SALZMAN: Rockies' 14 points go unchallenged

Radio duo incurious about team's litmus test

Published October 27, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Opinion Columns & Blogs

Ordinarily, if the general manager of a professional baseball team says he has a 14-point checklist to evaluate the "character" of potential players, journalists might not think anything of it.

But if it's Dan O'Dowd, general manager of the Colorado Rockies, reporters should start asking questions.

Last year, USA Today reported that the Rockies were "embracing a Christian-based code of conduct" and using "religious doctrine" as a "guide for running \[the] franchise."

The article quoted Mark Sweeney, who played with the Rockies in 2003 and 2004. He told the paper: "They have a great group of guys over there, but I've never been in a clubhouse where Christianity is the main purpose. You wonder if some people are going along with it just to keep their jobs."

The Rockies have said they do not favor Christian players and are tolerant of all faiths.

Against this backdrop, the Rockies' O'Dowd was talking to Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman on their KHOW talk radio show on Oct. 17.

O'Dowd said that the Rockies use "14 points" to evaluate the "character" of potential players. Using various databases, I couldn't find a print publication, local or national, that's reported on O'Dowd's 14-point program. So Caplis and Silverman appear to have scored a scoop here.

"It was a way for us to try to define those players within our system, or before we even drafted them or we acquired them or we found them in Latin America, those particular players that would answer as many of those 14 points as we could possibly find," O'Dowd told them.

He said "the byproduct of that has been faith, humility, accountability, trust, integrity, patience" exhibited by his players.

O'Dowd said proactively that he didn't want to "get into" the 14 points because they represent a "competitive advantage" for the Rockies.

Star struck and fawning with O'Dowd on the phone, Caplis and Silverman acted like the entertainers they usually are rather than the journalists they could be.

They didn't bother to challenge O'Dowd at all.

Not even with feeble question like, "If a slugger fails your 14-question test of sound character, do you give him extra credit for good works that aren't included on your list?"

A bunch of questions for O'Dowd come to mind:

Are the 14 traits related to the players' behaviors or beliefs? Can you lose points for political views? Are certain character traits non-negotiable?

There could be an ugly story here, involving outright discrimination, but it could just as easily be a beautiful story, illuminating a way for athletes, businesses and everyday folks to be better people.

O'Dowd thinks so. He told Caplis and Silverman, "Honestly, I think that the thing I'm most proud of is the fact that the model that was followed here is a model that can transcend many organizations and actually many people in how they go about leading their lives."

Then wouldn't sharing their secret 14-point method of "character" evaluation be a sign of, well, good character?

Pseudo-journalists Caplis and Silverman didn't ask these questions, or dig into this issue, but there's a mob of reporters in town for tonight's game who should.

Entrepreneur Polis. The dailies are using a slew of different tags to identify Jared Polis, a candidate for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mark Udall.

Here's how he's been identified in the news stories in the dailies since he announced his candidacy, along with the number of times in parentheses.

Millionaire (2), Multimillionaire (3), millionaire entrepreneur (2), entrepreneur (2), businessman (2), former Colorado Board of Education member or chair (4), congressional candidate (6) and philanthropist (2).

Six out of 20 news articles that mention Polis tell us he's is a millionaire, and that doesn't count a Rocky Mountain News piece that described him as a "well-heeled Boulder entrepreneur." In all articles except one, millionaire isn't the only descriptive tag used.

In some articles, Polis' wealth is relevant, but to reference it repeatedly isn't necessary or fair, especially when the dailies haven't even told us whether fellow candidates Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald and conservationist Will Shafroth are also millionaires, if lesser ones.

"I think you raise a point worth considering in regard to Jared Polis," Rocky reporter Chris Barge e-mailed me. "He is a great example of a candidate who defies labels, and for whom a fly-by adjective often falls short."

To be fair, journalists should use Polis' occupation for their primary shorthand description.

Fitz-Gerald is mostly identified as state Senate president and Shafroth as an "environmentalist" or "conservationist."

Polis has dedicated most of his professional life to starting high-tech companies. So, I'd mostly call Polis an "entrepreneur."

Jason Salzman, president of Cause Communications and board chairman of Rocky Mountain Media Watch, is the author of Making the News: A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits. Reach him at salzmanj@RockyMountainNews.com.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News