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Hilariously Bad Interview Questions

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Omar_dont_scare, Mar 10, 2007.

  1. Inspired by the Bad Interviewers topic. I know we all have some good ones.

    Here's my favorite.

    Bigwig HS girls basketball team goes to state finals. Loses by one point. Writer heads up to star player, and asks, "Well, are you ready for tennis?" (Bigwig also had a state-title tennis team. )

    Her response?

    "I don't play tennis. That's my sister."

    Writer: "Oh." And walks off.

    Your turn!
     
  2. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Heard someone ask a coach:

    "Coach, this game tonight . . . did they want it more?"

    Yeah, that's it. They "wanted it more."

    Who prints this when a teenage athlete says it, much less asks a coach this?
     
  3. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    Don't know if this is hilarious as it is embarassing. Prep football writer doing a story on girl football player. This one was actually worth writing because the girl was a lineman. (Lineperson. I'm still not sure what to call a girl who plays first base in softball). Anyway, the reporter actually asked her if she showers and dresses with the guys before and after games. Like it mattered. And she obviously didn't. It's not like there are any high schools with no girls locker rooms. I suppose there may be a few all-boys Catholic schools, but there would still be a place for women and girls to use the restroom. Stupid question.
     
  4. MartinEnigmatica

    MartinEnigmatica Active Member

    Since...er, Because I started the other thread...I'll add one memorable one:
    'Coach, why is this win so emotional for you? Why the tears?'
    'Um, it's allergies.'
     
  5. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    Had a part-timer cover a track meet once. He's talking to this stud long-distance runner, and the fat body from a nearby paper butts in and says, "Hey, why don't you and I double-team her?"

    Poor girl.
     
  6. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I knew this lardr butt named chris who would ask the worst questions.

    "O-kay.. remember.. you remember when you were with The Beatles, and you were supposed to be dead, and, uh, there was all these clues, that, like, uh, you played some song backwards, and it'd say, like, "Paul Is Dead", and, uh, everyone thought that you were dead? That was, um, a hoax, right?

    Paul McCartney: Yeah. I wasn't really dead.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. ColbertNation

    ColbertNation Member

    Girls playoff basketball game. Home team gets torched by a girl who puts up 37, including the last nine in overtime. Guy from the visitor's paper opens the interview with the home coach with, "Well, that No. 25 is pretty good, huh?" After he left, the coach halted me in the middle of my interview and said, "Who was that guy? No. 25 was pretty good -- well, no kidding. She scored 37 points. How about a real question?"
     
  8. lono

    lono Active Member

    About a decade ago at an IRL race at Dover, driver Eliseo Salazar lost control during qualifying and slammed violently into the outside wall, breaking virtually everything on the right side of his body: shoulder, ribs, leg and ankle. It was horrifying to witness.

    Qualifying ended with Tony Stewart winning the pole.

    In the presser afterwards, an auto racing beat reporter from a major East Coast paper asked Tony, "So, was it a good thing Eliseo wrecked?"

    The intent of the question was, did the accident make drivers more cognizant of the dangers of racing at Dover? That alone was a pretty lame question, because if you don't know how dangerous it is to race an IndyCar, you're a moron.

    But the phrasing of the question was beyond ridiculous.

    Needless to stay, Stewart was not amused.
     
  9. Montezuma's Revenge

    Montezuma's Revenge Active Member

    Not an interview question per se, but ...

    Am at a PGA Tour event a few years ago, needing to catch a player for some general story. Catch him finishing his final hole, where he makes a nice up-and-down.

    I approach him after he signs his scorecard, and making small talk, say, "Nice up and down there on the last hole.''

    ``Yeah,'' he said none-too-cheerfully, ``for a 7.''

    :-[
     
  10. PhilaYank36

    PhilaYank36 Guest

    1) That question is revolting, given that she's on the line.

    2) Was that Nick Mangold's sister? I remember reading somewhere that she plays both offensive and defensive line. Tips the scales near three bills.
     
  11. ZummoSports

    ZummoSports Member

    I was at a regional jr. college game last week and this guy asked the winning coach if he felt more comfortable playing Saturday with a 10-point lead after his team had to catch up Friday to win.

    The coach replied: "Is that your question?"

    The guy was silent for the rest of the tournament, and rightly so
     
  12. Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.

    Corky Ramirez up on 94th St. Well-Known Member

    I covered a D-III football team and this, word for word, is a question a reporter posed to a player. I remember thinking during the middle of this, 'I cannot WAIT to transcribe this tape':

    "You, you, you knew they were going to blitz a lot and you were going to have to do a little different things that can make up for you to run, you know, up the gut, like, as you can, like, so you, I mean you did a lot of different things like catch, you know, you had a lot of catches and, you know, just like the, the, the thought that you guys played so hard and, you know, like you guys worked your asses off in the, in the second half, like (the quarterback) hit everybody, you know, like they caught everything, and special teams gave you the ball in good position, and after (the other team) scored that last touchdown it pretty much, you know, sucks."

    The player's response?
    "It just comes down to making plays. That's what it comes down to."
     
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