More whining parents

[kingcreole]

I once pissed the juco football coach off something awful here because I mentioned in a gamer Joe Bumble****'s off-the-field issues. Joe had not played football in two years and had a huge game this one night. Something like 198 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Local kid too. So I asked him about getting into the end zone. He says, "It was awesome because I haven't been there in awhile."

Why? He beat the **** out a guy and pleaded guilty to aggravated battery. He was out on bail and waiting for sentencing. Of course, I had reported on that before, but I told the coach, "If one person asks 'Why had he not been there in awhile?' and I didn't explain why, I wouldn't have been doing my job."

 

[farmerjerome]

First off, if any coach ever claims HIPPA laws, it's bull**** unless they are HIPPA certified and, for the most part, only doctors are.
Second, this thread should have been stopped a while ago. Of course you print the kid's name.
I ran into a local field hockey player during the season. We plastered her bawling on the front of our section when her team lost the state title in triple OT. I asked her about it. She said, paraphrasing, "it was tough, but it showed exactly how all of us were feeling at that moment."
They won this year. I made sure to get a great photo of her celebrating.

We had an editor once (EE, not SE) who wouldn't let us run any photos of HS kids crying after a loss. He had no problem, of course, with celebration shots.

I'm usually okay with defeat shots, but we ran one field hockey shot that still makes me cringe. The goalie had just lost the game by letting a penalty stroke in, and she was in the midst of an UGLY sob. It was freakish.

In the original example of this thread, mentioning the name of the kicker was fine. Not in the lead but fine. I would've written about the penalty first.

I've gotten much better at these types of situation -- once I was able to ask a d-back if he really did commit pass interfearence and cost his team a shot at repeat state title.
Always get a quote when you call out a kid. There are ways to do it tactfully. Just because we have to report it doesn't mean we have to be assholes.

 

[cyclingwriter]

Once had a coach tell me a star player was injured, when in fact he was in juvenile lockup. That was a fun one.

How did you find out? Did the injury notes get into the paper, and if yes, did you do a follow when you realized the truth?

I wrote a short note in a midweek roundup or something about how such-and-such star from Local High School #46 was out indefinitely because of an injured such-and-such, according to coach Lying POS. I was out at another team's practice shortly thereafter and that team's coach told me the truth. I called a few other coaches who told me the same thing.

So I confronted (in a calm way) Coach Lying POS about it and he stonewalled. Only once I had an off the record conversation did he own up to it.

I tried to confirm what happened to the kid, but the kid was processed as a juvenile and not an adult so I couldn't get anything at all from various authorities (I did try), and since the authorities/school/family/etc. weren't willing to give me anything, and I did not want to run anything that I couldn't reliably source. The best I got was that he was no longer with the team.

So, essentially, the next time I wrote about that team, all I could write was that the kid was not currently with the team and the coach/school had no comment about the reason for his departure. That is all I felt comfortable putting out there given what I had to write with.

I imagine others might have handled it differently and I wouldn't mind hearing how they would have handled it. I was a lot younger then, and I've always wondered if I handled it the right way.

You did the right thing. If he was processed as a juvenile, it had to be something like petit theft, stealing hubcaps or maybe possession of drug paraphernalia. Anything worse and it would have been adult.

 

[SoCalScribe]

Thanks for the feedback, folks, I appreciate it.

 

[Mark2010]

Once had a coach tell me a star player was injured, when in fact he was in juvenile lockup. That was a fun one.

How did you find out? Did the injury notes get into the paper, and if yes, did you do a follow when you realized the truth?

At a previous stop, had a story where a boys high school basketball player got busted for petty theft a few hours before a playoff game. Kid was a key player on the team, team loses game, season over. Called the sheriff's office, got the scoop (it IS public information). Ran it.

Parents were not happy. Told them they had other things to worry about besides what the paper ran. No apology unless they could prove the story wasn't true.

We run stories of juveniles arrested almost every day in the city section. Why should we look the other way because the kid happens to be a jock?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Got a fairly lengthy e-mail yesterday afternoon from someone who only called himself/herself "JD." No name given, and the e-mail address is just a generic one.

I had just covered two middle school conference championship games a few nights before, and this person is somehow connected to one of the teams that lost. I've since gotten a good idea of who this person is, but I'm debating whether I should e-mail them back or just leave it alone.

Basically, the person accused one of my area's schools of recruiting because it just happens to win the seventh- and eighth-grade championships more so than other schools. The person "suggested" I do another story on the school, simply because they seem to win the conference title year in and year out.

