I plan to open the comments up again later today have opened the comments… and I must say it’s been a nice reprieve.

The reaction has been interesting, too. I would say 80 percent of the e-mails I’ve received about closing the comments were favorable to my decision.  A whole lot of people thought it was time for a break and that a lot of the comments were getting out of hand. I apologize for having to make the move, because I like comments. But I just didn’t feel I had the time to police them as well as I should have.

I’m still not sure I do, in fact. But we’re going to give it another shot.

The other 20 percent were rather varied. A few people figure that it’s their God-given right to be able to comment on anything and everything written on the web. And it drove them crazy when they couldn’t leave comments.

Some people thought I shut down the comments because they were growing increasingly critical of me. That’s not true, by the way. I’m accustomed to the criticism and if you’ve ever heard “Dwight’s Greatest Hits” — a compilation of voicemails saved from my days of writing columns at The Oregonian — on 95.5 The Game you’ll know what I mean.

No, what bothered me most was commenter-on-commenter crime. The way people treated each other. I hate to be the venue hosting such hostility. It got nasty and sometimes way too personal.

And another thing that got to me was just how many comments certain people were leaving. Seriously now, if you find yourself leaving 10 or 15 comments on one blog post, you really ought to think about something else to do with your life that might be more productive.

So we’ll start allowing the comments again with a few words of caution:

– Please be nice to each other, even if you can’t be nice to me.

– Understand this blog is free and thus try to treat everyone here with the same respect you’d have for someone opening their home or heart to you.

– Try to limit the number of comments you make on each blog to two or three. Is that too much to ask? If you find yourself being drawn into an argument with another commenter, take a step back from the keyboard, take a deep breath and go link to another fine blog in my blogroll. Take your mind off this for a while.

– Please don’t troll here. If someone calls you a troll, by the way, there’s at least a 50 percent chance you are one — so give it some thought. Let’s try not to intentionally get under each other’s skin, OK? People get emotional about their teams and their beliefs and it’s hard enough not to arouse deep feelings without just intentionally setting out to do so in the first place.

– Debate is great. That’s why there are comment sections. Feel free to call me or anyone else out. But try to do so in a factual way without being personal. It’s really about the argument, not the argumentors, right?

Thanks for reading my blog. You pay me back by listening to me on the radio on 95.5 The Game from 6-9 a.m., on the Morning Sports Page with Gavin Dawson and Chad Doing — it is far and away the top-rated morning sports show in the market. Or by watching “Talkin’ Ball” 30 minutes after every Blazer game shown on Comcast Sportsnet Northwest. It’s a fun show.

Or you can really do me (and yourselves) a favor by wandering into a great men’s clothing store on Northwest 16th and Glisan called “Este’s” — it’s a first-class, old-time Portland place where the service and quality are almost as outstanding as the price. Those guys even manage to make me look pretty respectable, so you can only imagine what they could do for you. And it may be the only joint in town where if you tell them I sent you, you won’t be thrown out.

Again, thanks for coming here. I really enjoy doing this and have met so many very nice people here. Thanks, too, to my pal “Bean” — Chris Snethen – for all the tech support. You ought to check out his great blog right here.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Blogs, Chris Snethen, comments, Dwight Jaynes, dwightjaynes.com

I can’t think of a blog that hasn’t done this at some point or another. I often wondered why but now I don’t.

We’re going to shut down the comments for a while. And there are several reasons. First off, there are getting to be so many of them that moderating them has become a nightmare. I just don’t have the time for it. That’s the No. 1 reason.

But also, they’ve become a place for silly or sometimes nasty arguments to take place. I hate being the venue for such things. And after a while, I think we all may just need a break.

So, sorry about this, you’re going to have to do without them for a while. If you have a problem with me, drop me an email. The address is right on this page.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes

If you don’t get enough of me already, between the MSP from 6-9 a.m., Monday through Friday, on 95.5 The Game and Talkin’ Ball on Comcast Sportsnet, you can also catch me on a podcast this week right here.

I’m with Casey Holdahl, who creates all the great contact on the Trail Blazer website, and the legendary Dave from Blazersedge.com. We had a lot of fun and I think you will enjoy it.

Tweet This Post

I really appreciate everyone’s patience with me. I wish I could blog a little more often, but it’s the holiday season and I’m kind of busy — so the thing I don’t get paid for is the first one to be put on hold.

As always, I appreciate your understanding. And at the same time,I would like to wish everyone the happiest of new years.

And in a related event, I’ll be spending New Year’s Day in Pasadena, as a part of the Comcast Sportsnet crew — getting ready for two-hour shows Thursday and Friday. And I’ll be joining the MSP boys Thursday morning from there, too. More on all that later.

