More whining parents

Ding ding ding.

Don't ignore what happened, but don't blame him, either. Look for a mitigating factor ... be truthful, but be generous where you can. It was tipped by a defender. The grass was wet. The wind was blowing. The angle was difficult. Defenders broke through the line and forced it. Something that lets the reader know the kicker didn't choke. And if he did, then write your story straight, without dwelling on it.

Talking to the player helps, too. You might get a better understanding for what actually happened and you can share that insight with the readers.

These *are* still kids playing high school ball, so try to find a way for a kid to maintain his dignity. For some of them, this might be their only chance to see their name in the newspaper. Don't make it a bad one needlessly.

 

Something like this happened in a game I covered a few years ago.

Local team's star running back fumbles going into the end zone and the visiting team recovers, thus ending local team's season local team's season in the first or second round of the playoffs. Kid even told me after the game that it was his fault his team lost, so I put his name in the paper. Didn't get any phone calls or emails about it.

 

Do you use their names when they score touchdowns or gain 100 yards?

Yes, you do.

Your reasoning, while I get it, is not made by journalistic reasoning, but rather by trying to avoid confrontation.

 

How often do we cover Little League?

And it wasn't. It was high school football and a state tournament game. The people who were at the game know what happened.

I do agree that it's tougher with Little League, but again, they're getting their name sin the paper for the good things,

 

You can.

Or you can do your job properly.

I know if I am a fan or an observer and someone says they lost on a missed kick, I want to know who kicked it.

That's a fairly big deal, especially if the kid's in there as a reserve or has made field goals to win games.

Slightly unrelated, but I have seen a couple fo games where team lost on a two-point conversion rather than kicking. Both times, coach said. "I would do it again. But I would call a different play."

Slight twist on this, and out reporter caught some flack, though he did what I would say was the only thing he could do.

Star running back gets tossed out of the game at the start of the second half for a flagrant unsportmanlike penalty. You have to name the kid and observe how if might -- key word -- have effected the otusome.

 

Just had an interview where the ME asked if I would name a hypothetical high school kid who missed two free throws with no time left that could have won the game.

I got the feeling the ME wouldn't have named the kid. I've called out kids, too, with the dad too cowardly to call me and tells to the coach to call me.

 

Anything negative you write about somebody's kid will be viewed as offensive and "you should use better judgment." It's not our job to coddle these kids. Don't worry. Whiny parents will never go away as long as high school sports exist.

 

One more thing... they want us to praise the kids when they do well. But be hush hush and look the other way when they do something wrong or stupid. Example, star player in the county, bound for a full division 1 scholarship. She gets suspended for the first four games of the season. Why? "Team-issued suspension." That's what I put and the school goes nuts (Oddly not the parents). They said, "that stuff doesn't need to be in the paper. You shouldn't be out to embarrass anybody like that."

Enough said.

 

It can be done, professionally and with tact, and should be done. We had a star player get tossed from a game that his team eventually won. It wasn't the lead, but it was fairly high up in the gamer. As it turned out, the ejection was overturned and we ran that story on Monday, front page.

 

Hacker, actually it turned out just fine. What I reported was correct. When you have a kid who leads the county in rushing and he carries the ball one time for one yard in game, that has to be accounted for. Nobody that I called had any problem with me. We get along fine. People complain from time to time about stuff and I expect it. But this guy demanded an apology and that's different. It all blew over and I even took a picture of that same kid scoring a touchdown in his next game. Nobody complained about that.lol

 

And you said, "Of course, because it's our job to report facts and not leave out key elements just to avoid confrontation."

Or were you a Dick?

 

Totally agreed. When I do cover kid ball, I'll find ways to write around errors, just because they are kids.