Here's part of what they wrote:

However, during this season I made a joke to one of the coaches in the district and said, "It's amazing how good they are every single year. It's almost like they recruit."

Then, I started doing a little research and found what I said was actually true.

The Susie Jones girl who plays on the 7th and 8th grade teams for East Podunk actually lives in Bumfrick County. Her dad also played at Bumfrick County, and was a star who eventually attended Western Bumfrick University.

I was also told that three of the five starters for the 8th grade squad did not live in the East Podunk district (haven't confirmed this; just what I was told)

Also have been told that the East Podunk team is comprised of girls from:

Bumfrick County (2)
East Bunghole County
Heart County

While this might not be exactly accurate, I have a feeling it is.

I have been told, "Well, it's legal because they pay tuition to go out of district."

While that might be the case, is it "morally legal?" What about the girls' who attend East Podunk, who live in the district, who would love to play basketball, can't because "stars" from other counties are taking their place?

What about the girls' from other counties and their former teammates? When a "star player" from that team leaves, it weakens the team they left, and is not fair to those girls' either.

And there it is. It's "not fair."

She goes on to say that his/her son was "recruited" by said school after he finished playing in one of the city's youth football leagues, so she knows "recruiting" has been going on.

I know because my son and I, upon completion of his last year of city league football several years ago, was approached by three DIFFERENT people and asked my son to consider going to East Podunk. Not only that, I personally spoke with a parent from another school who said East approached her twice last year in an attempt to get her daughter to attend East Podunk. We didn't go to them. They came to us.

Right.

It gets better.

Is winning so important, even at the middle school level, that it has come to this? Must we step on others toes (girls who attend and can't play, former teammates, other teams in the district) just to win a basketball game?

I'm a huge competitor and love to win just as much as the next person. However, not at the expense of dignity, and my moral character.

I guess it's to be expected. East Podunk High School has at least one girl on their team as well who does not live in the East Podunk High School district. It was confirmed to me that one of the girls on the team uses her grandfather's address in order to attend EPHS, but actually lives in the district of another high school. And it's not confirmed, but I've also been told there is more than just one on the EPHS varsity who does not live in the district.

I have NO problem with someone attending a school out of district because of extraordinary circumstances. Maybe some of these girls' had to move to the district due to a family emergency. Maybe they have a parent that teaches there. I don't know, but from the people I've talked to, it sounds as if it's just to play basketball.

I guess when you will win at all costs, morality doesn't matter. And what are we teaching our kids' when doing this type of thing? When they get in the real world, they're not going to be able to jump from job to job until they get what they want. And when they get to that point, and find it doesn't work like that in the real world, their parents will still have no clue as to why "their babies" are struggling in life.

And in case the notion of "this person is a sore loser" is brought up, I believe losing, just as winning, builds character. You should win with class, and you should lose with class. It's not at all about losing as long as all teams involved are on an even playing field. It just appears, admittedly from the outside looking in, that East Podunk uses no ethics or dignity, all for the sake of winning basketball games, even at the middle school level.

I think this would be a good story for The Podunk Press to research and write.

Thank you for your time. Feel free to respond if you have any questions. I just know parents and coaches throughout the district are very, very frustrated as I made my "rounds" and spoke with several regarding this situation.

Sound like sour grapes to anyone?

I haven't responded to the sender, and I'm not sure if I will. I've talked to the parents in question of one of the kids who moved from one school to East Podunk before this school year. She wasn't "recruited" to this school. Her parents, whom I've known as long as I can remember, have both told me they felt it was in their daughter's best interests for her to change schools. How can you argue that?

There is one high school coach in this area that accused East Podunk High of recruiting, and that money quote will appear in our basketball preview that comes out Monday.

Anyone here think it'd be worth the headache, not to mention the plethora of burned bridges, to look into this?

 

[Ace]

KY,

If the players are allowed to live in one district and go to an out-of-school district, how does that prove recruiting?

Now, it may be worth a story to look at how that works. Do you really pay "tuition" to go to an out-of-district school? How much is that? Does someone have to OK these kids to attend?

Not sure if it is worth the hassle. Probably be well read and you can approach it from the angle of what sacrifices the parents make and why rather than starting with a vague accusation of recruiting.

(Now if it costs $5,000 for an out-of-district kid to attend and you ask how they handle that financial hit and the parents hem and how, that could tell you something).

