Is you. The consumer. Stop blaming the banks and financial derivatives companies. You did this to yourself... and it started back in the 1980's. Recently I had an exchange with a poster on the Oregon live comment section where I said that any "stimulus" finds that came my way were now nothing more than more money for me to put into savings. I was told I was destroying America.
This may be true to someone who has no known any other way. After all, there are 26 year old men and women who never experienced stagflation in the late 70's-early 80's. They don't know anything but an America where credit cards are given to high school kids to finance their "cool" style, concert tickets, cd's, stereos, tv's, dates and whatever else they want. They have seen mom and dad splurge for anything and everything they could possibly want. Buying houses bigger than they need, cars and trucks bigger than they need and every new gadget under the sun as soon as it is available. There are hundreds of thousands of kids with MULTIPLE video game systems.
Where did they get all of these consumer goods? Certainly not with their allowances or lawn mowing money. No, they bought everything on credit. Credit is all they know. Check out the savings rate at your bank and you might get why people went away from saving their money for these products; it doesn't pay. My bank is offering a whopping 0.2% APY. Why the heck would I ever put my money there?
Instead, we were encouraged to put our wealth into variable assets like mutual funds and 401k's because there was better wealth potential there. But why, oh why, did the government and banks care where we put our savings? Well, simply put, bankers and financiers were not getting wealthy by money sitting in savings accounts. Goods and services were moving slowly. Reagan wanted to change that... so he used supply side economics to attempt to stabilize inflation and stagnation. It worked in most peoples eyes... bot as swiftly as some would have liked, but after about 7 years, the economy started gaining steam. All seemed fairly good... until 2001.
After a short recession, America started to pick up steam. The Internet bust didn't seem to stop the economic growth. But there was a catch... the economy was growing with a BIG consequence: everything that was being produced was being purchased with credit. Bigger houses; bigger cars came with bigger price tags. Our inflation adjusted income had not risen since the late 60's, yet more of our overall income was going towards debt bearing products like mortgage, autos and electronics. No longer was America producing tangible goods people could afford, they were producing financial products afforded only through credit.
Last fall, we had a National Margin Call. that's right... the Nation received a margin call... and we couldn't cover our debts.
My personal Solution? Simple. Stop. When I was younger (I am 43 now), we didn't go buy a new car every three years. We drove our car until it couldn't go another inch and saved for a new one. We were a nation that understood a very important concept... most of what we buy is utilitarian in nature. Cars are a mode of transportation. We need them to get to work and get us to our other important appointments. It doesn't have to be pretty to get the job done.
When we buy a $20,000 car and pay a mere 6% interest, over a 5 year loan you pay $3200 in interest. So the REAL cost of that car is $23,200, but it was NEVER WORTH THAT amount. Instead, save that $390/month for the 5 years and you will have 23,400 PLUS INTEREST to buy an even better car... that you will own outright... it only takes a small sacrifice for 5 years of driving a clunker to get to that 1st new car. Small price to pay if you ask me.
Next, your mortgage. So many young people get out there and want all the extravagances right out of school. Stop. You're young, single and childless, why waste your money... start saving now. Be frugal, stop eating out 3 times a day, budget tight and save everything you can. When it is time to buy your first house... buy small.
At the beginning of this year, we had ZERO savings... we had fallen prey to the same thing America as a whole had fallen for... spend, use all available credit, have nice everything. But we had lost our house last year due to medical bills that just didn't seem to stop coming. And I just decided it had to stop. At the end of this year, we will pay off my wife's car (mine has been paid off for quite some time). In 10 years, we will have enough in savings to buy a 2 bedroom condo and still have well over $200,000 in the bank. We are not wealthy... we are lower middle class income range. But we are off the spending cycle and on a SAVINGS cycle.
This is why I was told I was destroying America, but I disagree. I am saving America. America was destroyed by people spending beyond their means. It is time we buy what we can afford and start producing something in our country other than "financial derivatives" and "speculative earnings." This will take time. The Economist Magazine has an EXCEPTIONAL article which backs up my belief that the way out of this crisis is not by spending our way out; but by saving our way out.
We need to take control of our own futures and stop speculating about the future. Too many people want to get rich quick or "buy" like a rich person living in fancy houses, driving fancy cars that they cannot afford. Stop paying the "get rich quick" guy with interest bearing debt. Start paying yourself. Save. Only buy what you need and what you have the CASH for... the rest of the world will fight you because they want you to go back to buying everything on credit... it's why they produce goods...
American Consumers Struggle With Their Debts-The Economist
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Automotive Crisis Avoidable?
Over the past five years we have heard it all from the three major American automotive manufacturers. We have heard of record profits due mainly to strong SUV sales. And now we are hearing how the economy has shifted their power and they are now on the verge of bankruptcy.
You will hear many pundits debate this and talk about different ratios and how the CEO's mismanaged the company. This is all true, but the solutions they seemingly offer do not help our understanding of what is going on inside the car companies. Not enough of the real world is savvy enough to understand contract law as it relates to unions. Very few of the real world can understand the complex financial structure in which union leaders have their retirement funding.
What we can understand at our level is lack of focus. We all have to deal with this every day. We have to plan for the future. We learned this lesson in the 1980's. If you spend everything you earn, at some point, your earnings will go down and you will be left with nothing but "stuff." After all, how much are those expensive electronics really worth?
This is the same problem that happened at the automotive manufacturers. They were so busy living in the moment, that they forgot to plan for tomorrow. Well, tomorrow arrived last year with sky0high gas prices and no relief in sight. Due to an economic melt down, we did receive some much needed gas price relief, but what will the automotive companies do now? Will they go back to business as usual using the bail out money to "tide them over" until the economy picks up again, or will they finally see the light and change the way they do business.
Every business goes through a cycle and if you rest on your laurels, eventually, you will die as a company. If you want to keep going, you have to innovate; stay ahead of the competition. It is time for American ingenuity to take over and for the "Big Three" to reassert themselves.
How, though, are they supposed to do this. Well, I think they have to look at what the future holds economically. They need to change the way they do business from top to bottom.
First of all, I think that they need to come up with a new way to run the company from the top. There is no reason that the CEO of any company should make $500 million in bonuses, regardless of his success. Unless a CEO is a majority stockholder (greater than 50% of the company's stock), he should be paid a salary plus bonuses based STRICTLY on profits, not sales. These bonuses should have a cap and anything above said cap be paid in stock options.
Second, innovation NEEDS to be "job #1." Without innovation, the company WILL fail. It is not "innovative" to find new concepts for an SUV... or to put more gadgets in an existing SUV. It is lazy and it is not working. What is innovative, changing the way America sees transportation and changing the way they BUY cars.
We are too advanced with information too readily available to be stuck buying cars like the old days. Look, I worked at dealerships, there was a reason for them in the past, the reason for them needs to change. Think about it, why are there hundreds of vehicles on a new car lot? So they can sell them quickly. But this leaves the dealer tied up into the millions and tens of millions, so rather than truly assessing his customers needs, he sells what he has.
Why not assess a customers needs and sell him something that fits those needs. Use innovation to create the ability to do so... as an example, virtual reality can really get a customer to understand a new vehicle, this can be set up fairly easily. Obviously, customers want to know how a car drives, but why have a hundred of the same car on the lot? I say you have one or two of each model on the lot, and let a "distributor" (who cannot sell to anyone but dealers), hold higher inventory selling something more specific to each dealer. If a customer goes in on Saturday and wants a red Ford Ranger, after he has agreed to the purchase, the dealer orders the correct vehicle from the distributor and within 48 hours, the customer still has their car.
From the Corporate perspective, we need to find a way to get cars that are more competitive with Toyota's and Honda's. Stop worrying about bigger and make more competitive cars. Just the other day, I had a customer come in to my shop and say he was going to be glad to get out of the rental. He was in a Malibu and it just didn't compare, in his mind, to his Camry. The difference? It did not have the same ride and feel. It still had all the bells and whistles, but not the same ride.
Also, I believe a dealer should not be limited to selling a specific make, he should be able to order ANY new car from his distributor and sell that car... then a dealer's success will no longer be dependent on the successful innovation of a specific company, but on his ability to service his customers.
These are but a few of the ways to make our car companies better, we need to think of even more.
The most important thing, in my opinion, though, is to rid themselves of the overbearing union which benefits very few at the expense of very many.
You will hear many pundits debate this and talk about different ratios and how the CEO's mismanaged the company. This is all true, but the solutions they seemingly offer do not help our understanding of what is going on inside the car companies. Not enough of the real world is savvy enough to understand contract law as it relates to unions. Very few of the real world can understand the complex financial structure in which union leaders have their retirement funding.
What we can understand at our level is lack of focus. We all have to deal with this every day. We have to plan for the future. We learned this lesson in the 1980's. If you spend everything you earn, at some point, your earnings will go down and you will be left with nothing but "stuff." After all, how much are those expensive electronics really worth?
This is the same problem that happened at the automotive manufacturers. They were so busy living in the moment, that they forgot to plan for tomorrow. Well, tomorrow arrived last year with sky0high gas prices and no relief in sight. Due to an economic melt down, we did receive some much needed gas price relief, but what will the automotive companies do now? Will they go back to business as usual using the bail out money to "tide them over" until the economy picks up again, or will they finally see the light and change the way they do business.
