High school football press boxes

[NightHawk112005]

Here's something that happened to me tonight. I'm covering one of the local high schools and sitting in the press box, since the game's being played in a college facility. Two seats away is a parent who's filming the game for the local school. Of course, this parent is openly cheering for his son's team and screaming his head off at the referees whenever he thinks they've made a mistake. About 25 times, I want to say to the guy that I'm trying to work and ask if he could please move elsewhere, but I elected not to because we were the only people in the box at the time.

Then later in the game, the writer from a competitor paper joins me to cover the later game and we start talking about the upcoming second round, where the winner of the first game will play the best team in the state, assuming it doesn't choke. Said best team is up 33-0 in the third quarter, so I say to the other writer that these teams are playing to see who gets their butts handed to them next week. The parent turns to me and says that's a bad attitude "especially because you work for the paper". My immediate response is to ask him what the heck my working for the paper has anything to do with it, and he sarcastically responds "You're right."

What do you think? Should parents be allowed in press boxes if they aren't performing an important function? And what would you have done here?

 

[budcrew08]

yup. Ignore it is the right answer. The guy's just a foof anyway.

 

[golfnut8924]

Yeah probably just let him be an ass, although if you're going to ignore his obnoxious cheering than he should've ignored your comments.

Any good athletic director would make clear to these video-taping parents -- before the season even starts -- that you cannot behave like that in the press box. Unfortunately, many athletic directors -- as well as the scoreboard operators, stat keepers and everyone else up there -- has or had kids who played for the team so they're all in the same boat.

I wish I had a dime for every non-media member who was acting like this in the press box. It's just one of the many fun things that come along with covering high school sports.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Here's something that happened to me tonight. I'm covering one of the local high schools and sitting in the press box, since the game's being played in a college facility. Two seats away is a parent who's filming the game for the local school. Of course, this parent is openly cheering for his son's team and screaming his head off at the referees whenever he thinks they've made a mistake. About 25 times, I want to say to the guy that I'm trying to work and ask if he could please move elsewhere, but I elected not to because we were the only people in the box at the time.

Then later in the game, the writer from a competitor paper joins me to cover the later game and we start talking about the upcoming second round, where the winner of the first game will play the best team in the state, assuming it doesn't choke. Said best team is up 33-0 in the third quarter, so I say to the other writer that these teams are playing to see who gets their butts handed to them next week. The parent turns to me and says that's a bad attitude "especially because you work for the paper". My immediate response is to ask him what the heck my working for the paper has anything to do with it, and he sarcastically responds "You're right."

What do you think? Should parents be allowed in press boxes if they aren't performing an important function? And what would you have done here?

For the record, you SHOULD be careful making those kinds of comments, especially around parents.

 

[93Devil]

I work for a school district in the central office, and I do not allow people to call them press boxes around me.

I call them parent boxes or booster boxes.

I did it just this Friday when I was told a high school softball field was building a "press box."

 

[deskslave]

Forgive my rare idealism, but I'm pretty sure the home team would argue that having a game film is pretty important, particularly as exchanging films becomes mandatory in the playoffs.

 

[BillyT]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I do agree that press boxes can be dicey. I actually had an AD about to send two of us out in the rain, because the opposing team needed to scout. (There still would have been room.)

His call, and I would have complained to the school on Monday, but the retired AD took the guy to the side and the AD got us seats.

I hate it more when there are opposing coaches there, not in a separate booth, but in the box.

You cannot blame them for cheering or communicating with the bench. Unfortinately, they are also usually pretty loud.

 

[golfnut8924]

Forgive my rare idealism, but I'm pretty sure the home team would argue that having a game film is pretty important, particularly as exchanging films becomes mandatory in the playoffs.

No problems with filming the game, it's a very big part of the sport. But it IS possible to film it without acting like an ass.

 

[TrooperBari]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

Ayup -- better to think it than say it. Parents have a tendency to be touchy about such things, especially when their kid is being, or about to be, throttled.

I had Soccer Dad lose his **** at me once because, as his son's team was losing 6-0 and making six substitutions at once, I said it was scrub-a-dub-dub time. While I was correct (they went on to lose by 11 or 12), I deserved it.

 

[NightHawk112005]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I don't think it was. I wasn't having the discussion with him. He just butted into my conversation. I'm not going to censor myself when talking to another writer just because a parent happens to be around.

 

[RickStain]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I don't think it was. I wasn't having the discussion with him. He just butted into my conversation. I'm not going to censor myself when talking to another writer just because a parent happens to be around.

That parent is a reader. You don't have a problem giving the appearance of bias in front of readers?

