Runnin Anne Schatz never looked at me like that.

if you've been reading the national sports blogs this week, you have no doubt been inundated with details of a brewing controversy regarding Erin Andrews' behavior and appearance in the Chicago Cubs' clubhouse.  It's a fascinating subject with a number of layers and viewpoints and it raises a ton of legit questions for a Blazersedge symposium on sexism:

• What is proper dress in the clubhouse/locker room?
• How much fraternization is too much fraternization?
• Should reporters ever touch players?
• Will boys ever stop being boys?
• Is the notion of a sideline reporter, as currently constructed, itself sexist in some ways?

This discussion never occurs with such volume and passion if "Erin Andrews" isn't "Erin Andrews!!!"

And the picture above never gets posted here if Rebecca Haarlow, Blazers sideline reporter, isn't, in the eyes of thousands of Blazers fans, "Rebecca Haarlow!!!" 

Point blank: This Facebook picture never even ends up in my inbox if it's anyone but Haarlow.  (Although, if Mike Rice's knee could be lifted that high, I suppose that would be newsworthy.) 

Is this fair to her?  Is our world worse because this picture is news, simply by virtue of her personal presentation? 

I'm not sure on either question, but I do know that bla bla bla bla you're scrolling back up to look at the picture again, aren't you?  bla bla bla If not, post your reaction in the comments. 

Keep it clean.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Mortimer the Green reminded me that one important result of the new schedule being released is that we are that much closer to pinning down the date for Terry Porter's jersey retirement.

To refresh, on June 4 we talked with then-COO Mike Golub who informed Blazersedge that upper management was seriously discussing Terry Porter's jersey retirement. 

Quoteth Golub:

We are looking very hard at that.  And we're trying to decide the right time, but absolutely. Terry is one of the greatest Trail Blazers both on and off the court, he is just a total class act, one of the best to ever wear the uniform.  Yes, we agree with that sentiment very strongly and we are talking about it really seriously.  We are trying to figure out when is the right time to act on it.

He also noted that retiring a player's jersey...

 ...is about doing the right thing and creating a special night for the people involved and for the fans and I think our fans want to see special things. They want to see a new drama every day, they want to see a new story unfold. 

The team has told us they recognize our desire to see special things.  They've told us they are considering retiring Terry's jersey.  They've told us they are waiting for the right time.

And, as of today, we've got the schedule in our hands so we know which times they will be choosing from.  Indeed, they will have two perfect opportunities to retire Terry Porter's jersey, the two nights that we host his Phoenix Suns here at the Rose Garden.

These two nights are:

• Thursday, December 18, 2008
• Thursday, March 26, 2009

The ball is now firmly in our court.  The organization has proven that it is listening to us on this one. So let's talk back.  Will our collective vote be the deciding vote?  No, probably not.  But, it might help.  And it certainly can't hurt. 

Let the Blazers know when this great moment should go down by casting your vote.  And be sure to leave your message for the organization in the comments.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Pardon my absence from the site the last couple of days, a true "g" is getting married this Friday so I've been busy trying to talk him out of it celebrate the occasion in Las Vegas.  Actually, this is the first wedding I've ever been remotely affiliated with (sad, I know) so I've really just been spending the last 4 or 5 days trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

Boring interlude aside, this brings me to the topic at hand.  Jay Allen over at 95.5 The Game recently got married.  Brian Wheeler noted on his radio show that Mr. Allen asked him to do some announcing at the wedding. 

This, of course, got me thinking about building the ultimate Blazers wedding.

Obviously... this is a job for BE; one man alone cannot possibly do this.

So, let's say you or a friend or your child is getting married and you have the run of the entire Blazers team, front office, organization, and the Blazers media (television, newspaper, radio, web, etc.).  You're getting ready to call in every favor in the book to ensure the ideal Blazers wedding.  Who serves what role?

Let me kick this off with the most obvious: Paul Allen is the Father of the Bride.  If you want to do this right, daddy warbucks gotta be in charge of paying for this shindig. 

I'm not saying I'm a gold digger... but, yeah, I guess I am.

(yes, I realize his neck is jacked up, my bad)

One of my coworkers, amusingly, nominated Travis Outlaw as the Flower Girl.

Hmmmmm.....  Anne, I'll let you have the final judgement on this one.  Somebody want to put a bow on his head?  I'm all photoshopped out.

