Stupid Interview Question

[HeinekenMan]

I'm not following the Ramsey thing, but I have CNN on in the background.

I just heard a reporter ask Mr. Ramsey what the hardest part of this whole thing has been.

"Well, the hardest part was losing a child..."

Duh.

I know that you can get some strange answers to the obvious questions, but some reporters drive me ape****. And I see it a lot in TV news. I recall a recent telecast where they're on location with a camera in some lady's face asking her how she felt after her kid drowned in a swimming pool or some such thing.

 

[DisembodiedOwlHead]

"Katzenmoyer. Katzenmoyer. Katzenmoyer. Your thoughts?"

 

[RAMBO]

Damn that is the dummest question I ever heared someone ask.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Thanks for the edit, Moddy.

;-)

 

[Moderator1]

No problem. I certainly understand your reaction - the word "****ing" was placed before stupid in the original for those wondering what the hell?

But, you know, cursing in thread titles and it showing up big on the screen at work ***

 

[qtlaw]

An on campus recruiter once asked an interviewee (law student) "if you could be any color, what color would you be?"

 

[FantasyAlliance.cm]

One of the questions to Parcells during a press conference this season, something along these lines:
"You've been talking about how Jones takes a lot of carries, and that contributes to fatigue. Now in baseball, when a pitcher throws a lot of pitches, they get fatigued easily, so how would you compare the position of pitcher in baseball to that of runningback in football?"

 

[RAMBO]

One of the questions to Parcells during a press conference this season, something along these lines:
"You've been talking about how Jones takes a lot of carries, and that contributes to fatigue.  Now in baseball, when a pitcher throws a lot of pitches, they get fatigued easily, so how would you compare the position of pitcher in baseball to that of runningback in football?"

What the hell was that reporter thinking asking that.

 

[HeinekenMan]

One of the questions to Parcells during a press conference this season, something along these lines:
"You've been talking about how Jones takes a lot of carries, and that contributes to fatigue.  Now in baseball, when a pitcher throws a lot of pitches, they get fatigued easily, so how would you compare the position of pitcher in baseball to that of runningback in football?"

That's awesome. It's giving me a migraine just trying to deduce what it was he was aiming it? Did he want a rubber knees comment?

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

One of the questions to Parcells during a press conference this season, something along these lines:
"You've been talking about how Jones takes a lot of carries, and that contributes to fatigue.  Now in baseball, when a pitcher throws a lot of pitches, they get fatigued easily, so how would you compare the position of pitcher in baseball to that of runningback in football?"

Did Ed Werder ask that question?

 

[Buck]

After the KAL crash in Guam, relatives of the dead were arriving. As they got off their flight, a local TV reporter stuck a mike in one woman's face and asked 'How do you feel right now?'

I've interviewed a lot of relatives of murder victims, crash victims etc. I've never asked that particular question.
Nor did I ever ask the question that Ramsey was asked.

 

[joe_schmoe]

This is not as blatant as these but I watched a HS football game which ended with an interception in the endzone as time ran out. Team A holds on with a 28-22 win. Me and another guy go down talk to losing coach. First question the other guy asks: Coach, what happend on the last play?
Coach looks at him and says: They intercepted the ****ing ball, weren't you watching?

I knew the coach pretty well, and he was a bit upset about the loss, but I was trying hard not to crack up. I walked away, and he came up to me a few minutes later and was smiling said "Damn that felt good."
I lost it then. He laughed and I turned to him and said "Coach, okay seriously, what DID happen on that last play?"

 

[Batman]

Gotta come clean with one of my own here ... I was interviewing Sylvester Croom for a preseason story before his first season at Mississippi State. Of course, the questioning came around to his place in history as the first black coach in SEC history. And thanks to a) a brain fart; b) trying too hard to be politically correct; and c) just being a total dumbass, I didn't simply ask him "Is there more pressure on you than there would be for a first-year white head coach?"
Nope. That would have been a good question. Instead I blurted out this gem:
"Is there more pressure on you than there would be for, you know, a normal, regular head coach?"

To his credit, Sly didn't rear back and punch me in the mouth. I think he understood what I was getting at and gave a good answer, even if he did give a slight smile that seemed to say, "You stupid mother****er."
My friends still give me hell about asking such a stupid question, though.

 

[Just_An_SID]

Beat writer was on vacation once and somebody filled in from the sports desk. His first question to my football coach was, "How do you spell your name?"

Classic. Absolutely Classic.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Any question that begins with "How do you feel" is a stupid question.

 

[Freelance Hack]

I just came up with an all-time great a few minutes ago.

Working on a campaign piece for my organization, I ask a WOMAN: "So, how long have you been a Big Brother or a Big Sister?"

Didn't catch it until the words went through the phone. D'oh!

To her credit, she said "I was a Big Brother for one year and a Big Sister since then."

 

[leo1]

Beat writer was on vacation once and somebody filled in from the sports desk.  His first question to my football coach was, "How do you spell your name?"

Classic.  Absolutely Classic.

at the final four one year i interviewed a player in one of the hotels when the team had just arrived in town and then asked his name. i was pretty embarassed to ask but i was in a rush to go back and write, i'd never seen this dude before and wasn't confident that i could figure him out by looking at the team media guide and somehow i was the only person left in the interview room so there was no one around i could ask.

i've since learned to ask how to spell the person's name whenever i don't know the name and am expected to know it.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Um ... yeah. :

 

[Buck]

Actually, the worst interview questions, when comes to sports, are the 'Talk about ...' questions.
That drives me nuts.
'Talk about your linebackers.'
That's not a question and I wouldn't blame a coach for refusing, for saying 'If you have a question, ask it.'

 

[Terd Ferguson]

Any question that begins with "How do you feel" is a stupid question.

How is that a stupid question?
Detailing emotions and feelings are crucial to telling a good story. Otherwise it's just the same old, boring nuts and bolts stuff.
Is there a better way to word it than "how do you feel?" maybe, but I fail to see how that's stupid.
Am I alone on this?