(Frank Galasso illustration)

Dan Shaughnessy's no stranger to stirring up controversy (hence the eerily appropriate illustration), but he's hit a new all-time low with this one. Which is really quite an accomplishment for him, as we all thought he couldn't get much worse.

In case you didn't know, Shank has a new column up titled "The hard truth: Brady has gone soft." I didn't read the whole thing because, honestly, I really can't make it through an entire Shaughnessy column anymore. But the general gist seems to be that Brady has "gone soft" because he was spotted being fed by the future Mrs. Brady, Gisele Bundchen, while the two were vacationing - aka escaping the gauntlet that is the Boston media - in Mexico.

First off, I'd love to see Shaughnessy actually call Brady soft to his face. Not that I think Tom would throw down or chuck a smoothly spiraling pigskin at his face (after all, he's used to fielding some pretty ridiculous questions), but there's always a slim chance that could be the outcome, so who wouldn't want to see that exchange?

Getting to the meat of the argument, who the hell does Shaughnessy think he is calling someone - anyone - soft? This is the same guy that gets his hair permed at my mother's salon and has the body frame of a 65-year-old woman. Anyway, the big picture argument here is that Brady's on vacation. Leave him alone. Give him some space. Quit snapping his picture. Don't publish contrived columns on his dedication just to spur controversy. I'm sure he's been working his ass off in his rehab, so why not give him a week off from it all? As evidenced by my 5-day hiatus prior to last night's post, even the most dedicated of we professionals take time off at some point. Ease up a bit and let the guy enjoy a break.

Perhaps the most egregious error in the entire piece is Shank's repetitive use of the word "we." How dare you lump us in with you. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, in this entire region thinks about this, or any other issue in the sporting world, the same way you do. I know you're never supposed to use the word "I" in a column or article, but in this case, I'll make an exception. Stick to something you know, like inventing nonsensical myths about a baseball team - rhymes with the word "shmurse" - to generate book sales and put your kids through college.