Greg Oden Still Deserves Respect and the Support of Rip City

By now the entire city (the entire nation most likely) has either seen or heard about the nude pictures posted online of the Portland Trail Blazers' No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden. They were flat, tabloid style, Internet quality, mirror and cell pictures that garnered an immediate and outrageous reaction from fans and local and national media alike.

At first glance, I saw a fairly unremarkable penis. However, for those of us that were up early enough, one could practically hear Portland's collective hearts drop: another Greg Oden problem and another tragic circumstance to add to the list. Right after "Tragedy: 579,874,398,745,986: Brandon Roy sustains recurring and nagging injury-Sidelined Indefinitely" we can now add, "Tragedy: 579,874,398,745,987: Greg Oden has nude pics all over the Internet and beyond".

For many Blazer fans, this is the last straw.

Roughly five seasons ago, Blazers' management recognized that if the Trail Blazers wanted to become a viable, competitive and successful basketball franchise again, they would have to repair the damaged relationship with the city and the fans. First order of business, fix the Blazers' tarnished reputation.

By gutting the team and replacing the coaching staff, they made a pledge to the community that the Blazers' organization was ready and willing to reestablish the ever important bond between a loving but disillusioned fan base and wayward Blazer team.

Through a series of calculated moves and a new commitment to draft and sign only those players with the highest moral quality and character, the Blazers reconciled with Portland, and the era of "character and family" has been in full swing ever since.

The statement "it is all about character" isn't just something said often by Blazer GM Kevin Pritchard. It is a virtual creed. Fans cling to the notion that they can trust and love openly this Blazer squad whether the team wins or loses. It is no longer a question. Even non-Blazer fans in Portland love these guys: the natural Brandon Roy, confident LaMarcus Aldridge, local Ime Udoka, take-less-money-because-I-just-really-love-it-here Joel Przybilla, and Get Well Soon! Greg Oden.

Considering this, it is not a stretch for me to imagine that many Blazer fans feel a sense of betrayal in light of this new "scandal". This wasn't supposed to happen, not with this team and not in the era of "Character and Family".

I have written before about the theory of media sensationalism of sexuality and the trend of linking overt sexuality or sexual displays within a consenting relationship to perversion and corrupt morality. In the instance of Greg Oden and his no longer private photos, evidence of the theory could not be more readily on display.

Seemingly minutes after the photos were made public, Oden's character and morality were called into question. On the radio, on newspapers, and even on the Blazer beat, the unfortunate and embarrassing news was reported in the most outlandish and inappropriately negative light.

To fans, society, and the grand scope of modern media I ask: What of character? Does taking an intimate photo and sending it to another consenting adult really constitute deficient morality or questionable character? To many, this is a sign that Oden just doesn't cut it on Pritchard's character-o-meter.

To those that feel this way, Mr. Oden solemnly addressed you in a hastily assembled media presser this evening, and he apologized profusely, perhaps unwittingly attempting to convey the depth of his personal humiliation and sadness. Taking and sending nude photos was stupid, careless, and immature, but does it convey a fundamental lack of character? I do not think so. It was a mistake; nothing more, nothing less.

The problem with this situation is not that Greg is somehow morally deficient, it is the perception that he is and the damage that perception could potentially wreak on his mental state and overall happiness in this town. He's young and made a stupid mistake, but to condemn his basketball career and peg him as a bad person is disingenuous at the least. I still contend he is a nice young man, and naked pictures do not mean he is otherwise.

In less than 24 hours since the pictures have surfaced, he has apologized and reaffirmed to everyone who still may be wondering that he is committed to the Blazers' team and his teammates. In the midst of a genuinely contrite apology made to Portland media members this evening, Greg noted that he has since learned that if one does not want pictures of one's self blasted on the Internet, one cannot share them with other people. This should be enough. Let's move on, Portland.

Sophia Brugato | Twitter: @sophiabiabia | s.brugato(at)gmail(dot)com