Solid article from ESPN on the Madison Shanley incident at the weekend.
espn.com/soccer/portland-timbers/story/463466...
espn.comPosted Apr 6, 2022, 7:17 AM UTC
5116
espn.com"If the organization were to apply the energy they're using to silence their followers -- including me -- [to instead] hold people accountable, I think that would be the better option for the greater good," she said.
Very well put.
17
"This was despite the fact that a lawyer retained by the Timbers to represent Polo, Christine Mascal, met with Alarcón, and according to an audio recording of the meeting not only discussed the amount of financial support from Polo to Alarcón and her children, but Mascal said she hoped Alarcón wouldn't press charges."
This bit bothers me. Implying that the Timbers pressured her to not press charges. The Timbers got their player a lawyer. Common practice when a player is accused of any crime. Then the lawyer checks notes did his job? The Timbers fucked up bad but retaining a competent lawyer isn't a fuck up.
10
The Timbers didn't do anything wrong by getting Polo a lawyer, and there's nothing wrong with the lawyer saying she hopes the victim doesn't press charges.
I don't like the situation because because there's a huge power imbalance. You have a large organization, that's the source of her family's income, and they have a lawyer representing their/her husband's interests on the one side, and you have Alarcón, without a lawyer and without anyone helping her understand her rights or options on the other.
The amount of pressure that's being put on her just because of that dynamic is enormous. Even if you believe the Timbers were not *deliberately* trying to pressure her - she was being pressured by the Timbers. And the Timbers and Ms. Mascal would have to be extremely naive to not know that she would feel pressured in that situation.
It's just gross more than anything else.
5
I don't like the situation because because there's a huge power imbalance. You have a large organization, that's the source of her family's income, and they have a lawyer representing their/her husband's interests on the one side, and you have Alarcón, without a lawyer and without anyone helping her understand her rights or options on the other. The amount of pressure that's being put on her just because of that dynamic is enormous. Even if you believe the Timbers were not deliberately trying to pressure her - she was being pressured by the Timbers. And the Timbers and Ms. Mascal would have to be extremely naive to not know that she would feel pressured in that situation.
They're not naive. They (and MLS) hope we are.
2†
^ This is so unbelievably misguided and naive. lol A lawyer's job is not to go to a victim's house and pressure her not to pursue charges when the victim is told money is on the line.
-1†
Wow, way to miss the point. The lawyer met with the victim to talk about not pressing charges at the same time a Timbers employee was there and they were discussing paying for food for her children. This is completely unethical for a lawyer to do.
-3†
This is what happens when you force local media to run off that beat reporters and have no independent reporting on your team. I'm not saying all this is happening because the Timbers/Thorns now have a beat reporter again that isn't controlled by the team, just that when you don't have a check, you don't get checked.
7
The failures of The Oregonian to cover the Timbers/Thorns are strictly internal. The miracle is that we've ever had dedicated soccer coverage at all. Grateful we have one again. (Source: spent 20 years working at the paper and watched it shrivel steadily.)
13
That's fair and I'll definitely cede that to you as you have more experience and knowledge first hand. But it definitely appeared like the FO was horrifically antagonistic towards local media in ways I haven't seen team FO's be in other cities I've lived in.
5
Oh for sure. I speak only for the situation behind the doors of the once-daily newspaper. This FO has its ways, no doubt.
2
Merritt Paulson's skin is so thin. If he were an owner in the NFL or the NBA he would get eaten alive
1
Just like, $50,000 to $500,000 fines every week. Just over and over and over.
2
They made a choice not to have a beat reporter and I think after all the scandals they probably realized what a huge mistake it was. Glad they (finally) just took someone off high school sports to cover two pro teams that generate real news.
2
I just can't get over how completely ignorant Perigrine is of how their bungling has impacted people. Last night I had friends who don't know a Diego from a Sebastian talking about it. I have no faith in their ability to fix any of this because they have taken no accountability.
Thank you, Madison, for putting yourself on the coals to highlight this.
It's their penchant for silence and complete mistrust of the media. That's 95% of why they're so terrible at pr.
Nah, I always thought they were terrible at PR because they genuinely don't believe they have done anything wrong and they are amoral ghouls.
Either way, they need a new PR director or I suspect Merritt Paulson just needs to start listening to his PR director. A great first face-saving move would be to fire Gavin Wilkinson, and suspend Mike Golub.