Do you call a coach "Coach"?

This thread ended for me on Reply #3.

 

I don't have a problem with it. I don't have a problem if you don't.

When I was a younger reporter, fresh out of college and still more or less a kid, I used "Coach" all the time. I was brought up never to address people older than me by their first names ... It was Mr., Mrs., Miss. "Coach" is just an extension of that.

Now that I'm older, and have a beat in which I work with the coach on a one-on-one basis, we're on a first-name basis. So I don't feel compelled to call him "Coach."

 

I am with Mikey.
I find myself calling every coach older than me, which is just about all of them, coach.

 

I really don't think it matters in most situations, but if I'm calling a coach at his/her house and someone other than he/she answers, I'll ask for "coach whatshis/hernuts," just so it's established up front that it's a professional call, not some family member or friend calling to chat.

If I'm talking to someone for the first time, I think I generally start out with "coach." After a working relationship has been established, I'll switch to first-name basis.

 

I've often called a coach both by his name and "coach" in the same conversation.

I have one coach who calls me by my paper's name.

 

Never. I don't expect to be called by my profession. I don't call anyone by theirs.

It's always first-name with me, regardless of whether I've met the person or not or thousands of people know of the person or not.

 

Ha! That happened to me a couple times at my last gig. Always cracked me up, because the coach that did it knew the guy reporters' names - no matter the paper - but couldn't remember the one chick's name.

Of course, another coach (!) called me "reporter lady" which led to a couple of his players (a girls softball team) teasingly calling me that the rest of the season.

 

Dusty Baker always said he didn't want to be called Skip because: "it's what I do, not who I am."

 

I would love to see Dusty skip.

 

So no "Mr. President" for you if you're covering the White House, eh?

Would you just call him "Barry?"

 

so, every freakin' high school football coach is just as important as the president of the united states?

that's a little sick.

 

Uh, of course not.

I'm just sayin' ... Call people what they're used to being called. "I don't call people by their profession" shouldn't be a hard and fast rule.

It's not about "worshipping" them ... It's like calling someone mister. If I worked the education beat, and had to call a principal, I'd probably ask for "Mr. Jones" instead of "Pete."

Doesn't mean I want to jerk his gherkin.