The Portland Oregonian's Jason Quick on Tuesday announced that he will "no longer cover the Portland Trail Blazers and would instead cover the University of Oregon's football team," according to Ben Golliver of SB NATION. Quick had covered the Blazers "as a beat writer and columnist for 13 years." Quick said he asked off the Blazers beat because "it had become stale." He added, "I think I just lost faith in a lot of the NBA. I've seen a lot of bull----. From putting your heart and soul into a player and believing him when he talks about kissing his kids at night and all that, then you write that, and the next road trip you see him with somebody that's not his wife, basically getting it on. That's disheartening to me. There's a lot of times where you hear a bunch of bull---- from these guys, it's hard to believe anything." Quick continued, "I've seen how money changes players, changes their attitudes, so I think over time it eroded the goodwill that I had, pursuing stories because you want to believe what you're writing, you know? There's just too many instances where I would buy into it and down the road realize it was all bull---." Quick that said the low period was during the tenures of former GMs Steve Patterson and John Nash, "where they started recording our interviews." Quick: "The first time they implemented that policy, they had (director of communications) Mike Hanson tape-record an interview I did with Steve Patterson. Mike Hanson screwed up the transcript, I can't remember exactly what it was. ... I'd have to go back. ... They put it on their website. I went back and fought it, 'No, no, listen to my tape.' They were like, 'Well, yeah, you're right'" (SBNATION.com, 8/20).
DUCK COMMANDER: Quick details his time with the team and writes the "balancing act between gaining trust and telling the truth was the most difficult aspect about covering the Blazers." Quick: "I remembered early in my career being pulled aside by [Damon] Stoudamire, who told me that no matter how the players treated me outwardly ... if I told the truth they would respect me. I took that to heart, no matter how difficult it was. And there were some uncomfortable times." Quick continued, "After 13 years, it felt like the right time to let someone else have a voice on the Blazers. I wanted to get away and write longer profiles, more in-depth pieces, maybe some more columns. Do some Timbers. Oregon and Oregon State. High school games. And when it warranted, the Blazers, too. That was the plan, until [UO beat reporter] Aaron Fentress unexpectedly left. I volunteered to fill the void, and now I will follow through and try to give you the best Ducks coverage I can" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/22).
