John Canzano
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John Canzano is an American sports journalist and columnist at The Oregonian.
[edit] Professional
Canzano has won numerous writing awards including Associated Press Sports Editors awards in column and enterprise writing. In 2005 and 2006 Canzano was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary and in 2004 Canzano was recognized by The Press Club of Atlantic City with a first place among all sports writing entries in the National Headliners Awards.
Canzano has also worked at The San Jose Mercury News and The Fresno Bee. He also covered University of Notre Dame football and Indiana University basketball as a beat writer during the tenure of coach Bob Knight.
Canzano hosts a daily radio feature titled "The Bald-Faced Truth" on Portland's ESPN affiliate [1080-AM (KFXX) The Fan]. According to Willamette Week magazine, during the 2004-05 season, a Trail Blazers, Inc. department manager registered the domain name [www.johncanzano.com] in an attempt to harass Canzano. The website was later claimed as intellectual property, and Canzano used the site to raise funds for a Hurricane Katrina family.
During the 2004-05 NBA season Canzano uncovered a bizarre under-the-table settlement agreement between troubled forward Darius Miles and Blazers team president Steve Patterson in which a Miles' fine was to be kicked back to the small-forward, "with interest" unbeknownst to the Blazers' coaching staff.
During the 2003-04 season, Canzano wrote a caustic column that convinced Trail Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire to agree to an unannounced urine test during the season to prove Stoudamire's sobriety. The negative test result rehabilitated Stoudamire in the minds of many Portland fans, who had come to regard him as one of the so-called "Jail Blazers". Both men were criticized by the NBA Players Association, which said that players may only submit to such tests as prescribed by the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
In response, Canzano appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter where he offered in an interview with Dan Patrick to take a drug test to prove his own sobriety.
