Hilariously Bad Interview Questions

[Omar_dont_scare]

Inspired by the Bad Interviewers topic. I know we all have some good ones.

Here's my favorite.

Bigwig HS girls basketball team goes to state finals. Loses by one point. Writer heads up to star player, and asks, "Well, are you ready for tennis?" (Bigwig also had a state-title tennis team. )

Her response?

"I don't play tennis. That's my sister."

Writer: "Oh." And walks off.

Your turn!

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Heard someone ask a coach:

"Coach, this game tonight . . . did they want it more?"

Yeah, that's it. They "wanted it more."

Who prints this when a teenage athlete says it, much less asks a coach this?

 

[rpmmutant]

Don't know if this is hilarious as it is embarassing. Prep football writer doing a story on girl football player. This one was actually worth writing because the girl was a lineman. (Lineperson. I'm still not sure what to call a girl who plays first base in softball). Anyway, the reporter actually asked her if she showers and dresses with the guys before and after games. Like it mattered. And she obviously didn't. It's not like there are any high schools with no girls locker rooms. I suppose there may be a few all-boys Catholic schools, but there would still be a place for women and girls to use the restroom. Stupid question.

 

[MartinEnigmatica]

Since...er, Because I started the other thread...I'll add one memorable one:
'Coach, why is this win so emotional for you? Why the tears?'
'Um, it's allergies.'

 

[kingcreole]

Had a part-timer cover a track meet once. He's talking to this stud long-distance runner, and the fat body from a nearby paper butts in and says, "Hey, why don't you and I double-team her?"

Poor girl.

 

[BYH]

I knew this lardr butt named chris who would ask the worst questions.

"O-kay.. remember.. you remember when you were with The Beatles, and you were supposed to be dead, and, uh, there was all these clues, that, like, uh, you played some song backwards, and it'd say, like, "Paul Is Dead", and, uh, everyone thought that you were dead? That was, um, a hoax, right?

Paul McCartney: Yeah. I wasn't really dead.

 

[ColbertNation]

Girls playoff basketball game. Home team gets torched by a girl who puts up 37, including the last nine in overtime. Guy from the visitor's paper opens the interview with the home coach with, "Well, that No. 25 is pretty good, huh?" After he left, the coach halted me in the middle of my interview and said, "Who was that guy? No. 25 was pretty good -- well, no kidding. She scored 37 points. How about a real question?"

 

[lono]

About a decade ago at an IRL race at Dover, driver Eliseo Salazar lost control during qualifying and slammed violently into the outside wall, breaking virtually everything on the right side of his body: shoulder, ribs, leg and ankle. It was horrifying to witness.

Qualifying ended with Tony Stewart winning the pole.

In the presser afterwards, an auto racing beat reporter from a major East Coast paper asked Tony, "So, was it a good thing Eliseo wrecked?"

The intent of the question was, did the accident make drivers more cognizant of the dangers of racing at Dover? That alone was a pretty lame question, because if you don't know how dangerous it is to race an IndyCar, you're a moron.

But the phrasing of the question was beyond ridiculous.

Needless to stay, Stewart was not amused.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

Not an interview question per se, but ...

Am at a PGA Tour event a few years ago, needing to catch a player for some general story. Catch him finishing his final hole, where he makes a nice up-and-down.

I approach him after he signs his scorecard, and making small talk, say, "Nice up and down there on the last hole.''

``Yeah,'' he said none-too-cheerfully, ``for a 7.''

:-[

 

[PhilaYank36]

Don't know if this is hilarious as it is embarassing. Prep football writer doing a story on girl football player. This one was actually worth writing because the girl was a lineman. (Lineperson. I'm still not sure what to call a girl who plays first base in softball). Anyway, the reporter actually asked her if she showers and dresses with the guys before and after games. Like it mattered. And she obviously didn't. It's not like there are any high schools with no girls locker rooms. I suppose there may be a few all-boys Catholic schools, but there would still be a place for women and girls to use the restroom. Stupid question.