So... you can take this seriously or in jest, but, either way, you must help me build the ultimate Blazers wedding.   Note: Absolutely every position is available (security, wedding singer, limo driver... your imagination is the only limitation here). 

Do that there... starting... now.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)    

Headline says it all.  Here's his words via email.

Blazersedge: So, just another Friday, eh?  What the heck happened here?

Writing the columns the last few years for the Tribune was a joy... no problem there and for an old guy I think I have accepted the changes in sports and in the world pretty well... I'm down with a lot of them, actually, and have never been one of those "good old days" kind of guys...

 [The people at the Tribune] treated me great... but my wife has been seeing those nasty signs of stress for months... while [this decision] was surprising to many, it wasn't to me...

I was ready for something new... I may blog, I may take an offer to do something entirely different -- not sure... going to take some time away and see what's going on out in the real world...

I've been enclosed in the office for hours and hours every day and need to breath a little fresh air...

Blazersedge: WIll you be "in the building" once the Blazers season starts?

maybe but probably not... I can't afford a ticket and I can't think of any reason for a credential at this point... although I have a few ideas.

Blazersedge: Let's speculate, shall we?

who knows -- maybe one of my friends in the league will hire me to scout... that would be a kick. 

Blazersedge: When was the last time you weren't following the Blazers regularly?

been a long, long time probably prior to when I took the beat in 1983

Blazersedge: How does the Tribune work to fill the big hole on its sports page? 

there is no big hole... 13 or 14 inches... kerry eggers and steve brandon and jason vondersmith are stellar... they will continue to do a sensational job and the tribune will continue to be a great paper

Blazersedge: How active will you be in helping the paper make the transition?

not at all

Blazersedge: Totally hands off?

I'm out of there... clean break

Blazersedge: You talked about freedom and getting outdoors and I read that you were playing softball last night, what else is on tap?

hey, STOP right now... I was not playing softball... I play BASEBALL and have for the last two summers -- in a 38-and-over league... very different from softball... a fun and challenging pastime...

I live in a houseboat... I need to get some sun on my pale body... and devote a little more time to getting that body back in good shape...

Blazersedge: My bad about the softball thing.  Poor form, really poor form, on my part.  Do you have any regrets about your time at the Tribune?

I don't look back, for regrets or otherwise... I look ahead -- and right now that's kind of fun

Blazersedge: Are you still planning to do work with 1080 The Fan?

if they wish... I will be guest-hosting for isaac ropp monday when he's on vacation... if anyone on the radio will have me, I love doing radio... I'm also doing my sem-regular gig on sunday night on channel 12 with matt smith...

Blazersedge: Can you put to bed any speculation regarding the timing of your decision?

the timing? today is my wife's birthday... she told me I had given her the most wonderful present she could have asked for... she's very successful at what she does -- interior design -- and that allows me a little more freedom than some others might have... it may have been sudden for some people but not for me... it had been rolling around in my mind for a long time.

I hope this helps clear some things up.

25 years following the team, day in and day out.  That's more than my entire lifetime.  Wow. That cliche "He's forgotten more basketball than I know"... yes.

 -- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

I convened with Dave and we agreed any time a National Book Award winner joins the site, we will post their first comment on the main page. 

Here's the first from Mr. Sherman Alexie. It's a doozy.

Hi, my name is Sherman Alexie, thanks for the welcome

Well, now,

that welcome was filled with the perfect amount of kindness, contempt, humor, arrogance, humility, sarcasm, praise, and suspicion. For now, I'll just say a few things.

1. Ever since the Sonics failed to resign Nate as coach, and let him go to the Blazers, I've been jealous. I love the man. It's easy for me to root for him. And I really miss his playing days, when he was an incredible defensive presence and the all-time NBA leader in three-pointers turned into two-pointers because his foot was on the dang line.

2. I thought, and publicly promoted, the idea that Brandon Roy should have gone #1 in that draft. During his first game here in Seattle, when he played so well, and hit the clutch basket for the win, I almost cheered. I stopped myself and then gave myself a paper cut on my index finger and dipped it in lemonade, as sort of a St. Francis punishment for my sins thing. Roy was a student in my American Ethnic Literature class at the UW. So I decided that I nearly cheered for the student who wrote a pretty good paper on "A Lesson Before Dying," and not a member of the opposite team.

