No Access For A Feature

[TheMethod]

I like friend otf's idea. The fact that he's being an asshole is way more interesting than some warm firefighter story, plus it comes with the added sting that Bennet, in effect, traded a wildly positive story about one of his players for a rip on Bennett himself, which could come across strongly in the column.

Either that, or you could write something libelous about Bennett and use the public figure defense.

 

[-Scoop-]

Sirs, Madames,

I think the fired-coach-demands-the-Cone-of-Silence is a better story than the fire-dept feature. Maybe not a feature but a column. On its face, it seems unfair to those who cover the team. The reality, though, is that it's unfair to players. Monks might have to take a vow of silence, but do you have to take one when you accept an athletic scholarship. I'm sure athletes in other sports at the school are free to talk. Get everybody talkin' about not talkin', alumni, boosters, cheerleaders, what-have-you. Including--finally--the AD.

YHS, etc

Yup, that's actually a great idea, especially with Football_Bat's statement that the coach has assumedly done a vast turn-about.

 

[Tom Petty]

Sirs, Madames,

I think the fired-coach-demands-the-Cone-of-Silence is a better story than the fire-dept feature. Maybe not a feature but a column. On its face, it seems unfair to those who cover the team. The reality, though, is that it's unfair to players. Monks might have to take a vow of silence, but do you have to take one when you accept an athletic scholarship. I'm sure athletes in other sports at the school are free to talk. Get everybody talkin' about not talkin', alumni, boosters, cheerleaders, what-have-you. Including--finally--the AD.

YHS, etc

solid advice, my friend, very solid.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

Blind squirrel, meet acorn.

I'd guess one way to frame the story would be to start with your fire-department player and then, just when you'd expect a quote insert "was unavailable for comment." You could choose to do it once more, different player, different story line, and repeat with "was unavailable for comment." Or not. One or two or three, you'll have yer springboard into the story. And I'd try to find a faculty member whose expertise is free speech.

YHS, etc

 

[TheMethod]

Wow, friend of the friendless is a master. That's outstanding.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

I've found my calling as a teacher.

YHS, etc

 

[BillyT]

Sirs, Madames,

Blind squirrel, meet acorn.

I'd guess one way to frame the story would be to start with your fire-department player and then, just when you'd expect a quote insert "was unavailable for comment." You could choose to do it once more, different player, different story line, and repeat with "was unavailable for comment." Or not. One or two or three, you'll have yer springboard into the story. And I'd try to find a faculty member whose expertise is free speech.

YHS, etc

Good thoughts, but I don't think free speech has anything to do with it.

The kid has made an agreement to be part of the team, and this is a team rule.

(Oh, I think the coach is being a dickhead, but I do not see free speech as an issue).

 

[friend of the friendless]

Mr T,

Irony is lost on you. Why is it one rule for football and another fairer one for all other sports?

YHS, etc

 

[BillyT]

Not arguing your point.

And it's a good point that not all athletes have the same rule.

But it's his program (for a little while longer) and his rules.

But I still don't see why you would bring a free-speech expert in. Are you being sarcastic and I am just not catching it?

It is, after all, a private school.

I think the rest of the column idea is great.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Mr T,

Not being sarcastic at all about free speech.

I can't imagine that the "team rule" was announced or advertised when the coach was recruiting players or when they committed to the program. In fact, I can't imagine that it was a team rule until the shirt hit the fan with the coach. It's arbitrary and, when you get down to it, ridiculous. A guy who blows a whistle for a living is trying to silence whistle blowers who almost certainly reside only in his imagination. The coach is so narrow-sighted that he misses the fact that this arbitrary measure is making him look worse. Yeah, it's a private institution, but it's not the army. Athletes sign up with the reasonable expectation of living the life of a regular student rather than taking out citizenship with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. You go to the free speech expert and ask him if a coach has the right to impose on his players a ban on speaking to the press. You do this to pint out the case of the coach's folly.

YHS, etc

 

[Stitch]

Well, there is no constitutional right to play college athletics. So you have a point, but the coach can still bench the kid.

Plus, if you have time to talk to a free speech expert, then you can find the time to track the kid on your own.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Mr Whatever,

Good luck to that coach in his recruiting of top kids in years down the line after word gets around that he benched a player for talking to a reporter about his volunteering for a fire department. Yup, sign my son up for that.

Re: Having the time to track down a free-speech expert.

Not saying this is a substitute for the fire-dept story. I'm saying this is the story that should be done rather than the fire-dept story.

As for finding a university expert on free speech or anything else, it's one phone call, nothing more. You call the media-relations dept of any major university and ask to speak to a faculty member whose expertise is in this or that field ... basic stuff. You don't have to go to the library and hit the microfilm--ordering a pizza is harder. Done it dozens of times. You can get virtually anybody you want.

I don't know ... maybe I'm a child of the sixties, but where's the Dave Meggesey or Chip Oliver in this bunch? There has to be someone who is pissed, one rebel.

YHS, etc