Embarrassing

The "hey coach", "coach what's up", "coach" crap can get old and tiresome and to me is demeaning but it is not nearly as ridiculous and sad as the jock sniffing reporters who want so badly to be a part of it that they call the players by their nick names -- and that includes the high schoolers they cover.........

That is a disgrace -- that might be worse than shaving LSU into your head.......

 

Same here. Back when I was covering games, I was younger than almost all of the coaches, and putting "Coach" in front of the last name was just a way of being polite, especially the first time I meet them, not some fanboy-ish attempt to ingratiate myself with them or the team. If anything, I think calling someone by their first name is more of an attempt to ingratiate yourself because it implies familiarity. The use of courtesy titles isn't to ingratiate yourself. It's a way of being polite to a stranger. If I didn't say "Coach Smith", it would've been "Mr. Smith", but since we were in a sports setting, "Coach" made more sense, and it feels a little less formal and stiff than "Mr.". The way I look at it is: You never know how someone would react to a stranger, especially one younger than them, calling them by their first name, so you start out with "Coach xxxxx", and then if they tell you otherwise or if you become more familiar and comfortable with them through your dealings, then it's fine to use the first name. It's the same as me going up to a player's mom for the first time and calling her "Mrs. so-and-so" rather than by her first name. It's retarded to accuse someone of being a fanboy just because they use "Coach". I can call someone "Coach" and proceed to ask a hard-ass question, while the guy next to me can call him Bill and go on to blabber about how great his team played.

I also don't buy the argument that you shouldn't call a coach "Coach" because they don't call you "Reporter". "Coach" is widely used in society and everyday speech, not so much as a reference to someone's profession but as a courtesy title; "reporter" isn't. Neither is "manager" or "GM". That's why you don't call Bobby Cox "Manager Cox", because "manager" isn't commonly accepted as a courtesy title as "coach" is.

 

Calling high schoolers by their nicknames? Wow ....

 

You, my friend, are an embarassment to the profession.
Why don't you go ahead and ask for autographs while you're at it???

Seriously, that was a helluva post. Very well said.

 

Am I the only one that goes with "Hey, you!"?

 

Yep. Well said indeed.

 

Good stuff.