Jason Quick...

In the context of Jason being a Blazers beat writer, I think he really crossed the line from professional criticizm into a personal attack, an attack that is both unjustified and unprofessional.

I too feel bad that Oden is “down.” But I think JQuick overstates his case when he says that Oden is no longer under the intense pressure and expectations that came in the early season. People in Portland may have settled, but every national story about the Blazers opens with “Greg Oden and the Blazers…” even describing games/events in which Oden was a non-factor.

I think Greg is still under enormous pressure, and to ask him to do the media song and dance for our amusement is too much. He’s young, and probably has something of an introverted personality. Give Greg a break.

a personal peeve, but I hate that word.

He was answering a question on a sports talk radio show. He was talking about his job and giving his honest opinion.

I actually like it when journalists give interviews and talk about their job, their life and other things that make them human. Jason Quick would never write something like this in his professional role.

I don’t see why beat writers have to be sterile, objective people 100% of the time. We might as well begin to hire robots to cover the games and do write ups.

I value the personal insights and opinions that people have and trust them to be 100% professional when they are in that role.

for Oden? Oden didn’t publicly bash Quick. No one is saying Journalism isn’t noble we’re saying Quick has publicly and personally bashed Oden and now this is a National Media event thanks to Deadspin picking up Quicks story. Sacrifice? You think Quick has made anywhere NEAR the sacrifice that Oden has as a professional athlete? Quick might be being villified on this blog (imo for good reason) but Oden is being NATIONALY ripped on!!

Ignoring the media (that devotes its own resources to cover teams and promote them) over a long period of time is bad for your business. In fact, teams and players intentionally talk to reporters, go on radio and TV shows, and talk to bloggers in order to get more exposure, fame and money.

Do you think Brandon Roy gets personal pleasure in answering questions while half-naked outside his locker for 10 minutes after every game? I seriously doubt it, but he has to as part of the business.

As far as expectations, the media definitely overhyped Oden. That’s what they do to #1 draft picks that get paid $5 million per year.

But you would be naive to blame it all on the media. How about the Blazers hanging a giant jersey on the side of the Rose Garden and putting up billboards around town?

How about KP, Mike Rice and others who work for the organization talking about how great Oden looked in workouts this summer before any outside eyes were allowed to watch him?

How about the NBA promoting Oden ad nauseum before the season started and designing the Blazers’ early season schedule around games against the top big men in the game with many of those contests on national TV?

The Blazers and the NBA are as much at fault and that’s how Oden’s check gets paid.

Quick is actually very smart in pointing out that it’s best for Greg to stop worrying about all the crap around him and just focus on his game. But Greg is taking all these expectations to heart and has become a downer. I bet KP and Brandon Roy would agree with Quick that Oden just needs to forget about “being Greg Oden” and just play basketball.

looks like JQ might be trying to make up for his loose lips. This satisfies me. I hadn’t read it when I was going off. JQ needs to be a bit more careful in his statements though in the future and leave the personal lives of the blazers personal.

relying on Dwight Jaynes, that bastion of credibility and honesty, as a viable source just shows how rose-colored people’s glasses are right now.

Wasn’t Jaynes the one insinuating that Kevin Pritchard was breaking the law a few months ago?

they both need to grow a pair.

Greg is neither. Quick doesn’t work for the Blazers and he and Greg do not work together. Quick’s job is to report on the team. He reported that Greg’s a major bummer to be around. Why did he do that? Probably because Greg’s a major bummer to be around. Hiding the truth from Greg or Greg’s fans is not in Quick’s job description. Do you have evidence that Quick is lying?

It probed how the team felt about Greg, about Greg’s expectations, about the team’s interaction and NOT about how a sportswriter FEELS about a player.

I listened to the audio, and I’m sure most of the people commenting did too. Jaynes didn’t say enough for anyone to form a real opinion.

I thought Quick came across as extremely hostile. Can’t stand being around the guy? Have no interest in talking to him?

Your take that he was just describing the fact that Greg is a little down is not consistent with Quick’s tone or his choice of words. He was describing personal animosity and resentment towards Oden.

You can disagree on whether or not that is appropriate, but I’m confused by your opinion that his comments weren’t hostile.

Not necessarily with your first. I could give you numerous examples of sportswriter’s who have taken what an athlete has said “off the cuff” that came across poorly (and believe me I am not defending some of the athletes and what they say either) but were still reported and discussed. Such as “Cut the Check”, “Both Teams played hard”, etc… You are responsible for what you say and how you say them. Especially in this day and age. I listened to the interview and it wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it and how he followed it up. He sounded disgusted. Maybe he wasn’t and maybe he sounds like that all the time (I don’t think so). So if he wants to discuss these matters he is just as responsible for his choice of words and how he says them as the athletes are.

This is officially out of control. This is only going to serve to perpetuate the cycle of Oden crawling deeper into his shell. I, like a lot of people here, feel that Oden is actually suffering from serious depression. I have much, much experience with family and friends in this manner, and it looks pretty text book to me. His body language, distant look on his face, lack of enthusiasm, etc… I feel for the poor kid and I hope and pray that they (the Blazers) are on the fast track to getting him the help he needs and deserves. It couldn’t be more obvious why he should be depressed ( I don’t need to elaborate), from what’s happened over the past few years. We’ve seen the change in Oden big time. Quick is not helping the issue by grandstanding, nor is the douche Radio host (of who’s name I will not mention because I can’t stand him or his boyfriend). I hope this all goes away soon, because it’s becoming dangerous.

I have no problem with Quick criticizing Oden’s influence in the the locker room.

But when a beat writer says, “I can’t really stand to be around him” then IMO he’s crossed the line.

I believe that Jason was trying to communicate that Oden’s attitude could possibly be affecting the team. But what he did was actually make himself part of the story. It’s one thing to speculate on whether his teammates want to be around him or not and telling us that he personally doesn’t like being around him.

There’s no way that Jason meant to be malicious or even meant to cross the line of journalistic neutrality. But that one statement did cross the line, IMO.

And, yes, him being on the radio as the beat writer for the Blazers is held to a different standard than if any one of us is on the radio. That’s just the way it is.

Do you think Quick or Oden read these silly comments? I seriously doubt it.

Yet people act like they are the new Art Sasse (former Blazers VP of Communications) and they want to stamp out any criticism of Oden. Victims this year include Jason Quick, Henry Abbott, Colin Cowherd, Gavin Dawson… and I’m sure we’re just getting started. Oden is ONLY 17 games into his career.

Congratulations Henchmen… I mean Bedgers… it really shows how insecure Blazers fans are by the way they want to fire any guy who comes close to criticizing the Blazers.

I’ve got a suggestion for you: Never move to NY, LA, Boston or any other larger market where the media is even more fierce. Your small-town mentality would not work very well in those places.