So if you're covering West Virginia football today ...

Hey Rich, I have this Ohio State jersey that's a little too small for me, but looks to be your size. Would you try it on?

 

Yes, he is. It's called tact. It's called respect for the 15 or 20 other writers who have a dozen or more stories to write in the next three weeks. And it's called, take a step back and use some intelligence instead of trying to kick the door in.
Show of hands here, how many people have done interviews where someone says right off the bat he's not talking about something controversial -- then you say OK, move on to other topics, and eventually slip in a backdoor question that gets them talking? You might not get the exact answer you want, but you still get something more than what you'd have had if they walked out in the first place.
It sounds like your entire goal, PHINJ, would be to blow up the presser and, when it's replayed on Sports Center, brag to your buddies, "Dude, my question was the one that caused him to do that!"
You say you're not doing your job if you don't ask the question. True. But you're also preventing other people from doing theirs BY asking the question straight out of the gate.

 

and this point i'm guessing you haven't.

 

The reality is that you're not going to get an honest answer anyway, and while you don't mind risking alienating the other beat writers by scooping them, in the long run you are going to be less effective on the beat if both sides think you're a douche for no good reason.

I remember a TV interview with George H.W. Bush just after Election Day 2000. Ground rule was, no questions about Gore, as absurd as that may sound. The interviewer ignored the ground rule eventually, and actually asked the question a few times and GHWB got testy but didn't storm off. Interviewer played it well, I thought. If they'd asked the question first thing, it would have looked like it was a "fuck you." And, really, that's all it would have been. Owwwww, we made Georgie get mad! Look at us!

 

It seems questions were asked, then Rodriguez said any more questions and he was walking out:


http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ap-wvirginia-rodriguez&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

I already told you the point.

 

Right, because there are no douchebags in the industry who consistently get scoops?

A one-on-one interview is another thing entirely. But a press conference is a competitive situation where a single reporter has very little control over when he gets to ask his question.

Wait 5 minutes? Fine. But for all practical purposes, it means nothing. There's no guarantee you could be the first to ask anyway. You allow one out of town reporter to ask his dumb question about defensive coverages so one less guy is pissed at you. Big deal.

And I am not saying to chase the guy out of the room. By all means, find tricky ways to get the questions asked. I didn't say to bludgeon the asshole over the head with a sledgehammer.

I can't tell from the story but it looks like Rodriguez issued his ultimatum in the middle of the press conference. If you've already got enough information to write your "Rodriguez spouts bullshit about Michigan" story, then fine. Let it go and let everyone else ask their questions. That's a much different scenario than letting the guy off the hook because he immediately says he doesn't want to talk about it.

 

My best friend from high school was the GM of the cable company in Morgantown.

1. He said his installers said it was not at all uncommon to be working at a house that still had an outhouse as the only facilities.

2. The folks there burned tires (I think it was tires) on his lawn and the newspaper noted was the "the most hated man in Morgantown) because he took off *one* of the Home Shopping Network and replaced it with BET. (Legally mandated because of the minority population at WVU).

 

That's a much better story than the one I initially read (which sparked the thread), which gave the impression Rodriguez issued his edict and wasn't challenged. Glad to see it was asked.

That said, the resulting story leaves me thinking moddy's approach is the right one.

The story today with Rodriguez is Michigan. As soon as he said he was going to walk out if he was asked about it, somebody should have said, "Well, if you didn't want to be asked about it, why did you interview?"

It's the question every West Virginia fan wants answered.

And, yeah, TODAY they care about it a helluva lot more than the Fiesta Bowl, where the beat guys and gals will have a week of access to get stuff.

 

How is it blowing up the presser? It's the news of the day. If Richie Spread Option says he won't talk about his flirtation with Michigan, the first question is why not.

 

Serious question:

1. Is this hypothetical or did this actually happen?

2. Live presser or conference call?

3. If he really did have a press conference today or this week, how many people would actually be there?