Sports Editor - Odessa (TX) American

Who decides what the spirit of the game is? It's in the rule book that the baserunner touch every base and there is a procedure for challenging whether a player touched a base. Seems to me if it's in the rule book, it's in the spirit of the game.

 

I see what you're saying and that's totally valid. Personally, I just really didn't like the appeal at the high school level in a season-ending situation.

I'm also the world's biggest hater of open-court fast-break showmanship dunks getting called back for traveling, and I think it's dumb when a premature celebration going into the end zone is called a fumble, and I think computer-laser strike zones would be awful -- so at least I'm consistent with my dumb ideas

 

To me, saying the coach is cowardly because he asked that they enforce the rule takes things way too far. Hey, all of us say things we would take back - or at least soften - in the heat of the moment. In this case, I would hope you regretted that and learned from it. It shouldn't matter if it's season-ending, if the kid missed the base, he's out. From what it looks like, there was no argument that he actually missed the base, so he's out.

 

if they are complaining, they are reading!

 

My question is if the coach you accused of behaving cowardly one of the area coaches you cover and deal with regularly, or was it a one-off type of deal and you'll never (or at least rarely) cover him again?

If he is local, what was his reaction when you said be behaved cowardly, and I assume you said that when you interviewed him postgame? If he isn't local, would you have had the same reaction and used the same words about a local coach?

 

I feel like this should be a separate thread at this point, but to answer your question I wasn't there writing a story on the game. I was shooting it while in town for a softball series. I know I'd have felt the same no matter if the team was local or not. That shouldn't make a difference to anyone. If they were local I might've chatted with an editor before sending out what I felt I saw, though. I don't know.

 

Justin, your next SE may well rein you in. I'm kind of surprised the editor of the paper hasn't. You could really alienate some people with your approach.

 

So they call it a fumble if the player starts celebrating? Or if you start to celebrate it shouldn't matter if you drop the ball before you're in the end zone?

 

You'd be offering a public apology at my shop. Or you'd be looking for another job. Calling a coach a coward in a public forum for enforcing the rules is quite staggeringly stupid. Be glad I'm not your boss. There was a lesson learned in having the rules enforced, well within the spirit of the game. And you missed it.

 

I'd like to find one coach who says he'd let the other team take the W when he knew a kid missed the base.

 

So, a reporter comes on here, offers up some info on an open position and says, "Hey, DM me or email me if you want to know more."

I don't agree with him at all, but I also don't see why we had to bring this up in the first place. He's a reporter at a local paper, not writing takeouts for SI. In his initial post, he didn't profess himself to be hot stuff or really do anything to suggest he needed to be taken down a peg.

I've written a lot of dreck in my early career that still keeps me awake some nights, and I certainly appreciate never having to dredge that up every time I post here. I hope we can offer others the same courtesy.

 

Or worse ... how many examples are there of journalists who have been suspended and/or fired (like the Denver Post columnist) for their tweets?