Every business goes through a cycle and if you rest on your laurels, eventually, you will die as a company. If you want to keep going, you have to innovate; stay ahead of the competition. It is time for American ingenuity to take over and for the "Big Three" to reassert themselves.
How, though, are they supposed to do this. Well, I think they have to look at what the future holds economically. They need to change the way they do business from top to bottom.
First of all, I think that they need to come up with a new way to run the company from the top. There is no reason that the CEO of any company should make $500 million in bonuses, regardless of his success. Unless a CEO is a majority stockholder (greater than 50% of the company's stock), he should be paid a salary plus bonuses based STRICTLY on profits, not sales. These bonuses should have a cap and anything above said cap be paid in stock options.
Second, innovation NEEDS to be "job #1." Without innovation, the company WILL fail. It is not "innovative" to find new concepts for an SUV... or to put more gadgets in an existing SUV. It is lazy and it is not working. What is innovative, changing the way America sees transportation and changing the way they BUY cars.
We are too advanced with information too readily available to be stuck buying cars like the old days. Look, I worked at dealerships, there was a reason for them in the past, the reason for them needs to change. Think about it, why are there hundreds of vehicles on a new car lot? So they can sell them quickly. But this leaves the dealer tied up into the millions and tens of millions, so rather than truly assessing his customers needs, he sells what he has.
Why not assess a customers needs and sell him something that fits those needs. Use innovation to create the ability to do so... as an example, virtual reality can really get a customer to understand a new vehicle, this can be set up fairly easily. Obviously, customers want to know how a car drives, but why have a hundred of the same car on the lot? I say you have one or two of each model on the lot, and let a "distributor" (who cannot sell to anyone but dealers), hold higher inventory selling something more specific to each dealer. If a customer goes in on Saturday and wants a red Ford Ranger, after he has agreed to the purchase, the dealer orders the correct vehicle from the distributor and within 48 hours, the customer still has their car.
From the Corporate perspective, we need to find a way to get cars that are more competitive with Toyota's and Honda's. Stop worrying about bigger and make more competitive cars. Just the other day, I had a customer come in to my shop and say he was going to be glad to get out of the rental. He was in a Malibu and it just didn't compare, in his mind, to his Camry. The difference? It did not have the same ride and feel. It still had all the bells and whistles, but not the same ride.
Also, I believe a dealer should not be limited to selling a specific make, he should be able to order ANY new car from his distributor and sell that car... then a dealer's success will no longer be dependent on the successful innovation of a specific company, but on his ability to service his customers.
These are but a few of the ways to make our car companies better, we need to think of even more.
The most important thing, in my opinion, though, is to rid themselves of the overbearing union which benefits very few at the expense of very many.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Change of Pace
Well, this blog started as an ode to my extreme distaste for John Canzano... I will ALWAYS speak my mind regarding his inaccurate columns and ridiculous commentary when needed. However, I have decided that I want to also comment about many things other than a moron who has no place in journalism.
So, tonight, I stick with sports. Utah may have made the best case yet that the BCS system is still broken. In 2004 the team went undefeated in the regular season and became the first "BCS Buster." Most sports fans do not need this history lesson, but it is relevant to the discussion.
While the team got into the BCS, they were set up with a no win situation. If they lost, BCS proponents would be able to say that they did not belong... but, because they were playing a Pitt team that was nowhere near the caliber of the best teams in the country, winning would only be viewed with "well, Pitt wasn't that good." This is exactly what happened.
This year, in their infinite wisdom, the BCS tried to set up Utah again... pitting them against Alabama ina virtual home game for the Crimson Tide, everyone outside of Utah expected the rout. Everyone wanted to, once and for all, show the world that the non-BCS schools just cannot hang with the "real" big-boys.
Then Utah went out and dominated Alabama. The BCS cannot hide it's warts any longer. While I am certainly not going to definitively state that Utah is the best team in the country, they deserve a shot at the NC. It is time for a modified playoff system.
I know what most of the complaints are, but mine is modified to an 8 team playoff where winning your conference is more important than scoring lots of "style" points.
There are 6 BCS conferences, conference champs get an automatic bid tot he playoffs. The 7th bid goes to the highest rated non-BCS conference champion (this year that would be Utah). The other 4 conference champions (this year, Sun Belt, Conf-USA, Mt. West and Mid American) play each other in a 2 game "play-in" for the final BCS spot.
In order to keep the lower tier bowls involved (and likely create more interest) these lower tier bowls are used for these play-in games. As an example, this year, the Motor City Bowl could have hosted the MAC Champ v. The Sun Belt Champ on Dec 13th (Buffalo v Troy) while the Poinsettia Bowl could have hosted the Mt. West v C-USA (Boise State v. E. Carolina) The winners face each other at a "home" site to be determined by the BCS (highest rated of these two winners team plays a home play-in game).
This gets us our 8 teams. Each of the traditional New Year's Day Bowl games hosts their traditional match-ups where possible... so this year that would mean
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma v At large
Rose: USC V. Penn State
Sugar Bowl: Florida v At Large
Orange Bowl: Va Tech v Cincinnati
The winners of these would meet the following Saturday with a HOME team... the BCS #'s would dictate who gets the home games. These would be the national semifinals. Finally, the following week would be the National Championship game at a rotating site... but not necessarily tied to the four main ones... it could even be tied to the Super Bowl site.
Now, this solves nearly every problem mentioned by those who claim that the system we have is fine. First, there can be no arguments of who deserved it more. In order to get in you MUST win your conference... if you don't, you have no reason to complain.
Second, this does NOT extend the season by much more than it already is... in my system, the National Semi-Finals would be on Saturday, January 10 and the NC game would be January 17th. This years game is on the 8th... so it would only add 9 days...
Third, the traditional bowls would STILL get theirs... AND they would be able to get back to more traditional match-ups ALL ON NEW YEAR'S DAY.
Fourth, the National Semifinals on campus... talk about your SERIOUS MONEY... those who think that the current system generates more money... have no clue how much money would be generated by on campus semifinals.
Fifth, the lower tier bowls would still get very attractive match-ups... think about it, in my scenario, look whose still out there for bowl games, only the likes of Texas, Ohio State and Alabama.... not bad for the second tier bowls to get those teams!
Sixth, this would IMPROVE early season Out Of Conference (OOC) games. Why? Well, if you know that losing to a quality team will not knock you out of the National Championship race, wouldn't you be more willing to schedule the tougher teams? After all, playing tougher teams early will get you more prepared for your conference schedule... thereby ENABLING you to have a better shot at a national title.
Seventh, Notre Dame haters, this means that, if Notre Dame wants access, they HAVE to join a conference... no more independents! (I am sure whichever conference they joined would allow them to maintain their own TV contract)
Are there other ideas? Sure, but most of them call for nearly scrapping the entire Bowl system, I know that is not going to happen... so why ask for something you KNOW you cannot get? Let's try to push something that has a chance... in order to get what we the fans want (a playoff), we MUST recognize that we have to keep those things in tact that the current system holds dear to it's heart, the Bowls and the BCS.
Finally, the ONLY way to take debate of who "deserves" to be in a playoff, you must make the entrants contingent upon being conference champions... Do I think Troy is a "better" team than Alabama? Nope. But Troy won their conference and Alabama did not.
Win your conference and you're in. Lose and go to a lower tier bowl... I also think, by the way, that this would RAISE the stature of some of those lower tier bowls.
Now, let's see if somehow this little blog can get discovered and that the powers in college football see the light. Otherwise, we might just as well go back to the pre-BCS system and just let people "vote" for a National Champ. Until then, the national championship will still likely be decided by who scores the most style points to get to the game (that's you Oklahoma).
So, tonight, I stick with sports. Utah may have made the best case yet that the BCS system is still broken. In 2004 the team went undefeated in the regular season and became the first "BCS Buster." Most sports fans do not need this history lesson, but it is relevant to the discussion.
While the team got into the BCS, they were set up with a no win situation. If they lost, BCS proponents would be able to say that they did not belong... but, because they were playing a Pitt team that was nowhere near the caliber of the best teams in the country, winning would only be viewed with "well, Pitt wasn't that good." This is exactly what happened.
This year, in their infinite wisdom, the BCS tried to set up Utah again... pitting them against Alabama ina virtual home game for the Crimson Tide, everyone outside of Utah expected the rout. Everyone wanted to, once and for all, show the world that the non-BCS schools just cannot hang with the "real" big-boys.
Then Utah went out and dominated Alabama. The BCS cannot hide it's warts any longer. While I am certainly not going to definitively state that Utah is the best team in the country, they deserve a shot at the NC. It is time for a modified playoff system.
I know what most of the complaints are, but mine is modified to an 8 team playoff where winning your conference is more important than scoring lots of "style" points.
There are 6 BCS conferences, conference champs get an automatic bid tot he playoffs. The 7th bid goes to the highest rated non-BCS conference champion (this year that would be Utah). The other 4 conference champions (this year, Sun Belt, Conf-USA, Mt. West and Mid American) play each other in a 2 game "play-in" for the final BCS spot.
