[BostonCard]

Granted, Shaw did not say all the things that many here want him to say.  There is a personality gap between Shaw and the public that is pretty obvious.  Shaw is analytical, cool, and quite jaded about what the press and public think of him.  He is no PR guy.  He appears to believe that keeping this demeanor is important to set an example for his players to follow.  That is probably the biggest Walsh influence on him.

I agree that he is jaded about the media, but I don’t think that the “he’s not a PR guy” is true, at least not in the figurative sense.  His response to the media shows someone who is well-schooled in talking to the media (or at least, a certain school of media relations) that basically says “don’t say anything controversial, don’t say anything that you or someone else might not want to see in print, and answer questions in the most non-revealing way possible”.  It’s not like he has a confrontational style with the press, but he’s not going to give an interview where he implies that a rival coach is about to bolt to the NFL to play psychological games.

As a fan, this can be somewhat frustrating, if you are looking for candid answers. You are not going to get a Denny Greene “The Bears are who we thought they were” or a Jon Tortorella special.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I suppose is in the eye of the beholder.

The real reason to be frustrated is that we haven’t seen the changes that might be needed done; Shaw’s lack of comment on the matter is irrelevant.  If Shaw were to fire Anderson and Pritchard after next season (unlikely, but who knows), you aren’t going to hear about it first in an interview.

BC

[BostonCard]

Granted, Shaw did not say all the things that many here want him to say.  There is a personality gap between Shaw and the public that is pretty obvious.  Shaw is analytical, cool, and quite jaded about what the press and public think of him.  He is no PR guy.  He appears to believe that keeping this demeanor is important to set an example for his players to follow.  That is probably the biggest Walsh influence on him.

I agree that he is jaded about the media, but I don’t think that the “he’s not a PR guy” is true, at least not in the figurative sense.  His response to the media shows someone who is well-schooled in talking to the media (or at least, a certain school of media relations) that basically says “don’t say anything controversial, don’t say anything that you or someone else might not want to see in print, and answer questions in the most non-revealing way possible”.  It’s not like he has a confrontational style with the press, but he’s not going to give an interview where he implies that a rival coach is about to bolt to the NFL to play psychological games.

As a fan, this can be somewhat frustrating, if you are looking for candid answers. You are not going to get a Denny Greene “The Bears are who we thought they were” or a Jon Tortorella special.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I suppose is in the eye of the beholder.

The real reason to be frustrated is that we haven’t seen the changes that might be needed done; Shaw’s lack of comment on the matter is irrelevant.  If Shaw were to fire Anderson and Pritchard after next season (unlikely, but who knows), you aren’t going to hear about it first in an interview.

BC