Is "Opportunistic" Acquiring a Neutral Meaning?

[Laurence Horn]

At 3:34 PM -0600 1/27/04, James Parish wrote:
>Joyce, Thomas F. wrote:
>>  I had to explain to somebody that "opportunistic" connotes
>>  "unprincipled." He professed ignorance and said he was using the word to
>>  mean something like "seeking opportunities energetically," claiming that
>>  in certain commercial contexts he had encountered the word with that
>>  sense.  Am I out of touch with this change of meaning?
>
>I've heard it used with the latter meaning, referring to football teams,
>in the last couple of years.
>-------------------------------------------------
Right, especially teams with an "opportunistic defense", e.g. both
Super Bowl squads.  Google gives 2,820 hits for "opportunistic
defense", and on the first page at least each involves reference to a
football team.

larry