So in Portland there's this show on CSN after Blazers games called "Talkin' Ball." Local sports people, talking about the Portland Trail Blazers and what happened in the game. A local radio host, Isaac Ropp, was one of the panel members, until this week. He was fired from the show. OK, no big deal, sports media person removed from sports media panel.

Except for what he says happened.

Essentially, Ropp says he was fired on account of his being critical of the team both on-air and on his own personal Twitter account, going so far as to call Blazers GM Neil Olshey "sports Trump." Here's a transcript via Blazers blog Blazers Edge:

Ropp: That's all Blazers stuff. They control everything. When you get to Talking Ball after the post-game show, that is controlled by CSN, the station that we're on here. And they are partners with the Blazers, but the Blazers shouldn't control that content. But what I think you need to know about me getting turfed was--and look, I take responsibility because I am a smartass--I don't sugar coat--I have actually a really hard time sugar coating stuff. I don't do that; that's just me. And particularly on Twitter. But I've always prided myself on just telling the damn truth about this basketball team. And look, they're having a bad year. They are having a bad year. And I think if you think I'm too negative, you need to go back and look at clips of last year when I loved this team. This team was fun last year and I praised them all year. But I always tell it like it is and I got fired for that. And I asked the guys who let me go--who are very good guys to work for--I asked them 'Did I cross the line or did I do anything wrong or was I unfair?'

That was my question. Was I unfair, did I cross a line, they said no and no. Well, I still got fired. And this is what you need to know; what you need to know is the Trail Blazers are controlling content that they shouldn't be controlling. That's BS. And if I'm a Blazers fan, I'm pissed about that. And guess who it is--it's Neil Olshey is who it is. I called him the sports Trump because that guy is the most sensitive guy I've ever seen in this business. EVER.

He hears and sees everything and he's got a bee in his bonnet about Twitter because of its shareability, and it's been a bad year. So if you think I crossed a line, that's for you to decide. Whatever. CSN didn't think I crossed a line, I certainly didn't think I crossed a line; I'm just telling it like it is. Well I got fired for that. I think that's BS, and if you're a fan watching Blazers content, I just think you need to watch closely and understand how much they are controlling what they should not be able to control.

Source: TV Commentator: "Neil Olshey Got Me Fired" - Blazer's Edge.

So a couple of things here:

1. Here's the official statement from CSN Northwest, via The Oregonian:

CSN Northwest vice president and general manager Larry Eldridge, in an email exchange with The Oregonian/OregonLive, said the decision to fire Ropp was his, not Olshey's.

"It was totally, 100 (percent) my decision to remove Isaac from Talkin' Ball," Eldridge wrote.

"The team/(Neil) Olshey did not participate at all in that decision."Ropp doesn't deny he's been hard on the Blazers this season.

Source: Isaac Ropp fired from CSN Northwest TV show; calls Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey 'Sports Trump' | OregonLive.com.

So maybe CSN just made an editorial decision based on audience feedback, or internal reviews, or budgeting, or whatever else. It's entirely possible that the Blazers really did have no impact on this decision and that it's just your run of the mill change of personnel on a show. That's the official position of the station, and it deserves recognition.

2. This is not the first time there have been rumblings of Blazers management seeking to exert excessive control over media. The team has instituted staggered access for blogs in the past, and there have been consistent rumblings over Olshey's at-times recalcitrant approach to both local and national media. However, some outlets have good, long-standing relationships with Olshey, who was the GM in Los Angeles for the Clippers before joining Portland. Olshey has appeared on the Vertical podcast, for example.

3. Ropp's point, which he made on his show linked above, is that CSN's productions should be independent of influence from the team. This situation is felt all across the league, where broadcasters and coverage crews are actually paid members of the team. That can influence both the live announcing of the team, and things like awards voting, as many members of the announce crews are given votes in MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and other accolades.

The Blazers announcers are actually paid by the team, with production provided by CSN. But the show Ropp was fired from is not a Blazers production. So it forces the question: Should media outlets partnered with a team or sports entity be beholden to protecting the team from criticism, or do they have a journalistic responsibility to be honest and critical in accordance with the desires of the audience, made up of the fans?

Now, again, maybe it was just Ropp's sarcastic, abrasive approach that set off alarms and ultimately triggered his release. But the optics are not good.

The optics are that of a team spiraling after a fluke season last year buoyed by a two-month spate of unsustainable play that reached the 5th seed in a down year in the West, suffering from rapidly dwindling hopes of making any progress from last year and facing a best-case scenario of having their brains beaten in by the Warriors in the opening round.

olshey0403.jpg
Neil Olshey runs the Blazers. USATSI

(In related news, the Blazers lost to the Mavericks on Friday after they went under every screen vs. Yogi Ferrell as he dropped 32 points.)

4. The Blazers are not alone in wanting their brand protected on these shows. On Lakers broadcasts, you would hear analysts defending Byron Scott last year. You'll routinely hear perspectives filtered through the lens of what the team find acceptable. It's not like that's an outlier situation, and most teams employ not only TV personnel, but web writers to provide coverage they find appropriate.

5. These things are always subjective to perspective. Proponents of the front office, even if they did become involved in the process despite the statement from CSN, would say that the team has a right to not be partnered with someone who they feel unfairly criticizes them. Likewise, every media member knows that there are repercussions to criticism, it's part of the job. The question is whether Portland is overstepping its bounds in trying to control the message, and what that says about where the team is at.

And if the Blazers did have any influence over the decision, the answer to that last question is "nothing good."