Tweet This Post

Tags: 95.5 The Game, Comcast Sportsnet, Dwight Jaynes, Rose Bowl

I’m getting a bit of second-guessing lately about my sources and some things I’ve said that are going on. And certainly I have never claimed to get them all correct.

But I had this one right last week. After all these years in the business, I don’t go out on too many limbs without knowing how strong the tree is.

Doubt this blog at your own risk.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Nigel Burton, Portland State Vikings

I did three hours this morning on the MSP over 95.5 The Game. Now at work at a consulting job I’ve been doing during the day. Then to the Blazer game, followed by a live episode of “Talkin’ Ball.”

So, be patient with me. Not as many posts lately. I will blog when I can over the next few days but time is an issue sometimes. Sorry — but what the hell, it didn’t cost you anything to come here, did it?

Chew on this stuff:

– New Jersey Nets are 0-14 and coming in on the second of a back-to-back after losing at Denver last night. Man, the Blazers are going to pay later in the season for all these easy games to open the year.

– Who is going to get the Portland State football job? And does anyone care?

– How are the Beavers going to stop the Ducks’ spread option?

– Are the Ducks going to stop the Beavers’ fly sweep?

– Isn’t it great that we’re this geeked up about the Civil War more than a week away from the game?

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, New Jersey Nets, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Portland Trail Blazers

“Talkin’ Ball” airs after the next two Blazer games and I’ll be there. You probably knew that. We’re on after EVERY Comcast Sportsnet game, home or road.

Am also a regular every day from now until the Civil War on the Morning Sports Page with Gavin and C.I.P. from 6-9 a.m. (other than Thanksgiving day). It’s a lot of fun hanging with those guys and I think you’ll enjoy it — also available at 955Thegame.com.

And man, don’t miss it tomorrow as the MSP boys get to sit in for vacationing Jim Rome from 9 a.m. to noon on 95.5 The Game. In the first chance for the rest of the country to hear them, I expect them to hit it out of the park. I have heard just a tiny bit about what they’re planning and you’re going to love it.

Tweet This Post

Tags: 95.5 The Game, C.I.P., Chad Doing, Dwight Jaynes, Gavin Dawson, Jim Rome

I could go on and on about it… but seriously, there’s a danger in making that building more than it was. It was the people there — fans and players — who made it special. The building itself? Well, it was loud and for its time, it was fine, very representative of the arenas of that era.

In fact, I have no doubt at some point it will serve as a living museum for what sports arenas once looked like — a curiosity more than anything. By then all the other non-functional arenas of its ilk will have been torn down. But the old Glass Palace will still be there, probably hosting flea markets and the rare concert.

But fans going to the Trail Blazers’ exhibition game there tonight will find small leg room at their seats, fewer rest rooms than they need and concourses not big enough to accomodate the crowd. And of course, a building now on the National Registry for Historic Places. Yeah, great.

For me, the building was special because of the great people who played there and the devoted fans who idolized them. And pardon this little aside, but to me — one other thing:

Some great, great sports writers who wrote so many marvelous pieces there. Blazer beat writers like John Dhulst, Wayne Thompson, Bob Robinson and Ken Wheeler told the Blazer story with great skill and accuracy. Never fawning but always fair, these men did their jobs in an era before all the new media brought attention to the writers themselves. Most of those guys, in fact, would have run from the spotlight, anyway. They just weren’t brought up in the business to think they deserved it.

I love those guys. All are still with us, thank goodness, in various stages of retirement. All of them, too, were a great, GREAT help to me in my career, in their own way.  I hope at some point during the team’s 40-year celebration those guys will be honored, too. In the early days of the team, without a lot of TV coverage and no sports radio, people learned to love this team mostly through the eyes and hearts of the men who covered the Blazers for The Oregonian and the Oregon Journal.

It would be a shame to forget their great accomplishments — and the great integrity and skill they brought to their jobs.

One more time — thanks, guys. All of you.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Bob Robinson, Dwight Jaynes, John Dhulst, Ken Wheeler, Portland Trail Blazers, Wayne Thompson

I will be a guest on the MSP Tuesday morning at 8:20 or there abouts. That’s on 95.5 The Game, as you well know.

Tweet This Post

Tags: 95.5 The Game, Dwight Jaynes, MSP

Here’s a link to a column I did today CBS Sports. It was very kind of them to request it.

By the way, a general manager of another NBA team was talking about his roster and said to me today, “The rosters aren’t elastic. You can’t just keep adding people and expect your team to get better. At a certain point, the pieces you add do no good — and the pieces themselves can become devalued.”

Not saying that’s happening here at this point. But it’s something to keep in mind.

Tweet This Post

Tags: CBS Sports, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers