"By Ben Golliver"

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Denny Crane said:
S2 is BE upside down.

We don't have any one or two guys who's the star. Our posters are the stars.

I loved the writing in the first post.
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Denny, I rarely put my own quote into my signature, but I did it to send you a message.

Solidarity is dangerous. 10 years ago, the small-minded local Mafia media hated the Blazers and Bob Whitsitt. They ostracized any media member who deviated. They caused a lost decade. Stop calling the local media your family, mods.
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jlprk said:
Blazer Fanatic was on ESPN before I left. Might even have been one of the anonymous few who got the moderator to hate me. I will never know.
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If they hated you, I assure you it wasn't because of something I did or said. lol What was your screen name, I don't recognize jlprk?
 
I don't much know who Ben Golliver is, but I am sure I read some of his stuff... might have seen him on Talking Ball. I am sure I agreed with some of it, disagreed with the rest. The definition of 'Journalist' has been blurred with online media, and blogs... but rest assured, just getting paid by someone does not mean you are a great journalist... and not getting paid at all doesn't mean you are not one. I get a LOT of my blazers news right here... and sometimes there are some decent takes... and many times this board is just a punching bag for people unable to deal with a loss... but in way... I consider you all journalists... which is why I don't subscribe to the Oregonian... and I do read this forum for Blazers news. If anything important happens... I know someone here will let me know about it... and I can see how real people feel about the Blazers.
 
ponderguy said:
I'd say that is closer to the truth, mostly get annoyed with the tossing around the idea of him committing plagiarism when its not happening. If people thought they were his articles that he was writing it would be completely different.
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Thanks for the input, Ben. How about coming up with some original content once in a while, though, outside of the occasional national story.
 
I have never seen Ben claim anyone else's content as his own. I defy anyone to post a link to a legitimate example.
 
BlazerWookee said:
I have never seen Ben claim anyone else's content as his own. I defy anyone to post a link to a legitimate example.
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No one is saying he claims anyone else's content as his own, aside from the fact that he always takes someone else's hard work, adds a new title to it, slaps "By Ben Golliver" on it, and puts it on BE which he benefits financially from. When you look at the articles on BE, they don't say "By Bill Simmons" or "By Kevin Pelton" or by "AP" or by anyone but "Ben Golliver." The classic example is "Pelton says... By Ben Golliver". What exactly did Ben Golliver contribute that makes the information in the article one of Ben Golliver's creation? You can defy all you like. The traffic to BE would be crap compared to what it is were it not for all of the "By Ben Golliver" articles that he had nothing to do with other than posting them on BE.

I get the notion of a system where on-line writers may agree to share articles in hopes to drive traffic to both sites. But there is simply no excuse that every front page article he has posted with someone else's content, making up the entirety of the article, on BE has "By Ben Golliver" instead of "By (the original author)". I don't need to post examples, it's EVERY GD ARTICLE. lol

Since you may have missed it earlier in this thread, this is how The Oregonian, professionally, and correctly credits a source when citing an entire piece of work:

Chicago's Derrick Rose out for season after knee surgery following injury in Portland
The Associated Press
Posted 11/25/2013 8:40 AM

You see how it doesn't say "By Joe Freeman"? To do otherwise, as Ben Golliver does, is absolute bush-league.
 
Ever since SB Nation changed formats they got away from fostering community fan posts and made it all about the main contributors. Now it's just like any modern day news-site, fighting to grab the attention of an information addicted society. It's not pretty but it's the world we live in, and I'll admit I frequent BlazersEdge to get my fix of links and tidbits, but just like anything else on the Internet I take it with a grain of salt.
 
Sbnation has the gif oracle...get us one of those denny
 
Goliver's soup kitchen comment pissed me the fuck off. With that note, he can fuck off too
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
Did you miss the question or are you pleading the 5th? "What was your screen name, I don't recognize jlprk?"
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The memories come and go. The easy answer is BobWhitsittsGhost. But in the last couple of years (I left Sept. 2009) there were a few. FerociousRooster was one. I don't remember the others right now.

When Gramps left, do you remember the predictions game? Which name ran it? That was me, for about 1 1/2 to 2 seasons, until the bastard repeatedly deleted all the predictions threads (like he had with Gramps).
 
