Ball Don't Lie: Neil Olshey laughs off odd criticisms of the Trail Blazers' 'failed culture'

[Nikolokolus]

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/portl...s-trail-blazers-failed-culture-190652953.html
Kelly Dwyer has a pretty good article about the situation the Blazers find themselves in. (Bonus points for his well-stated repudiation of Clownzano's absurd hit piece.)

When you’re in the mix – or out of it, apparently – the surface reflection of a mediocre, 41-41 NBA season doesn’t tell the whole story. The Portland Trail Blazers, after 82 games and a first-round playoff loss at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, don’t exactly look to be running in place. Not to those working through the day to day, from the six-game losing streams to the six-game winning streaks. To the sort of people who, when pressed, will guess that the Jusuf Nurkic trade happened about 742 days ago, instead of just ten weeks ago.

That’s what it feels like during an NBA campaign, even a mildly disappointing one. To call 2016-17 a lost season for the Portland Trail Blazers, with so much happening, feels a little pat. To insist that such a lost season is representative of a “flawed culture,” as Oregonian columnist John Canzano recently offered in a wrap-up column for his paper, seems a little more misguided.

Portland’s situation is not unique, in trying to string one star into two while cobbling together a full and fearsome rotation, and Neil Olshey’s best (read: most expensive) efforts can’t be compared to the way Bob Whitsitt madly put together his era-appropriate Trail Blazers toward the fin de siècle. Olshey ain’t mad.

It ain’t working so far, though. And no obvious solutions – beyond the luck of a trading partner, smitten with a member of that failed Blazer rotation and/or a sub-lottery pick – are on the horizon.

It appears a charmed culture, as defined by the local media, is the last thing this team needs to worry about.

 

[Natebishop3]

And Canzano wins again, because people are talking about him and he's getting more exposure.

The dude doesn't care if it's good press or bad press. He just wants attention, and he got it.

 

[PDXFonz]

I've got dibs on starting tomorrow's Canzano thread.

 

[Schilly]

Not sure he wins on this since it's discrediting him

 

[Nikolokolus]

I've got dibs on starting tomorrow's Canzano thread.

Canzano is mostly tangential to the thesis of the article.

 

[stampedehero]

And Canzano wins again, because people are talking about him and he's getting more exposure.

The dude doesn't care if it's good press or bad press. He just wants attention, and he got it.

Does he write his columns in front of a full length mirror so he can admire all of himself?

 

[stampedehero]

Canzano is mostly tangential to the thesis of the article.

Tangential :related to or relation to subject. Very nifty sentence. Instead of thesis could you substitute "basis"?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Tangential :related to or relation to subject. Very nifty sentence. Instead of thesis could you substitute "basis"?

Other definition of Tangential: Hardly touching a matter; peripheral.
Thesis: a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

EDIT: Anything else you'd like to learn today?

 

[stampedehero]

Other definition of Tangential: Hardly touching a matter; peripheral.
Thesis: a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

EDIT: Anything else you'd like to learn today?

No but Thanks really appreciate the intel +++

 

[BlazerCaravan]

"and a sportswriter column complaining about a sportswriter’s inability to sit in the same seat Neil Olshey does before a game. (Seriously.)"

 

[Natebishop3]

Not sure he wins on this since it's discrediting him

Hard to discredit that which has no credit to begin with.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Does he write his columns in front of a full length mirror so he can admire all of himself?

I don't know if his full length mirror would really qualify as "full length."

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[BlazerWookee]

What a twat.

 

[Chris Craig]

What a douche. He wrote that article to try and save face.

 

[Chris Craig]

I wonder if he really met with a Blazers player or if he's just trying to stir shit up

 

[Denny Crane]

 

[julius]

I don't feel like reading it, what is he trying to imply?

 

[Denny Crane]

That was a few minutes of my time well spent.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I still think Canzano is treated unfairly by most here. Assuming everything he wrote is true, and I can't remeber when he's lied, then the Blazers are the problem.

I still have a couple of connections, and they speak about the organization the same way Canzano does.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Does he write his columns in front of a full length mirror so he can admire all of himself?

"Would you read me? I'd read me so hard."

 

[Natebishop3]

I will say this on the matter:

I covered the team from 2003 until 2006. During that time, the team was extremely welcoming to the media. They allowed me and a few other internet guys to get full access to the team. They had a great reputation about being ahead of the curve with internet journalists. I went to games, practices, locker room, the whole shebang. I also had a great relationship with the team and their staff. They were very friendly and open to ideas. We did a lot of collaboration with them.

After the 2005 season they fired most of the people that I had worked with. They hired Collin Romer and things changed. I didn't feel like starting over from scratch and completely rebuilding my relationship with the team. It's easy to do that if you're working for the Oregonian, but not so easy if you're some schlub from Hoopsworld.com. I was also burned out on sports. I left the business entirely.

A few years back, when Denny was first talking to the team about becoming the official forum of the Trail Blazers, we were told that could mean credentials. I was excited. I thought it would be fun to get back behind the scenes, and maybe take a few of you to experience the ride. We were jerked around. Sly and I showed up to pick up the "credentials" and instead were given two tickets to sit up in the stands. We were allowed in the media room... but nowhere else. From what I can tell, this has not changed. Sly gets to sit in the press area from time to time, but gets zero access to the team. They also pulled the credentials from BE around that same time. This is such a stark difference from how the team operated in the past. They didn't try to control the message like they are now.

From what I can tell, there are competing philosophies in the organization. On the one hand, you have Dewayne Hankins, who spearheaded adding RC2 as the official forum, and pilots their web presence. He's the reason why their twitter is so great. On the other hand, you have Collin Romer and the media relations guys, and they want nothing to do with us. Unfortunately they're the ones who control the access to the team.

