Neologism is the term the psychologists use to explain the phenomenon of the increasingly common condition where more knowledge of a subject leaves one more uncertain than before.
This is increasingly true when trying to figure out whether New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski is going to play from week to week. Because as fans, were are subjected to rumors perpetuated by members of the media in an attempt to get the "scoop" on their fellow scribes...
...an irresponsible game of hide and seek with their readers from which they can fall back on their "anonymous sources" and claim that they were duped when the rumor turns out to be nothing more than some writer's unilateral wet dream of getting noticed.
Regardless of the motivation, the information passed on becomes part of an individuals lexicon, and once we see the same information posted by other "reputable" sites, or even by some one whose name sounds a little familiar our susceptibility to the throes of neologism starts the process of hopefulness.
Of course, for the past five weeks, those hopes have been dashed by the truth, and the reporting entities have indeed coward behind their anonymous sources like children whom have told a lie...
So, once again, Rob Gronkowski is going to be playing this Sunday.
At least, that's what various media outlets were reporting on Tuesday, but given the roller coaster ride that the Boston media have been giving Patriots' fans for the past month and a half, many fans are taking the attitude that they'll believe it when they see him in uniform and out on the field.
Against the Saints, in an actual game. With a helmet on.
And then - yes - a retraction. Nothing has been decided, another source said afterwards, lending credence to the thought that local media will do absolutely anything to to sell advertising and newspapers - and now, we are all being told that the decision to play Gronkowski doesn't lie with the football team, rather, his availability is subject to the whim of the doctor that performed the surgeries on his forearm - which leaves Gronkowski's status as ambiguous as it was for the season opener.
As for the team, coach Bill Belichick has stayed true to his "Day to day" mantra, while the players themselves have been avoiding the subject like a big steamer in the middle of the sidewalk - on orders from Belichick, but the one person who was about as much autonomy to speak his mind about subjects such as there tried to put to make the issue out to be much adieu about nothing.
"We've kind of talked about it a lot the last five weeks," Brady said on Wednesday in response to a question from the media. "If he's there, he's there. If he's not, he's not. We're going to try to go win anyway."
An answer that was delivered with a not-so-subtle message between the lines, his tone suggesting impudence and general annoyance with the subject, seemingly insulted by the insinuation that the team needs one player over another, particularly over Brady himself.
Or put another way, this team is 4-1 without Gronkowski. 4-1. Could he have made a difference last week in Cincinnati? Sure. Could he have made a difference in all of the other games? Absolutely. But how about a little love for the team that has scrapped and fought for every inch of field turf, going out to win four of five anyway?
You see, the Boston media has been playing the New England Patriots' fans as fools for the past six weeks - and why not? It's dramatic to see your team struggling on offense and knowing that you have an amazing weapon sitting on the sidelines - the more the team struggles, the more the fan base yearns for their savior...
...and the more the media feeds off of that collective thirst, the more page views their sites get as the fans migrate back toward them in hopes that just one time, they will be right...
But as we know, even a broken clock will still be right twice a day, and that's only because time is always moving forward and will catch up with the broken time piece every 12 hours - the same happens with the irresponsible media - eventually, they will be right. Eventually, they will come out from behind Harvey the Rabbit and beat their chests in triumph, saying they knew it all along.
The fans will be euphoric seeing Gronkowski catching passes and dragging defenders and scoring touchdowns - so they will forget about how they were played by the media for selfish gain, but they shouldn't - they should always remember how they were treated, how their emotions became part of a numbers game for publishers to impress and influence potential advertisers.
Football is football, not the soap opera that the Boston media makes it out to be.
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