A reader e-mail that irks me...

[Jay Sherman]

Got a letter from a parent about a cross-country meet I covered the other day. Said parent forwarded the e-mail to my SE, EE and our publisher. :

It was a huge XC meet, with 50+ teams (eight local teams), and I mentioned that the star runner for said parent's son's school was out with an injury. Also mentioned the top runner for that team and how he fared. Mind you, this wasn't a piece focused on this HS...

Mr. Sherman,

I'm writing to you in response to your coverage of the Cross Country Invitational. I am grateful that you have chosen to seek out and write about some (two) of the excellent athletes on the team, but I think you are missing the bigger picture. We have a diverse group of boys and girls who go out onto the course daily to train and compete in a true sportsmanlike fashion for the school. Sure, Mike Smith is a very good athlete that has been gifted with the ability to maintain the speed necessary to regularly be in the top 5 at the meets, but there are also many others that deserve recognition. Mark Jones, who you have mentioned occasionally has truly trained and prepared to be at top physical form for the last few years. He has consistently been right behind Smith and if you pay attention this year to the team, he just might be the number one runner in the near future due to his determination and desire. The rest of the runners, battling for positions three through seven (for scoring purposes), are basically interchangeable depending on who "shows up for the race" that particular day. Juniors Ronnie Tyler, Cody Podunk, Barry Sanders, Sophomore Mark Schlereth, and Freshmen Zach Taylor and Billy Patterson are all quite capable of placing respectably in the races. Taylor and M. Schlereth have been a wonderful addition this year to the team and I can only imagine the future that these two boys will have.

On the girls side, Senior Jane Doe has been phenomenal on the course and has consistently remained one of the top finishers for the team. She will be greatly missed after this year as she moves on past high school. Juniors Kara Johnson and Caitlin Jones, Sophomores Amanda Huginkiss and Hillary Duff, and Freshmen Rod and Todd Flanders, and Sarah Cyrus will all round out the field for the girls team. These underclassmen will continue to provide and grow the reputation that Podunk High School has gained for their program under the direction of Coach Bruce Lee.

I have to admit, seeing you approach the boys at the Invitational on Saturday and specifically asking where Mike Smith was and how he finished, while not even acknowledging the others on the team was quite disheartening. Those boys and girls deserve some recognition also for their time and effort put in to the sport. In the future, I can only hope that you choose to speak with the Coach first to get any information you need for your reporting duties instead of going to the boys and girls and seeking out only one of them to speak to.

I understand that you are limited in the space you are allotted in the paper for your columns, but I just had to point out that the team is what makes the story, not necessarily just one individuals performance. These kids put their heart and soul into the sport and one of these days, it would be nice to see that recognized. Also, this letter could easily be interchanged with any other school and runners' names in the area. I hope that you remember that, as you progress in your career at the paper.

Thank you,

Peter Podunk
Proud parent of a PHS Cross Country runner

Wow. Just wow. I don't plan on writing back, but who does he think he is? So what if I asked the kids where their teammate finished? The kid is the all-area runner of the year, sue me.

 

[Dickens Cider]

What a bull**** e-mail. Everyone knows Todd Flanders smells.

 

[Write-brained]

You're right, the letter is irritating as hell, but you always write back. S/he took the time to write you, you write back.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

I think that Barry Sanders kid should try out for the football team next season. He'll be a senior, plus he has his name going for him.

 

[Jay Sherman]

Seriously, forget the names, I'm tired and didn't feel like making 50 BS names up. I need some legitimate discussion on this. I'll write back but today was my day off and I want to see if my SE mentions it.

 

[Dickens Cider]

Write-brained is right. Guy took the time to write, it deserves some kind of response, even if it's of the "Thanks for the feedback" variety.

 

[FuturaBold]

I really think there are form letters out there that parents pick up and modify to fit their various teams and sports, because we've all gotten some form of this type of response at some point ...

I purposely sought out the names of all the offensive linemen for a particular football team a few weeks ago because they played well and helped pave the way for the offense in a big win. I get a letter the next week saying that "there were a lot more people who contributed to the win than the ones you mentioned," blah blah ...

you can't win -- cover the story as best you can and as fairly as you can and as thoroughly as you can, and then give people who write you letters like this a good audience so that they feel heard and then move on ... otherwise you'll go mad...

Sometimes you may actually learn something good when these folks vent -- other times people will never be satisfied no matter what.

 

[zebracoy]

I do agree that some sort of response is necessary, especially when someone took so long to put that together, attach his name and send it off. He didn't come off mean or snarky to me and probably could have easily tucked a few "mother****ers" in there, but that wasn't the case.

Also, not to bust your chops, but yeah, I don't necessarily think it was a good idea to pick out the high school kids only to ask where the other kid was. Sure, he's an all-state runner, that's fine. But the coach just seems to be the more appropriate, logical choice.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

A few years ago, I received an e-mail from a parent who was upset that a piece I did on a sectional wrestling tournament focused too much on the brothers who made it to the finals, one winning a title and one placing second, and not enough on the team's fourth-place finish in the tournament and all the kids who didn't place as high and helped the team finish fourth (Funny, a few weeks before that, when the team won the league title, the coach trotted out the "second place is the first loser" cliche. If that's the way he feels, why big up a fourth-place finish?).
One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback" e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

 

[Tarheel316]

I've received far worse letters than that. It comes with the territory. I always reply, even if the person is being a jerk. If they are wrong about something, I politely point that out. If they point out something I missed, I thank them and make the correction. I always thank them for reading the paper.

 

[mike311gd]

I do agree that some sort of response is necessary, especially when someone took so long to put that together, attach his name and send it off. He didn't come off mean or snarky to me and probably could have easily tucked a few "mother****ers" in there, but that wasn't the case.

Also, not to bust your chops, but yeah, I don't necessarily think it was a good idea to pick out the high school kids only to ask where the other kid was. Sure, he's an all-state runner, that's fine. But the coach just seems to be the more appropriate, logical choice.

Right on, Zebracoy. And that letter's not too bad, though it would have been more helpful if he sent it to you prior to the season; it read just like a preview.

How many cross country meets do you have to cover? Because, likely, that'd be my last one until the postseason (not just because of the letter; it's cross country).

 

[mike311gd]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

 

[Write-brained]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

That's why I usually take so long to respond to your posts.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

That's why I usually take so long to respond to your posts.

Good one.

 

[mike311gd]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

That's why I usually take so long to respond to your posts.

It takes you 24 hours to call me an idiot?

 

[Smallpotatoes]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

That's why I usually take so long to respond to your posts.

It takes you 24 hours to call me an idiot?

I think he was talking to me.

 

[mike311gd]

One thing I learned on SportsJournalists.com is not to get into a pissing match with somebody on e-mail. God only knows who else sees the e-mails. I replied with a "Thank you for your feedback e-mail and invited him to call if he wished to discuss the matter with me.
He never called. They usually don't.

I find it's also best to sit on the e-mail a day so you're not typing with fresh emotion.

That's why I usually take so long to respond to your posts.

It takes you 24 hours to call me an idiot?

I think he was talking to me.

Oh.

 

[Tom Petty]

dear sir - boarding a school bus in order to participate in a cross country meet is not news. being on a team, especially cross country, is not news. and having a heart is not news.

reporter jay
the daily bugle

 

[slappy4428]

I'll say it again. Kent Benson tried hard in the NBA too. Did that make him any good?

 

[Tom Petty]

I'll say it again. Kent Benson tried hard in the NBA too. Did that make him any good?

worked so hard it split his teeth.