Dear dimwit on the phone

Covering Podunk South baseball the other day, one parent (politely) asked why we haven't been putting stories about the games in. Told him the truth as always ... can't put anything in the paper if we're not getting results. Some other fan chimed in "Good!" So I had to ask, "Why is it good?"

Also recall a couple of years back talking to the kid who made the big play after some football game and being chased down by some parental unit, wondering if I was a college scout? And this is why I always wear my credentials with PRESS PASS in big letters on it.

 

Anyone who tells you your lack of prep coverage is costing kids scholarships and that scouts read your paper/websites has no concept of what college recruiting is even about. It's that simple.

 

A guy on my staff was wearing a Southern Cal hat and was on the sidelines to cover a horseshit football game when he got asked if he was a scout. Only reason we were there was to toss the two teams a bone because we didn't see them very often and the schedule that particular week had a lot of soft matchups. Neither of these teams had anyone even close to a D-I scholarship, much less one at USC. Got a nice laugh out of it when he came back after the game and told me that.

 

While I generally agree with that sentiment, to play Devil's Advocate...

If I had the resources, I'd send a scout to any podunk town I could get to just in case there's a diamond in the rough.

But, yeah, what are the odds.

 

Reminds me of when I got my first job in the business, in mid-August just as football practice was starting. Went to the team's scrimmage, just to get a look at the team before the season started, and wore a cap from my alma mater. Just so happens the other team in the scrimmage was playing a school from that city in their opener next week, so a couple of people were afraid I was a spy.

 

Had an old guy this week call in complaining about our TV listings. He was utterly flummoxed by the set of letters next to the local pro basketball team's playoff game. Got really indignant. Of course, one set of letters was for the local FoxSports that showed the team's games all season, the other: NBATV.

I tried explaining what NBATV was, how to use the guide on DirecTV. Didn't take.

 

Had some older guy call in confused as to what channel "G-O-L-F" was. He didn't even realize it spelled golf!

 

Covered Division 4 football at Podunk high last season and they had a kicker who could hit with force and accuracy from 50-plus so the diamonds are there, but yeah they're few and far between.

FWIW, I'm a freelancer for several websites in my area and inevitably I'll get smarmy parents who'll say "Oh how nice of you to finally show up and cover our boys/girls." My standard response is "Ma'am/Mr. I'm simply a freelancer and I go where I'm asked to go." That usually stops them cold or at least flummoxes them for a minute.

 

This sounds logical but I remember in high school we had a game where T.J. Doe went 4-for-4 with a couple of RBIs and Pete Smith struck out six in getting the win. Our baseball coach got a recruiting letter addressed to T.J. Smith c/o of the high school. I know that's one of the hundreds or so they send out to prospects but it always proved the point to me that they do read the paper for tips like that.

 

I was covering a JV state championship game (we only covered JV when a team played for a title and in RI, there are actually sanctioned tourneys for them) and as I was unpacking, a group of kids asked me if I was a college scout. I asked them if they were serious, they said yes, and I said "If you're playing Rhode Island JV, you're not getting scouted by a college."

 

Ouch man, way to let those kids down easy.

 

Had a kicker like that in my area. He was probably the best player on the team, which, until recently, hadn't been very successful. But he was on the radar of a few D-I schools and is now the starter at Louisville.