Jeff Schultz in AJC

[hawkman]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Here's my take: Schultz was implying (at least how I read it) that Gearon Jr got his daddy to call and yell at the columnist. Schultz is apparently ignorant that 'daddy' has been a crucial part of the Hawks for decades, OR he knew well who Gearon Sr was and chose to portray him as just an owner's dad. Ignorance or malice, take your pick.

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But with all of the things he reported about the franchise itself, doesn't that seem like a really small thing? Does it make any of the other things he said any less true? This is the first meat and potatoes article I've seen on the Hawks in a while and some people on this board are getting hung up on perceived slights. I just don't think something so trivial should be cause to discredit the journalist who wrote this article or the article itself. Any attempt to do so sounds more like a weapon of mass distraction rather than genuine outrage over a perceived slight.

[TexasPete]

Yes, it is a small thing. So small it is irrelevant. Its not that big a deal to not know Gearon sr. was with the Hawks. He was away from the Hawks for awhile...then he jumped on his sons bid and now has a very small ownership piece. The main owner is his son...

the article made a point to bring up a call by senior to dissuade him from writing a damning article. When you call a writer you better know he can bring it up. And, just what have these guys done to claim immunity? Other than get involved in the worst feud in NBA history, a feud that is in the courts and taking its toll on an already miserable franchise. This team is a joke...why should someone back off on writing an article that calls a spade a spade?

He didn't show any disrespect at all to Gearon Sr...just reported an interesting exchange that took place before the article was written. My guess is that asking favors from writers in cases like this is very unusual. And the request usually comes from people with better track records. I still don't see where the offense is...unless, were talking about the offensive ownership. To me, that is highly offensive.

[AHF]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Here's my take: Schultz was implying (at least how I read it) that Gearon Jr got his daddy to call and yell at the columnist. Schultz is apparently ignorant that 'daddy' has been a crucial part of the Hawks for decades, OR he knew well who Gearon Sr was and chose to portray him as just an owner's dad. Ignorance or malice, take your pick.

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But with all of the things he reported about the franchise itself, doesn't that seem like a really small thing? Does it make any of the other things he said any less true? This is the first meat and potatoes article I've seen on the Hawks in a while and some people on this board are getting hung up on perceived slights. I just don't think something so trivial should be cause to discredit the journalist who wrote this article or the article itself. Any attempt to do so sounds more like a weapon of mass distraction rather than genuine outrage over a perceived slight.

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It has only become a hot button issue on this thread because someone won't admit it was ignorance or malice. Dr. Z his the nail on the thread here. It was unprofessional and not the kind of mistake that you would expect from a sports journalist regarding a professional team in his home market.

The underlying article is a separate issue that I am not debating here. But it ticked me off that he basically disregarded Gearon as being a legitimate voice and referred to him as an owners' daddy.

[Vol4ever]

Last winning season was 1997-1998. Pathetic to say the least!

[Swatguy]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Not so correct. Schultz is a columnist not a reporter. Columnist and reporters function differently. Columnist have certain latitudes. My problem is the blatant disrepect of an owner and community leader needlessly. That would be akin of me blasting TexasPete by his real name. The inclusion of his name is classless and regretable. But that is Jeff Schultz's cross to bear.

[hawkman]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Not so correct. Schultz is a columnist not a reporter. Columnist and reporters function differently. Columnist have certain latitudes. My problem is the blatant disrepect of an owner and community leader needlessly. That would be akin of me blasting TexasPete by his real name. The inclusion of his name is classless and regretable. But that is Jeff Schultz's cross to bear.

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I just don't get the disrespect angle. I know this was stated earlier, but Gearon should have expected this to be reported. If he had kept his opinions to himself, his name would never have been mentioned. None of the other owners were really mentioned in the article. You wanna know why? Because they didn't provide anything "newsworthy" to write about. I understand that you guys respect Mr. Gearon, and probably for good reason. But the bottom line is that it's his fault that his name got mentioned in that article. Now if Schultz made some unsolicited personal attack on the man, that's a different story. But as it stands now, Schultz was just doing his job. Keep in mind that I don't know Schultz. The guy could be a major league jerk for all I know. But I feel that he was operating well within his responsibilities in what he wrote.

