Hilariously Bad Interview Questions

[Dan Hickling]

Questions asked of the kid who just hit the game-winning home run in a high school baseball game:
"What kind of pitch was it you hit?"
"What was going through your mind when you made contact?"

Questions seem okay to me, too....have asked them, although I've taken to asking "Did you get what you were looking for?"

 

[The Big Ragu]

This is not a bad interview question... It was actually a fat, well-deserved one.

I turned on the TV this morning and they kept replaying this presser of Bob Knight from yesterday, in which he was saying the tournament should be only 32 teams and there shouldn't be automatic bids. Just the best 32 teams. Something about how the dumbasses who don't know anything about basketball shouldn't be choosing the teams either.

So a guy follows up with, "If the NCAA tournament was reduced to 32 teams, would Texas Tech be in?" Completely in bounds given that Knight introduced the topic. Except Knight fumbled and tried to turn it on the guy like it was a dumb question: "Since it won't a 32-team tournament that is a question that's superfluous and there's no need to answer it. It didn't happen and it isn't going to happen."

Of course reporter could have followed with, "If it's superfluous and not going to happen, why did you offer a superfluous opinion?" Still, I think the original reporter or someone else followed up again, with, "Would your team be here?" It was like he stuck a needle in Knight's eye and Knight snapped. "I just answered. There is no answer. I have no intention of answering something like that."

I enjoyed this exchange for some reason.

 

[leo1]

Wingman's correct.

And from your description of it, Leo, I think Tiger understood the question, too. He just chose not to go there, which is perfectly logical given the subject. Doesn't make it a stupid question at all.

Agreed. Sometimes no answer is actually the one that validates/proves your point or angle.

thanks wingman, buck and sosueme. i felt pretty self-conscious about it at the time. and i might be paranoid but i swear i saw the PGA flak giving the cutoff or choke signal to the flunky with the microphone a couple days later when i raised my hand for a question to someone else.

now that i'm out of the business i sometimes tell the tiger story - usually in a work setting or when someone is doing the old 'wow, you were a sports writer? that's awesome, tell me about ___ and what's ____ like ' thing. people love hearing that shirt.

 

[Rockbottom]

Wingman's correct.

And from your description of it, Leo, I think Tiger understood the question, too. He just chose not to go there, which is perfectly logical given the subject. Doesn't make it a stupid question at all.

Agreed. Sometimes no answer is actually the one that validates/proves your point or angle.

I agree with all of the guys saying this was a good question. Especially because a bunch of the veteran golf hacks were probably shooting you looks because they didn't have the temerity to ask The Great Eldrick a question like that themselves.

And yeah, Tiger knew the score. His pressers aren't consistenly boring on accident.

rb

 

[KJIM]

1. Uttered during the championship round of a best-of-seven series. Home team favored big-time. Newsperson doubling as sports gets the assignment for the newser prior to game 1.
He asks the home coach, "So, do you expect to sweep?"

People covering the team still talk about that to this day.

2. Wasn't there for this firsthand, but a radio guy played it for me. Even knowing this guy, I still didn't want to believe it.

The biggest hanger-on in this city's sports media runs into a post-game scrum late. He's a bit hefty, so he shoves in and crams his mic under the basketball player's nose. With no consideration to what's been said (and the topic had already been addressed) he blurts:

"So how 'bout that defense, man? Smooth!"

 

[McNuggetsMan]

Bristol Motor Speedway after Ryan Newman won his 5,000th pole in a row or something. Question comes down over the PA from the pressbox to the infield media center: "Ryan, do you impress even yourself?"

Newman shoots back - "What the heck kind of a question was that?"

 

[clutchcargo]

Seve, I have people ask me this all the time. How tall are you?

 

[linotype]

I won't name names, but after a college basketball game earlier this season, one reporter's query to a team's leading scorer consisted of repeating the player's point total, then exclaiming "Day-um."

 

[BillySixty]

I was covering the Conference USA tournament about five years ago when the student reporter from UAB asked Bob Huggins why Cincinnati "didn't press more, because UAB has a hard time handling the pressure."

Huggins, whose team had an 8-10 point lead for most of the game, thought about the question, stared off into space and said, "You know what? I'm going to retire in two years and when I do, feel free to take my job and press all you want."

I've had my share of horrible questions, but I try to never question the strategy of a winning coach.

 

[skippy05]

Bristol Motor Speedway after Ryan Newman won his 5,000th pole in a row or something. Question comes down over the PA from the pressbox to the infield media center: "Ryan, do you impress even yourself?"

Newman shoots back - "What the heck kind of a question was that?"

Oh, now, leave Claire alone...

 

[jfs1000]

"Let's get you on the record now . . . "

Oh, that's not a question.

"Talk about . . . "

That isn't, either. My apologies.

I think Talk about can be effective. I know people here overuse it and hate it, but it isn't bad as long as it isn't abused.

Sometimes you don't want someone to answer something specfics, you want him/her like its a conversation. If you target the question too much, it becomes a short answer. In some situations when you aren't sure what your looking for, it can be an effective way to get people to open up and volunteer information.

I personally hate long crafted open ended questions that take 20 seconds to blurt out. "Players X, talk about your experiences here in the NCAA's the last 3 days."

Sometimes questions are too well-crafted, and too specific. Talk about, is being conversational and simple. People use it because it's effective. It disarms the subject being interviewed. They become much more conversational.

I don't care if my questions are good. I care if the answers and quotes are good.

 

[skippy05]

"Let's get you on the record now . . . "

Oh, that's not a question.

"Talk about . . . "

That isn't, either. My apologies.

I think Talk about can be effective. I know people here overuse it and hate it, but it isn't bad as long as it isn't abused.

Sometimes you don't want someone to answer something specfics, you want him/her like its a conversation. If you target the question too much, it becomes a short answer. In some situations when you aren't sure what your looking for, it can be an effective way to get people to open up and volunteer information.

I personally hate long crafted open ended questions that take 20 seconds to blurt out. "Players X, talk about your experiences here in the NCAA's the last 3 days."

Sometimes questions are too well-crafted, and too specific. Talk about, is being conversational and simple. People use it because it's effective. It disarms the subject being interviewed. They become much more conversational.

I don't care if my questions are good. I care if the answers and quotes are good.

That's a great point. If you're doing live radio or TV, then yes, you should have well-crafted questions. Other than that, who cares how you phrase the question so long as you get a good answer? I use "Talk about..." a lot. I also use "What are your feelings on..." because those two almost proclude one-word, yes-or-no answers.