That's the beauty of it. You don't know whether you're going to get crap or intelligent conversation. Stephen A. Smith has a job for a reason (though it's not a good enough reason for me!)
I guess I'm in the minority I would prefer intelligent radio. Give me facts, give me behind the scenes stuff but don't try to drum up listeners by spewing crap our of your mouth.
most blazer fans and tv personalities have no patience and are only interested in THE NOW. not surprised. they need to chill out and just enjoy basketball.
Not to totally defend Gavin, but I think he has a point with how Rice and Wheels are singing Greg's praises in practice. Practice? We talking about practice? I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Practice?
Agreed. What Gavin did this morning, completely lost me as a listener. What Canzano, did yesterday, the same. I'm not going to give them my loyal ear. I'll listen to NPR, saved Podcasts, audiobooks, or music instead. Screw them. They had an opportunity to do something different.
During my 10 minute morning commute, from 7:45 - 7:55am, I have a choice of listening to Gavin and CIP or Colin Cowherd. I generally choose the morning sports page, becaue they have their around the NBA bit slotted at 7:45am. I'm not much of a football fan. Basketball is my life. So, my natural instinct is to catch around the NBA on the MSP. However, I can't stand CIP. And now, his Jim Rome wannabe schtick has infected Gavin Dawson. They are rude to callers, rude to their listerners and now rude to their guests. Anybody who disagrees with them in any way is dismissed as an idiot and hung-up on. So much for lively discussion. They are rude, immature, arrogant and clueless. The worst part is, they are totally clueless on the subjects they rant on and on about. Neither one has a basketball background, but suddenly because they have their own show, they think they know more about basketball than guys like Kevin Pritchard and Brian Wheeler who make their living based on their knowledge of the sport. I love listening to Wheels and Kenny. Wheels is great and always a class act. I know he works for the team and is rarely critical of the team, but he does provide an insiders perspective that I appreciate. He travels with the team and has access to the players, coaches and GM - unlike the MSP boys who just make stuff up as they go. Kenny Vance may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm glad he's back on local radio. He'll never make a good lead, but is always an adequate side-kick. He was good when he used to sit in with Mychal and Kermit and was good as Colin's second banana. He's also a good fit next to Wheels. And, he actually knows a little something about the NBA. Back when he covered the Blazers for the Columbian, he was the NBA Insider on the Michael and Kermit version of The Big Show. He's followed the league for decades and while many of the players he used to have access to have long since retired, at least he has an NBA background. We have more media coverage of the Blazers now than ever. Unfortunately, many of those covering them (Gavin and CIP, Ropp and Big Suke) know NOTHING about basketball. Even the local sports writers (Quick and Canzano) regularly display a complete lack of knowledge about the NBA salary cap, collective bargaining agreement, etc. I just don't understand why, in this city with one prefessional sports team, the local radio stations can't seem to get more on-air "talent" with a general background in that sport. Most other cities have former players calling the games, doing pre and post game shows, hosting regular radio call-in shows, etc. Heck, even here in Portland we used to have Mychal and Kermit. Now, we have Antonio Harvey, verbally tripping over himself, doing color commentary during the game broadcasts and that's it. It strikes me as highly ironic that the most vocal local media mouthpieces want to hold the Blazers to a higher standard when the quality of their own work is decidedly sub-standard. BNM
I agree 100%. Gavin has been on this Oden tirade for a couple days now and is now just seeping in pundintry. He as basing on Oden from being out of shape (because I guess he's had the past season to get in shape?) to not having a killer instinct because people are suggesting he be brought along slowly. I have really gotten tired of listening to Gavin and the Chad guy but still gave them a chance. Yesterday was kind of the last straw for me, especially considering how rude he was to Wheels. I'll be listening to Cowherd in the mornings now and Wheels on my drive home. I also agree they really had a chance to do something different from the 1080 guys, but it's the same crap except in the mornings instead of the afternoon. On a side note, anyone know who we can email to voice our displeasure?
Dude. That thread is a week old. I'm not going to merge a thread about a conversation on the radio this morning with a week-old thread about the radio show generally. Ed O.
Good point. The Oregonian writers were saying the same thing. Having said that, it' s really a moot point. I don't think by hearing that we got overly inflated on the guy that we lost perspective. Gavin may have, and maybe he was burned by it. So he was bitter and took it out on Wheels. The bottom line is too be realistic about things. It is a long season and even longer careers. Just enjoy what we have. But it is difficult with the extremes that the media always goes to. I think it pushes the fans to do the same.
ESPN commentators (including online writers) said the same thing. And I don't think that it's unreasonable to hype Oden. He's a once-in-a-generation player and has been considered that for about a half-decade. It's not Blazers fans who have suddenly put expectations on him. Ed O.
Well the media can do whatever they want. The team though, could temper expectations, by not getting too excited about Oden dominating Frye and Diogu in practice.
Yeah, I agree that Chad's a bad influence on Gavin. I think Gavin knows his stuff though, he's been an NBA guy, but being around Chad, he has to act like and give off his "people's champ" personality. It's stupid. And if you listen to the podcast of yesterday's show right after the Miami game, Gavin actually praises Greg a bit. He said he actually saw good stuff when Greg first got in, and when he wasn't winded, he was grabbing boards and got his dunk. And Chad even agreed, saying it's all a matter of Greg getting in game shape. Then today, their opinions completely changed and Gavin said he saw no signs whatsoever of Greg becoming good or being a factor this season. They're just wavering and trying to draw some attention to them, while changing opinions day to day. And when callers try to point that out, they hang up on them. It's ridiculous.
Thank you kind sir for the dead-on accurate executive summary of my long winded diatribe. You nailed it. BNM
But they should be excited. We all should be excited. Greg Odens don't dominate the earth like ants! There's a reason for all the excitement. He's going to be a special player. It's just going to take time. I, for one, can't wait to see how he develops.
