Canzano, Kelly have a flirting session over the airwaves
Stumbled across this totally great interview between Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and the Oregonian’s John Canzano. The conversation is ridiculous, mostly because I can’t tell if Canzano is an idiot or if he’s just trying to squeeze some information out of Kelly that he doesn’t want to give out.
Around minute 1:15 Canzano raises a concern to Kelly about whether or not LaMichael James is receiving “star treatment” referencing Kiki Alonso’s year-long suspension after getting a DUII recently. Canzano points out that LaMichael was in jail for 2 days and he hasn’t received an equal amount of discipline.
Kelly responded to Canzano that “I believe my player” leading me to think that at some point, both Alonso and James have had conversations with Kelly. The result of those conversations, or so it seems by Kelly’s responses, is that Alonso may have admitted to Kelly that yes, he was at fault, and that James has told Kelly that he is innocent. Of course, this is merely speculation, as Canzano asked Kelly directly whether or not Kelly was implying that James was innocent. “I’m not commenting on a specific situation,” said Kelly.
Kelly got pissed at Canzano saying, “When this whole thing shakes out, when all the facts are out, you put me on the air again. And you apologize [to me].” The rest of the conversation is totally hilarious, with Kelly arguing semantics of his quotes with Canzano, and Canzano pushing Kelly to ban LaMichael James, “On my program!”
The situation is rapidly becoming more and more ridiculous. Of course, the question is and always will be, why are our football players — seemingly all at once — deciding to get themselves into trouble? Since the parties are innocent until proven guilty, I won’t make overly broad statements, but it should be pointed out that if you are in a situation where you are accused of something like DUII or putting your hands on a woman (or really, anyone), you need to seriously reconsider your direction in life. At the least, there should be some kind of serious oversight by the Athletic Department and our Administration.
What does it take to get a guy like Canzano (Gonzo) fired? I mean really. I know that any time I see an article with him as the author, I won’t even read it.
Is “Jeff Roberts is a douchebag” a logical tautology, or merely the rhetorical kind?
@Jeff: I was at first going to go off into the corner and … bewail? … over the fact that someone on the internet doesn’t like me, or my vocabulary. OH NOES! Allow me to apologize and bury the hatchet … I found a word-a-day calendar on-line at Amazon (on Sale!) that can increase a person’s vocabulary … please let me know how I can get it to you, so that, maybe, you can boost your vocabulary, and we can get along as friends. Thats all I want … is for anonymous strangers on the internet to like me ….
Canzano is a blowhard … his whole editorial pitch is to “find the story behind the headlines” of sports. Often times, this means writing a story that fabricates a non-existing controversy, and then delivers it to the masses as conflict. This isn’t an original technique – its something that modern journalists have picked up on: “If you spin hard enough, you can make ANYTHING a big deal!” This goes hand in hand with “If you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes truth.”
You see this happen a lot with TV journalists covering murder trials … the accused is either slated in the media’s eyes to be either “guilty” or “innocent” (depending on what story the journalists want to sell), and they spin from there. Remember Amanda Knox, the US college student found guilty of murder in Italy? She was convicted of murder (currently going through appeal), but virtually every story you see on TV either implicitly, or sometimes explicitly, defends her.
I would like to see journalists remember the “innocent until proven guilty” law … the media has more power over public opinion and perception than they realize depending on how they cover the story.
ahahahahaha. It’s funny because Jeff is a douchebag .ahahahahaha
Canzano is not an idiot, but he being one on this topic. There is a Vast difference between the State bringing charges, and an private citizen accuser. There is also a vast difference between someone who proclaims his innocence, and another who is admitting guilt. These are both the case, and Canzano can’t seem to wrap his head around that.
I would expect James to have a severe punishment should these charges pan out. But at this point, Kelly should back his player who professes innocents. Canzano wants Kelly to suspend James pending the outcome. My question is Suspend him from what? Right now there is nothing meaningful to suspend him from.
Yes, obviously Canzano was trying to bait Kelly into saying something on his radio show so that Canzano could say the HE did it. Canzano’s a pompous ass. And yes, you are also spot-on that Canzano is an idiot. Two for two. Congratulations!
Yeah, I’m glad Canzano isn’t a criminal attorney for either side, or really anyone with responsibility over anything of significance. The logic skills displayed here and on ESPN yesterday make me doubt his ability to execute a trip to the bathroom successfully.
I think this is the best take on the whole situation I’ve read so far: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/02/23/oregon/index.html
Damn, this is the funniest comments section I’ve ever seen (but then I don’t get around much?) At the risk of being called ‘smart’ or ‘genius’ (heaven forbid) and not gaining any friends, I think Betz wrote a cogent and persuasive comment. Even better, I liked it and got to look up a new word.
@ Jeff Roberts – The ability to bring someone down is something to be proud of. However, criticizing someone for using words that don’t pass your muster makes you a douchebag. I bet you stroke one out every night while reliving the sick burn you threw down on someone’s blog post earlier in the day.
You’re commenting on a blog dipshit, not performing at the Laugh Factory. Eat a dick.
@ Betz – Having an extensive vocabulary is something to be proud of. However, using words like “tautology” and terms such as “logically contradictory” are hilariously pompous. I bet you talk to yourself in the mirror for thirty minutes each morning and tell yourself how great and smart you are.
You’re commenting on a blog genius, not writing a masters thesis. Pat yourself on the back somewhere else…and you wonder why you don’t have any friends.
I think the “ridiculous” factor just comes from the timing. If it were ONLY one player running into trouble, the news would probably run its course through the media outlets in due fashion, and then just peter out from there. The fact that so many athletes have run into trouble, at roughly around the same period of a month, starts all kinds of rumors – many of them false. Chip Kelly doesn’t seem like the kind of coach to favor an athlete because of their stardom (say what you want about Blount, I still think he made the right decision), and rightly so he should hold his ground and let the “innocent until proven guilty” clause bear its full weight.
“Innocent until proven guilty” means that accusations are baseless until they are shown to hold their weight in trial; I find it logically contradictory to say that one believes in this statement, yet also believe in the tautology that “only bad people get accused, so if you get accused, you must be a bad person (and need to re-evaluate your direction in life)”.
How long until someone shows up at an ASUO meeting talking about how the presence Ducks’ players on campus makes them feel “unsafe”?