Jeff Schultz in AJC

[TroyMcClure]

You know nothing about journalism. Why was it unethical?

[AHF]

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You know nothing about journalism. Why was it unethical?

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I agree it was not at all unethical. It was just unprofessionally sloppy. If Schultz keeps writing like that he will never be anything more than a joke in the sports section. He could make the same point and write like many of Walter's posts and be a professional.

[TroyMcClure]

I don't want to tank. Oden is not coming out, and I have zero faith in current ownership. We will not be fixed until there is clear new ownership or we have a new franchise four our CITY. I want to win every game. It's a shame Mr. Gearon Sr. thinks Woody knows how to.

[AHF]

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I don't want to tank. Oden is not coming out, and I have zero faith in current ownership. We will not be fixed until there is clear new ownership or we have a new franchise four our CITY. I want to win every game. It's a shame Mr. Gearon Sr. thinks Woody knows how to.

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If Belkin was out of the picture and we wanted to win every game (as I think the owners do), then Woody should be gone yesterday. Without the ability to recruit a good coach with the Belkin situation out there, though, then I don't think the risk of damage to the team from such a big midseason change is worthwhile when you aren't going to be able to land a coach who was good enough to land another job in the NBA with another team. Only a job like Philly would be looking comparably bad at this point.

[DrReality]

When this kind of press appears in the newspaper it reflects a certain degree of frustration or disdain among the fans. It is a pulse so to speak on the support or lack of it. I think it blows that he wrote the article right after we played our best game in weeks. I'm also kind of surprised he wrote it. This kind of thing more often comes from T Moore.

[Johnnybravo4]

Now this is the heat I expect from the Atlanta media! Too bad it was on a blog and not the front page of the sports section. We should have articles like this every day. Create a critical mass and force these bozos out of Phillips.

[TexasPete]

AHF, you really have no solid points in your defense of the nutless Gearon's. First, Gearon IS THE FATHER of one of our main owners. Gearon Sr. is a very small, fractional owner. But what did the guy say that was inaccurate? Talk about splitting hairs. And Gearon has been with a team that hasn't done a dang thing since he has been with the team. This guy deserves so much respect? How so? You would think this guy was some great organizational guru by reading your posts.

Another point of the article was to point out the amateurism prevalent with these turkeys. Having family members in the locker room snapping pictures? Come on that wasn't the time or place. This just reeks of jock sniffing owners. Also, if the Sprit don't want negative articles then try not being the worst team in sports over 4 years. What do they expect? Please don't call anybody out or hold someone accountable because we are nice guys? Do you know how the media would treat these ass clowns in a real sports town? These guys would have sold the team by now because they would be pariahs wherever they would go...they couldn't go out in public without ridicule in a NY, Philly, Boston, or Chicago. Because our record over 4 years in the worst of all time. This isn't a bad year, this crap is like groundhog day. And some columnist isn't supposed to write a negative article? Who does this guy think he is?

Gearon Sr. hasn't made a positive ripple with this team in 37 years. Stop defending these guys at least until they finish second to last...the fact is that the AJC should be hammering Knight and Woodson every day. Especially Knight who is the most arrogant and incompetant man I have ever seen running a team. Guys who perform that bad shouldn't be A-holes.

Keep it coming Schultz, somebody has to end this nonsense and stop the free lunches these guys are getting.

[hawkman]

Strange, I thought the fans actually wanted a voice to vent their frustrations with this franchise. The article by Schultz, with the exception of a minor inaccuracy, was right on. He hasn't said anything that hasn't been said on this board a hundred times over. Now there are are people(AHF&Lunarblues) who think this guy should be punished in some way for him exercising his freedom of speech? This is not the Nazi regime. Their should be no suppression or manipulation of the media and Gearon Sr. or Jr. or whoever has no right to stifle free speech. The product on the floor and the organization itself has been an embarassment to the ATL and Hawk fans everywhere with no one taking any responsibility or accountability whatsoever. I'm surprised this article hasn't been written earlier. Can you imagine the media frenzy if this nonsense was going on in New York or Philly? Honestly, there has been worse stuff written on this board about the Hawks and the organization itself, and yet I don't remember anybody getting banned for it. It's one thing to disagree with this guy's opinion, but it is quite another to call his credentials as a journalist into question and think that he should be PUNISHED for his opinion.

