Stupid Interview Question

Gotta come clean with one of my own here ... I was interviewing Sylvester Croom for a preseason story before his first season at Mississippi State. Of course, the questioning came around to his place in history as the first black coach in SEC history. And thanks to a) a brain fart; b) trying too hard to be politically correct; and c) just being a total dumbass, I didn't simply ask him "Is there more pressure on you than there would be for a first-year white head coach?"
Nope. That would have been a good question. Instead I blurted out this gem:
"Is there more pressure on you than there would be for, you know, a normal, regular head coach?"

To his credit, Sly didn't rear back and punch me in the mouth. I think he understood what I was getting at and gave a good answer, even if he did give a slight smile that seemed to say, "You stupid motherfucker."
My friends still give me hell about asking such a stupid question, though.

 

Beat writer was on vacation once and somebody filled in from the sports desk. His first question to my football coach was, "How do you spell your name?"

Classic. Absolutely Classic.

 

Any question that begins with "How do you feel" is a stupid question.

 

I just came up with an all-time great a few minutes ago.

Working on a campaign piece for my organization, I ask a WOMAN: "So, how long have you been a Big Brother or a Big Sister?"

Didn't catch it until the words went through the phone. D'oh!

To her credit, she said "I was a Big Brother for one year and a Big Sister since then."

 

at the final four one year i interviewed a player in one of the hotels when the team had just arrived in town and then asked his name. i was pretty embarassed to ask but i was in a rush to go back and write, i'd never seen this dude before and wasn't confident that i could figure him out by looking at the team media guide and somehow i was the only person left in the interview room so there was no one around i could ask.

i've since learned to ask how to spell the person's name whenever i don't know the name and am expected to know it.

 

Um ... yeah. :

 

Actually, the worst interview questions, when comes to sports, are the 'Talk about ...' questions.
That drives me nuts.
'Talk about your linebackers.'
That's not a question and I wouldn't blame a coach for refusing, for saying 'If you have a question, ask it.'

 

How is that a stupid question?
Detailing emotions and feelings are crucial to telling a good story. Otherwise it's just the same old, boring nuts and bolts stuff.
Is there a better way to word it than "how do you feel?" maybe, but I fail to see how that's stupid.
Am I alone on this?

 

That works fine unless the guy starts spelling, "First name: J-I-M, last name: S-M-I-T-H"

 

It's cool that people are willing to admit their mistakes. I don't recall any specific stupid questions, but I've asked more than my share. In most cases, I was at less than 100 percent for some reason. Lack of sleep, distractions, having to do two things at one time, flu-like symptoms, tight deadline, boring asshole interview subject. I guess everybody is entitled to a few mistakes.

 

That might not be as dumb as it sounds. Even with simple names it's sometimes best to ask. We had a coach whose last name was Lyell. We just heard the pronunciation and spelled it "Lyle" in our section for half the season before somebody pointed it out to us.

 

Nothing wrong with checking the spelling of a name.
I also don't have a problem with 'How do you feel?' 'What happened?' 'What were you thinking?' or 'What was going through your mind?'
Some times you ask a question knowing there's a good chance it sounds dumb, but you have to ask it anyway. You should worry more about getting quotes that are going to advance a story, clarify a story or provide insight to the reader than you should about sounding dumb.
I don't tell my reporters not to use 'talk about ...' They use it all the time. If it works for you, then use it.
I just tell I think it's lazy and lame, and if I was a coach I wouldn't respond to it.