No, I'm not talking about Ben or Dave. Whom despite the occasional disagreement, I think do a fantastic job. But the recent struggles of The Blazers and the ensuing reaction of a lot of the Non-Blazer Broadcasting related local media really have me wondering. Is Portland Media Hicksville?

I have no idea whether I'm sophisticated...and maybe that admission answers the question...I'm probably closer to Joe The Plumber than James Bond.

方面的运动夹克风扇我一直喜欢have included what I think is a rabid and passionate fanbase. I like the fact that often we overreact. That indifference to the team is a state that seldom develops. I bristle and obsessively defend when ever anyone suggests that Portland and Portland fans are provincial or unsophisticated. I disagree venemously.

But lately, I think the fanbase has been let down by a portion of the local media. Without going into details that this post isn't about, the team is struggling right now. Certain individuals on the team are struggling and facing new developments. I think the franchise, and the team are approaching a crossroads and in a state of flux.

How have a lot of the major local media figures reacted? IMO shamefully Hicksville.

Now don't get me wrong. Another aspect I enjoy about being a Blazer fan IS the wealth of coverage we are blessed with as Blazer fans. Blazer productions, sites like Blazers edge, and The Oregonian, Tribune and The Columbian as well as other individual fan sites and blogs...offer a fans bounty of coverage...and I appreciate it. I enjoy it.

But out of these recent struggles some primaries, some figureheads of local media coverage IMO have shown their worst sides. Instead of clear concise reporting, or even rational and founded opinion, we've been met with unfounded innuendo and a high degree of sensationalism.

Without naming names...because if you know, you'll know who I am talking about, we've been met with stories and reports and opinion that instead of focusing on the realities of the team or actual statements from players, are more focused on stirring up the flames of trouble from the embers of adversity and change. I feel too often like local media is handing me a pitchfork and a torch and telling me to riot....and I don't like to be manipulated.

Stories about "Evil Vulcan Spies". Premature proclamations that McMillan has lost the team. And Brandon Roy, now wears a medic alert necklass to practices so that if he falls he can tell everyone he has fallen and can't get up.

And now a future "Hall of Famer" journalist is blogging about the Mental stability of Brandon Roy. Describing Brandon as the N.B.A. equivalent to television detective Monk...or worse...

IMO...we as a fanbase are too sophisticated for the drivel that is being fed us! We've been let down by a local media that seems to think we NEED or want The Blazers to be a soap opera.

I won't kill the messenger, and I understand that sometimes bad news is simply bad news. But when you get innuendo and inflammatory speculation at the level we seem to be getting it? I think the Portland Fanbase has outgrown some of the local media. We aren't Hicksville...but a lot of the local media are acting like THEY are...