Columnist hangs beat writer out to dry

Agree with Lugs.

You can pull the Mike Wallace shit when you've got the guy nailed to the wall.

Until then, if you haven't established the sort of relationship that puts you on a first-name basis, there's no harm in "coach." I would say away from "Grand Exalted Ruler,'' though.

 

Like some others on this thread, the talk about not calling coaches "Coach" caught me off guard a bit.

I almost always say, "Coach So and So" or "Is Coach So and So there?" when I call or speak with high school coaches.

The thing about it that some of you might be missing is that these coaches are used to being called "Coach" as their secondary name. They get called "Coach" all day long, probably by administrators and parents as well. That's just their name.

You really think they view it as being put on a pedestal when I call and say, "Hey, Coach Thomas? How's it going..."

On the other hand:::: I can't see myself calling an NFL coach or college coach by anything but his first name.

Broncos beat reporters ask questions of "Mike," not "Coach Shanahan," right? USC beat reporters query "Pete," not "Coach Carroll."

 

I think Luggsy put it best. Am I "ceding control of the interview" to the coach if I address him/her as "coach?" Perhaps. There are worse things in the world. I don't really think that's the case, but so be it. But I have never been mocked or dismissed by a coach for it. However, I can absolutely see some coaches (Calhoun, for instance) deciding that they woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and take offense to "Jim." So why create the possibility of a situation when all you really need are five or 10 minutes of meandering discussion to do your job?

 

Most Major League managers will relentlessly mock anyone who calls them "Skipper" as soon as that person is out of earshot. And sometimes to their face.

Incidentally, the people who usually call them Skipper -- or Coach on other beats -- are generally the same people who ask the universally reviled "Talk about" non-questions.

 

So if you are a 25-year-old reporter interviewing a 55-year-old NBA or college coach you have never met, you would just call him Jim or Jimmy or Jimbo or Sir or what?

 

You are allowed to ask a question without calling him coach or his name, you know. But yes, if it was a one-on-one and we'd never met, I'd introduce myself. And as noted earlier, then you're on a first-name basis.

 

Well, I'm bad with names, so I just call everyone "Big Guy" anyway.

 

So do you reference all MLB coaches by first name when talking to them? This is not a sarcastic/smart ass question.

I've never had occasion to talk to one, or to a minor-league manager (no baseball teams close to our paper), so what do you call them?

 

Yes. You reference them by their first name. And if you don't know them, you usually introduce yourself before you begin your interrogation. As in, "John, I'm Snidely Whiplash from the Rockford Filer." They assume that you know their name already. It's on their baseball card.

 

totally agree. gives great insight to the average fan as to what the guy is really like.

 

Snidely Whiplash. Great name.

Lord Snidely Whiplash of Upper Crusty Manor ...

 

I'm not sure that's true.