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.

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

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.

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I heard this all day yesterday from both sides:

That FCC ruling two days ago has NO bearing on the situation in Portland. I’m beginning to think this thing will NEVER get settled.

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Tags: Comcast Sportsnet, Directv, Dwight Jaynes, FCC, Portland Trail Blazers

Yes, the FCC today finally ruled that Comcast must allow other carriers to pick up their programming — meaning, apparently, that there’s now a better chance of Portland Trail Blazer fans who are Directv or Dish customers to eventually be able to watch Comcast Sportsnet Northwest.

But I wouldn’t expect that to happen anytime soon. I’m sure that the ruling isn’t going to mandate Comcast do this for free. Obviously, there must be some mechanism in place to determine what’s a fair price for carriage. That’s been the problem all along, as the two sides have not been able to come to an agreement on a fair price for the satellite companies to pay Comcast.

Oh, and there’s always a possibility of court action, appeals, etc., so I’m afraid that we’re still probably not anywhere close to a resolution in a very frustrating predicament for a lot of Trail Blazer fans who cannot get Comcast Cable.

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Tags: Comcast Sportsnet, Dwight Jaynes, FCC, Portland Trail Blazers

All I really know for sure is that the landlord apparently changed the locks on all the doors because the lounge was behind in its rent payments. This was the site of “Talkin’ Ball” on Comcast Sportsnet and we had to move the last show over to the Blazers’ studio in the Rose Garden, which is a great locale.

I’m not sure where we’re going to be doing future shows but rest assured we will be continuing that series, although there are no shows scheduled after the next two games.

I would ask that you keep your comments civil in regard to The Agency.  This was NOT a national chain. A lot of very nice Portlanders spent a good deal of money to try bring this town a place they thought was needed. A lot of very nice people worked there, too.

My sympathies and best wishes go out to them.

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Tags: Comcast Sportsnet, Dwight Jaynes, Portland, Talkin' Ball, The Agency

Steve Kelley will tell you what the voice of the Seattle Sonics meant to Seattle. But a generation of Portlanders remember him, too, as the voice of the Beavers — both the Oregon State and Portland variety.

A great man and a great broadcaster who made everyone around him smile. He died Friday at 85.

I grew up listening to Bob and spent many an evening listening to him call live or even recreate the Portland Beavers, back when they meant plenty to the whole state. At Oregon State he was an institution who made every play in every game seem important.

He was first class in every way.

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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.

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

SportsbyBrooks has a really nice analysis of what it means and it’s interesting stuff. Turns out, it’s all about ESPN:

Look at ESPN. With the majority of our only truly national sports network’s revenue derived from contractual agreements to broadcast NFL, MLB, NBA and NCAA hoops and football games, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that ESPN’s news reporting operation could be compromised by those financial arrangements.

Add in the fact that ESPN has no major national sports media competitor and now tell me what incentive ESPN has to report negative news about anything involving those league partners?

Of course, you already know all that if you visit me regularly. You see the stories that we produce daily that in many cases have every right to be reported nationally.

Say a sports blog breaks an original story that portrays one of ESPN’s league partners in an unflattering light. Because ESPN doesn’t have to fear another national network competitor widely distributing that blog’s story – because no such competitor exists – why would ESPN acknowledge the story? (Happens every single day, friends.)

That’s where TMZSports.com will come in. Harvey Levin doesn’t have to worry about a college football broadcast contract worth hundreds of millions when investigating Charlie Weis‘ on-the-record claim that Pete Carroll was living with a grad student in Malibu. Levin doesn’t have to worry about getting press credentials to future USC games, or getting access to Carroll for interviews.

Most importantly, Levin has the desire and the ability to distribute what he finds out about Carroll’s living arrangement to a large enough audience that the story will break through into the mainstream. Something independent sports blogs with huge scoops are largely incapable of.

Don’t think for a minute that ESPN’s beaten-down competitors aren’t also aware of this and will pick up TMZSports.com exclusives soley to force ESPN’s hand on inevitable, embarrasing stories dug up by Levin & Co

The sports media monopoly created by ESPN hath wrought a perfect storm for TMZSports.com to not only succeed, but to turn the industry upside down. Because not only will TMZSports.com itself quickly break into the mainstream, but its prominence will cause previously myopotic sports media consumers to suddenly consider a sports blogosphere that has been, to this point, largely ignored on an astonishing scale.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, ESPN, SportsbyBrooks, TMZ

I don’t know. Honestly. But I hope this story gives some of us hope that one day soon we can watch Trail Blazer games and, especially, “Talkin’ Ball” on our dishes.

(Thanks, Clueless Vince!)

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Tags: Comcast Sportsnet, Directv, Dwight Jaynes, Talkin' Ball, Trail Blazers

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?

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