Disciplinary issues in prep football

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Pregnant is more embarrassing.

 

[Billy Pritchard]

I agree -- it is far more embarrassing. And I don't mean to advocate that we always need to put everything we know about a particular situation into the paper.
But I guess what I'm wondering is whether reporting the health condition of any high school athlete is grounds for a lawsuit. Couldn't a parent threaten a lawsuit if I report that Player A tore his ACL and is out for the season, an injury that could affect his recruiting? Would a newspaper back down then?

 

[Diego Marquez]

Since most girls teams frown on their girls getting pregnant, can't you just report she's not playing well and putting on weight because of a violation of team rules?

 

[KJIM]

I'm confused as to why reporting that a girl is pregnant is different than saying she tore her ACL. Either way it's private.

Either is a medical issue, but if she tore her ACL while at a team practice, that's a little different. Even if she tore it in a car accident, that's more public record because of probably police involvement.

Generally speaking, fornication leading to pregnancy isn't done in public. Stay behind the shrubbery.

 

[sartrean]

Allright, there was a girls sports team (no need to specify) where multiple players were suspended and kicked off the team. Naturally, we found that odd. Then we heard from 2-3 semi-reliable sources that there had been some lesbian activity on a team bus.

Dude, that is the coolest story ever.

Headline: Alt-lifestyles not tolerated by [all-girl sports team] coach
Subhead: several quality athletes kicked off team for sexual orientation

Just wondering if there are any written rules about fornicating on the bus in that school district, or if the suspensions and dismissals were solely retaliation for the girls favoring the carpet over the man-meat?

Are there any written rules that stipulate players must be heterosexual?

I guess coaches and "educators" these days want all athletes in high school, male or female, to be a-sexual, unless it's with that coach or educator.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I get the nightly phone-in score from Podunk High's softball team this spring. None of the team's regular players were mentioned in the stats reported by the coach. I found it odd and knew something was up. She did confirm the stars were being disciplined...and nearly two hours later I got the entire scoop from another local coach who tells me anything and everything.

Turns out they went on a weekend tourney trip and brought some drugs (weed, coke) with them. Had a big party in the hotel rooms...which included local men and sex. Girls were found out by the coaches and threw drugs out the window. Drugs were found...suspensions and bannings were handed out. Most of the players eventually returned to the team. They didn't fare too well in tournaments, but they were a colorful bunch to interview.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

I dealt with this several years ago. A basketball player who went on to become very well known nationally was caught diddling his girlfriend in an empty auditorium. There was some real smoke involved at first because the recipient of the cornholing was rumored to be a minor, soon discovered to be false.

He was suspended for a game or two, if I recollect. Did all necessary legwork and wrote it as a straight news story, but my editors sat on it. It was decided that an 18-year-old kid getting laid under any circumstances was neither newsworthy nor remarkable, which I agreed with.

We went with the always safe "violation of team rules" in a prep notebook that week.

 

[HeinekenMan]

I showed up Friday night to discover that Podunk's best player was inexplicably absent from the field. I later learned that he had been singled out in practice by the coach for nearly blowing a win with a fumble. Word was that he tried to quit the team, and the coach disciplined him by forcing him to the bench for the first half. The team was blasted 48-0, and it was clear that the benched player had a role in the outcome.

I didn't see any reason to single out one player for the loss. I mean, it was 48-0. So I briefly said that he didn't play in the first half. Informed people can draw their own conclusions. But I don't see the good that can come from specifying why someone was absent. All that is important for the story is that so-and-so didn't play. Prying into the personal lives of teens is a mistake that gives our industry a bad name. However, I would say that a pregnancy might lead to some serious questions given that it's a long-term situation that will force someone to miss an entire season. Just try to word that sort of thing carefully. Unless you're doing a story on pregnancy in the locker room, there's no real need to embarrass someone.

Try to think back to when you were in high school and consider for a moment how you'd feel if the local paper put your personal life on display. The kid that I covered last Friday nearly quit the team over a coach's treatment, right? Well, maybe. Maybe he really almost quit the team because his dad beat the shit out of him after he fumbled and the coach's treatment just justified the beating by showing what a horrible mistake he had made. Unless you're going to ask the player directly for the story, it's NOYB.

 

[schrdp2002]

Our paper got sued after we printed that a girl left the basketball team because she was pregnant. Even though it was true, I think it was settled out of court for a couple grand. At least we bought the kids some diapers and a stroller.
These things are weird. It can be something stupid like smoking, but no coach will ever comment on it on the record. They'll treat it like the kid got caught fucking his sister's goat with a two-foot long dildo while wearing a bondage mask and having a syringe full of heroin sticking out of his arm. It's easier to go with the "violating team rules" bit. And if it's a minor suspension (a quarter or two), most times it's not even worth mentioning.

Star player "x" left the team for personal reasons. That's my solution if it is non-criminal.

 

[Crimson Tide]

Couple of kids quit the football team this year, and I didn't report it for a couple of reasons (and these are ones I shared with people who asked):

1. They quit because the team wasn't doing well.
2. They quit because they were lazy and untalented, but not sure why they weren't getting playing time.

So, it was a non-issue. Once it was realized that there was no juicy scandal, people didn't give a shit. Fine with me. Unless something happens that we can back up with either A) evidence or B) the source going on the record, it's nothing but gossip, and most of the time, not worth losing my job or getting sued over. My management has thrown me under the bus in the past, so until I can get out, I have to play it safe as I can.