Frustration Is Upon Me.

This is Brandon Jacobs, running back for the New York Football Giants.  What's he doing here? Making first downs. But I digress. There's a really annoying meme going among sportswriters right now. It's called "What's Wrong With Brandon Jacobs?" Long story short, he's not gaining as many yards as he did last season. Now, call me crazy....("You're crazy!")...but is it just possible that opposing defenses have learned to game-plan for him? And his offensive coordinator needs to make a few adjustments? It is. But here's the real reason why he's here: One of my biggest complaints about the media is - reporters are lazier than ever. It's one thing to go to a press conference and write down what the subject says to another reporter. It is another thing entirely to shuffle from your bed to your computer, see what everyone else is writing, and paraphrase it.
New York Daily News Giants Beat Reporter (and friend of the blog) Ralph Vacchiano starts the theme, and while I don't agree with his premise, I give him credit for a fair-and-balanced story.
Now, let's see who parrots it.
Here it is on another Giants blog.
Here again from Long Island Newsday
I could go on.
My point is not to bash on Reporters-Who-Pick-Up-Stories, per se. My point is - once an idea like this gets loose in the press, we see a multi-step process take place that looks like this:

1. Reporter Voices Controversial Opinion: "What's Wrong With Brandon Jacobs?" 
2. Subject Defends Self, Hopefully Dramatically: (Jacobs' reply: "Frustration is upon me right now." )
3. Reporter's Peers Remark On Existence of Story Itself: "The New York Media™ sure is being tough on Brandon Jacobs..."
4. Vóila, the story has a life of its own.

Now. Let's pretend for a moment that you work for, oh, we don't know, say, a political party whose fortunes have not been the greatest recently. If you recognized an opportunity to use this process, wouldn't you use it to your advantage? Especially if you could just make crazy shit up and force your opponent to waste time and energy debunking it?
Yes. Yes you would. Don't lie.

We recognize this. And we will call it out wherever we see it. What should we call it? The Full Brandon Jacobs? Random Bomb-Throwing? Every Day Of Rush Limbaugh's Life?
Let us know.