I'm happy to see this, the torch has been passed from Ezra down to Dennis. It is so easy to hate on Canzano, but I so do enjoy seeing it done.

I dunno, Denis. I do understand the point you're making.....however, I don't think Canzano's column was intending to be self-promoting. As you and Canzano both point out Mr Oneill "did all the work". And, Canzano reached out to his blog community to see if anyone wanted to help Oneill lose this weight -- and received numerous responses -- to which Canzano gave credit and praise.

Your other point is that "tracking down" Oneill was "inappropriate"? Depends, I guess, on how he was tracked down -- do you know the method Canzano employed to do this?

Yeah, it's the Oregonian, I get it. They're your rivals, I guess. They suck (generally). The Merc has a lot more journalistic integrity, does more in depth reporting, and is less beholden to corporate sponsorship (in my opinion). I read the Merc, I ignore the Oregonian. But still....

THE IDEA OF JOHN CANZANO LOOKING AT ME IS ENOUGH TO PUT ME OFF MY APPETITE TOO!!

I'm just upset you had to link to Canzano's article for this.

Canzano is an effing idiot.

It's some seriously self-congratulatory bullshit that isn't about sports in the slightest. It's about him, and his influence, and his ability to change lives, such as it is. It's as if he couldn't wait for O'Neill to blog about what a catalyst Canzano was, so he turned it into an article himself. The narrative is less "Look at what O'Neill did" but more "Look at what I enabled! What with this blog and this radio show and this increasingly out-of-touch sports column!"

And if it was such a selfless act that Canzano was committing, why the fuck is it such a (poorly written) article in the first place? Hell, I know for a fact he's got at least 3 or 4 co-workers at both The Oregonian and The Game who could have used his specific brand of inspiration in order to lose weight. Why isn't he helping THOSE people? Is it solely because he doesn't watch them squeeze into their cars as they leave work?

Of course this article was intending to be self-promoting. Everything he puts to paper is self-promotion. Everything he speaks into a microphone is self-promotion. Watch - if he's still in this city in another 10 years, he'll either have a) transitioned completely to political talk radio in the hopes of establishing his own Larsonian empire or b) he'll have run for office.

Bets column Canzano's written.

I some how saw it as a trailer (of a movie). What a big fuzz, it could be more fun if not for the nagging echoes of the narrative. If somebody would offer me help to get rid of these 3 pounds I have on me for working non-stop for 3 weeks, and getting my abs back, witha six pack, I would agree.