Dear dimwit on the phone

Here's your big mistake... You were silly to expect empathy on this thread.

 

Lesson to be learned here. You got to say the magic words. Halfway under your breath, mutter something like "this is the last f'in time I cover bleapin' soccer". They'll come around pretty quickly.

 

If getting major hassle over a credential to cover a girls soccer game doesn't hit ya as inane...why would this guy or anyone ever want to restrict someone from covering something that almost never gets covered?

 

Because nobody's gonna care if the procedures aren't followed. It's girls soccer. Everyone will live.

 

Out of sheer interest, what level of the playoffs was this at? If someone felt like being a stickler at state, that's annoying but makes sense. Some earlier round, ehh. More importantly, usually if that's the situation, you kind of discuss what's going on, things work out, no harm, no foul. But if the guy is complaining about getting you a damn program, well that's garbage.

I recall one odd state semifinal basketball game where my shop had this sort of issue. I wasn't covering the game, but it was on an off day in a city where an ex-coworker lived. I caught a ride with our photog, then planned watch the game and meet with my friends after. Anyway, I'm pretty sure we emailed ahead, but when we arrived at the gate, we learned the policies had changed and no one bothered to tell us.

See the year before I covered the event and basically walked up saying "I'm dirtybird from the rural daily, I cover podunk," and got in with no hassle. Well my coworker shows up and they say you need an official state press association ID. The photog was relatively new and the press association usually took a good while to get people IDs. And they just sat there saying nothing they could do about it. We bought tickets, went to the bottom and tried to explain with the State Association official, but he did nothing to help. Finally the photog started shooting from the front row, and then I remembered my press association ID was in my car. So I went and got a wristband and popped it off. Then at game's end, I think the photog grabbed it, held it on his arm and hopped over the barrier to go shoot.

This was a weird event though. Press passed (armbands that year) didn't give you access to the stadium tunnels, nor did they let you stand near the locker room doors. So if you didn't get a crushed team before it got to the tunnel, you had to catch it going to the bus or in the concourse with the families. Just a badly run event.

 

Some AD who was in charge of a league's sport (swimming, gymnastics, wrestling or something like that) kept complaining about our lack of coverage for said sport. So like all complaints that are ever made, our sports editor agreed 100% and sent a reporter to cover some regular season tournament and they refused to let him in, thus they received no coverage because no other newspaper sent anyone to cover it either.

 

Exactly. If it was a sport that draws a lot of readers and coverage, that's one thing. But they should have just been happy you are there. Sure, if it was a playoff football or basketball game they should be sticklers, but lesser-followed events? Just let me in to write a damn story.

 

The sanctimony of the thought that a state association/league/sport should just be happy you're there to cover its event is comical. Just because you think it's not important, doesn't mean they think the same way.

Soccer doesn't get any coverage, so they should be thankful I'm even here gracing them with my presence, and allow me to skirt the rules they have in place for media.

 

And that's the kind of thinking that gives media people a bad name with the general public, the "I'm better than this, and it's only girls soccer" perspective that some display.

You know what, cut out the credential process and let everyone who wants to "cover" the game cover it. I wonder what the reaction would be when there's no space in the press box because 8 people from the Hicksville High Herald school newspaper, and 3 soccer mom parenst who have blogs are filling all the seats?

Think there may be a little bit of an outcry for following the credential process then ...

 

God, I wish I could live in your perfect little world. But it's not sanctimony. It's fact. The parents complain when certain sports don't get covered because they don't have a large following, then when a writer shows up without the proper credential he gets a big hassle. Can't have it both ways. I'm not saying they should do away with the process, but if a guy couldn't make it across town to the office to get the credential or the boss didn't request one, don't make a big fucking deal about it. If he can prove who he says he is/works for or they know he is a reporter, just let him do his damn job.

 

Well, this one beat all.

I'm working the scoreboard on Saturday - my regular guy had the day off - and we get a high school soccer call (season has just started in Mississippi; I know, it's a weird time of year).

First game, Team X wins 2-0. It's team Y (the home team) calling, and of course she doesn't have the names of the opposing goal scorers.

It gets better.

Boys game, Team X wins 8-1 ... and she only has the name of the guy who scored for the home team. Then, she wants to give me a note that the losing goalie made seven saves.

She got rather indignant when I told her I didn't think it was appropriate to run the name of the losing goalkeeper in a blowout when she wasn't able to provide me with the names of the players who scored for the winning team.

"I just don't understand what you problem is," she said to me.

It took a plea on Twitter and two phone calls, but I got the names of the goal-scorers for the winning team. And no, we didn't run the note about the poor goalie.

 

you may have cost that goalie a scholarship. I hope you're proud.