3. I've only got a 10-game weekend package. I'm just a spectator to true Blazers fandom. I love the NBA, and so many of the players, and while I will certainly be rooting for the Blazers, it is a new relationship and I wouldn't presume to be anything other than a secondary, make that tertiary, fan. That said, I'm sure I'll fall quickly in love.

4. I would root for a team composed of Jack the Ripper at the 3, Lee Harvey Oswald at the 2, Saddam Hussein at the 4, Galactus at the 5, and Lizzie Borden at 1 over the Lakers. If the Lakers were playing a team made up entirely of those giant chameleon cockroaches in that movie Mimic, I would root for the insects. Heck, I just rooted for THE CELTICS instead of the Lakers. That's how much I hate the Lake Show.

5. I am devastated by the loss of my Sonics. It will be years before I recover. I would never, ever, never wish this feeling on another fan. There are rumors that other teams--namely Memphis-will be bought and moved to Seattle. Going through what I just did, I could never support that relocated team.

6. Just one player note: Just how many point guard projects does one team need?

If you didn't already guess, Henry the Blogfather orchestrated this one.  So be sure to pay your respects.

Feel free to respond to Mr. Alexie in the previous thread (which is getting long) or start up a new discussion here.

Go Blazers.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

As pointed out by Farty MacFartson (come on, man, really?), Dwight Jaynes has resigned his long time position as editor of the Portland Tribune. A man who was at the center of the Oregon sports world for decades, and at the center of a mini-controversy regarding Darius Miles this past week, Mr. Jaynes appears to have made the decision to resign rather abruptly.

Indeed, as recently as Tuesday everything appeared normal -- at least to my outsider eyes.  Certainly, the death of a close friend can change one's life considerably.

Hank Stern of The Willamette Week came through with the big scoop on this.

News of Jaynes' departure came today as a shock, given that he had a column in today's Trib and was on the print paper's masthead today (his name has already been scrubbed from the paper's on-line contact list)

A friend of Jaynes says a clue to Jaynes' abrupt decision to leave may be in that final column, which is about the death Tuesday of The O's Brian Meehan, a contemporary whose death Jaynes describes as something that "kind of smacks you right in the middle of the chest."

...

Jaynes, 60, said this evening that Meehan's death coupled with the recent deaths of two other contemporaries "hit me hard" and led to his decision Thursday to end his time at Robert Pamplin's Trib. He said he faced no pressure to step down from what was - and is - a demanding job.

"I don't want people to blame Steve Clark or Pamplin," Jaynes said . "This was on me ... I didn't really decide to do it until I did it Thursday. It was just my time to go."

The gods can be cruel.  On the same day that Mr. Jaynes, an outspoken opponent of over-the-top theatrics at NBA games, chose to hang it up, the featured story on Oregonlive.com/sports was a video of the Blazers Dancers tryouts. 

A new, different, louder, brighter, bouncier era is here. Even Mr. Jaynes couldn't stop its arrival.  But, in his signature take-it-or-leave-it style, he damn sure tried.

Given the abruptness of his departure, speculation has begun surrounding his resignation. I will not contribute to that speculation until I finally make contact with Mr. Jaynes (hey, DJ, get at me, dog) .

For his part, John Canzano, who as recently as last week had some harsh comments for Mr. Jaynes, came through with class via email.

Dwight is a class act, and a friend. I don't know the circumstances of his departure, but he's ok in my book.

we may have professional disagreements, but I think that's healthy, and I think Dwight would agree.

By virtue of having read his work now for at least 16 of my 24 years, it will be a long time until someone replaces Mr. Jaynes as the definitive voice of Blazers talk in my eyes. Love him or hate him, nobody has a deeper catalogue of hits. 

With that said, I suspect, and hope, that Mr. Jaynes has a few hundred more columns in him.

His last column for PortlandTribune.com, a remembrance of Brian Meehan, begins with the words, "We lost a friend this week." Tonight, I can't help but feel like Oregon sports fans just lost another one.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

If you've read TrueHoop this morning, you saw Henry linked to a recent article in The Stranger By Sherman Alexie, the well-known writer and Sonics fan.  Check out his wiki for some background. 

At the end of his article, entitled "61 Things I Learned During The Sonics Trial," Mr. Alexie writes...

60. I just bought a 10-game package for the Portland Trail Blazers. My two best basketball buddies and I are planning our road trips. We kind of feel like the bastard widower who married the hot twentysomething a few months after his wife died. But it's ball, man. It's pro hoops.

