Thomas Robinson: It's not personal, he's just playing basketball.

So are your articles just going to be viewed by the people on S2, or are they published on a different site?

 

The editor in me wants to point out that it's "me", not "I".

Nice write-up, though!

 

Nice work, Nate! You're a chinaman??

 

What was ToB's idea?

 

That is a good idea for a vid. Saturday night live style, of course.

 

Can you do Christopher Walken's "The Continental"?

 

Only yahoo worthy writing of the thread. Loved it. Much better than the exaggeration in the real article. The put back dunk was okay and the pass to Lopez was more of a quick drop..not real zippy. Can't bitch too much when he only has canned quotes to go on so whatever.

 

It was basically suggesting that if they are going to do internet pieces on the Blazers, why not take it to the next step and suggest making it an interactive internet interview where we get to pick the player they focus on and Sly and Nate get press passes and a locker room interview of the player with questions from the forum. Once a month special feature. Then write up an article with a focus on that player.

I deleted it because after reading it I thought people would read it as me getting all serious and carried away with the whole idea when really I was trying to sell a way (bit tongue in cheek) for the two to get locker room clearance for an interview after a game.

 

This is definitely cool. Did they approach you first, or did you guys bring up the idea?

If I could vote for something that you guys could do, it would be more of capturing the fan experience before/during/after the game. Writing about stuff we don't get to see, like guys' reactions on the bench or during timeouts, things that go on in the stands, etc. The media row reports on BEdge sorta do that passingly, but there's a lot more focus on getting quotes from players/coaches than about what goes on in the building. Given your lack of access to the locker room or practices, writing profiles on players might be pretty tough.

Just my $0.02

 

Personally I wouldn't read stories about "The funny guy I met in section 321!" Unless it was a drunk Mike Rice who snuck back into the building after getting kicked out.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

I disagree. The people who post on this board are some of the most intelligent, well-read, and well-written fans of the team. I sometimes forget that fact, until I listen to the radio and hear what some of the other fans think. Go listen to Portland sports radio for a while and then tell me that the people who post here are a "digital version of the 300-level" fan. A lot of the fans are idiots. They don't follow basketball nearly as close as the people who post here do. I would like to see what some of the guys on here can do with legitimate access to the team and an opportunity to show their chops. Some of the guys on here, such as BNM and BrianfromWa, have already written posts that I would put above most professional sports writers.

I think we're better than a bunch of fans who get to be a little bit closer to the NBA action, and I think we can prove it.

 

I disagree with your disagreement.

Seriously though, I think Platy is on to something. Nate, I know you've been paid to write stuff in the past (correct?), but I'm hoping SPD doesn't try to become too serious and carries the ripcitytwo thing right into press row or any other access they give him. There's no way I could take him as a serious writer anyway.

 

Absolutely, but right now there seems to be a dispute over what those "contributions" are going to be. The prevailing thought from some people seem to be that we should just write about what we see and who we talk to. That's fine, but I think many of the posters on this board are more than capable of writing articles that are on par with the Gollivers and the Freemans. Ben Golliver was just like you guys at one point. Hell, I was just a fan for a long time too. The only difference between a "fan" and a writer is the willingness of someone to publish your work.

At this point, there's no guarantee that any more credentials will be provided to our site, but I would love to see what some of you guys can do with the same access as Ben Golliver and Mike Tokito and Joe Freeman.