How do you feel about this?

There was a fairly famous incident at Daytona a few years back where a noob at his first race actually walked back to the media center rolling a tire from a wrecked car. He had asked the driver or crew chief if he could have it for a souvenir and the guy gave it to him.

The writer in question is no longer employed in the sportswriting business.

 

Please tell me he was loudly mocked and ridiculed by the other writers.

 

In terms of "swag," I might take a pen or a folder of information from a PR person. But I don't ask for autographs; just handshakes. I can tell my grandchildren I shook the hands of Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal. The latter's hand is sooooo big!

Oh, and Bill Laimbeer's hands are chapped. However, he took it as a compliment when I said that Ruth Riley's jumper looks a little like his was in the '80s.

 

I'm inclined to agree with buckweaver here.

When I covered D.C. United for a Web site that was run by fans for fans back in 1999, I instinctively knew better than to cheer for the team when I was sitting in the press box. The other things (like snagging memorabilia) were completely anathema to me. When I was there, I saw myself as a journalist there to do a job.

Of course, I also felt like I had to substantiate my presence there since I had only been following the sport for three-plus years and I was there from a fan-run Web site to begin with. Thus, I earned a reputation for asking "interesting" (read: tough) questions.

The point is, no one had to tell me how to behave as a member of the media. At 25 going on 26, I already had a good idea of what to do and what not to do. The next year, I was sitting next to my replacement on the Web site, whom I would guess was in his mid-40s. One of D.C. United's flaks had to explain the no cheering in the press box thing to him.

 

You're kidding. That's fucking pathetic.

 

Iwould be interested to know if he was from a newspaper or the trade press.

The trade press, especially at that level, is much closer to "fan" than other reporters.

I know folks who have written for the trade press while working for other drivers doing PR or other stuff.

 

He was.

 

Keeping a tire. Hmmmm ... maybe if it flew off the car and hit him. But it would have to have hit him in the head. Hard.

 

He also had a huge collection of sheetmetal from his favorite driver(s).

In midseason one year, Chevrolet announced it would have a new car for the following season. I immediately asked him if that meant he'd have to hang all-new sheetmetal on the outside of his double-wide.

Oddly, he didn't find that funny.

 

Is there a definite line we can draw here or is it up to each writer?

Obviously asking for hats, tires, sheetmetal, first-born children is wrong. But a lot of these press boxes also give us food, notebooks and pens - all that would cost as much if not more than a stupid hat.

But I guess we need to eat more than we need a Budweiser trucker hat.