61. And hey, I live just a few minutes from Brandon Roy's childhood home and high school, and I taught the man in college, so I think I can justify rooting for him and his Blazers. And Portland is coached by Mr. Sonic, Nate McMillan, and owned by Paul Allen, and—ah, hell, I'm a hoops junkie, man, and I need my fix.

Let me be the first to publicly welcome Mr. Alexie aboard.  It's not every day that a National Book Award winner hops on our bandwagon.  If he writes about the Blazers even 1% as much as he wrote about the Sonics, we will be truly blessed.

But, here's the problem... he's been a Sonics fan so he's got some catching up to do.

My questions to you are: What must Mr. Alexie know to fully appreciate this team?  What inside information, anecdote, or experience is critical to his understanding of the current Blazers?  What should Mr. Alexie do between now and the beginning of the season to ensure he gets the most out of his Blazers fandom?

Help me build the "List of Blazers Stuff That New Fan Mr. Sherman Alexie Must Absorb Immediately."

I'll kick it off...

-- Mr. Alexie must know that Travis Outlaw's name should not be needlessly bandied about in trade rumors. There are repercussions.

 -- It is critical that Mr. Alexie hone a fully-functional Bayless Face in preparation for the nights we host the Lakers. It must be ready at a moment's notice.

-- Mr. Alexie should sign up for a BlazersEdge commenting account to ensure he gets the most out of his adopted Blazers fandom.  (What else did you expect me to say?)

Send in your suggestions .... starting.... now!  I will do my best to pass this along to Mr. Alexie himself, so keep that in mind.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

I received this note regarding Mr. Meehan's work.  I encourage you to check out the link; the Oregonian staff has hand-selected his best work going back to 1992.

I worked with Brian and I appreciate your sentiments... I queried some of his friends and colleagues and obtained a list of what they consider to be some of his best work. You can find some of those articles at this site:  Of course, Brian is best known for his pre-sports journalism: covering the environment throughout the '90s, writing the mainbar story on the Springfield H.S. shootings, etc.

Michael Russell
Sports News Assistant
The Oregonian

The final piece included at that link, Generosity Scores in Must-Win Game, about a softball game in which one team carried an opposing player around the bases after she was hurt, stands as a fitting legacy.  It emphasizes teamwork, fairplay, and competition.  I would not be surprised to see this piece included in The Best American Sports Writing of 2008.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Long time Oregonian sportswriter Brian Meehan passed away yesterday, due to complications resulting from a heart surgery.  Deepest sympathies to his family. 

Amazingly, Mr. Meehan filed his last story, about the Mariners' recent struggles, just last Tuesday, July 22nd.  Here's a link.

I came across the following tribute to Mr. Meehan from One Dirty Martini this morning.

I was in need of some professional focus, so I offered to treat him to lunch at Portland's Pearl Bakery so I could pick his brain. We grabbed a table by the window, and for three hours, I was walking on air. It was like meeting a celebrity only to realize, with great relief, that they're fabulously down-to-earth.

I told him about my career goals and life plans, and he listened as though a young person had never had such lofty ambitions. In return, he opened up about all sorts of thing strangers don't usually share at a first lunch: the time he spent in New York City right after Sept. 11; his forays into the dating world as a man of a certain age; and his love for his place outside the city, in Scappoose. We covered the Blazers and the Mariners, Beaver football and Beaver baseball, and I think we even ventured into military history before the date was over.

Recently, I wrote that the most important thing a writer can do is inspire other writers.  Reading that post, it is clear Mr. Meehan succeeded in this regard.

To read Mr. Meehan's work going back to March, click here.  I encourage Oregonlive.com to open up his entire archive of articles so that they may be read openly. It would be a fitting tribute to an important figure in Oregon sports journalism. 

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

As you might have already seen, Dwight Jaynes did, as I hinted that he would last night, clap back at John Canzano first thing this morning. 

(Praise where praise is due: that link in his article to Blazeredge was supposed to point to knickfan's fanpost. Much respect to knickfan.)

Quick rewind: In his article today, Jaynes was responding to claims made by Canzano on his radio show earlier this week that Jaynes's earlier story about the potential illegality of statements made by the Blazers concerning Darius Miles's health was a plant from Darius's agent.

