Jerk coach or me making a big deal?

[Illino]

I do senior features every week at my paper, and tonight I approached a basketball coach about one for the first time (he had none last season). I've written 40 or so of these stories the past year and have no problems until now.

Me: Can I swing by practice tomorrow to talk to Player for a senior article?

Coach: No, I'm not doing those, man. [spins and walks away like he a cocky jock]

I'm more confused/aggravated about the way he acted afterwards, but am I looking too deep into this?

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Ask him again in a few days. Meanwhile, be preparing for the same answer.

When you get it, already have a strategy. Talk to parents, friends, teammates, opposing team players and coaches, the kid who keeps score -- as many other types of people as you can (for all of the senior features, not just one).

Somewhere in the story write that the coach declined to comment. Ask him each time you do a story, and when he says no, print that.

Talk to teachers. Administrators. The mailman. Anybody. The kid's boss where he works. Don't make it about basketball. Make it about the kid. Go through the school administration to set up the interviews.

Think outside the box. You'll have a better story anyway. You don't need the coach. It won't hurt for him to know that.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Like Johnny said, you don't need a coach's comment to do a story. If he refuses to comment, I might not even put anything. Just exclude his name completely. Just be sure to have multiple sources.


Slight tangent, is the only reason you do these features is because they are seniors? Stories like that have a very limited readership range (parents, grandparents, family).

Local features are great. But look for a bigger angle or hook than just being a senior. You're at the games. Be aware. You can pick up lots of feature ideas just from being at the game. Those can have a much broader readership interest than a plain old senior story.

Just a couple suggestions.

 

[reformedhack]

You put yourself in a position of weakness when you asked the coach if you could swing by to interview Player X, as if you were asking for his permission. Don't do that.

Without being arrogant and demanding, take a quiet position of strength. In the future, simply show up. When practice is over, tell the coach you're there to interview Player X. If he's adamant about his no-interview policy, make him tell you "no" in front of other people. Most of the time, people don't want to be seen by groups as being negative.

If the coach still says no, you have to pull him aside and say, "OK, let's talk about this. Is there some specific reason why not? You don't want some publicity for your program?"

If you slink away, the coach gets to perpetuate the "jocks rule the school" stereotype. Stand your ground politely but firmly. Don't accept a "no" without an explanation ... especially from a pseudo-authority figure like a coach.

Of course, if the guy's an utter ****, talk to the athletics director.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Or, you could just call the kid at home and talk to him and his parents and interview him there.

 

[flexmaster33]

Definitely ask "why" and make the coach explain himself?

 

[ColdCat]

has he pulled this when you go to him for post game interviews or season previews? If he's routinely a ****, let the AD know.

 

[ifilus]

Definitely ask "why" and make the coach explain himself?

And be sure to quote his explanation in the article.

 

[Illino]

has he pulled this when you go to him for post game interviews or season previews? If he's routinely a ****, let the AD know.

Coach doubles as AD. Ill give some of these suggestions a whirl and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[Illino]

Like Johnny said, you don't need a coach's comment to do a story. If he refuses to comment, I might not even put anything. Just exclude his name completely. Just be sure to have multiple sources.


Slight tangent, is the only reason you do these features is because they are seniors? Stories like that have a very limited readership range (parents, grandparents, family).

Local features are great. But look for a bigger angle or hook than just being a senior. You're at the games. Be aware. You can pick up lots of feature ideas just from being at the game. Those can have a much broader readership interest than a plain old senior story.

Just a couple suggestions.

Yes, they are just because of players being a senior, but those are not the only features I write. The senior series is actually moe popular than you would expect.

 

[mediaguy]

You don't need the coach for the story. I don't think your readers would care that much about why the coach didn't want to be quoted in story. Leave him out, talk to assistant, teammates, family, etc.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Or, you could just call the kid at home and talk to him and his parents and interview him there.

Don't ask the coach's permission. Ask the parents' permission.

 

[Stitch]

Quote from kid, quote from coach, rinse, repeat, right? It's the standard formula for profiles.

