My friends. It's been some time since we've interacted, having placed myself further behind the scenes on the website than normal. But that no longer matters, due to the increasing contributions and talent we're acquiring for the website, including our News Desk initiative that's expanding our focus.

Today's focus on the open thread is this: Is the media getting too petty, too trivial (or has it always been that way)? Tight end Rob Gronkowski is found dancing at a club following New England's loss. If that were a Bengals player would you be upset? And isn't the whole Tom Brady wife a bit over-reactionary?

For example. The NFL.com homepage:

Does anyone care? Patriots fans, NFL fans? What are your thoughts?