(Image Source: The Boston Globe  )

BY JONAH JAVAD

You’d think a clubhouse is place of solidarity and focus. Not a Hooters bar with video games.
But a report from The Boston Globe reveals a number of issues that plagued the Red Sox leading to the team’s demise.

Here are two of the distractions listed in the Globe’s report...

[Pitchers] “[Josh] Beckett, [Jon] Lester, and [John] Lackey in a time of crisis can be seen in what team sources say became their habit of drinking beer, eating fast-food fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games.”

Later, The Globe writes...

“While [Terry] Francona coped with his marital and health issues, he also worried privately about the safety of his son, Nick, and son-in-law, Michael Rice, both of whom are Marine officers serving in Afghanistan..”

The dude won two rings in eight seasons as skipper before being released two weeks ago. Now Francona has to deal with the autopsy of a dead season.

ESPN writer Gordon Edes criticizes the rationale for blaming Francona...

“On Sept. 2, when the Red Sox had a nine game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card, nobody was talking about the fact that Terry Francona may have been separated from his wife. If marital health would be, if there’s a direct link between marital health and job performance, this country would probably be in big trouble.”

The Red Sox had six all stars this season, but fell short of the playoffs and expectations. It’s been a lot like the criticism the Miami Heat faced after losing the NBA Finals.

A Yahoo! Sports blogger sees the double standard with having a talented team... 

“Any team with high expectations is extremely susceptible to this kind of finger pointing. No one wants to wear the failure and so we're subjected to the type of anonymous scapegoating that would have never seen the light of day had the team won.”

The Globe article dug deep but it also created a deeper hole for the team to climb out of. Makes you wonder, is the media infusing the blame?

Sports Blog Nation certainly thinks so...

“The lesson: If you're part of one of the biggest collapses in major league history, it doesn't even matter whether you did anything wrong. At some point, you'll have to face the music with melodramatic media looking for scapegoats.”

Boston native and Grantland columnist Bill Simmons elegantly describes up the Globe’s article...

“The first of many ‘Wow, the 2011 Red Sox were pretty effed up’ features.”

Epstein, gone. Francona, gone. And now the famous words of Mo Vaughn resonate, “Watch out for the smear campaign.”