I like Blazersedge. I always have. That site helped me organize my Blazer fandom into something more tangible than simply talking about basketball to my cousins every other week. They have a lot of entertaining posters that help make that site alive (and thriving), and due to its popularity I consider the site a must read for any and all Blazer fans (as is RipCityTwo).

With that said, I think Ben is a bit of a toolbag. Dave, I like. I appreciate his ability to stay lucid and balanced no matter the ups or downs (though if things go really well he does start to party a lil) and his eloquence. He might not be a former-ball-player-turned-blogger-cum-journalist... but neither is the Sports Guy. You don't need to have played competitive ball to really understand the game of basketball.
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
No one is saying he claims anyone else's content as his own, aside from the fact that he always takes someone else's hard work, adds a new title to it, slaps "By Ben Golliver" on it, and puts it on BE which he benefits financially from. When you look at the articles on BE, they don't say "By Bill Simmons" or "By Kevin Pelton" or by "AP" or by anyone but "Ben Golliver." The classic example is "Pelton says... By Ben Golliver". What exactly did Ben Golliver contribute that makes the information in the article one of Ben Golliver's creation? You can defy all you like. The traffic to BE would be crap compared to what it is were it not for all of the "By Ben Golliver" articles that he had nothing to do with other than posting them on BE.

I get the notion of a system where on-line writers may agree to share articles in hopes to drive traffic to both sites. But there is simply no excuse that every front page article he has posted with someone else's content, making up the entirety of the article, on BE has "By Ben Golliver" instead of "By (the original author)". I don't need to post examples, it's EVERY GD ARTICLE. lol

Since you may have missed it earlier in this thread, this is how The Oregonian, professionally, and correctly credits a source when citing an entire piece of work:

Chicago's Derrick Rose out for season after knee surgery following injury in Portland
The Associated Press
Posted 11/25/2013 8:40 AM

You see how it doesn't say "By Joe Freeman"? To do otherwise, as Ben Golliver does, is absolute bush-league.
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Blazersedge is, and always has been, an on-line community revolving around a blog that searches, sifts, and summarizes any and all things Blazers on the internet, with added commentary and analysis by site administrators. His by-line takes credit for collecting, collating, and when appropriate, criticizing content, nothing more.
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
What does it mean exactly when an individual with media credentials, and practice facility, media row, and locker room access, reports on the Blazers? More importantly, what is expected when a person smacks "By" and their name on something?

In looking for a place to share opinions and my Blazer fan-dom with other Blazer fans, I spent the pre-season and the first 6 games or so reading and commenting on Blazer's Edge. What became increasingly apparent is that Ben Golliver wants it both ways: to be a respected journalist, and a content hack.

Not a week goes by that he isn't posting the meat of other sport journalists' work, and slapping a different title on it with "By Ben Golliver."

His hack job of Chris Haynes' article on Earl Waton was the last straw for me, and I responded below:

By Ben Golliver
Since Ben didn’t add anything to the story, and takes great liberty adding “By Ben Golliver” to someone else’s work, I thought it appropriate to add something that was actually “By Ben Golliver” in regards to Earl Watson:
“I’m not gonna acknowledge he’s on the team. I don’t even want to watch that guy play. I think Earl Watson might even be Ronnie Price. I don’t know how much he’s gonna play which is good.” – By Ben Golliver
Check out Ben’s Podcast with Kevin Pelton. If you haven’t heard it, it’s definitely worth it. ; )

To no surprise my post was deleted within the hour. The truth hurts even when it's devoid of the taboo and often mis-defined "ad homonym." If you're going to bad mouth a guy and say (in his podcast with Kevin Pelton) that "I don't even want to acknowledge he's even on the team", then don't. And don't be a hypocrite.

Sure, he lets people know he didn't write it, but then he goes on to cut out the meat of the article like any of us would do on this forum, so you don't need to go to the actual story to get the gist. So, why if it's ok for me, would it not be for Benjamin? Because I'm no journalist. I don't do post game write-ups for money, and push traffic to a web site to that end, and I sure as heck don't have locker room access, or any access for that matter, to provide me a wealth of information to write about.

I find it hypocritical in both respects, that he hocks other people's work off as his own, and that he bad mouths the very players he benefits from writing about.

