Columnist hangs beat writer out to dry

[HeadFirst]

I can only speak to my experience. That's the beautiful part of a board like this. Other professionals are free to repeat or refute any comment, according to what they've experienced.

 

[wisportswriter]

Calling them "Coach" is deferring power?
You'll not get me to buy into that. Ever. I don't care who says it.

BTW, I was unaware I was locked in a power struggle. I thought I was just asking a few questions about why East Podunk won tonight. Had I but known the severity of my position ...

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Call him 'Coach,' then, as if you're the asshole's best buddy, drinking together, yukking, talking philosophy, winking at the same girls. I'll choose to call him by the name his mama gave him. Not by some bullshirt title that required no formal discipline to earn.

 

[Dale Cooper]

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."

This is precisely it. My coaches don't call me "Reporter Cooper" because no one calls me "Reporter Cooper." If everyone around Coach So-and-so calls him "Coach," you're not buddying up to him by calling him "Coach." It certainly does not restrict you from asking tough questions and does not restrict him from answering them.

By saying "Coach" you're being respectful and not putting yourself above everyone else he deals with in his role as the coach. There's no reason why the only people who call him by his first name should be his wife, his mom and you.

 

[Ralph Waldo Henderson]

Question -- If you call a coach 'coach,' is he going to get pissed? No.

If you call a coach by his first name, and you don't know him that well, could he get pissed? Possibly.

Why get the relationship off to an adversarial start?

I think it's perfectly acceptable to say 'coach' until you know the person, then gracefully transition into a first-name basis.

This isn't about the reporter's pride.... It's about serving the readers/viewers... and if I've rubbed the coach the wrong way out of the gate, how does that serve my audience?

That pretty much sums up my opinion. We're in a pretty informal profession in newspapers. Others aren't like that. A lot of coaches would take offense at being called by their first name before you've established, well, a first-name basis.

And really, the most important thing is what follows what you call him. I'd much rather prefer:

"Coach, how many more NCAA violations should fans tolerate before they realize you're a slimy schmuk?"

vs.

"Jim, talk about how great your zone defense was tonight."

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

If you call him 'Coach,' you essentially count yourself extremely fortunate to be in his audience -- you must be one of his players, too! (He really wishes you would get with the program, anyway.)

Maybe you guys can shed all the remaining trappings of pride and self-respect and work on figuring out how to address Coach in two-word courtesy titles like "Serene Highness" and "Your Lordship" and "Your Munificence." Nick Saban would love that.

 

[wisportswriter]

If you call him 'Coach,' you essentially count yourself extremely fortunate to be in his audience

???

That's a jump in logic I don't get and never will.
This whole thing reaks of inferiority complex.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

You're playing a clear role of subservience with that term and you don't even realize it. But, hey, whatever works. Whatever will keep the arrogant gasbag from throwing down the feared thunderbolt and instead give you some vague crumb of wisdom.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

If you call him 'Coach,' you essentially count yourself extremely fortunate to be in his audience

???

That's a jump in logic I don't get and never will.
This whole thing reaks of inferiority complex.

They were certain to tell Caligula he was not a god before they stabbed him 39 times in the privates.

And I would say the whole thing reeks of a superiority complex on the other end. There's nothing like God on earth like a coach in a press conference. Somebody needs to make it clear to these forks, subtly or otherwise, that they DO NOT MATTER.

 

[shotglass]

Because "Coach" is what his 15-year-old players call him. Connect the dots, boys.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

I thought that was rather obvious.

Point is, again: He ain't MY forking coach, my headmaster, my boss, my mentor, my captain O captain or whatever else the mother forker would have you think he is.

 

[fletch b. fletch]

The thing that Calhoun said that bothers me was: "You want to start with me? You'll lose. The next phone call won't be answered." It's just another case of a high-and-mighty coach trying to bully a reporter into kissing his ass. I hate when they pull that crap about cutting off access. Go ahead, Jim, cut it off. Then explain it to your athletic director and the general public. See how they feel when the highest-paid state employee is always "unavailable for comment."