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Columnist hangs beat writer out to dry

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Prince of Persia, Jan 3, 2007.

  1. hockeybeat

    hockeybeat Guest

    And that has what to do with this discussion, oh ye of epic bitterness and no dick? Take your complaint to ESPN.
     
  2. DyePack

    DyePack New Member

    These days, I wonder how different life would be if Mitch A. hadn't disappointed you by pulling out too soon.
     
  3. The thing that stuck out to me in the column was the reporter's 'question' about the guys disappearing. I hate it when reporters make their own observation about a game and then stop, waiting for the coach to agree.
    Ask a question. Get the quotes for the readers. They don't care what you think about the game, they care what the coach has to say about the game.
    If that had been me, I'd have said something like, "Were you disappointed in the efforts of (whatever their names were)?"
    And I call ALL coaches coach. I don't think I'm ceeding control, but I am showing respect. You have to give respect to get respect, and I find it extremely difficult to get information from people without respect.
     
  4. Excellent point, at least until the last paragraph.

    I never call coaches "coach." They're not lieutenants in the army or anything. Never had a coach give me a hard time about it, either. After all, I don't ask them to call me "editor."
     
  5. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    yup, the douchenozzle who said this:"You want to start with me? You'll lose. The next phone call won't be answered. You want to start all that stuff? See how well it works for you. I'm not upset because we lost. I'm upset because you're a smartass. Telling me my kids disappeared, so the word quitter or something of the nature comes to mind."

    derserves all the respect in the world, doesn't he?

    shit, why stop at calling every coach, coach, why not unbutton his shirt and give him a nice back rub as well while he slowly beats you into submission?

    "you have to show respect to get respect" harkens back to the days when coaches ran sports departments because those manning the desks were too big of pussies to say no.
     
  6. BillySixty

    BillySixty Member

    I had no idea that calling coaches "coach" was showing weakness. Who gives a fuck? Because most, if not all, of the coaches I interview are considerably older than I am, I never call them by their first name if I don't know them.

    I didn't know I was bringing such a disgrace to the profession by doing so.
     
  7. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    It's a needless term of deference for people who generally don't deserve it. He's not your coach. He's not your boss. He's not your superior officer on deck. He's a freaking football coach, not a doctor of internal medicine.
     
  8. Blitz

    Blitz Active Member

    Call them by their first names.
    That's what I do.
     
  9. Maybe I should have been more specific. "Coach" is my default term for coaches because, well, that's what they are. I don't think I'd be very respectful toward someone like Calhoun, but I don't deal with coaches like him very often, either.
    To me, saying coach is just a way to get their attention. I'm not saying, "Oh great one." I'm not saying "sir." I'm using (what I consider) a neutral term that is not likely to end the interview early by causing offense where none is intended.
    If I dealt with someone like Calhoun -- or at least someone who treated me like Calhoun treated that guy -- I'd probably just use their first name, and even that might come through gritted teeth.
    But until I have a good damn reason to the contrary, every coach is coach.
    Maybe things are different in my neck of the woods, but that term doesn't mean "God" around here.
     
  10. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    In any professional setting -- even between equals -- I don't use first names if I don't know somebody, or until we're on a "first-name" basis (whether through professional familiarity, or a personal one).

    Usually, that takes about, oh, 4 seconds. ("Hi, I'm Bill." "Hi, I'm John." ... Voila: first-name basis.)

    It has nothing to do with deference. It just has to do with professional etiquette.
     
  11. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    no coach has ever called me anything other than tom, except for the old school guys who called me sir ... then i responded with "yes coach."
     
  12. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    If they call you by your first name, Tom ... then they've established first-name basis. So feel free to call them by theirs. :)

    Can't speak for everyone else, but what I'm saying on this topic is: I don't think it's automatically deferring to a coach by calling him "Coach". The premise in that is flawed. It's automatically assuming an inferiority complex -- that may or may not exist -- in the coach/writer relationship. That's a flawed assumption.
     
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