Oregonian hires outsider to examine relationship with Blazers

[212areacode]

Owner misses home opener... team rumored for sale... how do you NOT include that? That was a great column.

 

[awriter]

I'm not taking it out of context at all. He introduces Allen three grafs from the end because he needs him for the close of the column, the whole yacht-roach thing. I agree that it's a positive column that can't help but trade a barb anyway. It doesn't personally bother me, but if you're working with paranoids like the Trail Blazers, you can write this column without that small commentary. It's not going to make it any more or less tough, is it? That's a positive column merely bolsters my point.

Again, anybody can have issues with the media anywhere. The onus to make it work is still on the media. I'm sorry, but it is. It doesn't mean you kiss ass or play ball or toe some imaginary line. It does mean that every minor slight or hiccup in character needs to be taken with a little more stride and professionalism. I know, I know - it just sounds crazy. But journalists who get a little bit cagey are nearly as exciting as bloggers and pundits who are downright insane. Years of chirpy little, slightly biased network evening news reports gave us Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity. The blurring of lines, the playing fast and loose, the pretending that a basketball team is a MNC raping a third world country - it plays right into hands of talk radio and ESPN.

Again, he wasn't ripping Allen. And that line about renaming a yacht -- Allen has, I think, two the size of cruise ships -- was tongue in cheek. If it bothers the Blazers, so be it. It's not our job to pander to paranoid executives. And your "slightly biased network evening news reports" giving us an Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity doesn't work. Canzano is paid for his opinions.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Alma,

I think The Oregonian has delivered your desired maturity -- by hiring Craig Lancaster to write this piece. They are giving the Trail Blazers opportunity to rip their beat writer, their top columnist and their coverage right in their own newspaper. I think that's pretty mature.

I don't have a problem with Bhatia. The stuff he critiques Canzano for is pretty minor. And, it's not as if Canzano has been punished for anything: he's still writing columns, he's still writing his blog, he's still got his radio show and he's still going after the Blazers. If Bhatia really cared, do you think Canzano would escape unscathed? And, without knowing too much about the situation, I'd say Bhatia is a good boss because he admits he doesn't like some of Canzano's personal attacks but they still got into the paper.

After reading the article, I have to laugh at the Blazers. Bob Whitsitt may be gone, but Steve Patterson might as well wear his clothes. Ten years ago -- or so -- it was Kerry Eggers who first coined the name "Jail Blazers." The team complained bitterly, and Eggers actually was demoted to covering the Portland Winter Hawks. Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be happening now.

What really struck me was that Jason Quick stepped up to admit his mistake in the Marc Iavaroni report. But where is anyone in the Blazers organization quoted as saying they might be wrong about something? It doesn't happen. They are good at playing the aggrieved party, but not so good at accepting accountability. Where was their apology for criticizing Quick about the McMillan/Randolph story when he had the quotes on tape?

And, whatever side you might take on the "Peeping Tom" story, it is absolutely laughable that the Blazers lable Quick with that nickname while complaining about some of Canzano's personal shots.

I see one side here admitting errors and taking some of the blame. I see another side in full-on attack mode. "Us do anything wrong? No sir."

I think The Oregonian is trying to be mature. Unfortunately, the Blazers remain a whiny, spoiled brat.

 

[Alma]

[/quote]

Again, he wasn't ripping Allen. And that line about renaming a yacht -- Allen has, I think, two the size of cruise ships -- was tongue in cheek. If it bothers the Blazers, so be it. It's not our job to pander to paranoid executives. And your "slightly biased network evening news reports" giving us an Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity doesn't work. Canzano is paid for his opinions.
[/quote]

"If it bothers XXXXX, so be it" is a nifty attitude to have, but, again - what does it do to better the situation?

 

[Alma]

Vic,

I would agree - it is mature. It should be considered a step.

Again, a news organization can't compel any sports organization to be anything. The Blazers are going to be petulant until they choose not to be, and, at that point, they may choose to be something worse.

 

[Tom Petty]

212,

Conflict doesn't have a lot of variations. People might die in Israel and Lebanon, but the issues aren't parcticularly different. It's name-calling and marking territory.

You can look at this situation as minor and trivial; that's the standard journalism response. None of it ever matters. But I can you tell that two Chronicles reporters were jailed because the public trust in journalists has eroded, and because these men, however diligent, used illegal government leaks to craft their story and hunt down their prey. Live by bended rules - die by them.

Same thing here. The relationship is strained. Far as I can tell, a strained relationship benefits the one person who could care less, because he mouths off regardless: Canzano. He still has a radio show. A column. A voice. The smallest penalty he'll ever receive for doing and saying whatever he wants is this piece, while readers suffer a closed organization, and other writers - not just the Oregonian - suffer a paranoid staff made more paranoid by an egoist.

Yes, there is such a thing as a tough column. That's the one you write to say you were wrong. In this culture, where columnists throw tantrums, file from a thousand miles away, spend half their time on the air and generally act like ghosts around the office, a scathing piece is hardly difficult. It's as easy as skewering a movie.

your attempt to know something about everything comes up terribly short here. you obviously have no history regarding canzano nor the blazers. your knee-jerk post to this situation is both off the money and reeks of of ignorance.

canzano can read a bit "uppity" at times, but if you read him regularly and not just long enough to make a post, you'd know that isn't the norm. folks in blazers management are idiots all the time.

 

[daemon]

Do any readers care?

 

[awriter]

Again, he wasn't ripping Allen. And that line about renaming a yacht -- Allen has, I think, two the size of cruise ships -- was tongue in cheek. If it bothers the Blazers, so be it. It's not our job to pander to paranoid executives. And your "slightly biased network evening news reports" giving us an Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity doesn't work. Canzano is paid for his opinions.
[/quote]

"If it bothers XXXXX, so be it" is a nifty attitude to have, but, again - what does it do to better the situation?


[/quote]

Look, if I'm Canzano and Paul Allen or one of his people complained about that remark, I tell them it was a tongue-in-cheek comment, nothing more, and no malice was intended. I also point out that it was a positive column. And if they're still angry at me, that's their problem.

Also, when the owner -- who is often seated along the baseline -- misses the home-opener after a summer when he had the team on the market, that is worth mentioning.

 

[blondebomber]

i would bet canzano's resume is free of dust. the oregonian needs canzano much more than he needs them.

Now THAT is a delusional post. Sure, Canzano is good enough to work most anywhere, but without the Blazers he has no identity. He built his reputation off the Blazers. He thrives off of it. It would be like the old man who dies shortly after his wife passes or he retires from his job. Not being able to rake the Blazers would kill him inside.

 

[Tom Petty]

i would bet canzano's resume is free of dust. the oregonian needs canzano much more than he needs them.

Now THAT is a delusional post. Sure, Canzano is good enough to work most anywhere, but without the Blazers he has no identity. He built his reputation off the Blazers. He thrives off of it. It would be like the old man who dies shortly after his wife passes or he retires from his job. Not being able to rake the Blazers would kill him inside.

now that is a delusional post. obviously you don't read canzano regularly and your post clearly defines that point. you obviously don't know what you're talking about or you wouldn't have written something so asinine.

thanks for weighing in after reading canzano once this year.

 

[Alma]

Tom Petty,

Oh, I've read Canzano. And I concur about Blazers management. But it's not the Blazers job to report about themselves; they can as they please.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Sure, Canzano is good enough to work most anywhere, but without the Blazers he has no identity. He built his reputation off the Blazers. He thrives off of it. It would be like the old man who dies shortly after his wife passes or he retires from his job. Not being able to rake the Blazers would kill him inside.