[AHF]

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Strange, I thought the fans actually wanted a voice to vent their frustrations with this franchise. The article by Schultz, with the exception of a minor inaccuracy, was right on. He hasn't said anything that hasn't been said on this board a hundred times over. Now there are are people(AHF&Lunarblues) who think this guy should be punished in some way for him exercising his freedom of speech? This is not the Nazi regime. Their should be no suppression or manipulation of the media and Gearon Sr. or Jr. or whoever has no right to stifle free speech. The product on the floor and the organization itself has been an embarassment to the ATL and Hawk fans everywhere with no one taking any responsibility or accountability whatsoever. I'm surprised this article hasn't been written earlier. Can you imagine the media frenzy if this nonsense was going on in New York or Philly? Honestly, there has been worse stuff written on this board about the Hawks and the organization itself, and yet I don't remember anybody getting banned for it. It's one thing to disagree with this guy's opinion, but it is quite another to call his credentials as a journalist into question and think that he should be PUNISHED for his opinion.

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This is the among dumbest posts I have ever read on this cite. Since you have singled me out by name here, please point to where I have said that Schultz article should be supressed or that he can't write it.

I said it was unprofessional, inaccurate and misleading in his discussion of Gearon.

His credentials should be called into question on this one. What he did is akin to a journalist ridiculing George Herbert Walker Bush's discussion with him trying to convince to change an article on a matter of governmental policy policy by calling him the "President's daddy" while totally ignoring that this guy has been in politics for over 20 years and was a former president himself.

It is at best an irresponsible oversite. It is insulting because it is condescending to someone who has been associated in such significant roles with the Atlanta Hawks uninterrupted for 30 years.

I didn't even criticize his opinion on the current state of the Hawks.

I certainly did NOT state or imply that he didn't have a first amendment right to write what he did. It is way out of bounds for you to claim I did or to claim that my criticism of the quality of his journalism is like anything the Nazis did.

[TroyMcClure]

I don't think you came off right. I know you don't support this. Some of us are just a little more cut and dry. Respect goes out the window after this many years.

Doesn't it speak to his lack of a positive impact that Schultz would not know or didn't care that he used to be GM, pres., etc.?

[Swatguy]

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This is the among dumbest posts I have ever read on this cite. Since you have singled me out by name here, please point to where I have said that Schultz article should be supressed or that he can't write it.

I said it was unprofessional, inaccurate and misleading in his discussion of Gearon.

His credentials should be called into question on this one. What he did is akin to a journalist ridiculing George Herbert Walker Bush's discussion with him trying to convince to change an article on a matter of governmental policy policy by calling him the "President's daddy" while totally ignoring that this guy has been in politics for over 20 years and was a former president himself.

It is at best an irresponsible oversite. It is insulting because it is condescending to someone who has been associated in such significant roles with the Atlanta Hawks uninterrupted for 30 years.

I didn't even criticize his opinion on the current state of the Hawks.

I certainly did NOT state or imply that he didn't have a first amendment right to write what he did. It is way out of bounds for you to claim I did or to claim that my criticism of the

quality

of his journalism is like anything the Nazis did.

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AHF I agree with you. Mr. Gearon is a highly respected figure in the Atlanta and business community. To dis respect his supposed request of favor publicly is appalling.

To grandstand and drop Mr. Gearon's name in the paper is ridiculous. These are the reason why BK gives Bradley and Schultz no place. Say what you may, T Moore and Sekou are the stand-up guys to respect. Both are not faceless in the Hawks locker and meetings. Bradley and Schultz write their dribble from a distance, cowardly never show their face until four/five weeks after writing their bile.

Schultz may be respected in Midtown but not in the Swats.

[DJlaysitup]

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... Stop defending these guys at least until they finish second to last...

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LOL - and dead right.

[TroyMcClure]

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AHF I agree with you. Mr. Gearon is a highly respected figure in the Atlanta and business community. To dis respect his supposed request of favor publicly is appalling.

To grandstand and drop Mr. Gearon's name in the paper is ridiculous. These are the reason why BK gives Bradley and Schultz no place. Say what you may, T Moore and Sekou are the stand-up guys to respect. Both are not faceless in the Hawks locker and meetings. Bradley and Schultz write their dribble from a distance, cowardly never show their face until four/five weeks after writing their bile.

Schultz may be respected in Midtown but not in the Swats.

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He is respected by people that can read. Why would anyone want to be close to BK, Woody, or any other part of this mess. If you stay away that can't have you as another excuse. Bradley and Schultz are white. So what? They also tell the truth. Sekou is so happy to have a job working an "NBA" beat, it's not funny. He should be faaaaaaaar more critical if he knows anything about basketball, or winning for that matter.

[DJlaysitup]

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... If you stay away that can't have you as another excuse. ...

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No offense but.....what?

[TroyMcClure]

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... If you stay away they can't have you as another excuse. ...

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No offense but.....what?

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That is what I meant to say. He was saying that Bradley and Schultz were too cowardly to hang around in the locker room.

My point is why would they want to? As excuses are like air for these guys, I was just pointing out that they can't blame critical media in the locker room or paper for the poor performance. Which you know they would. Something like "At a critical point like this, with all the injuries, it's not helpful to have criticisms from people who really don't understand the whole situation BLAH, BLAH, BLAH."