 

[blacktitleist]

Got this one tonight at my shop:

Sir or Mam :
I would like to ask if when attending any of the local High School football games
did you notice at half time the schools have added what is called "COLOR
GUARD"? Or flag teams !

I have had six children that have graduated from school not all in this state but my point being there were NO flag teams then. My last child graduated in 2002 and there weren't teams then. So by the schools adding
this new sport I would like to see more news coverage. I don't know if you have ever
tried to spin a six foot pole much less with a flag attached but it truly is a learned skill.
The sad part is the cheerleaders look down their nose at these people
and on one of the new shows "GLEE" made a snid comment about the color guard teams too.
I was saddened by this because I believe the cheerleaders are over rated anyway. What
cheerleaders do doesn't come close to the skill level it takes to do what these color guard
teams are doing! I would like to see these young people get noticed for the skill they take
the time to learn! Thank you


Not sure what was up with her formatting, but it was quite amusing to pass this along to several other folks.

 

[MonsterLobster]

KY,

You lost me at 'middle school.'

I think the best way to diffuse this is to ask this person to go on the record with you about his or her son being recruited. Tthey won't, or course, so that's the end of your problem.

 

[HanSenSE]

Got a fairly lengthy e-mail yesterday afternoon from someone who only called himself/herself "JD." No name given, and the e-mail address is just a generic one.

I had just covered two middle school conference championship games a few nights before, and this person is somehow connected to one of the teams that lost. I've since gotten a good idea of who this person is, but I'm debating whether I should e-mail them back or just leave it alone.

Basically, the person accused one of my area's schools of recruiting because it just happens to win the seventh- and eighth-grade championships more so than other schools. The person "suggested" I do another story on the school, simply because they seem to win the conference title year in and year out.

Here's part of what they wrote:

However, during this season I made a joke to one of the coaches in the district and said, "It's amazing how good they are every single year. It's almost like they recruit."

Then, I started doing a little research and found what I said was actually true.

The Susie Jones girl who plays on the 7th and 8th grade teams for East Podunk actually lives in Bumfrick County. Her dad also played at Bumfrick County, and was a star who eventually attended Western Bumfrick University.

I was also told that three of the five starters for the 8th grade squad did not live in the East Podunk district (haven't confirmed this; just what I was told)

Also have been told that the East Podunk team is comprised of girls from:

Bumfrick County (2)
East Bunghole County
Heart County

While this might not be exactly accurate, I have a feeling it is.

I have been told, "Well, it's legal because they pay tuition to go out of district."

While that might be the case, is it "morally legal?" What about the girls' who attend East Podunk, who live in the district, who would love to play basketball, can't because "stars" from other counties are taking their place?

What about the girls' from other counties and their former teammates? When a "star player" from that team leaves, it weakens the team they left, and is not fair to those girls' either.

And there it is. It's "not fair."

She goes on to say that his/her son was "recruited" by said school after he finished playing in one of the city's youth football leagues, so she knows "recruiting" has been going on.

I know because my son and I, upon completion of his last year of city league football several years ago, was approached by three DIFFERENT people and asked my son to consider going to East Podunk. Not only that, I personally spoke with a parent from another school who said East approached her twice last year in an attempt to get her daughter to attend East Podunk. We didn't go to them. They came to us.

Right.

It gets better.

Is winning so important, even at the middle school level, that it has come to this? Must we step on others toes (girls who attend and can't play, former teammates, other teams in the district) just to win a basketball game?

I'm a huge competitor and love to win just as much as the next person. However, not at the expense of dignity, and my moral character.

I guess it's to be expected. East Podunk High School has at least one girl on their team as well who does not live in the East Podunk High School district. It was confirmed to me that one of the girls on the team uses her grandfather's address in order to attend EPHS, but actually lives in the district of another high school. And it's not confirmed, but I've also been told there is more than just one on the EPHS varsity who does not live in the district.

I have NO problem with someone attending a school out of district because of extraordinary circumstances. Maybe some of these girls' had to move to the district due to a family emergency. Maybe they have a parent that teaches there. I don't know, but from the people I've talked to, it sounds as if it's just to play basketball.

I guess when you will win at all costs, morality doesn't matter. And what are we teaching our kids' when doing this type of thing? When they get in the real world, they're not going to be able to jump from job to job until they get what they want. And when they get to that point, and find it doesn't work like that in the real world, their parents will still have no clue as to why "their babies" are struggling in life.

