http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/12/regarding_greg_oden.html He seems to apologize but he doesn't actually take anything back that he said.
I couldn't give a rat's ass about Jason Quick's desire to hang out with our players. It's his job. If he doesn't like it, then Joe Freeman can step in. It's not a tough gig. It's report writing with a bit of travel. He's acting like the Blazer version of Helen Thomas. He thinks he's part of the story.
I can't stand it when a so-called journalist makes himself part of the story he's supposed to be reporting. It's like he's so desperate to see his name in print that he starts writing about himself. Jason Quick is supposed to be the Oregonian beat writer covering the Blazers, not the gossip columnist (we already have one of those). It's very unprofessional for Quick to let his personal feelings about a player affect the way he does his job. And, it's even more unprofessional to go on and on about it like it's the hot topic of the day. BNM
Yeah, that's what happens when the Blazers let the media to close, and considering their our only pro-sports team in the city, its what happens... Hey at least we don't have a picture of Oden in a towel with his dong hangin out, and Monty or something checkin' it out...
I like what Quick wrote. He admits it was a poor choice of words and that he was embarassed. He explained where his comments were coming from, so why he choice to blurt this out, but again said it was wrong. I agree. let's not make Quick the story and see this for what it is. Their is no suggestion that players don't like to be around GO, but with the press, GO is unintersted and gives off a negative energy . . . which is different from the way GO used to be. Thanks for the clarification Quick.
Ease up on the attacks on Jason Quick. He's right...I wouldn't want to hang around with Greg Oden right now either. The media shitstorm around him plus injuries plus probably some seasonal depression, has put him into an obvious funk that simply wouldn't be much fun to be around. He's depressed. I think that's all Quick was trying to say. The Greg Oden we knew isn't here right now. I'm sure he'll return at some point...but he's not there right now. It's like how all of America loves Billy Crystal. But when he 'lost his smile' at the beginning of City Slickers...would he have been much fun to hang around with? I don't think so. He was a mess. But when he 'found his smile' by watching an old man die and then taking that man's place driving those cattle to the slaughterhouse, everything was great. Maybe Greg Oden needs to go to a dude ranch and drive some cattle. Who knows. The point is...everybody needs to ease up on the kid a little bit. I think, if anything, it's an indictment of the fans. MANY, MANY of the fans on boards like this one, who analyze every single thing he does: "Oh, he's a bust," "He's going to be the greatest ever," "He doesn't care about anything," or whatever everytime the kid does anything. Oden is a sensitive kid...he hears this stuff and it grinds on him and it's finally gotten him down. The fact that people are attacking Quick for reporting that is bullshit.
No, I won't ease up one him. And, whether or not he wants to "hang around" Greg Oden should be totally irrelelvant. IT'S HIS JOB!. He's paid to be a professional sports writer and public whining about how he doesn't want to be around one of the players he's paid to cover is most unprofessional. If he can't do his job without resorting to personal attacks on his subjects, he should step aside in favor of someone who can. Give me a break, if the hardest part of Jason Quick's job is interviewing a sulking athlete, he should not be complaining, he should thank his lucky stars that he's been blessed with such an easy job. At the very least, a pouting Oden will give him plenty to write about. Why not ASK Greg why he's so unhappy? Gee, wouldn't a good writer try to actually understand his subject? Rather than do so, Quick goes public with his whine that he doesn't even want to talk to Greg Oden. Wake up man, that's YOUR JOB - to talk to athletes - whether they are happy or sad. Do it and stop whining, or step aside for someone who will. Yes, we all get that. It's not news. And it's not what Quick said. He said he doesn't even want to talk to Greg Oden. He made it personal. Quick's job is to find out information the rest of us don't already know. This would require that he actually speak to his subject - not publicaly whine that he doesn't even want to talk to him right now becuase he's such a downer. I never attacked Quick for reporting that Oden is depressed. I attacked him for refusing to do his job, whining about it in public and then blaming his subject for his own inability to do his job. If all Quick did was report that Oden was depressed, I would not have posted on the subject (it's hardly news). When he goes on the radio and says he doesn't even want to talk to Oden it's very unprofessional and an unprovoked personal attck on the subject he's paid to cover. Now THAT'S bullshit. BNM
