The Jerome Solomon Thread

[Optimism Prime]

btw, there was one really stupid/hostile question at the McHale presser this morning.

Anybody care to venture a guess as to who asked it?

Guessing it was this one:

When looking at the finalists for the Rockets’ head coaching job and their overall record, all were under .500. How does that mesh with stated goals of being a championship contending team?

LA: That’s an interesting question, seriously. I think a real smart guy who knows the game, when he starts out and doesn’t have great success, it’s a benefit to him because he will now say, “OK, why wasn’t I unbelievably successful right now?” And he’ll think about it and implement the things he needs. If he was unbelievably successful the first 30 games let’s say, he wouldn’t change because he’d say, “I’m successful.” But now, Kevin has seen what it takes and how it takes and what he needs to be a great success in this league. He’s the kind of guy I think will do that.

DM: I would add to that. When you’re looking at a coaching record you’ve got to look (at other things, too). We’re all evaluated on wins and losses and that’s how it should be, but when you look at a coaching record you’ve got to look deeper. You’ve got to look at how when Kevin took over for those teams how they did better with him than the person he took over from. You’ve got to look at the players that are on that roster and who got better. And you’ve got to look at things like we do which is the quality of the shots that they got when Kevin was the coach, the quality of the shots they gave up being worse for the other team – you have to look deeper when you look at coaching record.

Every good coach in this league, I challenge you to find one, has been an sub-.500 coach at one point or another.

Professional answer to a jackass question. Good job guys!

[Ribalding]

That's the one.
(Except print doesn't really do justice to the annoying dbag tone in which the question was originally asked. I fully expected Solomon to finish with 'nanny nanny boo boo'.)

[moofs]

...
Well, if the trolling theory is correct, we at least know that its the chron's intention to do it and nit his.

Sorry, 'not'. Don't know how I could have made a typo like that.
Maybe Daryl repossessed his grandma's house or something.

[spolgar]

It's not an invalid question. I would have refrained from that choice of words and said something to the effect of:

"The various coaches you have interviewed replace a HOF coach. Could you describe in brief the process you employed to decide who to interview and why did you settle on Coach Mchale? Layman benchmarks aside, what particular criteria as an in game manager were you specifically looking for?"

[spolgar]

Has anyone else read 'When the game was ours?' I really liked it. There were a great deal of details of Bird and Magic's life that I really didn't know about, and some of their evaluations about players and people are surprising.

[Ribalding]

Has anyone else read 'When the game was ours?' I really liked it. There were a great deal of details of Bird and Magic's life that I really didn't know about, and some of their evaluations about players and people are surprising.

Yes, but how does help me further humiliate Jerome Solomon?

"The various coaches you have interviewed replace a HOF coach. Could you describe in brief the process you employed to decide who to interview and why did you settle on Coach Mchale? Layman benchmarks aside, what particular criteria as an in game manager were you specifically looking for?"

Yes, but you forget one salient point:

Jerome Solomon did not say that. You did. You are not (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Solomon IS. Therefor, it was douch-ey by default. Correct?







P.S. I am determined to keep this hate-filled meta-narrative of suck alive so long as is necessary to witness him fired, living with his adoptive boyfriend, and leaning against a dying elm tree while he simultaneously weeps and pleasures himself TO NO AVAIL.

[spolgar]

Aight, a few things...

You don't have to humiliate via bile. I suppose it would be more fun, but for me it gets in the way of the act of upstaging.

We'll do okay by writing a few good pieces, submitting them to Chron and say that a) We would very much like the paper to alter the tone and timbre of the type of journalism we witness in the sports section, b) They could start by writhing their hands of Jerome Solomon.

I don't think bile needs showcasing like that. Just a single minded act to put fingers to keyboard and writing the best fscking thing you ever put your mind to. It's more fun to be both good and mean with the pen ala Vidal's Point to Point navigation, but then one would have to be Gore Vidal, and I'm just not that cool.

As per why I dropped that book title, I suppose the phrase "good writers borrow, great writers outright steal" comes to mind. There is a lot of things to take from that book. With this subject matter at hand, an example would be Magic devoting several pages to tell the world why he and Isiah don't talk anymore. It was a very matter of factly chastising of Thomas. There was bile, but I sensed that there was more even more sadness and anguish. Sometimes being right is enough.