 

[TrooperBari]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I don't think it was. I wasn't having the discussion with him. He just butted into my conversation. I'm not going to censor myself when talking to another writer just because a parent happens to be around.

Perhaps, but is this really a battle you need to fight?

 

[NightHawk112005]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I don't think it was. I wasn't having the discussion with him. He just butted into my conversation. I'm not going to censor myself when talking to another writer just because a parent happens to be around.

That parent is a reader. You don't have a problem giving the appearance of bias in front of readers?

He was actually upset because I wasn't giving the appearance of bias. He expected me to be biased toward his school and was ticked off that I wasn't. Besides, if he was picking up bias from me giving my honest opinion, nothing I say is going to please him anyway. So no, I don't have a problem with what I said.

 

[spnited]

A. Ignore stupid parents (which you did not)
B. Act like a professional (which you did not)
C. Lose the freaking attitude and grow some thicker skin.

 

[House]

Where I work, if the podunk little ****sville even has a press box, it usually has no room between a scoreboard operator, clock operator, public announce guy, a spotter, home coaches on headsets, at least one radio crew and the usual gang of parent hangers-on. There's just no room. Not worth the effort when the local team crowd can't muster 300 people for a playoff game. And this is a town of 40,000.

So I'm relegated to share the sideline with about four dozen other people who won't bother me one bit because there's mutual respect that everyone is there to work. No parents, no little kid ball boys, no one who doesn't serve some purpose to the night's event.

 

[JackReacher]

A. Ignore stupid parents (which you did not)
B. Act like a professional (which you did not)
C. Lose the freaking attitude and grow some thicker skin.

Yup.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I would have spoken to the athletic director or person in charge of the press box -- privately -- before talking to the parent,

I would also never discuss something like "These guys are playing to get buried in the next round."

That's unprofessional.

I don't think it was. I wasn't having the discussion with him. He just butted into my conversation. I'm not going to censor myself when talking to another writer just because a parent happens to be around.

That parent is a reader. You don't have a problem giving the appearance of bias in front of readers?

He was actually upset because I wasn't giving the appearance of bias. He expected me to be biased toward his school and was ticked off that I wasn't. Besides, if he was picking up bias from me giving my honest opinion, nothing I say is going to please him anyway. So no, I don't have a problem with what I said.

Remain a moron if you wish. Or don't. Guy was pissed because you disparaged his team (and his kid, most likely). HS is not the pros. Not even college. It's kids playing for free and for the love of their school. You were trying to be a cocky smartass in front of a fellow writer. You'll grow up eventually. (Maybe.)

Years ago I went to a HS fball road game to cover our hometown school. I didn't care if our team won, but it sure makes for a nicer story. When the home team came out and was forced to call a TO on the first offensive play of the second half, I said to a fellow writer, "What were they doing at halftime, watching TV?"

Later that week I got a call at home from someone at work saying the coach for that team called and wanted to talk to me and sounded pretty pissed. So I called him back. He asked if I said that and he said he was embarrassed in front of everyone at their athletic boosters meeting when someone told him they heard me say that in the press box. He said there's a lot of people that work hard and make a living off working for the football team and they shouldn't be disparaged. Then he said most people wouldn't have the guts to call him back and we wouldn't have any problem working together in the future.

This was probably 15 years ago at least, maybe even a couple more. Guy's still coaching there. He wasn't some gimp coach.

The moral? Whether you agree with how the other people react, you're a lot better off keeping your mouth shut than making stupid, smart-ass comments. If you want to say something, have something worth saying rather than trying to show off. You never know who's going to hear it and you never know if those people might be able to help you out someday.

And if he and you are the only guys in the press box, who the **** cares if the guy is rooting?

 

[farmerjerome]

I work for a school district in the central office, and I do not allow people to call them press boxes around me.

I call them parent boxes or booster boxes.

I did it just this Friday when I was told a high school softball field was building a "press box."

No offense Devil, I think you're a good guy and I've never had a problem with you but I find this flat out insulting.

Your parent and coaches will ***** if we're not there but you have no problem making our job harder and more irritating with petty press box problems. Press boxes aren't there for the convenience for parents and boosters. They're constructed to house scoreboard-runners, filmers, coaches and THE PRESS. Some of us from the smaller papers will be there for every game and put a lot of time and effort in to put out good copy for your school.


Back to the original topic. It's okay to get annoyed, but you've got to learn to block it out. AND, you have to watch what you say around parents. Be a grown up, and don't let this childish asshole have any more reasons to be a childish asshole.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

This is why as long as the weather is agreeable, I'm on the sideline.

 

[forever_town]

For starters, I would have said something to him about cheering in the press box the first time he did it. Then if he continued, I'd get security and have his ass moved out of the press box.