USC Football Suspends OC-Register Writer for "Rules Violation"

Ker-ze-zoo-ski?

Yes I am!

 

Beat me to it, but anyhoo:

 

This has been a recurring discussion 'round here... and I always fall on the side of "coach" as a sign of respect. Or because I forgot the coach's name.

I'm accustomed to teachers -- and by extension, coaches who teach -- not using their first names around the students. Some of them introduce me to the kids as Ms. Lastname, others go with Name of Paper Lady. If there were no students present, like in a phone interview, we usually use first names.

I would probably call a university president or some other official I don't know "sir" or "ma'am," particularly if they're older than I am.

 

Don't get me wrong, USC was definitely wrong and did overreach. But as a reporter we should not be reporting on private conversations we overhear, unless we question the subjects about the conversation and make that part of the story. That's a good way to destroy trust and damage your reputation. Many of us come from an era where SIDs freely gave out athletes numbers and we walked freely around coaches offices, but that was done with the understanding everyone played above board. Those days are gone and I'm sure we or the industry are better for it.

 

If the "private" conversation is taking place in public, it's not private.

If you want to have a private conversation, have it in private.

You don't report that stuff without confirming, obviously, but if someone is willing to confirm the gist of the convo...

Of course there are limits to this and as a reporter you need to be discerning on when to set the bridge on fire. That comes down to experience, which you probably don't have when you're 24 and covering one of the country's biggest college football programs.

A P-5 coach wasting his time on a phone call to a reporter to lecture him is silly, especially when his convo with said reporter might've lasted longer than his media availability for the week.

 

That was how I did it. Maybe I would have gotten away from it if I was still a sports writer in my 40s or older. I was more likely to refer to them as coach when dealing with high schools for the reasons you stated, because that is how they have their students address them.

 

In a move that will shock absolutely no one, USC declined to make players available after yet another loss to Utah.



Naturally, this was roundly mocked on Twitter. Even the USC radio team was fed up.

 

I have a feeling that play by play guy is fed up.

 

https://x.com/Ryan_Kartje/status/1716129566300021219?s=20

How can I get this to show the actual tweet?

 

"Listen, Lincoln, John McKay allowed players to talk to the media, John Robinson allowed players to talk to the media .... They accomplished a helluva lot more in their coaching careers than you have. You need to be better at making decisions."

 

Pete Arbogast is as much an institution around USC football as Tim Tessalone was. So, yeah.

 

I didn't care for Pete, just from listening to his broadcast. He whined too much about the officiating against USC, and made some stupid observations. But then I met him and later I read a feature in the LAT about him and I became a fan of him. He plays it straighter on the radio (considering he is the USC broadcaster). During his free time, he goes to hospitals and reads to patients who are in comas or otherwise uncommunicative. He does a lot of humanitarian work.