The "Homer" sports writer

You should have written about that.

 

Agreed!
I wish there were more SEs and writers who adhered to that belief.

 

Worst homer: A prep writer for a 100,000 circulation paper covering "his" high school football team had a ratty old pair of jeans he would wear to home games that had the score of all the team's games stitched in it by his wife.

Also: I think it's OK for reporters to cheer on their team -- if they are playing for a spot in a bowl game in Hawaii or a trip to Vegas or something. We're only human.

 

My little brother, who lives just outside Fort Worth, constantly uses "we" when talking about the Cowboys or Mavericks. I keep asking him when Jerry Jones/Mark Cuban put him on the team payroll.

It will be interesting to see how his impending nuptials to a Bears fan factor into his behavior.

 

Huckleberry, I get upset with disgustingly poor officiating. Everyone but Valentine and a few baseball umpires get the benefit of the doubt (because they think everyone came to see them ... and therefore they should be fired), and I don't always get visibly upset, but poor officiating drives me nuts. I don't think that's the same thing as wearing a "State U" hat to games, saying "we" and high-fiving the coach after every win.

 

I understand your frustration with poor officiating. It's bad to watch and can be upsetting to media as well as fans. To call out a referee or yell at him during, before or after a game, though, is just downright unprofessional for a working member of the media.

The way I understood it, you have done this. If I'm wrong, then I apologize. I can't stand bad officiating and there have been times I'd like to look at the guys and say "are you fuckin' kidding me about that call" but I don't. I simply scribble the play down and make a note that it was a questionable (albeit horrible) call and then place an asterick by it so I remember to ask a coach or player about it.

I see my job as to write about all the things involved in the game, including officiating, when it effects the outcome. But I haven't gotten into any confrontations with other players, coaches or referees because I was yelling at them from press rown. That's definitely not my job and I hope you haven't yelled or cursed an official in a work setting either.

Another thing that I have found is that referees will actually tend to explain their calls to you sometimes once they've seen you for several years. They get to know you, just like you get to know them. They'll come over and while the crowd is howling over a bad call, they'll say to you "let them howl ... the guy walked a mile."

Now if I had yelled at them or something, I doubt I'd ever have a referee say something like that to me. They're human too and they will interact with the media even during games so long as they feel comfortable enough to do it.

 

I once asked an umpire about a call during a community college game and he said, "I don't talk to the press." I wasn't screaming at him, nor was I doing it to challenge his call. I was just doing it to find out why he made the call.

I'd love to see the prima donna umpires/refs forced to answer to us about calls. Perhaps they're right. Perhaps they screwed up. Perhaps that would prevent at least some of the death threats Don Denkinger got after the 1985 World Series.

 

Wow. That takes the cake.

 

Don't be hatin' on Donny D, forever

 

OUTING ALERT: Diabeetus is Don Denkinger.

 

What I do is generally what you do ... I will look at the other beat guys and say something like, "What the hell was that?" It's not generally directed at the official. I would never want to call attention to myself, because Joe Blow Fan doesn't give a shit about me. I just can't hide my disdain for poor officiating.

 

kinda sucks, doesn't it?