Posts tagged ‘media’

{A post-game locker-room scene from the night of January 2, 2010}

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The media feeding frenzy at the Verizon Center has dwindled to a faintly glowing ember. Since Gilbert Arenas was banished, there have been press flare ups here and there, such as when former team icons are removed from the franchise’s edifice and shipped out of town, bringing in fresh new faces. But otherwise, it’s usually just the regulars these days.

But when Arenas was around, two noteworthy instances of media circus come to mind: 1) the Wizards’ first game of 2010, the night of January 2nd against the San Antonio Spurs, i.e., the first game after initial stories of a two-man Gun-Gate were revealed; and 2) practice on January 4th, the day the team left for a game in Philadelphia, where finger guns occurred. That Tuesday’s Sixers game would end up being Arenas’ last in a Wizards uniform (to-date). So, that would make Monday afternoon’s practice Gil’s last one in the arena that used to go nuts for him.

That day, the media came looking for Agent Zero, yearning for any morsel of sensationalistic news they could find, I believe they would call them answers. And while January fourth’s practice probably wasn’t as gonzo as the practice on New Year’s Day (which I missed), it nonetheless provided entertaining fodder in it’s own way.

That day, Mike James took one for the team, becoming the first member of the Wizards, amongst those who were dodging the camera lights, voice recorders and notepads at all costs, to throw his own chum into the shark-infested waters. Others did end up speaking, Caron Butler was later accosted in a side hallway, and Randy Foye spoke with a few reporters after most had given up and left. But James took the first shot for the team. His teammates, including Arenas, were partially able to dodge the unwanted attention because of Mike’s distraction, whether it was an intentional act on his part or not.

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I’ve been kinda kicking myself for not attending the ‘Gilbert Gun-Gate’ practice at the Verizon Center yesterday. Seems that I missed out on a bit of ambush journalism. It will likely be an even crazier circus tonight as I go cover the Wizards-Spurs game … much like what my man Rashad Mobley describes on his blog:

“Instead of 10-15 media members fighting for quotes and interviews, there will now be at least 50 people who know NOTHING about the Spurs or the Wizards, they just want to sensationalize an issue that we STILL don’t know the truth about. They will clog up the locker and media rooms with their clueless facial expressions.”

Michael Lee also has a good report from Friday’s circus on Wizards Insider.

Still, you have to make the best of a situation, right? Maybe I’ll cover the media that’s trying to cover Arenas. But I’m more interested in how this team is going to address Tim Duncan; can Haywood guard him straight up? Or if Flip Saunders thinks his zone will contain Tony Parker.

The video below is from the local D.C. CBS affiliate. Sara Walsh of WUSA9 leads into a report from someone else at the Verizon Center by saying, “The startling allegations drew plenty of media attention, but few responses from the guys on the team.”

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There was a larger than usual media contingent at the Wizards’ practice this afternoon. I can’t really say this with conviction since it was only my second time attending a practice, but let’s just say there was a presence on a national level. And we’re talking about practice.

Waiting to be let into the gym, I surveyed the media scene. A bunch evil, lazy looking mofos … with daggers in their eyes and hate in their blood. Of course, I’m being extremely facetious here. But in the eyes of Gilbert Arenas, that’s what they are. Ok, again, I must confess, I’m putting words in Arenas’ mouth … but he did call the media “lazy.”

Arenas spoke in such a sullen and somber tone, he seemed like a kid who’d just lost his puppy. I halfway expected him to break out in a smile, but he didn’t. I know I broke out a couple uncontrollable smirks myself. When Arenas was done, he just quietly put his head down and walked to the locker room.

Here’s an excerpt of his presser …

I later spoke with Mike James about the differences between Agent Media and Agent Teammate: Read more »

Arenas’ Self-Imposed Gag Order Lifted By NBA Judge

On late Tuesday the NBA fined Gilbert Arenas $25,000 for refusing to speak with media and the Wizards $25,000 for not making him talk. Later that evening, Gilbert’s first “interview” since media day (via Michael Lee of the Washington Post) was an unfortunate dissipation of his personality … about as lethargic as watching elderly people eat white toast while they watch paint dry.

Arenas’ games with the media are a bit annoying. He’s partially silencing himself because he just wants to concentrate on basketball after being injured for so long. Perfectly reasonable. The other part seems like an attempt to be ‘cute’ since he feels he’s been tragically wronged by the media in the past. Uh, not so reasonable.

I’m not saying Arenas isn’t somewhat justified in being miffed toward previous coverage of him. But at the same time, his own words caused much of the strife. It’s not like Arenas was constantly misquoted or taken out of context with malicious intent. He was able to speak directly to fans via ‘Agent Zero: The Blog File’, which was how people became so attracted to his sincerity in the first place. Without blogging, he’s probably just another Ben Gordon.

I guess Gil just feels misunderstood. But the problem is that he doesn’t understand how he could contribute to the cause of him being misunderstood. If that makes any sense. Perhaps his ghost-writer/blogger should have used more emoticons and ‘LOLs’ so that we would ‘get it’.

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