Dear dimwit on the phone

Sounds a lot like my love life in college.

 

What are they doing even keeping score in elementary schools...the leagues in our area don't. Wonder if this parent tallies up baskets on his/her own?

 

That's a nice one. Had a parent call in a CYO game a few years ago, who gave me a score of 25-10. The women then (and I'll never know why) said that the score really was 25-0, but she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I told her I wouldn't print a score at all because she'd already admitted that she lied, and I couldn't trust what she was telling me.

 

Dear clueless reader:
So you think I should have the male and female water polo all-County players of the year pose for their MVP portraits in our studios in their suits (instead of a letter jacket or hoodie), just because the MVPs of all the other sports got to pose in their uniform shirts. Do you realize we're talking about 16-17 year old kids here? That once we put them up on our Web site, I have no way of controlling where they'll go? And you're the only one who seems to give a damn because everyone else is focused on the fact we're honoring the MVP's?

 

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CREEPY PEOPLE!

 

Our male Swimmer of the Year posed shirtless in his portrait, and he looks naked.

I accidentally walked into the studio during the shoot, and very quickly walked back out again. I've seen the kid wearing a lot less -- hello, Speedo! -- but context is very important to cut the creepy factor.

The female Swimmer of the Year wore a school t-shirt. Surprisingly, nobody complained about either photo.

 

I think in this case, our shooter would take a few pictures, then also take a few in our suggested dress as well ... then submit the latter. Our neighbor papers take different approaches. One does environmental portraits in the pool, the other does full-body cutouts, in suits. To each their own, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and modesty.

 

Ya did good, HanSen.

 

Thanks, KYSW. Think that's what I like best about this board, being able to get feedback from fellow strugglers ...

 

Just got this beauty:

Old lady: Are you going to cover the Local High swim team this year?
Rhody: Who am I speaking with?
Old lady: Are you going to cover the Local High swim team this year?
Rhody: I asked who I was speaking with. Are you a mother? Or a grandmother?
Old lady: I'm a visitor.
Rhody: Really? A visitor with no connection to the team wants us to cover Local High? That's strange.
Old lady: Yes.
Rhody: Anyway, we're covering them today, but we haven't covered them because the coach doesn't call us back. Once she starts doing her job, we'll be able to do ours. Can you tell that to the people you know on the team?
Old lady: OK, thank you.

 

Wrote a story in today's paper about a high school wrestling coach who resigned last week after four of his kids admitted to drinking alcohol while at an overnight tourney a few weeks ago. That wasn't the only reason he was asked to resign, but that's another story for another post.

Anyway, one of his parents calls me and tells me he thinks the coach "got a raw deal" and that the "kids shouldn't have been trapped by the principal like they were." The kids were taken into the school's office, separated into four different rooms, and admitted what they did on their own accord. They weren't coerced into it, according to someone in the school I trust with my life.

The dad says the coach shouldn't have been held responsible for what the kids did "because he was asleep and had no idea what was going on." Dude goes on to say he's going to the school board to discuss it; I wanted to tell him he'll be laughed out of the room, but I bit my tongue.

I tried to tell him that wouldn't be to his or his son's benefit, and that there's more to this story than I could report. Didn't matter. He's steadfast in his belief that the coach got the short end of the stick and shouldn't have had to resign.

And to make matters worse, the person I trust told me the coach texted one of the wrestlers and told him to deny everything. The school took the kids' cell phones so they couldn't text back and forth, and the principal saw the text come through.

So he's in some really hot water. But the parents are still defending him. Knowing what I know, it just makes me shake my damn head.

 

Yeah, just because he's the one responsible for the team doesn't mean he should be held responsible.