Passes

The university I cover on a regular basis issues season press credentials to media which cover the team. Today, one particular paper had some guy on press row sitting next to me who wasn't supposed to be there. I saw his badge and I knew the name of the person it was issued to. I looked at the man and asked where is "John" he said probably home watching the game on TV and then writing about it. I said well I know "John" and you aren't him. He didn't know what to say. ... I asked him how the paper was going and he said he didn't know (didn't work there). ... had to share. ...

 

There are so many fucked up things about that:
Why was the writer at home watching it on TV and then writing on it?
And why would he give out his pass? It seems like that would be an easy way to have your pass revoked.
I wonder if his paper knows he sits at home, watches games and then writes on them.

 

Did the guy steal it?

 

That about sums it up, Angola...

 

When I was 23 or 24, I was covering an ACC college basketball game.

I got out of my seat during a TV timeout to call my boss. I get back and there's a coat draped over my chair and a bag at my feet. I'm confused but I sit back down and ignore it.

A couple of minutes later a 50-something writer I've never seen comes back and looks at me puzzled. He then says, "Hi, this is my seat. Are you a student or something?"

Really pissed at this point, I point at the tag showing him that it's my paper's seat, then hand him his bag.

 

I once had a female writer from a rather major publication sit in my seat while I was standing for the National Anthem before a basketball game. When I got to my seat, which had all of my stuff there, she told me that she "had to sit there" and that it was "her seat," despite having, you know, my name on it.

I asked the SID what was up, and he sent her to another seat somewhere else. I was just shocked that someone at that position seemed to not have the slightest clue how things worked. But then again, maybe I shouldn't have been, given who it was.

 

Was she really sitting during the Anthem? Wow.

 

Well, no, figure of speech/vague choice of words. She was at the other end of the court - I had gotten up to get my notebook from the work room, came back to the court, stopped for the National Anthem, and when I got back to my seat, she was there. She wasn't actually sittting - at least, I'd hope not.

 

I'm getting ready for the someone's-in-my-seat problem. It's getting close to conference basketball tournament time, where I always seem to run into problems. I love how people who have seats somewhere else on press row just plunk down in a front-row seat, then get all pissy when you come out to your seat and tell them to move.

Last year at one of the tournaments I was at, they had three seats each for the competing schools' radio networks. One school's network decided to take up its three seats, plus the two newspaper seats next to it (not mine). They moved the two chairs into the aisle, which were then snatched up by one of the ushers in charge of press row.

Then the beat writer from the school chose to sit next to them (not his seat, which was in the front row but at the other end of the court), and thought it would be a bright idea to bring a full cup of Pepsi and ice courtside. Which, of course, ended up all over the table on the first ball that went out of bounds. I pointed all of them out to one of the SIDs I know from the conference, and the next day they were a little more vigilant about who was sitting where.

There was the time at the Big Ten tournament when I went to my seat to watch the game before the game I was going to be covering. Left a pad and pen at the seat and went back to the press room before the game started, got into a conversation with someone I knew. Came back out two minutes into the game, a radio guy who was sitting in the seat next to mine (not his seat) was using my pad and pen to take notes.