 

[reformedhack]

Here's the rub ... you need to at least talk to the coach about the kid, if only to make sure the kid isn't a bad element. (Yes, I know how old that phrase makes me sound.) If the player is a prima donna, or gets into trouble, or whatever, you ought to know that going in.

Yes, you can find out some of that by talking to others -- teammates, teachers, parents, etc. -- but the fair thing to do is to talk to the person who oversees what the kid does, as far as the reason you're writing about him. Of course, you can also do that after you've interviewed everybody else. But be prepared to re-interview people -- or scrap the feature entirely -- if the coach tells you something you didn't know.

No, you don't need the coach's comments to write a feature, but it's a big, gaping hole if you're writing about the kid's athletic performance and you don't have the coach's perspective. You also should think long and hard about a line that says the coach declined to talk about the player -- it's a knife that cuts several ways. Depending how it's written, it could lead the reader to believe the kid's demeanor is suspect, or it could lead the reader to believe the coach is just a prick.

(If you're taking a different approach -- talking about the kid's personal life, with just a sprinkling of sports -- then you're probably OK without the coach.)

Restating my original assertion: Don't ask a coach for permission to interview a player. It makes it too easy for the coach to say "no" for any capricious reason.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

"No, I'm not doing those, man," coach Fargin' Ice Hole said.

 

[bydesign77]

I think the idea that these profiles are only read my relatives is misguided. My local suppliment paper does something similiar and I know I read them even if I don't know thekid.

Just sayin

 

[Illino]

"No, I'm not doing those, man," coach Fargin' Ice Hole said.

Been a garbage month for me all around, and this made me laugh hard for the first time in awhile. Thanks.

 

[Ace]

Illino didn't ask permission to talk to the coach for the article, he asked to talk to the player after practice. So the coach, in effect, is shutting down access to his players.

I would call or email the coach and say that these stories are meant to put seniors in a positive light and that you want to include his school as part of the rotation because the goal is to spread the stories around the schools you cover.

He may say OK, or that he doesn't want kids getting a big head or suggest you talk to all of the seniors. I've heard it all.

But that is the next move I would make.

If the coach doesn't want you to talk to a particular player for a story like this, I would ask if he can suggest someone else. He knows background you don't.

If he won't cooperate, it's up to you how far you want to push it and how deserving the kid is. You can obviously do a story without him.

I have had parents who have said they didn't want these types of stories done. Never understood why.

I assumed that the coach "suggested" to them it might take Little Jimmy's focus off the state Steeplechase finals but it has happened even when the coach was real eager. Maybe the family was in witness protection. Who knows?

 

[TheHacker]

I realize that at some places -- especially small communities -- the "senior feature" may be a tradition, or whatever, but to me in smacks of bush league. No offense intended. I'm not saying you are bush league, I'm saying that's the vibe these stories give off. If they're well-received, I guess that's good, but you said you've done 40 of them? Eh ... loses its luster after a while, I think. And I have to imagine these things become formulaic and boring for you to write after a while.

So aside from your troubles with the coach -- which I agree is a frustrating pain in the ass -- I'd say think about other types of stories you can do to fill space rather than relying on these. Go for other types of features. Do notebooks. Do second-day stories from every game you cover ... come out of every game with a straight gamer and a second story of some kind. I think these would be far more interesting than blowing sunshine at kids just because they're seniors.

As far as dealing with the coach, there's good advice in this thread. But there's no way to deal with some people. They've been burned by some other media person, or they don't want to shine light on certain kids, or they're more interested in getting coverage from some other outlet and your place is not their primary concern. Could be a lot of things. Try a different tact with a different type of story and see what happens.

 

[LongTimeListener]

My town's paper did a senior feature on a basketball player my senior year. He was a starter on our very good team, in addition to being a big part of the state cross-country champions and a two-year starter in baseball. He also got named student of the month that month. Great kid, great kid.

Turns out he had also been busted for a felony a couple of weeks earlier when he dropped his hall pass, with his name on it, in a home he was burglarizing during school hours. He was a juvenile so it didn't make the public record.

I don't know if there's something the coach knows that you don't, but it's worth pondering.