the worst assignment

[henryhenry]

SMG interviews Eli Saslow. Is there anything more difficult than calling grieving survivors?

http://www.sportsmediaguide.com/12282006-EliSaslow.asp

 

[PeteyPirate]

Two words: Special Olympics [/speakingfromexperience]

 

[lone star scribe]

Sorry, FDP, Special Olympics doesn't compare. At least those participants are happy. As an AP staffer, I had to call parents whose sons were killed or MIA in the Gulf Wars. I'm still haunted by hearing fathers and mothers crying into the phone after I ID'd myself and before I'd ask the first question.

 

[fishwrapper]

My first job, while still in school, was to take faxed obits and confirm. Then type them up.
(That was before doing horse agate in the evening).
I would call the mortuary, give them our code and confirm death. If only family was listed on the fax, I would call the family. Not fun at 19 years old. I was a kid counseling people on some of their darkest days.
(Some prank obits made their way into the paper.)

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Had no idea Saslow is a young kid. But he consistently writes great stuff in the Post. Every time I see a deep feature, his byline is there. I quickly became a fan.

 

[shockey]

eli's a good, humble kid. nice to see. 8) 8) 8)

 

[Garner]

I did an internship once and my first assignment was a feature on the city's new weed inspector. It wasn't great, but I did learn a lot about noxious weeds.

 

[henryhenry]

i once tried to interview jim rice. can't be a worse assignment than that.

 

[playthrough]

Damn near everything on SMG is good, ditto here. How extraordinarily refreshing to read about a 24-year-old who sees great stories in prepland and has no desire to talk into a microphone full-time someday.

 

[HejiraHenry]

SMG interviews Eli Saslow. Is there anything more difficult than calling grieving survivors?

http://www.sportsmediaguide.com/12282006-EliSaslow.asp

Yes -- calling a school's athletic director to tell him his coach is dead.

I had to do that twice, within a couple of years, when I was a young reporter.

I'll happily not do that again. Ever.

 

[Keystone]

Calling a coach and telling him that one of his players was found dead by police of an apparent suicide. Didn't get anything out of him because he got choked up very quickly. Didn't blame him.

 

[cougargirl]

Another one is trying to discuss the loved ones of a missing person. Also, working with people who have life-threatening illnesses.

 

[buckweaver]

When I was 20, I was covering short-track auto racing for the summer ... and had to interview a driver who had intentionally rammed another driver into the wall ... except Driver B was killed after Driver A slammed him into the concrete barrier.

Wasn't confirmed dead 'til after he was airlifted from the track, but everyone knew. Everyone also knew it was intentional because Driver B had spun out Driver A earlier in the race, and he had been gunning for him ever since he got back on the track.

Boy, that wasn't the easiest interview, especially in the heat of the moment. Got surrounded by 8 of his crew members/posse in the infield when I was trying to talk to the other driver. They slapped my recorder out of my hand, threatened to sue me, threatened to assault me, almost did assault me ... THAT was an experience for this cub reporter, that's for sure.

Can't imagine the emotions that guy lives with now, though. He's got it a lot worse than I do.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

My first newspaper job, I was the sports writer on a very small staff, and they sent me out to take pictures of a bridal tea. The hostess took forever to get her **** together and kept running into the kitchen to check on ... I don't know, spinach puffs or something ... and never would stand still long enough to take a picture. When I finally got the group together, she wouldn't stop rapid-firing questions and directions at me, so finally I said, "Shut up and smile," then shot the picture. I've had harder assignments, but that one is still the worst I've had. My career on the society pages died a quick, merciful death after that.

 

[Flash]

16-year-old drops dead of heart failure the morning after a lacrosse game. Had shared practice ice with the kid at a private facility. Never was without a smile on his face. Had previously interviewed him about being drafted first round to one of the top WHL teams. Called family and friends ... even had to break the news to a few people.

There was the initial death story and then there was the funeral story. Still get weepy about it.

 

[KP]

i once tried to interview jim rice. can't be a worse assignment than that.

What was your first question?
Knowing Jim a little bit I only have the highest praises for him. Having been in a place where I could talk to him quite a bit about his "hatred" of the media. He said he didn't have a problem with them, he's just very skeptical of people he doesn't know.

 

[azom]

Last March, there was a head coach at the state basketball tournament who had lung cancer. I did the feature on him, and that was tough enough.

In June, he died. I called several people the day after he died, including his widow, and that was tough.

I also did a story on a soldier who was on a two-week vacation between tours in Iraq. It's the only time I've ever cried after doing an interview.

 

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

i once tried to interview jim rice. can't be a worse assignment than that.

What was your first question?
Knowing Jim a little bit I only have the highest praises for him. Having been in a place where I could talk to him quite a bit about his "hatred" of the media. He said he didn't have a problem with them, he's just very skeptical of people he doesn't know.

"So, you're still not in the Hall of Fame. How does that make you feel?"

 

[Almost_Famous]

henry, do you run sports media guide? I see you linking to it all the time. that site has some decent interviews. but my first question - who the heck is eli saslow?

 

[Ace]

When I was 20, I was covering short-track auto racing for the summer ... and had to interview a driver who had intentionally rammed another driver into the wall ... except Driver B was killed after Driver A slammed him into the concrete barrier.

Wasn't confirmed dead 'til after he was airlifted from the track, but everyone knew. Everyone also knew it was intentional because Driver B had spun out Driver A earlier in the race, and he had been gunning for him ever since he got back on the track.

Boy, that wasn't the easiest interview, especially in the heat of the moment. Got surrounded by 8 of his crew members/posse in the infield when I was trying to talk to the other driver. They slapped my recorder out of my hand, threatened to sue me, threatened to assault me, almost did assault me ... THAT was an experience for this cub reporter, that's for sure.

Can't imagine the emotions that guy lives with now, though. He's got it a lot worse than I do.

Surprised they didn't just shrug and say, "That's racin'"