Dwight Jaynes has an idea of why Penn was fired (and why KP might be next)...

Again, we are all speculating but there are businesses who would fire a person for one statement if it were particularly egregious. I once worked with a woman who was infuriated (I disagreed) that her husband had been fired from his job for calling a co-worker "the n word" just once - she thought it was SOOOOOOO unfair. IMO, she, and he, were wrong.

And again, we don't know if it were one time or the proverbial last straw. But it is indeed possible for a first offense to merit a firing. Certainly not unheard of.

 

If this were too be true, Canzano's editorial would be, as usual, way off base. The Blazers would be actually be showing a lot of class by not defending themselves. And just going with the NO Comment angle. Only time will tell.

 

i would need the blazers to at least give me some kind of explanation. maybe not specifics but at least an explanation. if youre firing a popular successful GM then simpy saying "no comment" doesn't cut it. i find it hard to believe that theyd blow up the entire front office over a sexist inappropriate comment that KP didn't even say.

 

My thought at the time was that Penn called Miller an "n word"... but it works exacty the same if there was a disparaging remark that was over the line (maybe after several questionable remarks and behavior before hand that KP was supposed to correct in Penn). I know several very nice people who occasionally say the most ridiculously offensive things. Sometimes, they cross the line, and have to be reigned back by their boss bigtime. But if their boss doesn't do that, they themselves are culpable for their subordinate's actions.

I could see where this might be the situation.

 

Interesting take, seems as likely a reason as any.

 

If this is true, a big "if", then it would appear that the "choir boy image is everything" mindset has taken over the front office as well.

If the team believes KP is bad at his job, then fire him. If they believe he is good at his job, neither his sex life nor the misdeeds of a subordinate are adequate reasons to dump him.

Just as an aside, wasn't the story that Penn was gay? That makes the "sexual harrasment of a female co-worker" story just a bit harder to swallow.

 

Here is the entirety of Jaynes' evidence for the rumor:

"The explanation making the rounds in the NBA"

It already made the rounds on message boards when Penn was fired. The possibility occurred to everyone when we speculated about possible reasons for firing Penn. Other theories were that Penn screwed Allen's girlfriend, sneezed on a Vulcan, etc.

Brainstorming possible theories is not the same as giving evidence that they are true. Jaynes' blog article, and comments thereafter, just wasted a half-hour of my time.

 

If any of this is true then why wasn't Scottie Pippen fired by the Blazers?

 

Who knows what the reasoning is.

If I had to guess, probably has something to do with FA last year and the Penn thing. In both cases I could see KP not backing what the Vulcans were thinking and the Vulcans are probably tired of a guy that has the balls to call them on their shit.

Paul Allen teams seem to always be dysfunctional. We all the they story of the Blazers, and HC Mike Holmgren and GM Tim Ruskell of the Seahawks were hardly on speaking terms IIRC. There always seems to be something wrong in the organization and not necessarily the team/players itself.

 

Unionized employees have rights.

 

No.

Yes.

Oh. Then, no.

 

I'm surprised you lasted that long. Other than smear Tom Penn's character without any substantive evidence, I don't see what Jaynes thought was newsworthy about this rumor, other than getting his name out there.

 

Blazer fans are funny and truly overvalue KP.

 

Not sure what that has to do with this thread.

 

You are right. The threshold for evidence in a dirty accusation should be higher than that required for a normal rumor. Instead it's lower. Jaynes needs a conscience.

 

Well then you need to read the topic.

 

I did read the topic. I don't see what it had to do with Portland fans overvaluing Pritchard.

 

Incidentally, harassament, or over the top sexual remarks, are not motivated by desire. I have, unfortunately, known gay men (if Penn was gay, I have absolutely no idea) who were viciously sexist.

Sex and abuse are NOT the same thing.

Again, don't know what Penn may have said or done, just want to make it clear that being gay does not make a man incapable of being a pig. I wish it were otherwise, believe me.

 

The followup: http://www.dwightjaynes.com/tom-penn-responds-to-my-blog-post