Talking about "talk about"

Talkin' 'bout what everybody's talkin' 'bout,
I wanna talk about,
We need to talk about...



(Or, for those who are not old enough to remember the song:

... and then get off my lawn!)

 

I don't have any problem with "Talk about..." as long as it as a specific topic coming after it for the subject to address. I try not to use it that often (and I do use it), because I do try and ask a specific question.

However, I don't find anything wrong with "Talk about the play of your receivers tonight." Especially in the situations of high school games when you're up against a deadline.

It's the answer that counts, right?

 

Simply, the intent of a question is to illicit something more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Thus the effectiveness of the "talk about" question.

 

If you can find real difference between saying "Talk about the way they ran the ball inside the tackles" and saying "Coach, can you please talk about the way they ran the ball inside the tackles?" ... I will work on that, yes.

 

I think it's more than this. I think the goal of a good question is to elicit one of two types of response: Either an explanation of a specific topic or a conversational tone. You either want the source (let's make it a guy since his/her is annoying) to narrow his focus to the question you need him to answer, or you want the source to forget he's being interested to induce more honest, interesting and introspective answers.

"Talk about" is a good way to force a source into a press conference mentality. No one has ever said to a friend, "Talk about your day." And you're certainly not going to get the specific explanations and answers you seek with the question. You're reinforcing the interviewer-interviewee relationship without gaining anything from it. I certainly hope no one uses this style of question in a one-on-one setting, and it drives me mad when I hear it used even when three or four reporters are gathered around a players' locker. I suppose that in a press conference setting, the phrase is ubiquitous enough and the setting obvious enough that it doesn't hurt. It also doesn't help.

To all those bullshitters who say, "Well, as long as the final product is good, why do you care?": The sausage may be getting made, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be made even better. We're in a world where bloggers believe our jobs consist of retyping quote sheets and sprinkling in a few misunderstandings about the games we cover. We're in a world where readers are gaining more options for coverage all the time. And we're in a world where, yes, press conferences are televised increasingly frequently. And it makes us look bad when we can't even form an intelligent question. It makes us look bad when we use the same old quotes taken from a press conference where no one asked an intelligent question. We need to stop making ourselves look bad.

[/rant]

 

I've held onto a theory for about 13 years now that "talk about" pretty much ensures a dull quote. It has held true about 99.725 percent of the time.

Because it's so rote, so stale and such an unnatural way to have a conversation, it seems to suck the oxygen from the room and keep things as cliched as they can be, when they're already cliched enough.

 

I think "talk about" is rude. It sounds like an order.

Maybe many subjects don't take it the same way, but I'm sure at least some do. So, why use the technique? I don't see any upside and find it counterproductive to making a source feel comfortable talking to you.

 

A talk about question isn't worth shit if you are not carefully listening for the opportunity for a follow up question while the coach answering. Plus, it is an easy way to get the person talking. You ask a specific question, and they might clam up.

Coach, talk about the lasy possesion...
Well they got some key first downs on us in the drive. That third down pass really was a back breaker.

Coach, on the third down pass, can you break down for me what happened.
Well the receiver ran a great slant route and our guy got caught behind him. It really was a great catch and throw.

Then you find the receiver or the DB...
On that third down pass in the last drive, can you describe the route you ran.
Yeah, that's our Y route. On that route I am really trying to back up the corner so I can push back...

 

Thank you.

The anti "talk about"(s) strike back.
I think everything Versatile and Espresso said is true.
And, I never thought about it, but it does sound rude.
I just always thought about how bad it made the person who asked it sound.

"Nobody says talk about your day."

That is so true.
It makes me thing about all the things so many of do as sportswriters that we never do in real life. It could be an entirely new thread. Like:

In a lead, calling the team, "The Podunk State basketball team."

Or making first reference with school (or city) and the mascot
"Last night, away from home, the Podunk High Widgets knocked off the …"
Because nobody talks like that.
Ever.

It's Oklahoma, second reference OU, or Sooners.
It's never "the Oklahoma Sooners."

 

I lost track, but Tom Verducci was either 5-for-5 or 6-for-6 in his postgame interview with the Tigers tonight on saying "talk about" or "tell us". Couldn't help but think of this thread.