The 10 Things I Think I Plagiarize from Peter King



As reported by Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch, Patriots' beat writer Ken Powers of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette--the highest circulated daily in central Massachusetts--either thinks and writes remarkably like Peter King of SI.com, or "borrowed" most of Peter King's January 24th column for use in his own January 30th column. Powers' column has since been removed the Telegram & Gazette's website, but Bruce was able to track it down and compare the texts.



Here are some rather damming excerpts:



Peter King: The Patriots were in their Philadelphia hotel rooms -- kickoff wasn't until 4 p.m. ET -- when the first one was uttered. ESPN football analyst Tom Jackson looked straight into the camera and said the New England players hated coach Bill Belichick. Because Jackson is such a respected voice in football, and because ESPN is such a media power, the statement made the rounds among the Patriots by the time everyone got to the stadium that day. Whatever has been said in the intervening time about the New England players just shrugging their shoulders over Jackson's statement is a bunch of bunk. Many in the organization were stunned, and Belichick was really surprised. You have to remember that, at that time, Belichick was embattled after cutting Milloy. Whispers about a rerun of Belichick's Cleveland days were circulating around the media.

Ken Powers: The Patriots were in their Philadelphia hotel rooms - kickoff wasn't until 4 p.m. - when ESPN football analyst Tom Jackson looked straight into the TV camera and said the New England players hated coach Bill Belichick. Because Jackson is such a respected voice in football, and because ESPN is such a media power, the statement made the rounds among the Patriots by the time everyone arrived at the stadium that day. Whatever has been said since that day about Patriots players just shrugging their shoulders over Jackson's statement is a bunch of bull. Many in the organization were surprised, and Belichick was stunned. At that time, Belichick was under fire for cutting Milloy. Whispers about a rerun of Belichick's Cleveland days were circulating through the media.

Peter King: McNabb had a bad throwing thumb at the time of the 2003 meeting with the Pats, which was part of the reason he was stinking up the joint. All he's done since is have his best regular season ever, and take this star-crossed team to its first Super Bowl since the Dick Vermeil days.

Ken Powers: What those vocal Philly fans didn't know then was that McNabb had a bad throwing thumb, a large part of the reason he was stinking up the joint. All he's done since is have his best regular season ever, and take this star-crossed team to its first Super Bowl since the Dick Vermeil days.

Peter King: The Patriots will try to pound Corey Dillon. McNabb will move Brian Westbrook everywhere and try to get him to make plays in the open field. But the New England defense is as disciplined as a unit can be. Philly's defense is second in that category. I think it's going to be a great game, without many mistakes. The only bad thing is we have the silly two-week gap before the game.

Ken Powers: The Patriots will try to pound Corey Dillon. McNabb will move Brian Westbrook everywhere and try to get him to make plays in the open field. But the New England defense is as disciplined as a unit can be. Philly's defense is second in that category. It all seems to add up to being the perfect recipe for a great game without many mistakes. Don't you wish they were pulling on the shoulder pads and buckling up the chinstraps today instead of next Sunday?

I don't know what to say. In law school, I was taught to presume a person's innocence until proven guilty. But the evidence here seems beyond overwhelming. However, it is bizarre that Powers would so blatantly steal from such a widely-read column that is available on the Internet. Is it possible that he merely cut/paste it, thinking that he would use it as some kind of inspiration for his own piece, and then inadvertently sent it to his editor? No, I didn't come up the alibis for O.J. Simpson or Scott Peterson, but I do hope, for Powers' sake, that it is plausible (if extraordinarily unlikely) that he has some type of understandable excuse. I mean, how could he be so irresponsible and idiotic, and think he would get away with it?

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