In order to keep the lower tier bowls involved (and likely create more interest) these lower tier bowls are used for these play-in games. As an example, this year, the Motor City Bowl could have hosted the MAC Champ v. The Sun Belt Champ on Dec 13th (Buffalo v Troy) while the Poinsettia Bowl could have hosted the Mt. West v C-USA (Boise State v. E. Carolina) The winners face each other at a "home" site to be determined by the BCS (highest rated of these two winners team plays a home play-in game).
This gets us our 8 teams. Each of the traditional New Year's Day Bowl games hosts their traditional match-ups where possible... so this year that would mean
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma v At large
Rose: USC V. Penn State
Sugar Bowl: Florida v At Large
Orange Bowl: Va Tech v Cincinnati
The winners of these would meet the following Saturday with a HOME team... the BCS #'s would dictate who gets the home games. These would be the national semifinals. Finally, the following week would be the National Championship game at a rotating site... but not necessarily tied to the four main ones... it could even be tied to the Super Bowl site.
Now, this solves nearly every problem mentioned by those who claim that the system we have is fine. First, there can be no arguments of who deserved it more. In order to get in you MUST win your conference... if you don't, you have no reason to complain.
Second, this does NOT extend the season by much more than it already is... in my system, the National Semi-Finals would be on Saturday, January 10 and the NC game would be January 17th. This years game is on the 8th... so it would only add 9 days...
Third, the traditional bowls would STILL get theirs... AND they would be able to get back to more traditional match-ups ALL ON NEW YEAR'S DAY.
Fourth, the National Semifinals on campus... talk about your SERIOUS MONEY... those who think that the current system generates more money... have no clue how much money would be generated by on campus semifinals.
Fifth, the lower tier bowls would still get very attractive match-ups... think about it, in my scenario, look whose still out there for bowl games, only the likes of Texas, Ohio State and Alabama.... not bad for the second tier bowls to get those teams!
Sixth, this would IMPROVE early season Out Of Conference (OOC) games. Why? Well, if you know that losing to a quality team will not knock you out of the National Championship race, wouldn't you be more willing to schedule the tougher teams? After all, playing tougher teams early will get you more prepared for your conference schedule... thereby ENABLING you to have a better shot at a national title.
Seventh, Notre Dame haters, this means that, if Notre Dame wants access, they HAVE to join a conference... no more independents! (I am sure whichever conference they joined would allow them to maintain their own TV contract)
Are there other ideas? Sure, but most of them call for nearly scrapping the entire Bowl system, I know that is not going to happen... so why ask for something you KNOW you cannot get? Let's try to push something that has a chance... in order to get what we the fans want (a playoff), we MUST recognize that we have to keep those things in tact that the current system holds dear to it's heart, the Bowls and the BCS.
Finally, the ONLY way to take debate of who "deserves" to be in a playoff, you must make the entrants contingent upon being conference champions... Do I think Troy is a "better" team than Alabama? Nope. But Troy won their conference and Alabama did not.
Win your conference and you're in. Lose and go to a lower tier bowl... I also think, by the way, that this would RAISE the stature of some of those lower tier bowls.
Now, let's see if somehow this little blog can get discovered and that the powers in college football see the light. Otherwise, we might just as well go back to the pre-BCS system and just let people "vote" for a National Champ. Until then, the national championship will still likely be decided by who scores the most style points to get to the game (that's you Oklahoma).
Brand Canzano connected?
Since leaving the University of Oregon, Myles Brand has been on a mission... a mission to reform college athletics. Unfortunately, he appears to have the same disdain for athletes and coaches that John Canzano does.
We know that they were at Indiana at the same time and that they both share a dislike for any coach or athlete who has more power than they think is right. Is it any coincidence that the same guy who happened upon Darius Miles in a strip club was also around during the famous female student getting yelled at incident of Bobby Knight's undoing?
Of course not, this is how yellow journalists work... they pick a target then set him up in a situation that will incriminate them. Why? So they can "report" the "incident" and make a name/buck for themselves. This is the kind of "journalist" (term used VERY loosely) Canzano is... a low life scumbag who cannot help but pick on those who he deems unworthy of praise.
He does this knowing that he will be able to pick the verbal fight, then, if the coach doesn't respond, Canzano can write that he was correct all along... if the coach does respond, Canzano can say write additional columns saying the response was poorly timed; incorrect, andy number of things.
Because coaches, you see, have better things to do with their time than sit down and respond to every ridiculous comment that an IDIOT like Canzano puts in the paper...
The funny part is, the little plot of Brand and Canzano to rid the world of coaches and athletes appears to not be working.... oh well, maybe John Boy can take Brand to that strip club where he "accidentally" saw Darius Miles and buy him a beer... but if you see them, make sure to let me know so I can write up how they have lost their dedication to their profession because they spent a little free time somewhere other than where they "should" have.
BTW, it shouldbe fun to note that the Weasel pile of crap known as the Bald Faced Moronic Hypocrite actually let a post go through without changes... wonder if dumbass is reading my blog? (I did, after all, send him a link!)
We know that they were at Indiana at the same time and that they both share a dislike for any coach or athlete who has more power than they think is right. Is it any coincidence that the same guy who happened upon Darius Miles in a strip club was also around during the famous female student getting yelled at incident of Bobby Knight's undoing?
Of course not, this is how yellow journalists work... they pick a target then set him up in a situation that will incriminate them. Why? So they can "report" the "incident" and make a name/buck for themselves. This is the kind of "journalist" (term used VERY loosely) Canzano is... a low life scumbag who cannot help but pick on those who he deems unworthy of praise.
He does this knowing that he will be able to pick the verbal fight, then, if the coach doesn't respond, Canzano can write that he was correct all along... if the coach does respond, Canzano can say write additional columns saying the response was poorly timed; incorrect, andy number of things.
Because coaches, you see, have better things to do with their time than sit down and respond to every ridiculous comment that an IDIOT like Canzano puts in the paper...
The funny part is, the little plot of Brand and Canzano to rid the world of coaches and athletes appears to not be working.... oh well, maybe John Boy can take Brand to that strip club where he "accidentally" saw Darius Miles and buy him a beer... but if you see them, make sure to let me know so I can write up how they have lost their dedication to their profession because they spent a little free time somewhere other than where they "should" have.
BTW, it shouldbe fun to note that the Weasel pile of crap known as the Bald Faced Moronic Hypocrite actually let a post go through without changes... wonder if dumbass is reading my blog? (I did, after all, send him a link!)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Paranoia? Or just plain insecure?
Whatever it is, John Canzano certainly displays it on a regular basis. I have left no disguise on my disdain for Canzano's writing. He shows an incredible lack of journalistic integrity and has used his position as a means at exacting personal revenge on anything and everything related to the University of Oregon; but especially Mike Bellotti.
Recently, this fool wrote himself into a corner thinking he would be able to once again bash Bellotti. He made an assumption, however; a wrong assumption. You see, he wrote a column recently calling the 2008 Holiday Bowl a "must win" game. He did this on his own personal belief that the Ducks would lose and he would be able to ride high on his pulpit and "prove" he was right; that Bellotti could no longer win those "important" games.
The problem is, his assumption turned out to be wrong. The Ducks won and for the first time in a long time, he had to eat his own crow. This was fun for me to read, because I could see the pangs of frustration between the lines... this must have HURT Canzano's pride beyond belief... and that brought me great joy.
While reading through his blog posts this morning, I noticed some people referring to his writing skills... I kindly pointed out THE TRUTH about his history... I merely pointed out that he hasn't done too badly for an Oregon kid who had to go to Cal State Chico to play baseball. I merely pointed out that he was not even a journalism major, hence accounting for his lack of journalistic integrity. Rather than let a post where I merely stated the truth to go through, he could have simply chosen not to print the post. That would be understandable. Instead, he chose to COMPLETELY reword my post to read: (Interesting since his show is called "The Bald Faced Truth")
Now, anyone who knows me or has read this blog would know that I would never post such drivel about such a ridiculous excuse for a journalist as I have ever seen. Yet, there was the Clown named Canzano changing the words to suit his own ego.
That is wehen it occurred to me... Canzano has been on this bender against Bellotti for quite some time... but why? BAM, it hit me... Canzano cannot STAND the attention he thinks he deserves going to someone he thinks is beneath him... Canzano feels as if his profession is somehow, more noble and worthy of praise than that of a football coach. Especially a coach who wields as much power as does Mike Bellotti.
This is the epiphany for me, Canzano writes the way he does because his ego has been bruised. He has ALWAYS felt he deserved more glory than he received. His father, you see, was a pretty good baseball player... played up to AAA level in the minors... but sadly, young John never quite measured up to pops. He was never the best player... not in the state of Oregon, not in his league and not at his high school. He couldn't even get the local schools to give him a sniff... so he wound up at Cal State Chico.
All that time, John Boy fancied himself better than those getting more recognition... and his anger at the truth boiled within. Even in college, he did not study journalism. He says he wanted to be a writer, yet he never studied the art... wonder why? Maybe, just maybe he was looking for a way to "get back" at all those people who he felt had wronged him. He just did not know how, until he figured out that the written word carries a lot of power to get back at those who have done him wrong. Not being a trained journalist, he was never in position to work in any other capacity than a columnist.