See what I'm getting at?

[DJlaysitup]

Well... I agree...there isn't any glory in failing. Nobody "immortalised" the designer of the Maginot Line - cause the Germans went through it like sh!t through a goose.

There is ABSOLUTELY no reason that the Atlanta Hawks aren't one of the best NBA franchises...just lousy management (IMO).

[hawkman]

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Strange, I thought the fans actually wanted a voice to vent their frustrations with this franchise. The article by Schultz, with the exception of a minor inaccuracy, was right on. He hasn't said anything that hasn't been said on this board a hundred times over. Now there are are people(AHF&Lunarblues) who think this guy should be punished in some way for him exercising his freedom of speech? This is not the Nazi regime. Their should be no suppression or manipulation of the media and Gearon Sr. or Jr. or whoever has no right to stifle free speech. The product on the floor and the organization itself has been an embarassment to the ATL and Hawk fans everywhere with no one taking any responsibility or accountability whatsoever. I'm surprised this article hasn't been written earlier. Can you imagine the media frenzy if this nonsense was going on in New York or Philly? Honestly, there has been worse stuff written on this board about the Hawks and the organization itself, and yet I don't remember anybody getting banned for it. It's one thing to disagree with this guy's opinion, but it is quite another to call his credentials as a journalist into question and think that he should be PUNISHED for his opinion.

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This is the among dumbest posts I have ever read on this cite. Since you have singled me out by name here, please point to where I have said that Schultz article should be supressed or that he can't write it.

I said it was unprofessional, inaccurate and misleading in his discussion of Gearon.

His credentials should be called into question on this one. What he did is akin to a journalist ridiculing George Herbert Walker Bush's discussion with him trying to convince to change an article on a matter of governmental policy policy by calling him the "President's daddy" while totally ignoring that this guy has been in politics for over 20 years and was a former president himself.

It is at best an irresponsible oversite. It is insulting because it is condescending to someone who has been associated in such significant roles with the Atlanta Hawks uninterrupted for 30 years.

I didn't even criticize his opinion on the current state of the Hawks.

I certainly did NOT state or imply that he didn't have a first amendment right to write what he did. It is way out of bounds for you to claim I did or to claim that my criticism of the quality of his journalism is like anything the Nazis did.

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Yeah you're right. You didn't say that Schultz should be punished, Lunarblues said that, and I mentioned him by name in my post as well. And no, you didn't say anything about suppressing the media directly. But you definitely seem to have no problem with Mr. Gearon doing so. When Schultz not only failed to comply with Mr. Gearon's request but also reported this attempt to suppress the media, you criticized him mercilessly and called his credentials into question. That in itself is appaling. How can you NOT find fault with what Mr. Gearon attempted to do here? The franchise is currently in a pitiful state with no one taking any responsibility. What do expect to happen here? Do you expect the media to have the same "stay the course" philosophy that others within the Hawks organization as well as some on this board seem to have? THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!!! and thank goodness for that. I respect what Mr. Gearon has done for this franchise and the sports culture of the city of Atlanta but when he seeks to suppress the media or free speech in any shape form or fashion, HE IS WRONG!!! And anyone who has no problem with this needs to go back to Civics class. Oh, and by the way, your post was the dumbest post that I've ever read on this forum.

[AHF]

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Strange, I thought the fans actually wanted a voice to vent their frustrations with this franchise. The article by Schultz, with the exception of a minor inaccuracy, was right on. He hasn't said anything that hasn't been said on this board a hundred times over. Now there are are people(AHF&Lunarblues) who think this guy should be punished in some way for him exercising his freedom of speech? This is not the Nazi regime. Their should be no suppression or manipulation of the media and Gearon Sr. or Jr. or whoever has no right to stifle free speech. The product on the floor and the organization itself has been an embarassment to the ATL and Hawk fans everywhere with no one taking any responsibility or accountability whatsoever. I'm surprised this article hasn't been written earlier. Can you imagine the media frenzy if this nonsense was going on in New York or Philly? Honestly, there has been worse stuff written on this board about the Hawks and the organization itself, and yet I don't remember anybody getting banned for it. It's one thing to disagree with this guy's opinion, but it is quite another to call his credentials as a journalist into question and think that he should be PUNISHED for his opinion.

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This is the among dumbest posts I have ever read on this cite. Since you have singled me out by name here, please point to where I have said that Schultz article should be supressed or that he can't write it.

I said it was unprofessional, inaccurate and misleading in his discussion of Gearon.

His credentials should be called into question on this one. What he did is akin to a journalist ridiculing George Herbert Walker Bush's discussion with him trying to convince to change an article on a matter of governmental policy policy by calling him the "President's daddy" while totally ignoring that this guy has been in politics for over 20 years and was a former president himself.

