Ever get threatened by a coach?

[Scribbling]

I wrote a column published yesterday on a major DI program in which I questioned a coaches play calling. I didn't think I went over the line, but I just wrote about the obvious. A member of that coaches' staff called my publisher today to complain. My publisher talked to me about it (and he didn't think I did anything wrong). I offered to call the coach, but my publisher wanted to handle it.

Anyways, my publisher called him back after the second conversation and the staff member proceded to tell him that he and the head coach were going to "ruin" me. They are apparently saying that they are going to go to the athletic department and make sure I have no access whatsoever in the future and that no one ever talks to me again.

First, I'm shocked at the vindictive personalities of this coaching staff. Second, I'm shocked that a coach of this regard would go off the deep end because of a one column. Third, I'm not too worried about my relationships with others in the athletic department and other coaches.

But has this ever happened to any of you and how did you handle it?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Most importantly, make sure your SE, EE and publisher have your back. If you work at a paper in a college town, unfortunately, that might not be a given...

Show up and do your job normally. Don't hesitate to ask the coach questions as you normally would. This is your way of showing you can move on, and if he can't, he'll just continue to look like an asshole.

 

[SoSueMe]

I had to call a coach for a story from afar (they were eight hours out of town and on the bus ride back). Coach refused to answer his cell - four times - after the loss.
The GM was on the bus, though. And he answered his phone and said the coach "was too busy analyzing video-tape." I asked for five minutes with the coach and was told "no" several times.
The following sentence appeared in the story: "Coach So-and-so refused comment because he was too busy analyzing video-tape," according to GM blah-blah.

The first the thing the coach did at practice the next day is apologize for not taking my call.

Imagine if all your stories from here forth said "coach refused comment several times, despite being asked to comment."

The public will wonder what HIS problem is. Not yours.

 

[Clerk Typist]

The good thing is that your publisher was involved immediately, so he knows how over the line the staff is. Just keep reporting, and make sure your paper is ready to report your were excluded from a practice / news conference / game if that's the case, or even if the school attempts to do so.
And if there are any personal threats again your person, remember that verbal threats are technically assault, and remind those making the threats they've crossed a different line.
Meanwhile, the other stuff regarding the student intern and freelance writer sounds like column fodder to me. Go for it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I love the story about how Furman Bisher once called Vince Dooley and asked him what student reporter was the biggest pain in the ass...

When Dooley told him, Bisher hired him...

I've heard rumors that the hire was Schlabach, but I have no idea if that's true...

 

[HoopsMcCann]

considering schlabach covered goff, i'm guessing it wasn't him

 

[da man]

I've had coaches threaten to shut me out more than once. I'd say 90 percent of the time, if you ignore the threat and do your job as before, it will be forgotten in a matter of days.

 

[bigpern23]

I wrote a column published yesterday on a major DI program in which I questioned a coaches play calling. I didn't think I went over the line, but I just wrote about the obvious. A member of that coaches' staff called my publisher today to complain. My publisher talked to me about it (and he didn't think I did anything wrong). I offered to call the coach, but my publisher wanted to handle it.

Anyways, my publisher called him back after the second conversation and the staff member proceded to tell him that he and the head coach were going to "ruin" me. They are apparently saying that they are going to go to the athletic department and make sure I have no access whatsoever in the future and that no one ever talks to me again.

First, I'm shocked at the vindictive personalities of this coaching staff. Second, I'm shocked that a coach of this regard would go off the deep end because of a one column. Third, I'm not too worried about my relationships with others in the athletic department and other coaches.

But has this ever happened to any of you and how did you handle it?

Happened to me once.

Personally, I let the coach go. I waited until the season was over and then went after the rest of the staff. I killed their kids, I killed their wives, I killed their parents and their parents' friends. I burned down the houses they lived in and the stadium they worked in. I killed people that owed them money. And like that I was gone. Underground. Nobody has ever seen me since. I became a myth, a spook story that coaches tell their staffs in the film room at night. "Act unfriendly with the media and Bigpern will get you."

 

[da man]

considering schlabach covered goff, i'm guessing it wasn't him

Yeah, but wasn't Dooley still AD after he stopped coaching?

 

[buckweaver]

Never had a coach physically threaten me in this biz, but I did have a coach come thiiiiiis close to punching me out when I was umpiring 13-14 year-old baseball. I was 17 at the time, he was a parent-coach, and he was completely out of line.

As for Scribbling's situation, just do your job as normal. The second you let a coach intimidate you, he's won. So go back to practice, ask the questions that you normally would, write your stories as you normally would. ... If they won't talk to you, print that instead. And keep printing it -- they'll get the message.

 

[Ledbetter]

I love the story about how Furman Bisher once called Vince Dooley and asked him what student reporter was the biggest pain in the ass...

When Dooley told him, Bisher hired him...

I've heard rumors that the hire was Schlabach, but I have no idea if that's true...

Bisher called then-sports information director Dan Magill and the writer was Lewis Grizzard.

 

[MCEchan36]

This isn't the first time this staff has threatened writers before, but the other two cases I know of were a little different. One was a student who wrote something on a message board that wasn't flattering to the staff. The staff tracked him down and got him fired from his internship with the Athletic Department the day before he was supposed to start his internship.

The other was a freelance writer who wrote a report on a preseason scrimmage that was open to the public. It wasn't a story he wrote, more like a practice report for a fan site, but the staff got upset about that. One of his writing gigs was with the AD's magazine for donors. They had him fired from that job and shut him out. He now sells computers.

I know all my higher-ups have my back on this, but the culture here is so different than anywhere I've ever been. If you don't tote the party line, they kick you out. I was actually told today, "We look at media as either with us or against us and right now you're against us."

