The "Homer" sports writer

[Ace]

When I was covering a local high school team the principal of the visiting team somehow found his way into the press box with his wife and they were cheering like mad, but nobody would do anything about it.
I complained to the AD and he told me to just ignore him.

Well one of home team's players gets hurt from a dirty shot(he was down and the opposing player speared him in the ribs with his helmet) and the ref threw a flag.
Suddenly the principal is up with his arms in the air "Oh come on!? What foul!?" then the home team's player gets up and starts limping to the sidelines and he goes "He's hurt! Look he's hurt!" and high fives his wife.

You're a principal dude, shouldn't you care about the safety and well being of all the kids at the school? I wouldn't want my kids going to his school.

"Now Damaramu Jr you dropped that game winning TD the other night."

"Yeah.......so?"

"You're expelled."

You should have written about that.

 

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

We have to remember the excitement and the scrapbook material that we are chunning out.
Cause that's all we are really: on the fridge, in a book pasted on a wall or stuck to the bottom of the dog's cage.
Of course, I am writing this with a high-school sports mind...I tottaly agree with more professionalism when it comes to the college ranks and pros.

I apologize in advance, because I try not to get into flaming situations. So if I'm doing it wrong, or if anyone has any suggestions or tips, please advise.

That has to be the biggest load of happy horseshirt I have stumbled across since being told Cookie Crisp is part of a nutritious breakfast.

Professionalism is professionalism, news is news, and this idea that one should lift up on the gas pedal when it comes to prep sports is nothing but pure grade send-in-the-clowns stupidity.

Some of the best reporters I know are prep guys. Some of the newsiest writers I know are prep guys. Maybe they do preps because they're young and looking to prove themselves, or maybe they just prefer it over other sports. They don't have a "high school mentality"...they have a news reporter's mentality. Which is as it should be.

If you go into high school coverage for the "excitement" and the chance to be used in a scap book, then yeah, stick to radio. But I still have this very silly, very outmoded belief that newspapers still hold a responsibility to spark public discussion of relevant issues.

So guess what? If you work at a newspaper, and you approach covering the home team just like any fan would, then you're not doing your job. And that offends me, because there are scads of unemployed young writers just begging for a chance to get into this dying business at any level and do it right. So if some yokel in a pizza-stained team t-shirt is churning out howdy-doody copy on the local team and getting paid for it while some fresh-from-school kid is working as an agate clerk and hoping to one day get a byline, I get sort of pissed off.

Let's see: Private schools recruit athletes (allegedly), young male coaches sometimes have the unfortunate tendency to find their fingers in the panties of their female players, most schools are unprepared for on-court cardiac arrests in basketball players, recruiting has become a zoo, elite players transfer from school to school, unqualified high school coaches with four-star recruits suddenly find themselves fielding job offers from Division I schools (imagine that)...but fork all that mess. Let's just write about how Johnny Fullback ran really hard in Blueball Consolidated's 47-6 loss to Buttfork Junction.

So don't allude to the "high school sports mind," because that's a fancy-pants way of excusing laziness. If that's your worldview, write for a fanboy prep sports website or do color commentary for the local ten-watt tower of power. But don't even imply that such is an acceptable way for newspaper people to act and approach their jobs.

News is news, and news is everywhere. And even a prep writer for a small town shop should have a sense of responsibility toward the news.

Kaylee,

This is one of the best responses I've ever read on here. If I could, I'd take you out for a couple of beers for that one. Impressive.

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

 

[Ace]

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.

 

[pressboxer]

You may be right, but "we" and "our" should be terms used by fans, not the media. And, every thing can't be totally positive (as far as news is concerned) in any professional organization.

I have a problem with fans using "we" and "our" to describe the team. Do I see any of them on the roster? When did they suit up for the game? I have a problem with players from the "other" team referring to the "home" team as "you guys" when they talk to us. To make it clear, when I say "us" I mean the media.

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.

 

[Hammer Pants]

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.

 

[Your Huckleberry]

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 forkin' 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.

 

[forever_town]

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.

 

[zebracoy]

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.

Wow. That takes the cake.

 

[Diabeetus]

Don't be hatin' on Donny D, forever

 

[forever_town]

OUTING ALERT: Diabeetus is Don Denkinger.

 

[Hammer Pants]

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 forkin' 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.

What I do is generally what you do ... I will look at the other beat guys and say something like, "What the heck 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 shirt about me. I just can't hide my disdain for poor officiating.

 

[Tom Petty]

Being that I am a "radio guy" along with being a twice-weekly SE who used to be a TV sports guy...every media branch has it's own toolboxes to deal with.
That said, I would have to say newspaper people are the most annoying to work with...a lot seem to post here! LOL
I'm not a stuffed shirt, I'm a guy that likes sports and does it for a living.
I cover high school sports in a rural area...I'm not concerned with what colors I wear or if a kid gives me a high-five after a win. If a coach tried to hug me, no thanks...but if he wants to send me a Christmas card, fine...I say good luck and congrats. I'm a sports fan, I want to enjoy what I do.
I think sometimes, we as the sports media gets jaded...the whole "seen this already" mindwork.
We have to remember the excitement and the scrapbook material that we are chunning out.
Cause that's all we are really: on the fridge, in a book pasted on a wall or stuck to the bottom of the dog's cage.
Of course, I am writing this with a high-school sports mind...I tottaly agree with more professionalism when it comes to the college ranks and pros.
Oh, and radio guys should be expected to be a bit "homery" (D-oh), because if not, the game would sound dull. I'm not talking about those radio goofs that say "we" or bench about how the refs are blind...those guys need to be kicked off the air. But if you can't get excited for a kid hitting a three late in the game for the lead, then you shouldn't be doing radio.

Just my $.02

You know, I used to be "that guy" on press row. The guy who would hiss at the local yokels, "No cheering in the press box, please!"

You have to understand, that's ingrained in us, and necessarily so. We are SUPPOSED to be "fair and balanced" in our reporting, and that includes not showing any emotional connection to either side.

Something happened along the way, and I think any number of print guys here can agree. I lost my ability to cheer -- anywhere. I'd be off work, sitting around with some guys watching a football game, and I found myself totally self-conscious if I tried to cheer out loud. It's just not natural anymore.

So, all the "professionalism" DOES come at a cost.

kinda sucks, doesn't it?