[AHF]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Not so correct. Schultz is a columnist not a reporter. Columnist and reporters function differently. Columnist have certain latitudes. My problem is the blatant disrepect of an owner and community leader needlessly. That would be akin of me blasting TexasPete by his real name. The inclusion of his name is classless and regretable. But that is Jeff Schultz's cross to bear.

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I just don't get the disrespect angle. I know this was stated earlier, but Gearon should have expected this to be reported. If he had kept his opinions to himself, his name would never have been mentioned. None of the other owners were really mentioned in the article. You wanna know why? Because they didn't provide anything "newsworthy" to write about. I understand that you guys respect Mr. Gearon, and probably for good reason. But the bottom line is that it's his fault that his name got mentioned in that article. Now if Schultz made some unsolicited personal attack on the man, that's a different story. But as it stands now, Schultz was just doing his job. Keep in mind that I don't know Schultz. The guy could be a major league jerk for all I know. But I feel that he was operating well within his responsibilities in what he wrote.

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The issue isn't that Gearon was mentioned. It was how he was mentioned. There is a big difference saying that an owner with the team or other legitimate contact phoned Schulz and tried to defend Woody and that Schultz disagreed and saying that an owner's daddy called him. The way Schultz said that was misleading and inaccurate but also disregarded Gearon as a legitimate voice with the Hawks when it is difficult to think of an owner anywhere in the league with more credentials to speak on substantive basketball operations than Gearon. He was called by a former GM, President and Chairman of the Hawks who is now a minority owner in the team - not someone's daddy (or Adolph Hitler for that matter).

[TroyMcClure]

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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.?

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I think this is a more pertinent question.

[AHF]

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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.?

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I think this is a more pertinent question.

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No, it speaks to Schultz not knowing much about the workings of the organization he is covering. That is fine as an outsider but as someone working for the AJC it is a pretty significant oversight.

[Hoosier]

I met Mr. Gearon back in 79' or 80', while working for a radio station in town. He is the number one Hawks fan in all of Atlanta, and there would not be a franchise in Atlanta today if not for him. So you can talk about this trade or that firing all day long, but it would be a moot conversation without him. If he calls me with an opinion on the Hawks, I'm at least going to listen to him. In the case of Woody he is wrong.

But for this talking head from the AJC to show the disrespect that he did to this man, just makes me want to puke. He is obviously using print to even a score on a long standing feud, he knows the contributions Mr. Gearon has made to this city. I wish the AJC would show some balls and fire him.

[hawkman]

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I met Mr. Gearon back in 79' or 80', while working for a radio station in town. He is the number one Hawks fan in all of Atlanta, and there would not be a franchise in Atlanta today if not for him. So you can talk about this trade or that firing all day long, but it would be a moot conversation without him. If he calls me with an opinion on the Hawks, I'm at least going to listen to him. In the case of Woody he is wrong.

But for this talking head from the AJC to show the disrespect that he did to this man, just makes me want to puke. He is obviously using print to even a score on a long standing feud, he knows the contributions Mr. Gearon has made to this city. I wish the AJC would show some balls and fire him.

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So we've come back to him getting fired for what he wrote again. Maybe I need sensitivity training or something. I give up.

[TexasPete]

I'm with you Hawkman. If Gearon is such an Atlanta legend then he needs to let more people know. Other than Nique I wasn't aware there were any big shots in Hawks history.

The truth is it really doesn't matter if Schultz didn't know he was an ATL legend back in the day. Why Senior is trying to prevent THE FIRST real negative article on this mess of an ownership group is a little ridiculous.

Basically, after 7 lousy years and 4 under these awful owners, it was long overdue to call them out.

A few people here are splitting hairs over this deal and it makes no sense. The gist of the article was right on. Nuff said.

[DrReality]

Sekou caught the vibes and weighed in: from his blog

What’s with all the venom for Jeff Schultz for his criticism of the Hawks and their owners? He wasn’t anywhere near as cold-blooded as some have been around these parts (you know who you are). Just like everyone here weighs in with their thoughts, Shultz is entitled to his opinions. I had no problem with what he said about the state of the Hawks after Friday’s win over the Pistons. He came and surveyed the situation and wrote it the way he saw it. Everyone’s entitled to his or her own opinions.