Really, he became nothing more than a yellow sports journalist. Doing everything he could to anger others and draw attention to himself by doing so. But you might wonder, why such disdain for the University of Oregon.
Well, that hit me too... when you read Canzano's bio, you might notice that he briefly covered the Indiana Hoosier basketball team while Bob Knight was their coach still... well, during that time (1998-99) guess who the President of Indiana University was... yep... Myles Brand, former University of Oregon President... I will have more on this tomorrow!
Stay tuned, the psychosis that is John Canzano's obsessive hate will continue!
Recently, this fool wrote himself into a corner thinking he would be able to once again bash Bellotti. He made an assumption, however; a wrong assumption. You see, he wrote a column recently calling the 2008 Holiday Bowl a "must win" game. He did this on his own personal belief that the Ducks would lose and he would be able to ride high on his pulpit and "prove" he was right; that Bellotti could no longer win those "important" games.
The problem is, his assumption turned out to be wrong. The Ducks won and for the first time in a long time, he had to eat his own crow. This was fun for me to read, because I could see the pangs of frustration between the lines... this must have HURT Canzano's pride beyond belief... and that brought me great joy.
While reading through his blog posts this morning, I noticed some people referring to his writing skills... I kindly pointed out THE TRUTH about his history... I merely pointed out that he hasn't done too badly for an Oregon kid who had to go to Cal State Chico to play baseball. I merely pointed out that he was not even a journalism major, hence accounting for his lack of journalistic integrity. Rather than let a post where I merely stated the truth to go through, he could have simply chosen not to print the post. That would be understandable. Instead, he chose to COMPLETELY reword my post to read: (Interesting since his show is called "The Bald Faced Truth")
John Canzano was named national sportswriter of the year in 2004 by the Press Club of Atlantic City and his Associated Press awards speak for themeselvse. He's terrific. I wait in my driveway every morning for the newspaper and can't wait to see what he writes.
Now, anyone who knows me or has read this blog would know that I would never post such drivel about such a ridiculous excuse for a journalist as I have ever seen. Yet, there was the Clown named Canzano changing the words to suit his own ego.
That is wehen it occurred to me... Canzano has been on this bender against Bellotti for quite some time... but why? BAM, it hit me... Canzano cannot STAND the attention he thinks he deserves going to someone he thinks is beneath him... Canzano feels as if his profession is somehow, more noble and worthy of praise than that of a football coach. Especially a coach who wields as much power as does Mike Bellotti.
This is the epiphany for me, Canzano writes the way he does because his ego has been bruised. He has ALWAYS felt he deserved more glory than he received. His father, you see, was a pretty good baseball player... played up to AAA level in the minors... but sadly, young John never quite measured up to pops. He was never the best player... not in the state of Oregon, not in his league and not at his high school. He couldn't even get the local schools to give him a sniff... so he wound up at Cal State Chico.
All that time, John Boy fancied himself better than those getting more recognition... and his anger at the truth boiled within. Even in college, he did not study journalism. He says he wanted to be a writer, yet he never studied the art... wonder why? Maybe, just maybe he was looking for a way to "get back" at all those people who he felt had wronged him. He just did not know how, until he figured out that the written word carries a lot of power to get back at those who have done him wrong. Not being a trained journalist, he was never in position to work in any other capacity than a columnist.
Really, he became nothing more than a yellow sports journalist. Doing everything he could to anger others and draw attention to himself by doing so. But you might wonder, why such disdain for the University of Oregon.
Well, that hit me too... when you read Canzano's bio, you might notice that he briefly covered the Indiana Hoosier basketball team while Bob Knight was their coach still... well, during that time (1998-99) guess who the President of Indiana University was... yep... Myles Brand, former University of Oregon President... I will have more on this tomorrow!
Stay tuned, the psychosis that is John Canzano's obsessive hate will continue!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Canzano now committing slander?
Canzano's most recent article shows his desperation... desperation for headlines... desperation for some sort of critical notoriety... desperation for more acclaim.
From the time that the Bald Faced Hypocrite coined the phrase "JailBlazers" in a column and began some real investigative journalism (uncovering a secret deal where a Blazer player's fine would be refunded), he has fancied himself some kind of Woodward & Bernstein of the Sports world. There was a problem with this... he's a lousy journalist. He's a hack. Today, though, he crossed the line.
Ah, yes, more of the fact based reporting by the... oops... I forgot The Bald Faced Hypocrite is a columnist not a reporter.
I am amazed by the number of people who seem to think that they know what happened in Mexico based on published reports. For the people who question the fact that Morrison was ID'd... keep in mind that the pictures in question were taken the night after the attack and then taken to the hospital for Meagher to look at... with no comparison photos...
Granted... not a lot of 6'11" guys, but there are plenty of tall guys roaming around... and plenty of short guys running around.
The crimes we should be talking about are libel and slander. There was a rush to "condemn" the actions in this before the facts were fully known... I can say this... if someone had the money to pay for some medical bills, they have the money for a good attorney.
Finally, I am appalled by Mr. Morrison's father's comments where he said the victim "got himself beat up" and "got himself into trouble" as if somehow the victim brought it upon himself.
I am sure that this will not be "approved" by teh Bald Faced Hypocrite... most of my posts aren't simply because I ALWAYS disagree with The Bald Faced Hypocrite.
The best thing to come of the PSU story... Canzano may have stuck his foot in his mouth... maybe this is the impetus needed to start a real campaign against the Bald Faced Moron!
I sure hope Scott Morrison has a good attorney!
From the time that the Bald Faced Hypocrite coined the phrase "JailBlazers" in a column and began some real investigative journalism (uncovering a secret deal where a Blazer player's fine would be refunded), he has fancied himself some kind of Woodward & Bernstein of the Sports world. There was a problem with this... he's a lousy journalist. He's a hack. Today, though, he crossed the line.
Ah, yes, more of the fact based reporting by the... oops... I forgot The Bald Faced Hypocrite is a columnist not a reporter.
I am amazed by the number of people who seem to think that they know what happened in Mexico based on published reports. For the people who question the fact that Morrison was ID'd... keep in mind that the pictures in question were taken the night after the attack and then taken to the hospital for Meagher to look at... with no comparison photos...
Granted... not a lot of 6'11" guys, but there are plenty of tall guys roaming around... and plenty of short guys running around.
The crimes we should be talking about are libel and slander. There was a rush to "condemn" the actions in this before the facts were fully known... I can say this... if someone had the money to pay for some medical bills, they have the money for a good attorney.
Finally, I am appalled by Mr. Morrison's father's comments where he said the victim "got himself beat up" and "got himself into trouble" as if somehow the victim brought it upon himself.
I am sure that this will not be "approved" by teh Bald Faced Hypocrite... most of my posts aren't simply because I ALWAYS disagree with The Bald Faced Hypocrite.
The best thing to come of the PSU story... Canzano may have stuck his foot in his mouth... maybe this is the impetus needed to start a real campaign against the Bald Faced Moron!
I sure hope Scott Morrison has a good attorney!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Surprised yet?
I'm not. Once again, The Bald Faced Hypocrite is using his Oregonian gig as a long arm of the Blazers law. It was already publicly reported that the Blazers had scolded Oden for his dubious decision to play a pick up basketball game at 24 Hour Fitness.
So Canzano feels the need to chime in? I guess the Blazer Brass decided that the message wasn't clear enough and that they needed their paid hack to publicly flog him. Or, maybe this was done in a futile attempt for Canzano to act as if he is some independent arm of the Blazers and is not their paid biotch. The fact is he IS their paid [female dog] and we all know it... all except for the Bald Headed Hypocrite.
Nonetheless, his hypocrisy continues to reign supreme at the Oregonian. I will stay vigilant. In fact, I write the Oregonian demanding a retraction for Canzano's scandalous "facts" from the Ernie Kent article. And, of course, today he has the audacity to hawk his other programs through his blog... what a chump.
One of these days, The Bald Faced Hypocrite will look in the mirror and realize he is a pile of crap hack... until then I will continue to fight every word he says.
So Canzano feels the need to chime in? I guess the Blazer Brass decided that the message wasn't clear enough and that they needed their paid hack to publicly flog him. Or, maybe this was done in a futile attempt for Canzano to act as if he is some independent arm of the Blazers and is not their paid biotch. The fact is he IS their paid [female dog] and we all know it... all except for the Bald Headed Hypocrite.
Nonetheless, his hypocrisy continues to reign supreme at the Oregonian. I will stay vigilant. In fact, I write the Oregonian demanding a retraction for Canzano's scandalous "facts" from the Ernie Kent article. And, of course, today he has the audacity to hawk his other programs through his blog... what a chump.
One of these days, The Bald Faced Hypocrite will look in the mirror and realize he is a pile of crap hack... until then I will continue to fight every word he says.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Canzano only has one life, and that's one too many
So, here we go again. Canzano just cannot help himself... he simply has to find a way to throw insult through every article written about the University of Oregon. He thinks he has escaped this time, from the wrath that is my writing because I had waited some time before responding to his most recent stupidity.