What is that???

Who is on this joke of a coaching staff so I know to be wary of these guys in the future.

 

[e4]

i had a high school girls basketball coach -- an ex-marine -- once tell me something off the record and, just to be sure, threatened to break my wrists if i wrote it. i don't think he was joking either.

 

[longjumper42]

I haven't had the pleasure of being threatend by coach's yet.. but well... parents... that's a different story... and I saw a coach get threatend by a parent, which isn't uncommon at all.. but funny as hell.
I cover HS sports, so I expect some anger, but the extent to which I've gotten where I am at is insane... I have players who won't talk to me becuase their parent's don't like me...but in your situation, I would follow exactly what everyone else has said.. keep printing that 'THEY' refuse to comment and eventually they'll figure out that they are the ones who look bad. NOT YOU.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Yes.

By a couple NFL players, but more memorably, by a high school coach on the border.

The big, burly coach watched his team get its ass kicked by the 3A South Texas power my paper covered. His players got a little out of control late. There were a couple ejections.

I asked him about it. We're about the same size, and he starts snorting and almost foams at the mouth. He says, "You're supposed to ask me positive questions."

I kinda smirked and let it go.

Then he goes, "Don't you ever come back here." The place had emptied pretty fast.

I said, "What are you gonna do, kick my ass?"

He said, "Possibly."

I laughed and said something about him and what army. Got in my car.

Five minutes later a Texas state trooper pulled me over. Got a speeding ticket.

Had a nice little feud going for several months. The paper sort of had my back. But I figured I'd follow Seth Maxwell's advice and "rise above it." Extended my hand to bury the hatchet at a track meet.

I did get a decent lead, though. "The stadium lights went out as El Presidente High coach Dennis Castro trudged through the parking lot."

Cheap shot, callin' the man like that.

 

[Tom Petty]

I wrote a column published yesterday on a major DI program in which I questioned a coaches play calling. I didn't think I went over the line, but I just wrote about the obvious. A member of that coaches' staff called my publisher today to complain. My publisher talked to me about it (and he didn't think I did anything wrong). I offered to call the coach, but my publisher wanted to handle it.

Anyways, my publisher called him back after the second conversation and the staff member proceded to tell him that he and the head coach were going to "ruin" me. They are apparently saying that they are going to go to the athletic department and make sure I have no access whatsoever in the future and that no one ever talks to me again.

First, I'm shocked at the vindictive personalities of this coaching staff. Second, I'm shocked that a coach of this regard would go off the deep end because of a one column. Third, I'm not too worried about my relationships with others in the athletic department and other coaches.

But has this ever happened to any of you and how did you handle it?

had something like this happen, once, and wrote a column about the whole incident the following week ... wasn't very nice when describing the incident, either. thinking back on it, i pretty much hung said coach out to dry (thanks to his own actions).

guy and his staff hated me the rest of my stay at that shop, but they always answered my questions, even if it was through clenched teeth. i really didn't care, though, because they were going to hate me either way.

ink may as well be free to you and i my friend.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

Marc Crawford, '97. In fairness, he threatened me and I threatened him back. The pen is a weapon--I was actually mulling over using it for an eye gouge while the testosterone rose. A few days later it was smoothed, but when the 'lanche crashed and burned that spring (remember Crow's bug-eyed staredown with Bowman) Crawford's press conference lasted one question: mine. I used the bug eyes and his own words to chase him off the stage. "Marc, you said that your team had to act accountably and responsibly to win this series--what did you learn yourself about acting accountably and responsibly?"

He might not have been born an asshole--but after the '96 Cup he became one fast. Consider: He took issue with me for a column I wrote that said he was the only choice for Canadian Olympic coach.

YHS, etc

 

[BYH]

It's too bad this happened at a university, where there's often nobody to check and balance the dickhead football or basketball coach because the dickhead runs the place. If it happened in a pro league you could raise all sorts of hell with the league PR dept and probably assure yourself the same access you had before.

I'm just thinking off the top of my head, but if they actually go thru with shutting you out, I'd try to find a sympathetic booster. Maybe the school you cover has a famous author who happens to contribute a crapload of money? Perhaps the athletic department will suddenly pay attention to your plight if he threatens to yank his support.

Or maybe, if this coach is as sucky as you've said, the booster wants to make him sweat.

 

[lantaur]

During the minor league playoffs one season lo those many years ago, the coach of the opposing team found me after the next game (I think I was going to him to get a quick quote) and he basically tried to intimidate me because I had used a quote given to the reporter which covers his team. I tried to explain to him that sometimes reporters have to share quotes because we can't get to both locker rooms, but he definitely was "threatening" me. And this future NHL coach had an intimiading presence as is.

The good news is, he calmed down and gave me my interview ... and even the next year he made some joking comment when he saw me. Hell, I was just happy someone was reading my stories. :)

 

[FlipSide]

This isn't the first time this staff has threatened writers before, but the other two cases I know of were a little different. One was a student who wrote something on a message board that wasn't flattering to the staff. The staff tracked him down and got him fired from his internship with the Athletic Department the day before he was supposed to start his internship.

The other was a freelance writer who wrote a report on a preseason scrimmage that was open to the public. It wasn't a story he wrote, more like a practice report for a fan site, but the staff got upset about that. One of his writing gigs was with the AD's magazine for donors. They had him fired from that job and shut him out. He now sells computers.

I know all my higher-ups have my back on this, but the culture here is so different than anywhere I've ever been. If you don't tote the party line, they kick you out. I was actually told today, "We look at media as either with us or against us and right now you're against us."

What is that???

Who is on this joke of a coaching staff so I know to be wary of these guys in the future.