To quote Jaynes:

The column I wrote did NOT come from Miles' agent, Jeffrey Wechsler. There are any number of people who knew I had been snooping around about the story way before I attempted to speak to Wechsler - because I called them and asked them if they'd had any luck getting the guy to talk. They hadn't, and I didn't, either. He has no interest in speaking to the press, it seems. 

Given the veracity of Canzano's radio comments, Canzano's large profile here in Portland, and the history between Mr. Miles and Mr. Canzano, I think, for a lot people, Mr. Canzano's stance, even if not backed up by a source, was quite believable.

This afternoon I was lucky enough to have an extended talk with Mr. Wechsler.  Unfortunately, most of it necessarily stays off the record. I can assure you, should he ever like to write a book about his times as an agent, specifically as Darius's agent, publishing houses will be lining up.  My impression, however, is that route is not in his future.

On to the printable news:  Mr. Wechsler flatly denies any contact with Mr. Jaynes prior to the recent story regarding the potential HIPAA violation.  At that time, Mr. Jaynes, as he noted in his article, did seek comment from Mr. Wechsler.  Mr. Wechsler acknowledged briefly speaking with Mr. Jaynes, but described their conversation as, "My only comment was no comment." Indeed, this "no comment" is what Mr. Jaynes printed in his piece.  From the manner in which he presented these details, I have every reason to take Mr. Wechsler at his word.

Unfortunately, despite my hope that Mr. Wechsler would speak on the record regarding Darius Miles' progress, current activities and feelings about his time in Portland, he firmly demanded that all of those discussions remain off the record. 

However, he did confirm a previous report from Ian Thomsen that Darius, after receiving the news that his knee injury was deemed career-ending, left Portland, went to visit his mother, and then went "immediately to Phoenix, where he worked out twice a day, seven days a week" with Robin Pound, a trainer he has known since his early days here in Portland.  Mr. Wechsler also confirmed Mr. Thomsen's report that Darius is currently working out in Chicago.

Other than that, I received "no comments" to the following (paraphrased) questions...

• "Do you think Darius will sign a contract this year?"
• "Which teams are showing the most interest in Darius?"
• "How exactly does he look physically?"
• "What is Darius's side to this whole story?  Why is he so quiet?"

It is that last question that I was most hoping for him to answer on the record. 

Previously, I have stated that talking publicly is only to Darius's benefit, as his silence allows Anti-Darius sentiment to be the only voice. 

Thinking this through, I still believe this to be true-- but only in Portland. 

Outside of Portland, choosing to comment on any extracurricular matters might cause harm to Darius's hopes of securing a new contract.  It is often difficult for Darius supporters and/or sympathizers, here in the Portland fishbowl, including myself, to understand that.  Clearly, today's conversation included, Mr. Miles and Mr. Wechsler have chosen silence as their best approach for securing a new deal in the NBA.  At least, it seems, until a new deal is done (if and when). 

Their spot is a tricky one, no question, and I greatly admire their ability to remain so tight-lipped.  If it were me in Darius's sneakers, I know I would have great difficulty keeping my thoughts to myself

One thing has not changed throughout this ordeal: I am still the VP (and sole remaining board member) of the Darius Miles fan club.  I wish Mr. Miles a productive career, I hope that he continues to be given try-outs by NBA teams and I hope he gets a contract. 

Yes, I realize that his signing a contract would make life more difficult and expensive for Mr. Allen.  However, I think it is fundamentally wrong to begrudge Darius the opportunity to continue his career.

As a postscript, Mr. Jaynes's account and Mr. Wechsler's confirmation of his account were also confirmed by another writer actively involved in this story as it developed. 

Another postscript, I sought comment/clarification from Mr. Canzano regarding Mr. Wechsler's and Mr. Jaynes's denials.  His response, in full:

Love your website.
Love it.
Weschler is part of Darius' problem. He's an enabler. Also, he's bitter, and transparent.
I welcome him on the radio show anytime he'd like to come on. 

So, where does that leave us?  Unfortunately, no closer to the answers that Mr. Jaynes was originally seeking.  For that, we will almost assuredly need to wait until Darius is ready to talk.  Even with all this hot air, we aren't any closer to Darius stepping back on an NBA basketball court either. Only Darius, his knee, and, yes, his agent can make that happen.  On both issues, the ball is firmly in Darius's court, as it has so often been in the past.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)