It seems that the Bald Headed Moron just cannot stop his jealous reference to the University of Oregon. In his most recent article concerning the "nine lives of Ernie Kent," The Bald Faced Hypocrite continues his theme of referring to the Athletic Department as the "Knights Templar." Now, the problem I have with this is, once again, he is using his "pulpit" as a "writer" (I use that term very loosely in his case) to create a negative mindset towards everything that is the University of Oregon. Why, why all the hostility John? Was that news anchor you cheated on your wife with a Beaver? Was it a Duck grad that caught you?
There is no such thing as the "Knights Templar" it is a fictitious creation of The Bald Headed Hypocrites own imagination to further fuel a fire he has created. Rather than report responsibly, he CONTINUES to use his position with the Oregonian to work on his own personal agenda.
Now, I am not going to argue some of the points he makes... Ernie Kent is not likely the best game coach, and he is a very good recruiter. Nonetheless, Canzano makes statements as fact that he cannot substantiate. First he QUOTES a "national basketball analyst" as saying that Ernie Kent has nine lives. But, do you like how he disguises his made up words behind a facade that cannot be challenged...
First, he doesn't name this analyst (why? Because the analyst would then expose Canzano's statement as unsubstantiated BS). Then he says that the statement was made "in passing." Yeah, sure... and when I was at the airport the other day a local sports writer said in passing that Canzano is a homosexual.
Now, on to the worst part of his story... regardless of what we may think of Ernie Kent's past, present and future, the statement he made about Kent's former players is ludicrous. In fact, we should DEMAND that he print a retraction unless he names the sources that have told him this. I am referring, of course, to the statement where The Bald Faced Pile of Crap says that "on the whole" Kent's former players "don't really care for him." Now, once again, he doesn't name any one in particular, that way his lies and half-truths cannot be challenged.
Furthermore, this was a deliberate attack designed to weaken Kent's recruiting abilities. If, after all, so many former players cannot stand him, how can he continue to recruit so well? After all, when players don't care for a coach, they will speak their minds... those who don't like Bobby Knight have no problem telling people about it... but if The Bald Faced Idiot puts that kind of statement out there, it gets presented as factual, he can impact the ability of future recruiting attempts... at least that's what he thinks.
It makes me wonder where the Bald Faced Hypocrite went to college... maybe all this animosity has to do with a mysterious allegiance to Stan Love and UCLA... after all, Mike Bellotti has turned down UCLA twice leaving them mired in mediocrity. Bob Toledo took that team to the dumps in a hurry... and, well, we all know Stan Love wishes he had gone to UCLA... this must be it! Canzano is anti-Oregon because of some secret love affair with UCLA!
That's it for today. Though I did say something funny on his blog which I am quite sure he will not let be posted... in today's blog about being WRONG on his pick for Portland State to cover the spread against Kansas he says he is a writer not a handicapper.... my response:
"Whoa... whoa WHOA... when did you become a writer? You are right about one thing, though, you aren't a handicapper either"
Once again, Canzano is an idiot.
It seems that the Bald Headed Moron just cannot stop his jealous reference to the University of Oregon. In his most recent article concerning the "nine lives of Ernie Kent," The Bald Faced Hypocrite continues his theme of referring to the Athletic Department as the "Knights Templar." Now, the problem I have with this is, once again, he is using his "pulpit" as a "writer" (I use that term very loosely in his case) to create a negative mindset towards everything that is the University of Oregon. Why, why all the hostility John? Was that news anchor you cheated on your wife with a Beaver? Was it a Duck grad that caught you?
There is no such thing as the "Knights Templar" it is a fictitious creation of The Bald Headed Hypocrites own imagination to further fuel a fire he has created. Rather than report responsibly, he CONTINUES to use his position with the Oregonian to work on his own personal agenda.
Now, I am not going to argue some of the points he makes... Ernie Kent is not likely the best game coach, and he is a very good recruiter. Nonetheless, Canzano makes statements as fact that he cannot substantiate. First he QUOTES a "national basketball analyst" as saying that Ernie Kent has nine lives. But, do you like how he disguises his made up words behind a facade that cannot be challenged...
First, he doesn't name this analyst (why? Because the analyst would then expose Canzano's statement as unsubstantiated BS). Then he says that the statement was made "in passing." Yeah, sure... and when I was at the airport the other day a local sports writer said in passing that Canzano is a homosexual.
Now, on to the worst part of his story... regardless of what we may think of Ernie Kent's past, present and future, the statement he made about Kent's former players is ludicrous. In fact, we should DEMAND that he print a retraction unless he names the sources that have told him this. I am referring, of course, to the statement where The Bald Faced Pile of Crap says that "on the whole" Kent's former players "don't really care for him." Now, once again, he doesn't name any one in particular, that way his lies and half-truths cannot be challenged.
Furthermore, this was a deliberate attack designed to weaken Kent's recruiting abilities. If, after all, so many former players cannot stand him, how can he continue to recruit so well? After all, when players don't care for a coach, they will speak their minds... those who don't like Bobby Knight have no problem telling people about it... but if The Bald Faced Idiot puts that kind of statement out there, it gets presented as factual, he can impact the ability of future recruiting attempts... at least that's what he thinks.
It makes me wonder where the Bald Faced Hypocrite went to college... maybe all this animosity has to do with a mysterious allegiance to Stan Love and UCLA... after all, Mike Bellotti has turned down UCLA twice leaving them mired in mediocrity. Bob Toledo took that team to the dumps in a hurry... and, well, we all know Stan Love wishes he had gone to UCLA... this must be it! Canzano is anti-Oregon because of some secret love affair with UCLA!
That's it for today. Though I did say something funny on his blog which I am quite sure he will not let be posted... in today's blog about being WRONG on his pick for Portland State to cover the spread against Kansas he says he is a writer not a handicapper.... my response:
"Whoa... whoa WHOA... when did you become a writer? You are right about one thing, though, you aren't a handicapper either"
Once again, Canzano is an idiot.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
"This isn't a PR firm"
Wow, I laughed, literally, out loud reading the Bald Faced Hypocrites commentary in his blog today. This is a newspaper, not a PR from.... uh, then how come you are the Blazers paid hack of a PR firm? Please, Canzano does not treat the Oregonian as a "newspaper" he treats it as his own personal soapbox/vendetta/other Employer (Blazers) PR machine.
Canzano has no interest in writing articles or columns that have journalistic merits... he only cares about bad mouthing those he doesn't like and being the hack PR man for the Blazers. Well, at least he made me laugh today with such an incredulously ridiculous lie. It's a lie and he knows it.
Canzano has no interest in writing articles or columns that have journalistic merits... he only cares about bad mouthing those he doesn't like and being the hack PR man for the Blazers. Well, at least he made me laugh today with such an incredulously ridiculous lie. It's a lie and he knows it.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Having an Impact?
Maybe, just maybe, my words have somewhat impacted the Bald Faced Hypocrite. From today's blog I gleaned this bit of information:
I've been away for a week on vacation, but I didn't miss Pat Kilkenny's $1 million donation to academics at the University of Oregon. This isn't a major story, but it's a good thing. Not sure how anyone can possibly twist it in any different manner. I don't care if the Ducks' AD needed the tax deduction. I don't care if it was leaked to gain public leverage, or support from the academics when it comes to the arena project, blah, blah, blah. All I care is that someone who had a choice did something good for academics in the way that Bob Knight, and others, have done for other universities.
Yet, like how he got his own little jab... he does do his best to make the insinuation that his donation is not entirely altruistic by mentioning the tax benefit. He also insinuates that the information was leaked in order to gain leverage and/or support. While he says he "doesn't care" about those reasons, let there be no doubt, he threw those concepts in there for a reason. If he truly didn't care, he wouldn't have mentioned them.
I also love how he throws Kilkenny into the same sentence as Bobby Knight. This was certainly intentional and it only serves to prove his continuing bias against the UO. He could easily have left out the references to the tax break and Bob Knight, but chose to include them... he is still a hypocrite... can't change his DNA...
Nonetheless, I find it interesting that he is responding almost verbatim to my commentary regarding his thoughts... maybe the Bald Faced Hypocrite has a new daily reading list.
Why, though, did I have to scroll through the blithering of a moron about some HBO show to get to his commentary? Well, what can you expect from a pseudo-journalist like Canzano? He can't write more than about 50 positive words about his topics (unless the Blazers pay handsomely for a "press release"), so he needs filler words. What would this guy have been before television existed? NOTHING!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
More of the same
I am not surprised at the sappy "what a great voice we have" story. Why? Because Canzano KNOWS that the Blazers still take a lot of heat for the way they handled firing Schonley. The Blazers paid hack needs to win everyone over... how, pray tell, will the Blazers overcome this obstacle? Have Canzano write a "journalistic" article in the local paper "marveling" at what an amazing sportscaster Wheeler is.
Personally, I haven't watched the NBA since about 1998... the games suck and none of the players seem to truly care. But to "marvel" at someone being named sports play-by-play radio announcer of the year for the State of Oregon is akin to being named Governor of the year for the Pacific Northwest... it's not like there are a lot of choices here... Jerry Allen, Brian Wheeler and the OSU guy... that's it.... whoopity do... and how long, exactly, did it take for Wheeler to "earn" that honor?