1) That question is revolting, given that she's on the line.

2) Was that Nick Mangold's sister? I remember reading somewhere that she plays both offensive and defensive line. Tips the scales near three bills.

 

[ZummoSports]

I was at a regional jr. college game last week and this guy asked the winning coach if he felt more comfortable playing Saturday with a 10-point lead after his team had to catch up Friday to win.

The coach replied: "Is that your question?"

The guy was silent for the rest of the tournament, and rightly so

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

I covered a D-III football team and this, word for word, is a question a reporter posed to a player. I remember thinking during the middle of this, 'I cannot WAIT to transcribe this tape':

"You, you, you knew they were going to blitz a lot and you were going to have to do a little different things that can make up for you to run, you know, up the gut, like, as you can, like, so you, I mean you did a lot of different things like catch, you know, you had a lot of catches and, you know, just like the, the, the thought that you guys played so hard and, you know, like you guys worked your asses off in the, in the second half, like (the quarterback) hit everybody, you know, like they caught everything, and special teams gave you the ball in good position, and after (the other team) scored that last touchdown it pretty much, you know, sucks."

The player's response?
"It just comes down to making plays. That's what it comes down to."

 

[TwoGloves]

PGA Tour event. Davis Love III is in the interview room. He's talking about his late father, how big an influence he was and how much he's missed.


Question for Love: "Davis, what was your father's name?"

Top that!

 

[Moderator1]

Suppose he's named after a grandfather and the dad's name is George? Probably NOT the case most of the time but it never hurts to ask.

Of course, it was probably in the media guide but I've learned they're not always reliable.

 

[Birdscribe]

We're going to end this thread right now.

The 2005 Samsung World Championship, an LPGA event better known as Michelle Wie's pro debut. As a result, we issued 237 credentials -- by far the most credentials issued for an LPGA event in like, forever.

One of the Korean reporters -- who obviously had never covered golf before -- comes up to my cohort and asks three questions about one of the anonymous Korean golfers, probably Hee Won Han or Shi Hyun Ahn. Two questions the media guide could easily answer and one that defies logic, given where we were at.

Where is she from?

How old is she?

Is She Male or Female?

 

[Ike Broflovski]

"Let's get you on the record now . . . "

Oh, that's not a question.

"Talk about . . . "

That isn't, either. My apologies.

 

[InTheSkeller]

After a game in which the Pirates scored twice in the fourth inning to tie it 2-2 and then got a run in the seventh or eight to win it, someone posed this beauty to manager Gene Lamont:

"Coach," -- called him coach, fer cryin' out loud -- "after you guys tied it, did you feel like it was a brand new ballgame?"

Lamont rolled his eyes and gave some stock response.

:-X

 

[SF_Express]

Season finale, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1978.

Bucs lose 17-10 to a bad Saints team in a terrible game.

John McKay comes out, and despite his grumpiness, he usually had something interesting to say, sometimes moreso after a loss. And this was also going to serve as the entry to all the season-ending post-mortem stuff, so as postgames go, this one is relatively important for the beat guys.

Radio guy: So, coach, do you have any New Year's resolutions?

McKay: I'm the one who's supposed to be funny here.

Exit stage left.

Beat guys did NOT find it hilarious.

 

[jshecket]

Prior to the Ohio State - Bowling Green football game this past year somebody asked Jim Tressel a question that started with "Heading into your week off..."

 

[write then drink]

"You, you, you knew they were going to blitz a lot and you were going to have to do a little different things that can make up for you to run, you know, up the gut, like, as you can, like, so you, I mean you did a lot of different things like catch, you know, you had a lot of catches and, you know, just like the, the, the thought that you guys played so hard and, you know, like you guys worked your asses off in the, in the second half, like (the quarterback) hit everybody, you know, like they caught everything, and special teams gave you the ball in good position, and after (the other team) scored that last touchdown it pretty much, you know, sucks."

i once was in a presser where some clown asked an equally long-winded question

the guy stared at him for a moment, then answered, "Could you repeat the question?"

broke everybody up