And in case the notion of "this person is a sore loser" is brought up, I believe losing, just as winning, builds character. You should win with class, and you should lose with class. It's not at all about losing as long as all teams involved are on an even playing field. It just appears, admittedly from the outside looking in, that East Podunk uses no ethics or dignity, all for the sake of winning basketball games, even at the middle school level.

I think this would be a good story for The Podunk Press to research and write.

Thank you for your time. Feel free to respond if you have any questions. I just know parents and coaches throughout the district are very, very frustrated as I made my "rounds" and spoke with several regarding this situation.

Sound like sour grapes to anyone?

I haven't responded to the sender, and I'm not sure if I will. I've talked to the parents in question of one of the kids who moved from one school to East Podunk before this school year. She wasn't "recruited" to this school. Her parents, whom I've known as long as I can remember, have both told me they felt it was in their daughter's best interests for her to change schools. How can you argue that?

There is one high school coach in this area that accused East Podunk High of recruiting, and that money quote will appear in our basketball preview that comes out Monday.

Anyone here think it'd be worth the headache, not to mention the plethora of burned bridges, to look into this?

Got one similar to this last week regarding a Pop Warner-level team that allegedly turned some kids away, then formed one super team to win a title. The news editor forwarded a note from someone in advertising about it.

I replied:"Brie? Camenbert? Swiss? American? What kind of cheese do they want with all that whine?", which got a laugh out of the news editor.

One other rule of thumb, which I think you know already, but bears repeating: If someone's not going to man up and put their real name on a tip like that, it's not worth your time.

 

[poindexter]

Got this one tonight at my shop:

Sir or Mam :
I would like to ask if when attending any of the local High School football games
did you notice at half time the schools have added what is called "COLOR
GUARD"? Or flag teams !

I have had six children that have graduated from school not all in this state but my point being there were NO flag teams then. My last child graduated in 2002 and there weren't teams then. So by the schools adding
this new sport I would like to see more news coverage. I don't know if you have ever
tried to spin a six foot pole much less with a flag attached but it truly is a learned skill.
The sad part is the cheerleaders look down their nose at these people
and on one of the new shows "GLEE" made a snid comment about the color guard teams too.
I was saddened by this because I believe the cheerleaders are over rated anyway. What
cheerleaders do doesn't come close to the skill level it takes to do what these color guard
teams are doing! I would like to see these young people get noticed for the skill they take
the time to learn! Thank you


Not sure what was up with her formatting, but it was quite amusing to pass this along to several other folks.

You are making this up.

 

[Stitch]

Hockey club official who isn't in charge of the high school team: You really made the players feel bad. They're a young team with only a few seniors.

Me: I don't write stories based on the well-being of the team.

 

[BillyT]

KY,

If the players are allowed to live in one district and go to an out-of-school district, how does that prove recruiting?

Now, it may be worth a story to look at how that works. Do you really pay "tuition" to go to an out-of-district school? How much is that? Does someone have to OK these kids to attend?

Not sure if it is worth the hassle. Probably be well read and you can approach it from the angle of what sacrifices the parents make and why rather than starting with a vague accusation of recruiting.

(Now if it costs $5,000 for an out-of-district kid to attend and you ask how they handle that financial hit and the parents hem and how, that could tell you something).

Ace: Here's a specific situation. The high school I taught at has an Agricultural Science program.

Any kid who lives in the county can apply, and if they get in, they get a bus to the school. (Great program, by the way. Great kids, my daughter was in it one year before we moved.)

Now, let's say the school has an excellent wrestling program and several kids from other towns, with less successful programs, come through the Ag-Science program.

Or, let's say the head coach of one of the "major" sports used to live in one of the bigger cities in the area (small city to everyone else, big in that area), and several of the players in his program come through Ag-Science/

Is there recruiting going on? Could be. Is it just positive word of mouth? could be.

But middle schools??? This is where we enter the Twilight Zone.

(By the way, I do not think the school does anything untoward at all.)

 

[SportsDude]

Our policy was we didn't put the goat in the story. I mentioned "Team A" had five fumbles, I just didn't mention they were all from the same player.

But the parents were so bat-**** crazy that they ripped you to shreds anyway for being "negative," so after that management had a discussion, and by spring that changed. I'll never forget the first time. Usually sure-handed shortstop booted a grounder in the bottom of the last inning in an important game. Led to two runs scoring for the other team.

Coach says, "You aren't putting his name in are you?" My response was, "He was the one that had the error, wasn't he?" As far as Goats go, that was as close to a problem as I had the rest of my time there.