This is nothing more than Canzano, once again, writing something that supports the goals of his employer (the Portland Trail Blazers)... this was more like a Blazers press release than anything else. It certainly wasn't journalism. Then again, what else can we expect from the Bald Headed Hypocrite? Nothing. This is what he is.
What I found most interesting over the last couple of weeks is his silence on the Kilkenny's donation. I wonder, now that he has been critical of Ernie Kent, what will he say about the coach now that he has seemingly gotten them onto the right track again? Will he come out with a positive piece on the coach? Will he still be critical? Or will he remain silent as he has on Kilkenny's donation. I know what I think he will do. After all most spineless jellyfish tend to repeat the same actions over and over again... they do what their DNA tells them... So does the Bald Faced Hypocrite.
As for his bosses, I encourage anyone who runs across this to email them... I did and here is the response I received from Executive Editor Peter Bhatia:
Personally, I haven't watched the NBA since about 1998... the games suck and none of the players seem to truly care. But to "marvel" at someone being named sports play-by-play radio announcer of the year for the State of Oregon is akin to being named Governor of the year for the Pacific Northwest... it's not like there are a lot of choices here... Jerry Allen, Brian Wheeler and the OSU guy... that's it.... whoopity do... and how long, exactly, did it take for Wheeler to "earn" that honor?
This is nothing more than Canzano, once again, writing something that supports the goals of his employer (the Portland Trail Blazers)... this was more like a Blazers press release than anything else. It certainly wasn't journalism. Then again, what else can we expect from the Bald Headed Hypocrite? Nothing. This is what he is.
What I found most interesting over the last couple of weeks is his silence on the Kilkenny's donation. I wonder, now that he has been critical of Ernie Kent, what will he say about the coach now that he has seemingly gotten them onto the right track again? Will he come out with a positive piece on the coach? Will he still be critical? Or will he remain silent as he has on Kilkenny's donation. I know what I think he will do. After all most spineless jellyfish tend to repeat the same actions over and over again... they do what their DNA tells them... So does the Bald Faced Hypocrite.
As for his bosses, I encourage anyone who runs across this to email them... I did and here is the response I received from Executive Editor Peter Bhatia:
Scott: Thanks for your e-mail about John Canzano's radio
show. The issues you raise were carefully weighed by us
and John before he was allowed to do the show. He was
guaranteed full independence in his commentary by KXL
and all indications are that has been the case. In fact,
John would be the first to pull the plug if there was any
interference. As for his coverage of the Blazers, it speaks
for itself. Obviously, the Blazers are a happier story
this year than in the recent past. John has given them
credit for success but hasn't been afraid to criticize
when he feels it is deserved.
What a crock. While they may not be the
"JailBlazers" of old, they are only what
we hear. If the Bald Faced Hypocrite
wants them to be a happy story, that's
what he'll make them. After all, that's
what he gets paid to do. If the Blazers
want Darius Miles to retire... Canzano
will write a scathing piece on his "dedication"
(I STILL wonder how Canzano knew where
to go to find him that night). If the Blazers
want to let the world "know" that they made
the "right decision" regarding Schonley gee,
all they need to do is have the Bald Faced
Hypocrite write an article detailing what a
wonderful treat he (Wheeler) is to listen to.
Well, I have news for the Blazers, the Bald
Faced Hypocrite and Wheeler, he is one of
the reasons I would not listen to the Blazers
on the radio. His voice was irritating and
grating to my ears. His desperation
to come up with his own "catch phrase" to
separate himself from Schonley should be
humiliating to his own self image.
As long as the Bald Faced Hypocrite sings
his praises I am inclined to feel the opposite...
kind of like the Seinfeld episode where George
does the opposite of his normal instincts...
whatever Canzano supports, I am going to
oppose. If you wish to write to Peter Bhatia,
his email address is:
pbhatia@news.oregonian.com
Have an impact... keep flooding them
with complaints!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Oden article
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg Odens decision to make himself public in his support for his political beliefs. It is rare that a young man has such good principles that he recognizes his importance in shaping the world through his actions. Not only his actions on the court, but those off the court.
There have been many a great NBA superstar who have been reluctant to do so for fear of tarnishing their endorsement deals. Please do not take today's comments as a jab at his politics. Because, personally, I think he is a very interesting young man and appreciate that he brings an aura of social consciousness not seen by Portland athletes since the days of Bill Walton (do NOT get me started on him)!
I do, however, again take issue with the man who writes this. How in the world can the Oregonian continue to allow him to be called a columnist? He is nothing more than the Blazers' paid hack, sent to promote their agenda through his words. There are far too few people who know who pays for his KXL gig... too many people who believe he is merely an employee of the Oregonian writing from an "objective" view. His view on the Trail Blazers has been anything BUT objective.
I continually comment on this conflict of interest only to have the posts removed, but he cannot remove them from here. I am going to take it to the sports editor, the Publisher ANYONE at the Oregonian who understands that he should be restricted from writing anything about Portland Trail Blazer basketball due to the OBVIOUS conflict of interest presented by his KXL gig. I doubt they will listen... he must have pictures of someone doing something because he seems to be untouchable at that paper.
I encourage ANYONE who reads this to write to the Oregonian... ask them to prohibit John Canzano from writing ANYTHING about the Blazers until he is no longer their employee. One step at a time... one step at a time...
I do find it interesting how quiet he has been on the Kilkenny donation. His last column was Wednesday... the Kilkenny announcement came Thursday... and nothing... just shows that Canzano does not have the ability to make positive comments about the University of Oregon. How can one man with so many obvious journalistic limits keep being considered so untouchable? Maybe the Oregonian just can't attract good journalists...
Not sure, I still think Canzano will write a column that twists the Kilkenny donation into something else... time will tell...
I have written to Sandy Rowe and Therese Bottomly asking to remove this responsibility from Canzano... I encourage you to do the same... their email addresses are: srowe@news.oregonian.com and theresebottomly@news.oregonian.com
There have been many a great NBA superstar who have been reluctant to do so for fear of tarnishing their endorsement deals. Please do not take today's comments as a jab at his politics. Because, personally, I think he is a very interesting young man and appreciate that he brings an aura of social consciousness not seen by Portland athletes since the days of Bill Walton (do NOT get me started on him)!
I do, however, again take issue with the man who writes this. How in the world can the Oregonian continue to allow him to be called a columnist? He is nothing more than the Blazers' paid hack, sent to promote their agenda through his words. There are far too few people who know who pays for his KXL gig... too many people who believe he is merely an employee of the Oregonian writing from an "objective" view. His view on the Trail Blazers has been anything BUT objective.
I continually comment on this conflict of interest only to have the posts removed, but he cannot remove them from here. I am going to take it to the sports editor, the Publisher ANYONE at the Oregonian who understands that he should be restricted from writing anything about Portland Trail Blazer basketball due to the OBVIOUS conflict of interest presented by his KXL gig. I doubt they will listen... he must have pictures of someone doing something because he seems to be untouchable at that paper.
I encourage ANYONE who reads this to write to the Oregonian... ask them to prohibit John Canzano from writing ANYTHING about the Blazers until he is no longer their employee. One step at a time... one step at a time...
I do find it interesting how quiet he has been on the Kilkenny donation. His last column was Wednesday... the Kilkenny announcement came Thursday... and nothing... just shows that Canzano does not have the ability to make positive comments about the University of Oregon. How can one man with so many obvious journalistic limits keep being considered so untouchable? Maybe the Oregonian just can't attract good journalists...
Not sure, I still think Canzano will write a column that twists the Kilkenny donation into something else... time will tell...
I have written to Sandy Rowe and Therese Bottomly asking to remove this responsibility from Canzano... I encourage you to do the same... their email addresses are: srowe@news.oregonian.com and theresebottomly@news.oregonian.com
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Canzano faced with Dilemma?
What, I wonder, will Canzano write about after learning of Kilkenny's donation to the University of Oregon ACADEMICS programs? My guess is that he will accuse Kilkenny of making a self-serving donation to as a simplistic gesture to answer academicians who continually criticize the amount of money donated to athletics while academic giving lags.
Personally, I have ALWAYS disagreed with this theory. But let me first address what I believe will be the back handed attempt by the Bald Faced Moron to, once again, take a personal shot at the University of Oregon. Pat Kilkenny is a businessman first, who has a great love for his alma mater. Pat Kilkenny recognizes the importance of academics at any university. After all, where would ANY of us be without education?
More importantly, Pat recognizes the important role that athletics can play on increasing academic giving. Yes, people will give money for athletics. But think about the mind set of those people who willingly donate money to ANY charitable organization... if a man has already opened his mind to the importance of his contributions to the continuing success of a university's athletics teams, will he not be more open to the concept of similar donations to help the academics programs? I say yes.
It is much more difficult for academic donor seekers to cold-call someone who has never donated a dime to his alma mater than to call the football fan who already gives some form of donation. Athletics donations open the door. More importantly, from Pat Kilkenny's perspective, he is a leader. He is leading Duck fans with actions right now, PROVING he understands the importance of academics.
