Ken Powers and Peter King

I came home from Atlanta to find that there was a controversy over whether local sportswriter, Ken Powers had lifted material from a Peter King column about the last time the Patriots played the Eagles.

First let me disclose that I know Ken Powers and I think he's not only a good guy but also a good writer. I've had beers with Ken and I personally think he's one of the nicest guys you'd hope to meet.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about - click on this link (thanks to Jim Dawson for the tip).

Let me say that this looks very bad for Ken Powers and I feel awful about that. The similarities are just so striking and it appears that The Worcester Telegram and Gazette has admitted that this is indeed a case of plagiarism.

Here is the original Peter King column from January 24th and here is a review I did of that column. Let me say that when I first read Peter King's column I was struck by how much it reminded me of some of the material from Michael Holley's book Patriot Reign. I'm kicking myself for not noting that at the time. If you've read Patriot Reign you know exactly what I'm talking about.

My guess is that Peter King doesn't want too much scrutiny on his column so he'll avoid this situation (much like George Carlin avoided commenting on the Mike Barnicle flap). I just hope that this doesn't cost Ken Powers his job. I believe this was an isolated incident and Ken has been a loyal employee of the T&G for 20 years. If guilty - he should be punished but I think the damage this has caused to his reputation may be punishment enough without it also costing him his employment.