How do you guys start an interview?

Tell me you don't really offer congratulations to the coach when beginning an interview.

If so, you better be writing for the Elementary School Weekly and be in fifth grade yourself.

Cut that nonsense out immediately.

 

You people are making this job way harder than it is...

 

thanks sarty, now you, a newbie, can fetch me a beer. make it a pyramid in a pint glass out of the freezer.

 

My wife says the same thing about me. She always has tears in her eyes when she says it.

 

I take notes and use a tape recorder. I like to have the backup of the recorder in case I'm not quite sure on a quote and it's also nice to have in the event someone tells me I misquoted them. It's hard to argue you were misquoted when you hear your own words. I usually keep interviews on it for a week or two after they take place just in case.

 

with ya

 

Well, simply put, I write about high school kids. It's infotainment at best. As long as the bosses are happy and my mortgage gets paid, what does it matter?

 

Let me try that again. What does it matter as it pertains to how I do my job? Yes, there are some good stories around here, but as long as I get them told, what does it matter how I start my interview? Especially if it's just for gamers?

Of course, the anal-retentive around here just like to piss on anybody that doesn't fit in with their perfect ways. Or, more bluntly put, I don't give a shit what Mizzou thinks about the way I do my job. Likewise, I don't give a shit how he does his job. We're all just throwing out opinions of what works for us case by case.

The guy was a few raisins short of two scoops. He maybe stayed in the job four or five months.

 

You're making this harder than it really is. Shit, I just make up quotes half the time!

 

Oh, please, Crimson. You come on to a journalist's site professing to have a great way to do your job, then you say it doesn't really matter how you do your job after people point out that your interviewing technique is sophomoric and ineffective, then you start throwing around words like "anal-retentive" and "perfect" at people who might just know how to do it a better way.

One of the things I like about this site is that it's a way for people in the same field to exchange ideas. One of the things I don't like is that some people who love to say they know a perfect way to do things don't want to listen to criticism, and discussions deteriorate into name-calling.

Your method is a flat-out bad idea -- no matter if you're talking to high school, college or professional athletes (I shudder to think what any major leaguer would say if you said, "Let's get you on the record.") I think it's a particularly bad idea for high school athletes -- they're not used to being interviewed. Maybe there's something in this exchange that would help you, but if you want to keep the dumb "let's get you on the record" tack, that's up to you.

 

what a crazy thread.

you start an interview the same way you start a conversation: there is no standard way of doing it.

fwiw, i'd stay away from 'can i talk to you' or 'you got a couple minutes' because i found that it gives the athlete the chance to say 'no' and too often, that's exactly what he'll say. so i just launched write into my questions. i guess this was more in the post-game or training camp context.