Football parent: But they try just as hard as everyone else!

[SportsDude]

Parent: "I bet you went to Podunk County High."
Me: "No, I went to shirtfork High?"
Parent: "Where is that?"
Me: "Three time zones to the east." Click.

People became obsessed about where I went to school once I moved to sports.

I live in the rival town (couldn't find a place to rent where the paper's at) and I heard the same shirt. I was questioned about it once by a parent and I went out of my way to tell them that I grew up an hour away from the area and that I absolutely hate all the teams equally in the coverage area. The guys in the office loved that remark but the parent didn't.

 

[zimbabwe]

Parent: "I bet you went to Podunk County High."
Me: "No, I went to shirtfork High?"
Parent: "Where is that?"
Me: "Three time zones to the east." Click.

People became obsessed about where I went to school once I moved to sports.

I live in the rival town (couldn't find a place to rent where the paper's at) and I heard the same shirt. I was questioned about it once by a parent and I went out of my way to tell them that I grew up an hour away from the area and that I absolutely hate all the teams equally in the coverage area. The guys in the office loved that remark but the parent didn't.

Nice. I've used a variation of that line. We have two main schools in my town. They are bitter rivals. I went to "Tech", "Prep" was our rival. There's a third big school in the sister city across the river that is rival to both "Tech" and "Prep."

When "Prep" beat the crossriver school (I predicted this in my weekly column), the crossriver coach said, "Happy now?"

I told him, "No, I hate you and 'Prep' equally."

 

[KYSportsWriter]

I was accused of "wearing the (good) county school's jock strap" once by a city school assistant coach when I worked in Frankfort. I had written an article about the recruitment of four area players, one of which was runner-up for our Mr. Football award. Two kids from the County school were getting the most attention from D-1 schools, so I focused most of my article on them. The two kids from the City school were getting attention from D-2 and below schools and probably wouldn't amount to much. Heck, one of the City school kids never even signed with the school that was recruiting him heavily or with anyone, for that matter.

Said assistant coach just happened to be the big daddy of the City school kid who wound up signing with Johnson C. Smith in N.C. In my article, I wrote that D-1 schools such as Tennessee and Kentucky had looked at his kid, but had backed off recently. That was all I said and that's what must have set him off.

One of the guys I used to work with told me I should send him a picture of a jock strap with the County school's logo on it for Christmas.

EDIT: Come to think of it, I think it was Tommy_Dreamer who suggested I do that.

 

[Dr. J]

A couple of years ago, I saved up a bunch of cash to buy the warmest coat I could find for late fall/early spring games.

Being the idiot that I was, I didn't buy a coat in the color of all the high schools that we cover.

 

[mike311gd]

Parent: "I bet you went to Podunk County High."
Me: "No, I went to shirtfork High?"
Parent: "Where is that?"
Me: "Three time zones to the east." Click.

People became obsessed about where I went to school once I moved to sports.

I reported in my area for four weeks. Since then, I've done so in two different states, and I'm asked that question every once in a while. I was given a lot of shirt for some articles I wrote regarding a rivalry between a team we covered and a team just outside of the area. I was asked by several people, "Did you go there?"

My response: No, ma'am, I didn't. In fact, before I took this job 20 months ago, I didn't know these towns existed. ... I couldn't care less who wins the game. I'm just hoping the game makes for a good story. ..."

 

[pressboxer]

A couple of years ago, I saved up a bunch of cash to buy the warmest coat I could find for late fall/early spring games.

Being the idiot that I was, I didn't buy a coat in the color of all the high schools that we cover.

That's why I wear khakis and a white polo to games. If it's a little cool (I'm pretty far out in the southwest), I add a khaki windbreaker.

I have yet to cover a school whose colors are khaki and white.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

My dream conversation with one of these parents:

Me: OK, ma'am, I'm sure you're absolutely right. Just out of curiousity, though, let me ask you a few questions, OK?

Her: OK.

Me: First, how many workouts did your son go to this summer?

Her: I don't even know if they had workouts. I don't think they did.

Me: OK, well, Powerhouse High had 35 scheduled workouts, and 78 of their 83 players went to every single one.

Her: Wow, I didn't know that.

Me: Second question: What do your son and his teammates do on the weekends after Friday night games?

Her: Well, they sleep in on Saturday, watch college games. Go to church on Sunday. They're all really good kids. Then they watch pro football Sunday afternoon.

Me: Yes, I'm sure you're very proud. Care to guess what the kids at Powerhouse are doing? The ones who are hurt see an athletic trainer Saturday morning. Otherwise they rest, unless they're visiting a college. Sundays, they go in at 2 and run and go over the game film with the coaches. When the kids leave, the coaches stay several more hours looking at film on the next opponent and compiling their game plan. Are your folks doing that?

Her: I don't know. I don't think the kids are there on Sunday. The coaches say it's important to have some time with family.

Me: Well, ma'am, with all due respect, from what you've told me, the kids on your son's team in fact are not trying as hard as everyone else. They've lost 12 in a row to Powerhouse because while they're taking it easy, Powerhouse is preparing. Now, we'll cover your school, and we'll be diligent about it. But the fact of the matter is, the teams that win consistently also end up with more news publicity. That's true anywhere you go. And you want to know something else? When we call and ask them for things, they respond. Promptly. Your school might respond, it might not. Teams that are losing tend not to seek out publicity, which is understandable. All the same, if they're not willing to call us when we can't send a staff writer to their game, how willing should we be to forego covering someone else in favor of them?

Her: ...

Me: Ma'am, thank you for your call and thank you for your interest in our paper. I hope you'll continue reading. Good day.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

That's great. Too bad none of us can use it.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

My tone was more than a little flippant. If you tone down the sarcasm some, you could probably do it. Me, I don't know how to remove sarcasm from my voice.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

My tone was more than a little flippant. If you tone down the sarcasm some, you could probably do it. Me, I don't know how to remove sarcasm from my voice.

There's no way in heck I could do that and not sound sarcastic.

 

[pressboxer]

Should I go on this site and link our thread bashing parents on the thread where parents are bashing newspapers?

http://www.mywesttexasfootball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3127




Actually, I could never do that. I don't want stupid forks like these finding out about our little bit o' heaven.

 

[Tom Petty]

Should I go on this site and link our thread bashing parents on the thread where parents are bashing newspapers?

http://www.mywesttexasfootball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3127




Actually, I could never do that. I don't want stupid forks like these finding out about our little bit o' heaven.

the cat with the myspace odessapermian.com site is pathetic. 43 years old and ... jesus.