High School coaches blowing you off

Since it was double-local, and he's a coach in our biggest school, it would have been nice to get at least one usable comment from him. And, like I said, you're right -- could have used the "we sucked" quote, but decided against it.

 

Seriously? No talking to losing players after a game? What if they are in a state championships football game and you have say five or six stories to write for a special section? That's a crazy rule.

 

On another note I have one school I cover that so far this season has won one total district game between football (7 games), volleyball (14 matches), girls basketball (6 games) and boys basketball (3 games). And none of them have ever blown me off when I have gone their games or called them on the phone the night of or the day after the game.

 

I agree with Zag that many writers have a tendency to throw boring, add-nothing quotes in stories.

I can see if you are trying to get any quote in the story, but some writers think that if they talked to someone, they have to quote them, even it it's to say, "The tournament begins Friday at 8:30," Bob Smith said.

 

I had a discussion with my editor when I was covering a nationally-ranked basketball team a couple of years ago. I opened my story with a quote from the losing coach. I don't remember what it was now, but it was pretty funny. She totally re-worked my story, telling me I couldn't start the story talking about the losing coach, but I needed to get something from the winning coach much higher up. Problem was, if I was waiting for the winning coach to say something interesting -- regardless of the questions asked of him -- I would still be waiting. In post-gamers, he throws out nothing but cliche-filled coachtalk. I don't think he's ever said anything original or interesting in a press conference yet.

 

Try taking them out to dinner first, maybe a movie.

 

Good point. Problem is only one of the them is a female coach.

 

A coach in our area was my mom's cousin. I knew him very well, from family reunions and also just covering him. First game of the season, his team gets drilled and we're standing on the field. I ask him my question.

"I don't know. You're the expert. You tell me."

Um, fumble out the next question.

"I don't know. You're the expert. You tell me."

I ask what's going on.

"I don't know. You're the expert. You tell me."

He turns, and walks off the field.

He called and apologized a few days later. He had been upset that in the preview for our football tab that came out the day of the game, I wrote that his team would be more of a passing team that season. Which came from his quote where he said they'd be more of a passing team that season. Ohhhkay. I think it was mostly he was embarrassed by the loss and also knew it was going to be a long season. Plus he was always surly with reporters to begin with. I guess the fact we ate out of the same potato salad bowl at a reunion didn't make me special.

 

This raises an interesting point ...
I have never asked a coach for permission either. On occasion I have asked coach if he could pull Johnny Studly out of the lockers so I could ask him some questions.
Usually I try to grab the players as the head to the lockeroom.
In this day and age - when you need report to principal's office to obtain badge to walk the schools - should you ask from permission to talk to kids?
A game is a school function and the school's responsibility.
If a school administrator pushed the issue, would reporters have to obtain adult consent before seeking comments from kids?

 

I hope it doesn't get to that, but I have encountered child protection issues at times where you can't even mention that a minor is on the team...that means shooting around said kid in photos and the kid can't be in the story at all. No margin for error on those cases either.

I had it happen several times with Little League and a time or two in preps.

 

And it happens all the time with news-side photos at school functions, flex. You'll report to the office and the principal/teacher will say, "Please make sure Johnny over there isn't in one of your photos." Always tough when it's a large-group activity, or kids are clustered close together.

Hoping it never becomes an issue with high school sports. If a kid's name is in the program, or he's on the field, he should be fair game for photos and/or quotes.

 

I have only run into that once in my career.


On the newsside, our education report is not allowed to take pictures of kids in school until parents sign consent forms.