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So a coach tried to bar me from covering football (official new thread title)

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by kingcreole, Nov 9, 2012.

  1. Bob Slydell

    Bob Slydell Active Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Cover the game, if coach won't talk try to grab a player. If nothing, then get the coach from the other team, then say Coach Gripey McPissypants from Podunk would not comment on the game. But you have to cover the game. Readers don't care about pissing matches or if the coach likes the media, they just want the story. That's who you report for, so go cover it.

    Like someone said, SID sounds like a good dude and should give you a seat in the pressbox.
     
  2. SixToe

    SixToe Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Go to any practices as per your normal routine. If denied access or the coach won't speak, add that in your story.

    Cover the championship as you normally would. If the coach declines to speak with you, note that in your story.

    Your SE should inform the ME about the issue, and you or the SE probably should talk with the SID and AD. Then you can get the QT on the Ps & Qs before SHTF and Podunk's coach or fanbase goes EOTWAWKI.

    Seriously, cover the game. If the coach is not responding to the AD, as you indicated, sounds like a disconnect between those two that could be worth investigating.
     
  3. podunk press

    podunk press Active Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    This is very simple. If the SID and the AD have your back like you say, you go to the press box and cover the game.

    Interview the players. Interview the visiting team. Ask to speak to the coach afterwards. If he refuses, you say he declined comment.
     
  4. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Bingo. If this coach acts like an ass to you or to anyone else, it's all over YouTube. Mike Gundy may be a good coach, but you think he'd like to have "I'm a man! I'm 40!" back? (Ah, maybe not... it made him famous... lol)
     
  5. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Is this what journalism these days? We have to "get" a coach that won't talk to us? Sounds childish and silly. Go to him like a man, and just talk to him. If it doesn't work out, so you don't get quotes. But don't have a lackey standing around with a camera. That reeks of unprofessionalism.
     
  6. writingump

    writingump Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    I've dealt with these types before. When I wrote for a weekly, I had a guy who said he wouldn't talk to me because I wouldn't pick his team to win. Said I should pick them even if they played the "f-ing New York Giants." And his high school also had an idiotic ban on talking to players. So I'd cover the games, talk to the other coach and write the story, saying, "so-and-so declined to comment." I say you still go to the game because it's obviously a big story, even if the coach is a dickbag.
     
  7. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Whatever problems there are with the coach, hopefully they get worked out between you two.

    But if your newspaper deemed this team worthy of such in-depth coverage for 11 weeks, then you do NOT drop them to shorts level on the 12th week because of your situation.

    Your title is telling. You have NOT been barred from covering football. It may not be ideal, but you CAN cover a game without access to a team's coach or players. It's called writing quoteless.

    It's not about you. It's about your coverage.

    If your paper can drop the game that easily, then those 10-hour round-trips you were taking really weren't worth the dime, were they?
     
  8. Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Also, if you want to at least have some representation from Podunk (assuming they really won't talk to you), get something from the AD. It sounds like you have a good relationship with him. Especially if Podunk pulls off the win, you could easily get something from him on the importance of the win for the program as a whole (since it sounds like Podunk never wins these types of big games).
     
  9. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    As others have said, go to the game and cover it the best you can, with or without Podunk coach's cooperation.

    Although I know how tempting it is to set fire to bridges ... such as texting the Podunk coach and saying, "If you worried about Championship team as much as you worried about my stories, you might win your conference."
     
  10. 21

    21 Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    You haven't been barred, you've been bullied. Show up like a professional, do what you're there to do. Why let this guy get in your head?
     
  11. Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Reporters need much thicker skin and guts. I meet plenty who are too shy to call a subject or go up and introduce themselves to others.
     
  12. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Re: So I've been barred from covering football

    Couple things.

    -You compared a lower division (perhaps JUCO school?) team playing some of its best football to the saddest sacks in professional sports because it has a five-game losing streak to one team. I'm not sure the analogy is particularly good. I lean toward it being pretty poor.

    -If the AD said he's going to take care of it, then you count on him to take care of it. <i>Hey, you're taking care of this, right? Because I'm talking to the coach and players tomorrow.</i> Ditto with the SID. <i>If you're on my side and you want good coverage -- which is part of your job, remember -- then fix this</i>. SIDs and ADs aren't there to kiss the coach's ass and they sometimes have to be reminded of it.

    I'm all for developing great relationships with coaches, but this is truth: Coaches trade in false persecution like brokers do stocks. And when they pull that card -- the you-don't-understand-how-hard this-is-and-how-much-this-hurts-us card -- don't think you'll get much from the guy even if he's a close buddy. That's when the AD/SID has to do their job and talk a little third party sense.
     
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