"Who's your roommate?"

[Point of Order]

Verne's mention about two players who hooked up on a Tennessee bucket and assist that "they're roomates" reminded me of something I was thinking about awhile back. Do you think it's appropriate to ask a college player "Who's your roommate?" Mostly, it happens when fishing for an angle on a feature. There used to be a reporter on my beat who did this regularly and I noticed some of the athletes seemed put off by the question.

Is it any different than asking a kid who his friends are on the team, how many brothers and sisters he has, or who he hangs out with? I always felt like these questions were more pertinent than the roommate question. I always stayed away from the roommate questions unless the subject brought it up first. What kinds of personal questions do you think are appropriate of college athletes, and what kind of information do you think it's appropriate to share with readers about a college kid's personal life?

 

[imjustagirl]

Re: "Who's your roomate?"

How in the world would asking who someone's roommate is be inappropriate?

 

[Point of Order]

I'm all about personal questions if they're probative of some characteristic I want to explore. For example, if I notice a guy makes a special effort to take teammates under his wing then I tend to think there's something in the guy's background that might make him that way. So even though it's personal, it's relevant to his character and I don't mind asking about that background.

On the other hand, the roommate question is a personal question that is completely irrelevant as a stand-alone question. I'm not sure it's appropriate to go fishing there just out of the blue, like I've seen done before. "Who's your roommate?" asked out of the blue always seemed inappropriate to me. Maybe it's just me.

 

[imjustagirl]

I guess to me it just reads as finding someone else you can talk to about that person. Find out what he's like away from the court. What does he do to relax? Does he pray before bed? Does he go to sleep with headphones on? What does he listen to, if he does? Does he have lucky socks?

Stuff like that.

 

[Gator]

I guess to me it just reads as finding someone else you can talk to about that person. Find out what he's like away from the court. What does he do to relax? Does he pray before bed? Does he go to sleep with headphones on? What does he listen to, if he does? Does he have lucky socks?

Stuff like that.

I would stay far, far away from the "Do you pray before bed?" question, but rather go after the one thing every college kid does: play video games. And they probably play with their roommates. That could be a good lead into the question.

 

[imjustagirl]

I was just randomly coming up with ideas. Hell, the next time you hear me ask about prayer will be the first.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Maybe he just doesn't want to find out the player is a "confirmed bachelor"

 

[Gator]

I was just randomly coming up with ideas. Hell, the next time you hear me ask about prayer will be the first.

That would put us in the same category.

 

[RedSmithClone]

I just pray that the two of you stop praying to be the one who prays less.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Who prays less, pray tell?

 

[mustangj17]

You could just not be so damn awkward about it and ask if he rooms with a teammate or another University athlete.

Asking "who is your roomate" sounds creepy. Why don't you ask him if he has a younger sister too?