as the official airline of the Red Sox.

Rob Bradford on how Tex almost began his career in Boston.

Alex Speier on whether both sides are posturing.

And Curt Schilling selling Teixeira on why Boston is the best place for him.

Then there’s the weather forecast for Sunday at Gillette. The Weather Channel simply calls it a mess.

The new Red Sox uniforms are being called “retro roadies” by the folks over on Yawkey Way. Does that not sound like a fantastic cover band or what? Or perhaps a wedding band? Regardless, the uniforms are causing quite a stir among hardcore members of Red Sox Nation. Here are some of the early returns on the “retro roadies”:

• Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to have a heart attack.
• The uniforms look like they came out of school uniform catalog
• Extra Bases post on the new uniforms
• Tito and the gang give fashion show
• New Red Sox Logo to Feature More Hanging Sox; Old-School Blue-Grey Road Unis Too
• First Look At The New 2009 Red Sox Road Uniforms And Alternate Logo

So what is your take on the new uniforms? Vote on the poll below, leave a comment, or do both because it’s Friday and you are no doubt reading this entry to kill time before 5pm.

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