[hawkman]

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Sekou caught the vibes and weighed in: from his blog

What’s with all the venom for Jeff Schultz for his criticism of the Hawks and their owners? He wasn’t anywhere near as cold-blooded as some have been around these parts (you know who you are). Just like everyone here weighs in with their thoughts, Shultz is entitled to his opinions. I had no problem with what he said about the state of the Hawks after Friday’s win over the Pistons. He came and surveyed the situation and wrote it the way he saw it. Everyone’s entitled to his or her own opinions.

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Sekou co-signs the article by Schultz? Is this the definition of irony or what?

[AHF]

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I met Mr. Gearon back in 79' or 80', while working for a radio station in town. He is the number one Hawks fan in all of Atlanta, and there would not be a franchise in Atlanta today if not for him. So you can talk about this trade or that firing all day long, but it would be a moot conversation without him. If he calls me with an opinion on the Hawks, I'm at least going to listen to him. In the case of Woody he is wrong.

But for this talking head from the AJC to show the disrespect that he did to this man, just makes me want to puke. He is obviously using print to even a score on a long standing feud, he knows the contributions Mr. Gearon has made to this city. I wish the AJC would show some balls and fire him.

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So we've come back to him getting fired for what he wrote again. Maybe I need sensitivity training or something. I give up.

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Hoosier is right about showing disrespect but I don't agree it should be a cause for his termination. I would sit him down and let him know that if he wants to write serious articles either (1) he needs to educate himself about who he is writing about or (2) he needs to avoid dismissive insults of people who have given so much of themselves to a team over 30 years. Report that Gearon tried to change your mind and that you disagree with him - but don't make him out to be some owner's daddy as a way of taking a misleading shot at the ASG.

[Johnnybravo4]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Not so correct. Schultz is a columnist not a reporter. Columnist and reporters function differently. Columnist have certain latitudes. My problem is the blatant disrepect of an owner and community leader needlessly. That would be akin of me blasting TexasPete by his real name. The inclusion of his name is classless and regretable. But that is Jeff Schultz's cross to bear.

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Disrespecting owners? I'll disrespect them right now. F*ck em all. How about that for disrespect?

[Hoosier]

Trust me, it is personal between the columnist and Mr. Gearon, I know the way these people work. That is why he should have is a$$ canned, you should not be allowed to air personal laundry in a forum like tne AJC. If you have any class as a writer, you don't even acknowlege that there was a call, these things are commonplace in that business.

This columnist has been around a long time, no one need educate him on who Mr. Gearon is. Atlanta would be competing with Las Vegas right now for a franchise, if not for that owner's father. Which means Sekou would not have a job here.

[AHF]

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What exactly is the cheap shot? I'm just curious...

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I was wondering the same thing. I actually had to read the article again to see why this has become such a hot button topic. I don't see how Schultz went out of his way to mention Gearon in the article. My guess is if Gearon hadn't have tried to dissuade Schultz from writing it in the first place, his name wouldn't have been included. Schultz just reported events as they happened. His job is to report the news. When a man of Gearon's stature contacts you personally, THAT IS NEWS. I don't see what was so disrespectful about it other than the fact that he might have gotten his Gearon Jr's and Sr's mixed up.

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Not so correct. Schultz is a columnist not a reporter. Columnist and reporters function differently. Columnist have certain latitudes. My problem is the blatant disrepect of an owner and community leader needlessly. That would be akin of me blasting TexasPete by his real name. The inclusion of his name is classless and regretable. But that is Jeff Schultz's cross to bear.

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Disrespecting owners? I'll disrespect them right now. F*ck em all. How about that for disrespect?

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I love you hearing you say FU to Dominique Wilkins. Why don't you do it again if you enjoy it so much?

[Johnnybravo4]

He has a ceremonial ownership piece. He doesn't count....lol

[AHF]

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He has a ceremonial ownership piece. He doesn't count....lol

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You still said FU to Dominique Wilkins. My point is that you should stop and think abit before deciding to F em all.

No one should be happy with things as they now stand, but the whole Belkin scenario is really screwing the pooch with this team.