Writing about officials

[CYowSMR]

I am a writer as well as an official. This is really kind of an odd subject for me, but here is the situation:

1A Football. :
Halftime, fight breaks out. Officials attempt to break it up, throw their flags, etc. Fight continues for, say, three minutes until coaches are able to corral players to the locker rooms. Resulted in some penalties and ejections, but most noticeably, the two players involved in the "hard tackle" are not ejected.

How would you write or handle this in a gamer?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Have to cover it. Officials should be asked their version of what the hell happened, whether or not they respond. Coaches and players (remaining players), too.

 

[spnited]

What effect did the ejections have on the outcome of the game? If minimal, you mention the incident and the ejections and go on. If star players got ejected, it becomes much more important to the story

 

[CYowSMR]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

 

[Ace]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

Yes. You try to talk to them and say they refused to comment, left the field, cited league rules, whatever.

Just like if you write about someone and can't reach them or they won't talk.

You can't assume they won't talk because those are the rules. They also have rules prohibiting coaches from criticizing the officiating and coaches violate that all the time.

 

[spnited]

They ran off the field? The fight was at halftime. Grab the referee as he comes out for the second half and ask him what happened.
Again, it is a small part of the story regardless of anything and a large part if it had an effect on the outcome of the game.

And you're not going to be writing about the officials. You are going to be getting information and clarification from them about the fight.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Exactly. They are the people with the best information on the event. So you ask. If they refuse to comment, then your readers know you have a petty, self-serving, bull**** high school sports organization -- just like the 49 other states.
I have found that once officials know you are not trying to be the enemy, they can be helpful. Hell, if you beg them to explain it off the record, or cite the relevant rules, that's SOMETHING to put in the story.

 

[spnited]

And if youo're an official, too, shouldn't you have an in with these guys?
Hell, some of our writers know half the officials in our area and cen get whatever info they need, if the officials aren't supposed to talk.

 

[Rhody31]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

That's bull****. They can comment - it's called the first amendment. There are only a few things that people are legally bounded not to discussed and being a football red isn't one of them. You should have talked to them.

 

[spnited]

Please, Rhody, this has nothing at all to do with the first amendment.

Just like any pro league can fine coaches for criticizing officials, a high school association can have a regulalton that says officials are not allowed to comment to the media.
If some official wants to talk, he can but it's possible he'll face repercussions from the state association.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

And if youo're an official, too, shouldn't you have an in with these guys?
Hell, some of our writers know half the officials in our area and cen get whatever info they need, if the officials aren't supposed to talk.

Exactly. When I was covering a lot of high school football, I would cover it from the sidelines. I'd chat up the sideline official a lot, especially when we were in the red zone (away from the teams).

It's fairly easy to get info from them on penalties and such.

And like you were saying earlier, spnited, this really doesn't need to be a huge part of the story.
Definitely need to mention what happened and that penalties were assessed, but not sure that an official's official comment is necessary.

 

[Stitch]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

That's bull****. They can comment - it's called the first amendment. There are only a few things that people are legally bounded not to discussed and being a football red isn't one of them. You should have talked to them.

I hate all this First Amendment excuse crap. Take a media law class and get back to me.

 

[CYowSMR]

Some clarification:

This was not a game in my area. I had to travel for this one.
Second, I did put the part about officials aren't able to comment due to league regulations.
Third, it really wasn't something that needed clarification, I understood what happened...

 

[Matt1735]

Officials are often told not to talk to the media. As an official and a reporter/editor as well, I disagree with that concept. If a media member wants to know what happened on a play in regard to the rules, I think it should be explained. It would eliminate the ****storm of misinformation that is out there. There are people that think the rules on Sunday (NFL) apply to high school and college football.

Now, when it comes to judgments, ejections or injuries, probably not going to get a comment.

 

[spnited]

Some clarification:

This was not a game in my area. I had to travel for this one. (What does that have to do with anything?)
Second, I did put the part about officials aren't able to comment due to league regulations. (Why if you go on to say ...)
Third, it really wasn't something that needed clarification, I understood what happened...(So you didn't have to write about or even mention the officials at all)

 

[2underpar]

there is a huge difference between getting an explanation on a rule and an on-the-record comment.
Most of the time an official will explain a rule or clarify something, but as far as going on the record, there usually are repercussions from the officials organization or the state sanctioning body.
grabbing officials at the end of a prep game can be tricky given they usually are trying to get the hell out of there.

 

[Rhody31]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

That's bull****. They can comment - it's called the first amendment. There are only a few things that people are legally bounded not to discussed and being a football red isn't one of them. You should have talked to them.

I hate all this First Amendment excuse crap. Take a media law class and get back to me.

I got an A in media law, thank you very much.
Not asking the officials because you know they're not supposed to talk is lazy journalism. You have to give them the chance to tell you they can't talk and if it's really that important, pepper them with questions.

 

[PBOWKER]

I am an official (soccer) and longtime journalist, also.

In football, yes, as a journalist you seek out the crew chief and solicit comment, or at least a clarification of what they ruled and why. In a situation like this, the crew chief (and probably a school administrator because that is their job) will be getting all the referees out of there as quickly as possible. Especially if there are issues with the crowd.

In most cases, you'll get a no comment. But you should still ask.

I referee in three states, and all prohibit comment to the media. It's a sticky thing because if you do comment, you're putting yourself in a situation of not being assigned any more games by the regional assignor, license suspension, etc. It IS very different than a coach.

From a journalist standpoint, you've got to get the story. Don't forget about talking to both coaches, of course, plus that supervising school administrator. The administrator is responsible for the officials' security. From an official's standpoint, if there was a fight and there were ejections, the head referee must file a detailed report to the state within 24 hours. Most officials won't talk to a reporter before they've had a chance to file that report. Now there are some jerks out there who will blow you off no matter what. But you can nail them by simply reporting what you observed; that's why you're there. And if it's serious enough, the state association may ask you for your observations for their report, which is something every journalist should avoid, of course...

 

[CYowSMR]

Some clarification:

This was not a game in my area. I had to travel for this one. (What does that have to do with anything?)
Second, I did put the part about officials aren't able to comment due to league regulations. (Why if you go on to say ...)
Third, it really wasn't something that needed clarification, I understood what happened...(So you didn't have to write about or even mention the officials at all)

#1: You said if I'm an official, I should have an "in" with them. I do not know every official in the state.
#2: My question was would you mention the officials at all?

 

[JC]

I didn't even talk to the officials. One, because I already know (from being one) they can not comment. (I also say league regulations prohibit officials to comment) Two, because they run off the field so quickly, it would have been difficult to catch them.

I understand you have to cover it, but do you even mention the officials?

That's bull****. They can comment - it's called the first amendment. There are only a few things that people are legally bounded not to discussed and being a football red isn't one of them. You should have talked to them.

I hate all this First Amendment excuse crap. Take a media law class and get back to me.

I got an A in media law, thank you very much.
Not asking the officials because you know they're not supposed to talk is lazy journalism. You have to give them the chance to tell you they can't talk and if it's really that important, pepper them with questions.

Which has what to do with the first amendment?