It is at best an irresponsible oversite. It is insulting because it is condescending to someone who has been associated in such significant roles with the Atlanta Hawks uninterrupted for 30 years.

I didn't even criticize his opinion on the current state of the Hawks.

I certainly did NOT state or imply that he didn't have a first amendment right to write what he did. It is way out of bounds for you to claim I did or to claim that my criticism of the quality of his journalism is like anything the Nazis did.

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Yeah you're right. You didn't say that Schultz should be punished, Lunarblues said that, and I mentioned him by name in my post as well. And no, you didn't say anything about suppressing the media directly. But you definitely seem to have no problem with Mr. Gearon doing so.

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Why should I? Gearn gave his point of view to Schultz and didn't threaten him with any kind of reprisal. If Arthur Blank made his case to a columnist why his defensive coordinator from last season was not responsible for the unit's failings in light of the injury problems I wouldn't have a problem with that. If Gearon or Blank offered money to a columnist or threatened them, etc. that would be a problem for me. The whole idea of the media is so that there is a marketplace of ideas. From what Schultz wrote, it didn't sound like Gearn did anything more than try to make Schultz believe his idea was the best. I have no problem with that.

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When Schultz not only failed to comply with Mr. Gearon's request but also reported this attempt to suppress the media, you criticized him mercilessly and called his credentials into question. That in itself is appaling.

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Tell me why that is appalling. I called his credentials into question because he belittled someone who has been the GM, President, Chairman of the Board or an owner of the Hawks for 30 years. Schultz didn't know who he was talking about. That deserves ridicule in a market like this one. We aren't talking about somebody who was a tag along owner from Washington. We are talking about one of the big names in Hawks basketball from the 1970s to the present. It is the quality of his jounralism that deserves to be screwered mercilessly on this one - and I enjoy Schultz' column and would not want him to leave the AJC if I had the choice. I just think if he is going to do more than funny quips and weekend predictions that he needs to do a minimum amount of homework - particularly when he is going out of his way to ridicule someone. He didn't do that here.

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How can you NOT find fault with what Mr. Gearon attempted to do here? The franchise is currently in a pitiful state with no one taking any responsibility. What do expect to happen here? Do you expect the media to have the same "stay the course" philosophy that others within the Hawks organization as well as some on this board seem to have? THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!!! and thank goodness for that. I respect what Mr. Gearon has done for this franchise and the sports culture of the city of Atlanta but when he seeks to suppress the media or free speech in any shape form or fashion, HE IS WRONG!!! And anyone who has no problem with this needs to go back to Civics class. Oh, and by the way, your post was the dumbest post that I've ever read on this forum.

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Gearon did nothing untoward regarding Schultz. I expect the owners of the Hawks, Thrashers, Braves, Falcons, etc. to attempt to persuade media members of their point of view by using facts and ideas. If their ideas don't appeal and they don't prevail in the intellectual marketplace, then the columnists won't listen to them and will take them on. Schultz could have done that here without taking shots at Gearon and his role with the Hawks. He didn't. Gearon did nothing wrong from where I stand because Schultz doesn't even hint that there was any kind of threat or promise of any kind if he changed the substance of his column. Just the offered rationalization of ownership. Offering a viewpoint and asking someone to agree with you is NOT suppression of first amendment rights. In fact, that is a pretty close description to what a columnist does every day.

[hawkman]

Gearon and any of the other owners have had ample opportunity to give statements to the press. They chose not to do that. That is their right. Schultz writes an article(based on actual facts) that paints the organization in a bad light. That is his right. The ASG can't have it both ways here. If the ASG doesn't want to talk to the media, that's fine. I don't agree with it but that's their right. But I do have a problem with an owner trying to stop a journalist from writing an article that may make his team/organization look bad. Gearon can feel free to control the information coming from the Hawks' website or anything that falls under their ownership umbrella. But he cannot control the information that comes from the free press. It's hard for me to fathom why a fan who seems to know so much about the Hawks and the organization and the current mess that's going on wouldn't agree with Schultz here.

[TexasPete]

In another market these horrible owners would be called out on a daily basis. And when a writer finally has the guts to call a spade a spade...an owner calls him and asks him not to do it? Why? What has this ownership done to build equity with ANYONE? These guys need to be hammered 10x more than they are...this newspaper is as awful as any in the nation. Sekou is so concrened with keeping access he doesn't have the guts to write anything controversial. So, these guys have gotten a free pass after having presided over the worst franchise is sports.

Lunarblues: I have never read such a lightweight post on this site. You think everything is rosy in your little hawkland. You think this is all the good ship lollipop. Yeah, a guy should be fired for calling the Hawks owners out for being incompetant. Makes sense to most people here...