There does not have to be a battle of the wills between the academics and athletics departments at any university. The goals of the two are NOT mutually exclusive. Oregon is a leader in pro-actively separating it's funding stream from general funds. It is an important step in the evolution of college athletics that the athletics department NOT draw from the general fund. When a university is able to divest itself from supporting it's athletics with general fund money, they inherently have more money for academics.
Furthermore, regardless of what may be said, athletics can be a very rewarding experience for all involved. The values of team work, accountability, respect for authority, leadership, goal setting and learning how to overcome adversity are just as valuable as the lessons learned in a classroom. Without these very vital lessons, a young adult is incomplete as a person.
How is the young business graduate supposed to learn how to thrive in the workplace without these very important concepts? He or she cannot.
Does this excuse everything bad that may happen? Absolutely not. However, it is important to remember that the media only covers what sells. Nothing more, nothing less. Thereby, what is heard when the news plays? the BAD things that athletes do. While members of the media (like Canzano) criticize the actions of a few athletes and their transgressions, do they remember to remind us that said athlete is only one of 85 on scholarship? Does he mention that 99% of the players at said school remain trouble free?
No. Why? Because that does not serve their purpose. Let there be no mistake, local newscasts, local sports shows, even national sports shows have an objective... and honest journalism is not that objective. Advertising dollars ARE that objective.
So while hypocritical chumps like Canzano get on their moral high horse to preach about how "bad" athletes and athletics departments are... ask why he is writing such one-sided stories. Is it because he only cares about the truth and presenting it in a fair and objective manner? Or is it because he recognizes that his job is dependent on advertising dollars and he only prints what he thinks will keep the subscriptions flowing? I know what my answer is... you be your own judge.
Personally, I have ALWAYS disagreed with this theory. But let me first address what I believe will be the back handed attempt by the Bald Faced Moron to, once again, take a personal shot at the University of Oregon. Pat Kilkenny is a businessman first, who has a great love for his alma mater. Pat Kilkenny recognizes the importance of academics at any university. After all, where would ANY of us be without education?
More importantly, Pat recognizes the important role that athletics can play on increasing academic giving. Yes, people will give money for athletics. But think about the mind set of those people who willingly donate money to ANY charitable organization... if a man has already opened his mind to the importance of his contributions to the continuing success of a university's athletics teams, will he not be more open to the concept of similar donations to help the academics programs? I say yes.
It is much more difficult for academic donor seekers to cold-call someone who has never donated a dime to his alma mater than to call the football fan who already gives some form of donation. Athletics donations open the door. More importantly, from Pat Kilkenny's perspective, he is a leader. He is leading Duck fans with actions right now, PROVING he understands the importance of academics.
There does not have to be a battle of the wills between the academics and athletics departments at any university. The goals of the two are NOT mutually exclusive. Oregon is a leader in pro-actively separating it's funding stream from general funds. It is an important step in the evolution of college athletics that the athletics department NOT draw from the general fund. When a university is able to divest itself from supporting it's athletics with general fund money, they inherently have more money for academics.
Furthermore, regardless of what may be said, athletics can be a very rewarding experience for all involved. The values of team work, accountability, respect for authority, leadership, goal setting and learning how to overcome adversity are just as valuable as the lessons learned in a classroom. Without these very vital lessons, a young adult is incomplete as a person.
How is the young business graduate supposed to learn how to thrive in the workplace without these very important concepts? He or she cannot.
Does this excuse everything bad that may happen? Absolutely not. However, it is important to remember that the media only covers what sells. Nothing more, nothing less. Thereby, what is heard when the news plays? the BAD things that athletes do. While members of the media (like Canzano) criticize the actions of a few athletes and their transgressions, do they remember to remind us that said athlete is only one of 85 on scholarship? Does he mention that 99% of the players at said school remain trouble free?
No. Why? Because that does not serve their purpose. Let there be no mistake, local newscasts, local sports shows, even national sports shows have an objective... and honest journalism is not that objective. Advertising dollars ARE that objective.
So while hypocritical chumps like Canzano get on their moral high horse to preach about how "bad" athletes and athletics departments are... ask why he is writing such one-sided stories. Is it because he only cares about the truth and presenting it in a fair and objective manner? Or is it because he recognizes that his job is dependent on advertising dollars and he only prints what he thinks will keep the subscriptions flowing? I know what my answer is... you be your own judge.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Oh the conflicts of Interest!
Today, Canzano, in his infinite stupidity, writes an article spelling the wonderful virtue that was the TrailBlazers acquisition of James Jones. I have no qualms with this concept, because it was a very good acquisition.
However, I DO have a problem with the conflict of interest that is John Canzano's employment. He is paid through KXL by the Portland TrailBlazers and his most recent columns SHOW who really pays his salary. He is nothing more, now, than an expensive publicist who is also permitted to print personal vendettas through a "journalistic" point of view.
In response to his blog, a fellow Duck fan rightfully asked why John has yet to write about a Beaver player who was involved in a DUI hit and run. This was a SENIOR starter who is on scholarship. If, after all, it is SO imperative, that Canzano write a scathing article about a third string non-scholarship player from the University of Oregon, why is it not imperative to do so when a STARTING Beaver player is involved in a drunken hit & run? I guess because he has no personal vendettas against Mike Riley.
I further pointed out that nothing was written last year when a Beaver baseball player was convicted of theft and fraud DURING the season and not a word was mentioned. His defense.... "well, someone else wrote about it." The point was and still is that CANZANO did not write about it? Why does he only write negative about one state school? Why is it that the boys from Cornholetown are exempt from his "duty" (as he calls it) to report what the news is?
Why? Because he has no integrity or journalistic ethics. He is nothing but a panzy with a pen. He is the kid that wanted to be like the jocks in high school; hung out with them, but got made fun of behind his back.
The fact is he was a loser who couldn't cut it at sports and he has an inferiority complex... that's what his problem with the University of Oregon is... nothing will cure it, but as long as he spews false venom, I will continue to post my own thoughts.
Funny how he once again edited out my commentary about the conflict of interest that is his KXL gig... I guess he knows he has no integrity, he just cannot admit it! What would you expect from a pile of dung loser like him...
However, I DO have a problem with the conflict of interest that is John Canzano's employment. He is paid through KXL by the Portland TrailBlazers and his most recent columns SHOW who really pays his salary. He is nothing more, now, than an expensive publicist who is also permitted to print personal vendettas through a "journalistic" point of view.
In response to his blog, a fellow Duck fan rightfully asked why John has yet to write about a Beaver player who was involved in a DUI hit and run. This was a SENIOR starter who is on scholarship. If, after all, it is SO imperative, that Canzano write a scathing article about a third string non-scholarship player from the University of Oregon, why is it not imperative to do so when a STARTING Beaver player is involved in a drunken hit & run? I guess because he has no personal vendettas against Mike Riley.
I further pointed out that nothing was written last year when a Beaver baseball player was convicted of theft and fraud DURING the season and not a word was mentioned. His defense.... "well, someone else wrote about it." The point was and still is that CANZANO did not write about it? Why does he only write negative about one state school? Why is it that the boys from Cornholetown are exempt from his "duty" (as he calls it) to report what the news is?
Why? Because he has no integrity or journalistic ethics. He is nothing but a panzy with a pen. He is the kid that wanted to be like the jocks in high school; hung out with them, but got made fun of behind his back.
The fact is he was a loser who couldn't cut it at sports and he has an inferiority complex... that's what his problem with the University of Oregon is... nothing will cure it, but as long as he spews false venom, I will continue to post my own thoughts.
Funny how he once again edited out my commentary about the conflict of interest that is his KXL gig... I guess he knows he has no integrity, he just cannot admit it! What would you expect from a pile of dung loser like him...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The system? Or the individuals?
So, the moronic fool who would like to consider himself a journalist is once again spewing stupidity.
Is there any question who "funded" his article practically begging Darius Miles to retire? Who pays his $80,000 salary at KXL? Oh Yeah, the Portland Trail Blazers... talk about your conflict of interests!
At least this time his rubbish was clever. He disguised his stupidity inside a very real and tragic story... and most of his little clone butt kissers just followed suit. Although, seeing how he has literally changed my comments to suit his own ego, who knows what these people ACTUALLY wrote.
Today's article was simple, he was speaking of the recent "incident" involving a youth girls basketball coach. He used that disgusting display of poor sportsmanship to get on his high horse to propose that we eliminate all organized youth sports because the Youth Sports leagues are the reason fools act like him.
Well, that is not why parents and coaches act boorishly. People act boorishly because they are boorish. Period. The reason that it seems that youth sports has gone wild is not the fault of caring parents who want to spend time with their children and help them learn the valuable lessons that sports teach. No, youth sports seem to have gone wild because of the media.
I commented on this today, and, once again, Canzano is too much of a chump to print anything for which he does not have a pre-set argument at the ready. And this was my point to him...
"When was the last time the news covered an event where the coaches DID show good sportsmanship? How many sporting events were held in Oregon on Saturday? And how many GOOD acts of sportsmanship were shown? Where was the coverage of THOSE events? Whose fault is it that the only youth sports news we get exposed to is bad news?
