Talk about....

[Flip Wilson]

Yes, we've all cringed when (usually TV) reporters begin a question with "talk about..." Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale gave the perfect answer when he was instructed to talk about his success against the Yankees this year.

 

[Fredrick]

Beautiful.

 

[Alma]

Yes, we've all cringed when (usually TV) reporters begin a question with "talk about..." Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale gave the perfect answer when he was instructed to talk about his success against the Yankees this year.

Meh. Every reporter alive has asked one in one way or another, the guy who asked it has been in that market for a long time and generally asks tough questions.

Call me nuts, but I tend to have grace for veteran reporters over some bajillion athlete.

I’ve written this before but one of the reasons “talk about” even worked its way into the vernacular is because athletes tend to be judgy and stingy with real questions.

“Why didn’t that play work in the fourth quarter?” is a question that often elicits the asshole answer “we didn’t execute” whereas “talk about” is an invitation for the coach or athlete to say whatever it is he or she wants to say about it. It’s softer.

Do I like it? No. I’d avoid it like the plague. But it’s amusing to me how much **** “talk about” gets while news reporters can ask these 94-second declarative statements that end with a slight question mark and we seem to think those are cool.

 

[JPsT]

Meh. Every reporter alive has asked one in one way or another, the guy who asked it has been in that market for a long time and generally asks tough questions.

Call me nuts, but I tend to have grace for veteran reporters over some bajillion athlete.

I’ve written this before but one of the reasons “talk about” even worked its way into the vernacular is because athletes tend to be judgy and stingy with real questions.

“Why didn’t that play work in the fourth quarter?” is a question that often elicits the asshole answer “we didn’t execute” whereas “talk about” is an invitation for the coach or athlete to say whatever it is he or she wants to say about it. It’s softer.

Do I like it? No. I’d avoid it like the plague. But it’s amusing to me how much **** “talk about” gets while news reporters can ask these 94-second declarative statements that end with a slight question mark and we seem to think those are cool.

Wholeheartedly agree. Trashing on "talk about" is a favorite pastime of reporters who ask questions that suck but do it in complete sentences.

We all have our crutches. Try as I might, I keep lobbing "How important...?" questions and getting "Very important." answers.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I can't stand the "Talk About It" question and have refrained from ever using it. And, I've asked some pretty damn good questions that elicited similar responses. Yet I'm still amazed at some of the most revealing and insightful answers the "Talk About It" questions will get.

I've been doing this a long, long time and it's hard to admit I'm wrong sometimes. But this may be one of those times. Whatever gets the best answer is all I'm looking for.

 

[da man]

I can't stand the "Talk About It" question and have refrained from ever using it. And, I've asked some pretty damn good questions that elicited similar responses. Yet I'm still amazed at some of the most revealing and insightful answers the "Talk About It" questions will get.

I've been doing this a long, long time and it's hard to admit I'm wrong sometimes. But this may be one of those times. Whatever gets the best answer is all I'm looking for.

That's all I've been saying for what seems like forever and ever.

 

[Moderator1]

I can't stand the "Talk About It" question and have refrained from ever using it. And, I've asked some pretty damn good questions that elicited similar responses. Yet I'm still amazed at some of the most revealing and insightful answers the "Talk About It" questions will get.

I've been doing this a long, long time and it's hard to admit I'm wrong sometimes. But this may be one of those times. Whatever gets the best answer is all I'm looking for.

Yeah, I've opined on this before. I didn't use it all the time or even very often but there were times I felt it might work and it often (though not always) worked. And to the jackasses who ridiculed it? My message is the same: You do you. I'll do me and don't you worry about it.

It works sometimes. To repeat Doc, sort of: Whatever works.

 

[justgladtobehere]

In Defense of "Talk About," The Two Dirtiest Words in Sports Reporting

 

[Doc Holliday]

I honestly can't stand the "Talk About" request. It so ****ing sophomoric. But, damn, sometimes it provides the best ****ing quotes I've ever gotten. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

 

[Cosmo]

Why not ask, "What do you think has been the key to your success against the Yankees this year?" Basically the same thing, phrased as a question.

 

[Moderator1]

Well, I've always thought of interviews as conversations or tried to make them that way. Again, sometimes I got the feeling that "talk about" would work and I went there - usually NOT in gr0up settings, which are generally worthless anyway.

 

[Double Down]

But it’s amusing to me how much **** “talk about” gets while news reporters can ask these 94-second declarative statements that end with a slight question mark and we seem to think those are cool.

No one thinks this. It is the straw-y-ist of strawmen. 94 questions only produce eye rolls. The questions that actually get admiration from fellow beat guys are direct and neutral. "What happened during that sequence in the 4th quarter?" (And then STFU and let the silence hang in the air.)

 

[Double Down]

In Defense of "Talk About," The Two Dirtiest Words in Sports Reporting

I'm sure it's just coincidence that all the best reporters in every single medium don't use "talk about."

 

[Alma]

No one thinks this. It is the straw-y-ist of strawmen. 94 questions only produce eye rolls. The questions that actually get admiration from fellow beat guys are direct and neutral. "What happened during that sequence in the 4th quarter?" (And then STFU and let the silence hang in the air.)

It’d be a strawman if I’d been talking about sports reporters. But I wrote “news reporters.” Think a political press conference, or a CNN interview, and all the fake grandstanding those sessions can entail.

I mean, Jim Acosta often asks horrible questions. He doesn’t even ask questions, really. He makes an argument, then says “isn’t that true?”

 

[TexasVet]

I'm not a fan of "talk about" ... however, if I need to interview the sophomore running back, it's his first-ever interview and and he keeps giving me one word answers or basic cliches, and I'm on deadline, I sometimes revert to "talk about" or "describe that play" or "what was going through your mind on that run" or something like that. But in a presser with the pros? Hell no!

 

[Double Down]

It’d be a strawman if I’d been talking about sports reporters. But I wrote “news reporters.” Think a political press conference, or a CNN interview, and all the fake grandstanding those sessions can entail.

I mean, Jim Acosta often asks horrible questions. He doesn’t even ask questions, really. He makes an argument, then says “isn’t that true?”

OK I agree with this, though I'll say the point of those is almost never to solicit any actual information, particularly with this press secretary. They are performances meant to show people they are attempting to hold those in power to account.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

In Defense of "Talk About," The Two Dirtiest Words in Sports Reporting

Of course it’s TBL.

 

[Alma]

OK I agree with this, though I'll say the point of those is almost never to solicit any actual information, particularly with this press secretary. They are performances meant to show people they are attempting to hold those in power to account.

Yes, I agree, they kind of are. They're also not new.

 

[Tweener]

I sometimes revert to "talk about" or "describe that play" or "what was going through your mind on that run" or something like that. But in a presser with the pros? Hell no!

Asking someone to describe a key play or what what was going through their mind during it is actually a reporter doing his/her job. No shame at all there.

I think it's different than simply asking someone to "talk about" something as general as their success against a certain team.

I don't judge another reporter on what questions they ask -- do whatever works for you -- but I personally don't use "talk about" because I feel I'm issuing a demand rather than a question, which makes me uncomfortable, and because in my experience whenever someone is asked to talk about something, the directive usually isn't sepecific enough to get a good answer.

 

[Fredrick]

Just ask a question and a guy like Chris Sale won't embarrass you by saying, "No."