I don't disagree with Canzano about how the team is being run publicly. It feels very corporate now. They got rid of the Mikes. They got rid of BE. It feels very different from how it was when I was behind the scenes 12-14 years ago, and that's really too bad. I enjoyed that team.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I still think Canzano is treated unfairly by most here. Assuming everything he wrote is true, and I can't remeber when he's lied, then the Blazers are the problem.

I still have a couple of connections, and they speak about the organization the same way Canzano does.

Good shit!

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I will say this on the matter:

I covered the team from 2003 until 2006. During that time, the team was extremely welcoming to the media. They allowed me and a few other internet guys to get full access to the team. They had a great reputation about being ahead of the curve with internet journalists. I went to games, practices, locker room, the whole shebang. I also had a great relationship with the team and their staff. They were very friendly and open to ideas. We did a lot of collaboration with them.

After the 2005 season they fired most of the people that I had worked with. They hired Collin Romer and things changed. I didn't feel like starting over from scratch and completely rebuilding my relationship with the team. It's easy to do that if you're working for the Oregonian, but not so easy if you're some schlub from Hoopsworld.com. I was also burned out on sports. I left the business entirely.

A few years back, when Denny was first talking to the team about becoming the official forum of the Trail Blazers, we were told that could mean credentials. I was excited. I thought it would be fun to get back behind the scenes, and maybe take a few of you to experience the ride. We were jerked around. Sly and I showed up to pick up the "credentials" and instead were given two tickets to sit up in the stands. We were allowed in the media room... but nowhere else. From what I can tell, this has not changed. Sly gets to sit in the press area from time to time, but gets zero access to the team. They also pulled the credentials from BE around that same time. This is such a stark difference from how the team operated in the past. They didn't try to control the message like they are now.

From what I can tell, there are competing philosophies in the organization. On the one hand, you have Dewayne Hankins, who spearheaded adding RC2 as the official forum, and pilots their web presence. He's the reason why their twitter is so great. On the other hand, you have Collin Romer and the media relations guys, and they want nothing to do with us. Unfortunately they're the ones who control the access to the team.

I don't disagree with Canzano about how the team is being run publicly. It feels very corporate now. They got rid of the Mikes. They got rid of BE. It feels very different from how it was when I was behind the scenes 12-14 years ago, and that's really too bad. I enjoyed that team.

I hardly doubt there are any sports teams that operate now like they did in 2003-2006. Largely due to the impact of social media.

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[Nikolokolus]

I still think Canzano is treated unfairly by most here. Assuming everything he wrote is true, and I can't remeber when he's lied, then the Blazers are the problem.

I still have a couple of connections, and they speak about the organization the same way Canzano does.

Canzano's criticisms might have been fair, but it's hard to speak as an authority on a team's "culture" when you've spent absolutely no time around them to observe said culture. If the article had been written by a beat guy like Kerry Eggers, I think people might have been willing to give it some serious thought. Instead it was penned by a guy who's made his living as a provocateur.

 

[Stevenson]

I still think Canzano is treated unfairly by most here. Assuming everything he wrote is true, and I can't remeber when he's lied, then the Blazers are the problem.

I still have a couple of connections, and they speak about the organization the same way Canzano does.

The issue is that he too often likes to make himself the story. He's also a blowhard and BSer. And a clickbait junkie.

Hard to take him seriously.

 

[Denny Crane]

I hardly doubt there are any sports teams that operate now like they did in 2003-2006. Largely due to the impact of social media.

Exactly.

Back then, teams were figuring out digital media. Now they've figured it out, or at least they are doing much better at it.

I used to run the biggest Oakland Raiders forum for a short while. That ended when the NFL took over all the team WWW sites, so there's new politics in the mix.

I also want to plug Paul Allen here. He founded one of the earliest sports WWW site companies, StarWave. That company built ESPN.com and NBA.com. If there's one thing you have to believe about this organization with Mr. Allen and Mr. Hankins, they know what they're doing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starwave

Starwave was a Seattle, Washington based software and website company, founded in 1993 by Paul Allen,[1]co-founder of Microsoft and led by CEO Mike Slade.[2][3] The company produced many original CD-ROM titles, including titles for Clint Eastwood, Sting,[4] and Peter Gabriel. They were the original developers of Castle Infinity, the first MMORPG for kids, but Starwave's most lasting mark was in the area of web content sites. They developed ESPN.com, ABCNEWS.com...

https://www.cnet.com/news/credit-data-taken-off-nba-espn-sites/

Starwave, which hosts the popular NBA and ESPN sports sites, is warning customers to contact their creditors in the wake of news about an "intruder" who took credit card numbers from the ESPN and NBA Web sites and then sent messages to the card owners, warning them about the alleged security flaws.

(OOPS!)

 

[Natebishop3]

I hardly doubt there are any sports teams that operate now like they did in 2003-2006. Largely due to the impact of social media.

The expansion of the internet should give us MORE access to the team and the players, not less. There are so many more possibilities for content. Give fans a way to connect with the team. Going hyper controlling about the message is not a good move. It's counter to the way things SHOULD be done. And like I said, on the one hand you have Dewayne and he's a visionary genius.... and on the other you have Collin who is stuck in the past.

 

[blazedanugz]

Canznano's main example in his article was GS players shaking the hands of ball boys and other employees around the court....which to me, is a shot at the PLAYERS on the blazers. He may have some points but he rushed that article out and used bad examples to get his point across.
he was going at the players in that article, not media availability.