Also not surprising - even when he is supposedly writing something original, like talking about the Blazers using ipads during time outs in one of his game recaps, it's not:

“Joe Freeman‏@BlazerFreeman
Nothing worse than researching story for weeks, waiting for photos/right time to write about it only to have someone drop it in game recap.”

Golliver was no less (with an audible goofy laugh) slighting Joel Freeland after the pre-season, as he continues to do so with Nolan Smith. How this guy even has access of any kind is a mystery. A Bill Simmons wannabe with no credibility, unless an audience equals credibility. If the Blazer players actually read or heard what he says about them, none of them would speak to him.

And Dave... bless his heart. His prose is quite articulate, despite the over-use of words like: torrid, yeoman, and carom. (They're called bricks Dave, not caroms.) But I've mentioned this before in another thread, that he's not a basketball guy, he's just a fan. And that's great. And I like Dave as a person. But he writes about basketball with no legit basketball background or with any knowledge of playing on a competitive team, which isn't intended as a slight, but rather an explanation for why he's so off base and so heavily reliant on what other actual stat/basketball minds say about the Blazers.

Paraphrasing here, "One of the reason I project Portland to be a 38-42 win team is because they had issues with turnovers in pre-season that indicates that will continue, and that they led the league in rebounding during the same time doesn't mean anything." - Dave

The bottom line is you can't call those guys out on anything or they delete your post, which is the sign of an extremely ignorant and insecure environment that I want no part of.

About that rebounding... Well, of course, I'm dying to hop on Mals post about rebounding, and it's too bad I didn't know about this forum sooner or I would have been right there with him.

Call it a rap. - rook
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Jlprk seems to be confused. This post is terrific. Well written. Makes a fair point. Maybe Ben will read it and gain from it. I hope so.

I wrote that I'm fine with it. Meaning it won't be deleted here. Nor has anyone's posts calling me or this site out. Including plenty by jlprk himself.

We are part of the Blazers family. It's a good place to be for all of us. So what's good for BE is good for us, indirectly or directly.
 
Denny Crane said:
Jlprk seems to be confused. This post is terrific. Well written. Makes a fair point. Maybe Ben will read it and gain from it. I hope so.

I wrote that I'm fine with it. Meaning it won't be deleted here. Nor has anyone's posts calling me or this site out. Including plenty by jlprk himself.

We are part of the Blazers family. It's a good place to be for all of us. So what's good for BE is good for us, indirectly or directly.
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Disclaimer: It would be sweet if you had only a few posts to your account, as in "rook status" so that what I'm about to write wouldn't come off a overt ass kissing.

That said, I still disagree with your take on Taj (obligatory attempt to support my disclaimer), and it is entirely irrelevant for the respect I have for you to be secure enough, to know that free speech (aside from the threatening kind) makes for a better, more informed environment - and in fact, leads to more accountability for what people write, not less. That you can show respect to those that you may vehemently disagree with said a lot about you. ;) I'm a fan.
 
Check out Taj's stat line for last night.
 
And there's this (audio is NSFW):

[video=youtube;8Bfe6CgYbH8]
 
BlazerWookee said:
Blazersedge is, and always has been, an on-line community revolving around a blog that searches, sifts, and summarizes any and all things Blazers on the internet, with added commentary and analysis by site administrators. His by-line takes credit for collecting, collating, and when appropriate, criticizing content, nothing more.
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Look, no one is accusing Golliver of plagiarizing Luke Babbit's face here. But I do wonder if you realize by continuing to argue the legal definition of plagiary or whether that is even the real focus of my post, you are only making this thread live on in infamy. Maybe we need to lighten the mood a bit?

Q: What is the difference between Blazers Edge and Napster?


A: Ben Golliver is a no-talent hack.


If only Ben's Nolan Smith jokes were as timeless as this one. We can dream, can't we?

No doubt people will keep sending their $0.02 clicks (pun intended) to BE's fund which provides food and shelter to what is so clearly a creatively challenged individual. My heart goes out to Ben, but not enough to donate to his unfortunate lack of originality. You'd think the least Ben could do is send devoted, charitable givers a postcard, or even an e-card with Ben's " :( " on it, and a update of how he's getting by.