I don't get Solomon's axe to grind with the Rockets/Morey. I have no clue why a beat writer who conducts himself like that still has a job. I'm not sure which administration in which organization he is attempt to endear himself to, but somehow he feels personally offended with the state of the rockets, which I have no idea why he would be. His doucheness would be forgivable if the state of said matters would warrant such behavior, say you know Isiah's run with the Knicks. But that's not the case, so he's now relegated to be this annoying zit that one has to wait three more days to pop, a festering affliction that makes one hurt to wince but the problem becomes easier to take care of when one is armed with the right tools and proper sense of timing.

[moofs]

I think I can write on why LeBron's perceived frontrunning caused such a hubbub and seems to have completely tipped the scales of equity in sports.

Just not till July.

But that's not the case, so he's now relegated to be this annoying zit that one has to wait three more days to pop, a festering affliction that makes one hurt to wince but the problem becomes easier to take care of when one is armed with the right tools and proper sense of timing.

A fine bit of wordplay, sir. Well done. Bravo.

[Ribalding]

Solomon's latest blog post is stellar. He quotes all the draft sites guesses as to the Rox picks tomorrow, and outright steals their player profiles. I replied to him. Here's the exchange.

2 Responses to Getting the right guy a challenge for Rockets; mock drafts can’t agree

Ribalding says:
June 22, 2011 at 1:46 pm

Don’t fret, Jerome. You’ll find a way to trash whoever they select.
Reply
King Solomon says:
June 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm

Why do you say that?
Ribalding says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
June 22, 2011 at 1:52 pm

Why do I say that? You’re the Resident Rocket Basher. I suspect it’s printed on your business cards.

Don’t be coy. You can just admit it. There’s something about Morey that irks you and you have an agenda. No big deal. Everybody knows. So embrace your inner hack and enjoy yourself.

We'll see if the 2nd post gets a reply.

[spolgar]

Dude, what you are showing us is that you're going on to someone's work place and trolling him.

Anyone can act rude and be brave about it behind a keyboard. It is almost always, not a good look. Just ask the folks around here how they felt about compucomp.

I can't condone what you are doing man. It's simply not cool.

[Ribalding]

Dude, what you are showing us is that you're going on to someone's work place and trolling him.

Anyone can act rude and be brave about it behind a keyboard. It is almost always, not a good look. Just ask the folks around here how they felt about compucomp.

I can't condone what you are doing man. It's simply not cool.

I almost agree with you. You're exactly right that it's not a good look. No doubt about it. I knew that when I posted it here.

I disagree on one point, however. I can not, by definition, be "trolling him" at work. It's not like Solomon is a plumber or a car salesman or a doctor. I'm not running into some guy's office building and screaming "incompetent!". This guy has a blog. It's a blog where comments are expected...nay, desired. One, he's a provacateur. Two, Chron wants page views. He's totally getting what he wants when people comment. He's winning. I'm losing. I get it. But I'm not trolling. I'm giving him the faux-controversy he so clearly covets.

[spolgar]

It's a blog hosted by Chron, he works at Chron. Most IP folks and IT guys would disagree with your assessment. I certainly do. If it's a machine Solomon's work provided that you are posting on, then you are writing it on Chron's property. His place of employ.

Secondly, the chron wants page views. That's the only way you can make money now without a subscription. By giving Solomon's blog pageviews, you are giving Chron another reason to keep him hired. That's precisely, as I thought I ascertained, what you don't want the organization to do.

Aight, you gotta do what you gotta do man, I'm just, to say the very least, feeling weird about it. Remember, you cross post on the same handle, and if it comes back to us, this thread and probably the entire Houston board here might become part of some stupid controversy. He's got a much bigger
mic than we do. It runs the risk of making us look really silly down the road

[EDIT]
By the way, he responded. He seems plenty charged right now. Whenever or not you were trying to Troll , I can give you that he's easy to get a rise out of.

Post under a different nick damnit...

[Ribalding]

Fine. But he still can't write for s**t.

[spolgar]

Agreed. His prose could use a ghost writer.