It is the fault of so-called journalists only looking to sell newspapers or advertising.
Where was the media when my son's 6th grade baseball team was being taunted by our opponent... when I told my team that we would stick to our values. We would not taunt back; we would not respond. Instead we would play baseball as a team and have a good time? Nowhere.
Where was the media when that same team played it's final game of the season against a team who could not gain or lose their "playoff" seeding in the final game. Our team was not going to go to the playoffs. Our league was the lowest level of competitive youth baseball... these were not all-stars. Late in the game, my boys were winning by two runs when our opponent decided that since they could not get a hit off of our pitcher, they were going to bunt every single pitch hoping for an error.
As my team started to get angry, frustrated and embarrassed by this tactic... did we call anyone names? No, I simply asked them why they were playing baseball... to have fun... "what is more fun, getting hits or bunting the ball?" Well, the kids unanimously wanted to take their cuts and get hits. That's what we did. We lost the game that day, but we won in spirit because we displayed an immense sportsmanship that could not be touched. We were there to play baseball and have fun. Where was the media?
How about the time my step son was taking his warm-up swings in the on deck circle... only to have one of his team mates not pay attention and walk behind him... getting hit in the nose and breaking it. My step-son was distraught... he wanted to quit playing baseball forever. Seriously, he was ready to quit... then the OPPOSING COACH came over to encourage him to continue playing. He did, and hit a double in that at bat. Where was the media? Why wasn't Canzano out there writing an article?
No, it is not youth sports fault that people act stupid. It is the individual person who is at fault. It is the media's fault for only covering the bad side of youth sports.
And that is sad, because they could have a tremendously positive impact on children and coaches, they just choose not to.
Is there any question who "funded" his article practically begging Darius Miles to retire? Who pays his $80,000 salary at KXL? Oh Yeah, the Portland Trail Blazers... talk about your conflict of interests!
At least this time his rubbish was clever. He disguised his stupidity inside a very real and tragic story... and most of his little clone butt kissers just followed suit. Although, seeing how he has literally changed my comments to suit his own ego, who knows what these people ACTUALLY wrote.
Today's article was simple, he was speaking of the recent "incident" involving a youth girls basketball coach. He used that disgusting display of poor sportsmanship to get on his high horse to propose that we eliminate all organized youth sports because the Youth Sports leagues are the reason fools act like him.
Well, that is not why parents and coaches act boorishly. People act boorishly because they are boorish. Period. The reason that it seems that youth sports has gone wild is not the fault of caring parents who want to spend time with their children and help them learn the valuable lessons that sports teach. No, youth sports seem to have gone wild because of the media.
I commented on this today, and, once again, Canzano is too much of a chump to print anything for which he does not have a pre-set argument at the ready. And this was my point to him...
"When was the last time the news covered an event where the coaches DID show good sportsmanship? How many sporting events were held in Oregon on Saturday? And how many GOOD acts of sportsmanship were shown? Where was the coverage of THOSE events? Whose fault is it that the only youth sports news we get exposed to is bad news?
It is the fault of so-called journalists only looking to sell newspapers or advertising.
Where was the media when my son's 6th grade baseball team was being taunted by our opponent... when I told my team that we would stick to our values. We would not taunt back; we would not respond. Instead we would play baseball as a team and have a good time? Nowhere.
Where was the media when that same team played it's final game of the season against a team who could not gain or lose their "playoff" seeding in the final game. Our team was not going to go to the playoffs. Our league was the lowest level of competitive youth baseball... these were not all-stars. Late in the game, my boys were winning by two runs when our opponent decided that since they could not get a hit off of our pitcher, they were going to bunt every single pitch hoping for an error.
As my team started to get angry, frustrated and embarrassed by this tactic... did we call anyone names? No, I simply asked them why they were playing baseball... to have fun... "what is more fun, getting hits or bunting the ball?" Well, the kids unanimously wanted to take their cuts and get hits. That's what we did. We lost the game that day, but we won in spirit because we displayed an immense sportsmanship that could not be touched. We were there to play baseball and have fun. Where was the media?
How about the time my step son was taking his warm-up swings in the on deck circle... only to have one of his team mates not pay attention and walk behind him... getting hit in the nose and breaking it. My step-son was distraught... he wanted to quit playing baseball forever. Seriously, he was ready to quit... then the OPPOSING COACH came over to encourage him to continue playing. He did, and hit a double in that at bat. Where was the media? Why wasn't Canzano out there writing an article?
No, it is not youth sports fault that people act stupid. It is the individual person who is at fault. It is the media's fault for only covering the bad side of youth sports.
And that is sad, because they could have a tremendously positive impact on children and coaches, they just choose not to.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Darius Miles Column
Now, this is funny, so I am almost always disgusted by the idiocy that is John Canzano, columnist for the Oregonian. Recently he wrote a column about Darius Miles which I thought was a cheap shot not only at Miles, but at Dennis Dixon as well. See, Canzano, while he occasionally has negative things to say about every sports program in the state has a personal vendetta against Mike Bellotti and the Oregon Ducks football team. So, here is what I REALLY wrote on HIS blog:
So, I guess JC knows Darius' whereabouts 24 hours a day. I guess it is not at all possible for Darius to have worked out for 3-4 hours in the morning, taken some court time in the afternoon to work on his game, watched some film then gone to a club after all that. I mean, I guess that is entirely impossible... I guess Darius was in that strip club 24 consecutive hours.
And, apparently, Canzano knows what Darius thinks at all times because he has told us what Darius thinks.
I must admit, though, that Canzano's trench coat and fedora must have been a very effective design... after all, how could he have gotten all that good information without being spotted... the question is, were you already there and got lucky to spot Darius there??? or did you follow him in??? either way... sounds like you'd fit in better at the National Enquirer than at a true periodical...
Maybe it is time for Canzano to retire, after all, he appears to like hanging out at strip clubs waiting to spot NBA players and their entourages... maybe he could go back to journalism school, learn some ethics and become a REAL journalist... but I doubt that will ever happen...
And this is what he changed it to:
"John, does your ex-wife like the anchor woman you cheated on her with?"
You see, he can dish out the negative truths, but he can't take it. He has made himself a public figure with his column and radio gigs making HIS transgressions fair game. Little Johnny boy, though, couldn't handle it.
So, I have created this blog to talk trash and provide the OTHER side of the story. Every time Canzano writes a negative Ducks reference, I am going to blast him. Here, he has NO control over what I say. Every time he writes something that is ridiculous, I am going to refute him here.
For you Beaver Believers that want to bash me for my bias... keep in mind he has written just as much bad about the Beavs as he has the Ducks (well, not as much, but he did start the Fire Mike Riley campaign two years in a row with his columns). This is not about the Ducks, the Beavs, the Blazers or any other team specifically, it is about an ego-maniac who has lost sight of reality and has no credible boundaries nor ANY journalistic integrity. I am sick of his unfettered comments that no one can truly contest without him pouting and crying like the panzy he is.
Don't like what I have to say? Oh well.
So, I guess JC knows Darius' whereabouts 24 hours a day. I guess it is not at all possible for Darius to have worked out for 3-4 hours in the morning, taken some court time in the afternoon to work on his game, watched some film then gone to a club after all that. I mean, I guess that is entirely impossible... I guess Darius was in that strip club 24 consecutive hours.
And, apparently, Canzano knows what Darius thinks at all times because he has told us what Darius thinks.
I must admit, though, that Canzano's trench coat and fedora must have been a very effective design... after all, how could he have gotten all that good information without being spotted... the question is, were you already there and got lucky to spot Darius there??? or did you follow him in??? either way... sounds like you'd fit in better at the National Enquirer than at a true periodical...
Maybe it is time for Canzano to retire, after all, he appears to like hanging out at strip clubs waiting to spot NBA players and their entourages... maybe he could go back to journalism school, learn some ethics and become a REAL journalist... but I doubt that will ever happen...
And this is what he changed it to:
Posted by ducks39 on 02/15/08 at 7:30PM
JC: You're an outstanding columnist. I appreciate your viewpoints. Please keep writing the truth.
Talk about your insecure writers. All because in another post, I asked a simple question"John, does your ex-wife like the anchor woman you cheated on her with?"
You see, he can dish out the negative truths, but he can't take it. He has made himself a public figure with his column and radio gigs making HIS transgressions fair game. Little Johnny boy, though, couldn't handle it.
So, I have created this blog to talk trash and provide the OTHER side of the story. Every time Canzano writes a negative Ducks reference, I am going to blast him. Here, he has NO control over what I say. Every time he writes something that is ridiculous, I am going to refute him here.
For you Beaver Believers that want to bash me for my bias... keep in mind he has written just as much bad about the Beavs as he has the Ducks (well, not as much, but he did start the Fire Mike Riley campaign two years in a row with his columns). This is not about the Ducks, the Beavs, the Blazers or any other team specifically, it is about an ego-maniac who has lost sight of reality and has no credible boundaries nor ANY journalistic integrity. I am sick of his unfettered comments that no one can truly contest without him pouting and crying like the panzy he is.
Don't like what I have to say? Oh well.
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