Back to the OP:

Ben talks crap about Blazers and then turns around and profits from having access to those same players. Do you think the players know what Ben writes and says about them? I'm of the opinion if players actually cared or knew that dear Benjamin was actually talking crap about more often than not, no doubt, that access would be severely strained. If I met you at a bar, and made a comment about you, to you, in jest? I could definitely recover from any lost rapport. I have a nice smile that is very convincing. ;) What if I took, say, a karaoke mic and announcing the same to a packed room of strangers? Most people would say I was an ass, and I would agree. That is what Golliver does on a regular basis. I don't know about Ben's upbringing, but he comes off sounding like the awkward kid in school that everyone made fun of. It's not a good perception to set, and entirely avoidable.

People still used Napster, and Kazoo even when both were clearly profiting, and dare I say pirating, from the original artists' creative, talented, and hard work. I'm not judging those that give to BE, but let's not be coy about what BE has become. A for-profit sports page designed to maximize ad revenue. Again, I won't go so far as to chastise those that find fellowship behind it's walls - even if those walls are built on other journalists hard work. God bless America and all that stuff.

Ben is a Vulture in my opinion. And while some people can make a good living as vultures, I choose not to support them or spend any time bird watching Ben as he hovers over the barren, sandy desert that is the breath of Ben's creative contribution to a passionate Blazer fan base. While an argument could be made that original authors are complicit in this, their hope to increase their own click count doesn't change Golliver's screaming inadequacies to stick with creating original content himself, for his readers.

Gauntlet thrown down - gauntlet picked up - Gauntlet thrown down again while wafting my black labs fart in Ben's general direction.


My final point again, Dave is a good writer, and bright spot on the site - creator of original content for better or for worse. Clearly, you don't need to be an NBA player or coach to speak with a degree of authority on the subject. However, Dave has consistently shown a propensity to confuse his fan-dom with an objective take on the Blazers. He would be the Meyers Leonard of BE. He lacks some basic fundamentals, unless of course he is only speaking from the perspective of a fan. Unfortunately, he too often speaks from a platform of authority on the subject matter - and like Ben, and BE as a moderated conglomerate of controlling the message in general, those that would point out inconsistencies, fallacies, or factual inaccuracies are more often than not having their contributions deleted. If BE is in fact a community, it's certainly gated, not inclusive to all Blazer fans, and not exactly patrolled by your friendly neighborhood watch.

Deleted comments, deleted fan posts, and the section for fans being relegated to a smaller portion than that of the ad space has taken BE from what once made it great, to just another sports page looking for donations. So Denny is quite correct, BE is the opposite of RC2.
 
So...when Olshey famously went off on reporters about the Aldridge trade rumors, and he said something about one of them who "just copies and pastes stuff" (or words to that effect), was he talking about this Golliver guy?
 
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BBert said:
So...when Olshey famously went off on reporters about the Aldridge trade rumors, and he said something about one of them who "just copies and pastes stuff" (or words to that effect), was he talking about this Golliver guy?
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Yup. While most on BE took that as a "shout out", myself included at the time, it was also a very candid description of the staple of BE content.
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
Yup. While most on BE took that as a "shout out", myself included at the time, it was also a very candid description of the staple of BE content.
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A lot of folks here treated it as a major insult.
 
BBert said:
A lot of folks here treated it as a major insult.
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That speaks exactly to one of my points. The group think of that gated community doesn't allow for the "major insult" opinion to be the majority, even if the majority perceives it that way. What often occurs is that those voices move on to get their Blazer fix from other sites such as RC2. It's a "calculated choice" by the BE bunch, but I use that phrase extremely figuratively.
 
I'm really happy to find this site, like Fanatic, I was on other sites where being a fan of the team or even slightly optimistic about the potential was cannon fodder for personal attacks....it got out of hand. Much more intelligent hoops interplay here and nobody seems to take themselves too seriously. Glad to see healthy debate that has some food for thought for a change. BF is the most articulate poster around and does her research thoroughly. My posts go way down because she usually says what I'm thinking before I can post it only she does it better than I could.
 
Glad you're here, riverman. To me, not taking ourselves too seriously is the best thing about this group. These clowns are pretty damn funny at times. And there are times when I need that. It's not always all about basketball.
 
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