Disciplinary issues in prep football

Not as good as sex, but a softball player on a team I was covering back when I covered preps was suspended for smoking. Coach didn't tell me why she was suspended but some of the other players did.
Next game I covered, I see the suspended girl sitting in the stands, watching the game. I go over to her and ask: "Can I bum a smoke?"
She laughed and became a pretty good source after she was reinstated to the team. Plus the other girls on the team were easier to talk to because I didn't snitch on the suspended girl in the newspaper.
It sounds like all the people who care know why the kid was suspended anyway. Why compound the issue by repeating the gossip in the newspaper?

 

Our paper got sued after we printed that a girl left the basketball team because she was pregnant. Even though it was true, I think it was settled out of court for a couple grand. At least we bought the kids some diapers and a stroller.
These things are weird. It can be something stupid like smoking, but no coach will ever comment on it on the record. They'll treat it like the kid got caught fucking his sister's goat with a two-foot long dildo while wearing a bondage mask and having a syringe full of heroin sticking out of his arm. It's easier to go with the "violating team rules" bit. And if it's a minor suspension (a quarter or two), most times it's not even worth mentioning.

 

There's a rule against that? Geez, the PC police are busy!

 

Why would a paper print that a high school girl was pregnant without a good, long discussion on the matter?

Why would a paper settle over that?

 

Allright, there was a girls sports team (no need to specify) where multiple players were suspended and kicked off the team. Naturally, we found that odd. Then we heard from 2-3 semi-reliable sources that there had been some lesbian activity on a team bus.

 

To yearn for the old days when writers traveled with the teams.

 

Good thing it wasn't a JRC paper. They might have settled by pushing her down the courthouse steps.

 

"Violation of team rules" is one of my favorite phrases. Reminds me to ask a coach for a copy of them the next time they're used to hand down a suspension.
Back to the start of the thread: Any chance to ask the QB about it?

 

If I remember right, it was a one-sentence mention in a season preview story. The girl had been a pretty decent player for them the year before, that year she wasn't going to be on the team, and the writer probably figured he needed to say why. We had a good relationship with that coach, and he told the writer why she wasn't coming back. I think the coach got a good tongue-lashing from his AD about it, too.
And I was nowhere near this whole thing (one of our other writers wrote the story), but the higher-ups probably did a cost-benefit analysis. It was cheaper and easier to pay the family a couple thousand dollars than pay the lawyers and drag it out in court.

 

I hope the writer learned something. Writing that a girl is off the team because she is pregnant without talking to her about it beforehand is not a good idea.

 

Many years ago, one of our local girls was being heavily recruited by the powerhouse basketball schools. Around December, we notice she's not playing very well and putting on weight. Rumors start swirling she's pregnant.

So as the season goes on, she keeps playing. During state playoffs, she's four months pregnant. Coach won't say anything. Girl's parents threaten lawsuits if it's mentioned. Readers are e-mailing demanding to know why we're covering this up, especially after she signs a scholarship with State U.

Finally, State U's basketball coach comes to town for banquet. During the Q&A portion, somebody asks him about this girl. He said "Since she's pregnant with twins, I think we'll redshirt her."

If he'd not said that, we'd have never gotten it into the paper even though it was obvious to anybody who saw her.

 

I'm confused as to why reporting that a girl is pregnant is different than saying she tore her ACL. Either way it's private. I wouldn't want to print she was pregnant without checking with her to confirm it, but if the situation was so "obvious to anybody her saw her," shouldn't it be reported?