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Why I drink ... phone calls.

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Shoeless Joe, Jan 14, 2011.

  1. nietsroob17

    nietsroob17 Well-Known Member

    This happened to me the year I was an SID for my college's softball team. We were at the neutral-site conference tournament, and as the SID of the higher-seeded school, I was the official scorer.

    We were in the field. Batter hit a bullet on the ground to our third baseman, who in the rush to field it, kicked it and couldn't get the throw over to first. I ruled it a hit, judging the fact that I didn't believe the throw would've beaten the runner regardless. The pitcher's dad turned around and yelled to the press box about why I didn't give an error to the third baseman, whose father ALSO was in the crowd. It wasn't until I stood up and craned my neck out of the press box that I was HIS team's SID. Of all the parents I dealt with that year, he was the only prick.

    Our top slugging catcher/infielder was a big girl and had some Samoan blood. Met her dad at the conference tournament -- to this day I remember his hand had to have been the size of a catcher's mitt.
     
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Sure. All the time. The most grief you get is usually on some innocuous story. (You didn't mention Jimmy's cousin! Why did you quote the father, he's a jerk who doesn't pay child support! etc, etc.).

    The ones that seem sensitive or controversial to you can often go without a peep.
     
  3. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I would respond to the email and say that you are sorry she didn't like the story and that you tried very hard to reach the family.
     
  4. btm

    btm Member

    Okay, it is around 11:45 on a basketball-heavy Friday night. This guy calls in grumbling about a junior varsity boxscore. We put in the JV boxes of our five most-local teams. Wants to who calls those in. I tell him the junior varsity coach, then the guy hangs up and that's that. I should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity....

    Anyways, I ask the coach, who I've known for years, 'Who would be calling up and complaining about a jv boxscore?' He knew immediately who it was and basically said this guy was a dick.

    So next game of theirs I cover, I go and get the jv box myself. I only get the names of the guys who scored, because I have other stuff to do, like get the varsity book before the game (don't worry I'm going somewhere with this).

    I'm sitting in the press box (about the only high school that has one around here, but I stay out if the radio folk are there) and the AD comes in with another guy. The AD points this guy out in the crowd and says what an asshole he is to this other guy while I'm in there.

    Low and behold after I finish writing the gamer and whatnot, the phone rings at 11:30 with this guy asking the point rundown for the JV game. I'm way more patient than most (keep in mind there are about 15 other basketball games and five wrestling matches this night) and go through the rundown with him and he doesn't even say thanks or goodbye and just hangs up.

    This guy calls back five minutes later wanting to know who hit three-pointers. No one did, same thing hung up very rudely.

    What I found out, he is looking for his STEPson's (operative word there step) scoring. His stepson rarely scores in the jv contests.

    I love putting up with bullshit constantly for peanuts.
     
  5. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    11:45? Tell him to wait six hours and it'll all be on his doorstep!
     
  6. btm

    btm Member

    The kicker is he's even at the games...so I have no idea why he calls.
     
  7. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    yes, explain quickly that you're on deadline and he can read about it in the next day's paper...quite a feat that you guys are doing anything with jayvees as it is. Nice on your part...rude on his...feel free to hang up the phone and get back to work :)
     
  8. I'll never tell

    I'll never tell Active Member

    it's never good news when you answer the phone that late.
     
  9. And understand the guy died and the family is grieving - and possibly venting onto you.
     
  10. SportsDude

    SportsDude Active Member

    In my experience, the kids are almost always horrified when they find out their parents are calling into the paper complaining. I can only think of one time where that wasn't the case, and then I heard the coaches complain about those players across all their sports.

    I've also noticed that a higher-percentage of the complaining parents always seem to work in the school system somewhere and how that entitlement mentality is playing out there.
     
  11. btm

    btm Member

    It is quite a feat, considering we have four full-time and one part-time guy and we cover about 25 high schools.

    And yes, phone calls that late are always bad, bad news.
     
  12. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    I've written one obit story in my career. A couple of years ago, parts of Lexington flooded and one car got swept away on one of the roads downtown. The car just happened to be driven by a former athlete in the county where I worked, and I got the honor of writing the story.

    This family is big into golf, and her younger sister played in a tournament I covered a day or two after the death. I talked to her throughout the round, and was asking questions about how she and her family were doing and if she'd be OK if I asked her a couple of questions for the story after she was done playing. She said she was OK with it, but asked me to be patient and understanding if she broke down throughout the interview.

    She did. Several times. She told me about her sister, and how she was such an awesome big sister. Told me how the older sister helped her improve her game, and how she learned everything from her.

    Younger sister cried throughout the entire interview. It was one of the toughest interviews I've ever done. But it was also one of the best because I had developed a pretty solid friendship with the girl and her family over the course of that summer and fall season.

    This was a tight-knit family, and it was painful to see them going through this. But I knew if anyone could get through it, they would in time. The younger sister, who was a senior at the time, went on to have the best season of her high school career. She finished in the top 10 at state, and earned a D-I scholarship -- although I don't remember where she went for college, or if she kept playing competitively at the next level.

    The anniversary of the older sister's death is coming up in about two months. I know it's something the family still struggles with. I went to the funeral; the place was packed, so I didn't stick around after the service. The story came out the day of the funeral.

    I didn't have another golf tournament to cover until two weeks later. The younger sister came up to me before her round started, thanked me for the story and hugged me. She said the story was an awesome tribute to her sister. Then her mom and dad walked up. Dad said thanks for writing a great story; mom just hugged me.

    All I could say was I was just doing my job, and I hated that I had to write the story under those circumstances. It was one of the toughest assignments I've ever been given.
     
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