God has a good arm.

I guess I shouldn't have said I agree with all of what No-Talent said. But I did agree with the part about not having a God reference in every quote from the kid. If that's all he gave you, then either truncate the quote (if possible) or quote other sources more frequently than you otherwise would.

 

Good post Meat.


And for the record, I believe Jesus Christ can hit a curve ball.

 

Actually, not "all" of us believe he doesn't care about soccer or sports or politics or what some think are "minor" things.

Some of us believe God cares about every single thing that happens everywhere, all day and night.

And I agree with this part of Ike Broflowvski's opening statement: "to ignore someone's life-altering faith journey in a profile, even a short one, is not just lousy journalism, it's astonishingly arrogant."

 

Outing alert -- Heinekman obviously does not work for The Plain Dealer. Or any other Cleveland-area newspaper.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I knew this would stir some debate.

The only thing that is a turnoff is that it's clearly PR work of the highest order. He specifically mentioned that he wanted me to include his message that anything is possible through God.

I generally don't like it when people tell me what I'm supposed to write. It makes me feel used. But he did accomplish enough to warrant a story and, thus, should have his story told. And, as I've said, his christianity is a key part of his personal metamorphosis.

On a personal, non-professional level, I don't like this sort of thing. First off, it appears there was pressure to conform, at least passively, on members of the team. That's disturbing to me.

Secondly, it sets a precedent that can't be upheld. What if the linebacker on the football team tells me that he believes little fairies caused a fumble? Am I supposed to print that? What if a chess player is part of an underground vampire club? It probably sounds like I'm re-framing the issue, but there are folks who would scream bigotry if such a case popped up.

Lastly, it's pushing a personal message off on the general public. It's almost an advertisement disguised as a story. Let's say that a guy claims his golden cleats brought him Olympic victory and that the Nike cleats deserve the credit. Are you going to write that? Lord knows this stuff comes up in NASCAR every day. But we don't write that Pennzoil got the credit for the win. And we certainly don't lead with that, even if that's all the driver had to say.

 

Heinie,

Who gets the credit isn't important. But this is the basis of his personality. If you think other players might have felt pressure, then you should talk to them as part of the story.

 

Just because you use it once doesn't mean you have to use it again.

"Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." -- Thomas Hobbes, I think.

Use your professional judgment and don't worry about anything else.

Is it an integral part of the story? Sounds like it is to me. I don't see it as PR, but that's just my view.

I believe in Jesus and in God. My friends would not be able to tell you that. I pray for people. I ask God for help. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes, it rains. I don't make a big deal out of it, but I think it's a valid point here. If someone was doing a story about me, would I mention it? No. Not really part of the "Billy T Story."

As always, country music provides the answer. See "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks.

 

First, you never should feel like you have to include everything a subject says. If it smells like bullshit or it's a cliche, then ax it with extreme prejudice. I wouldn't use "I give all glory to God" on its own because it's as hackeneyed as "do what you've gotta do" or something equally banal.

The thing is, you've got (from what you've told us) a moral rags-to-riches story. Once a punk, now a good kid. The impetus behind that change is a must in the story. If it's his parents, or a mentor, or God, or whatever, then it should be in there. It's kind of hard to do a "so-and-so turned his life around" story without at least trying to show WHY it changed.

As for it "taking away from a story that's supposed to be about sports": How would it be different than someone who talks about their time living in another country? Or playing for a dead relative? Or being editor of the school paper? If we limited feature topics to things that specifically take place on the field of play, we undercut ourselves tremendously.

As for precedent: Unless you mean that everything is equally valid or invalid, I don't see the issue. There's a difference, culturally, between adhering to Christianity or another mainstream faith and "little fairies causing a fumble". And the hockey/chess vampire? That's a story BEGGING to be written.

Finally, personal message: Is that the offense, or is it that it's a message with which you don't agree. Again, if they're throwing "I thank God for the victory" casually, that's one thing. But there's a MASSIVE difference between a committed believer humbly giving God the glory and a stock car driver namechecking all his sponsors.

 

I didn't make myself clear, I guess.

His religion is part of the story, but it shouldn't be part of every quote (which you implied it was in the opening post).

I'll reconsider...

Limit Jesus to things that relate directly to the kids spirituality. "My life changed after I..." When he talks about soccer, keep it to soccer.

 

Exactly.

If you asked him about a particularly great goal he scored and the kid said "I was able to do that because of Jesus" then don't use the quote.

But if you asked him about why his life turned around and the kid said "I was able to do that because of Jesus" then use it.

 

I'm still waiting for a kid with a pentagram tattoo to tell me the reason his team won state was because he sold his soul to the Dark Lord Satan.

 

Seriously, though, wouldn't that be an awesome story if the kid was serious?