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Control freaks.
They are another reason to distrust college football and basketball, as if you didn't need another one. They are the latest device invented by college coaches to manipulate the media and squeeze the personalities out of what the NCAA laughingly refer to as "student-athletes."
Professional coaches and athletes are control freaks, too.
They employ an army of gofers, go-betweens, lackeys and buffers--otherwise known as agents, publicists and schedulers--to prevent their clients from being soiled by controversy and keep their public image as squeaky clean as Mickey Mouse.
But let's focus on colleges.
There was a time when the media could walk into a locker room before and after practice and after games and be accorded access to any athlete, even Dick Butkus. You didn't have to call a public relations flak to request an interview, explain what you wanted to talk about, then wait for a puff of white smoke from the coach's tower.
I recall in the early 1970s when I covered the NBA playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. After the first game in the Forum, I recall how overwhelmed I was when I was told I had unfettered access to the Lakers' locker room. Imagine walking into a room and seeing Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Gail Goodrich sitting in front of their lockers, waiting for a sportswriter from Chicago to ask some questions.
No posses, no entourages, no 50-watt radio stations, no media frenzy.
No longer.
A public relations person at a Big Ten university recently informed a sportswriter from a major metropolitan newspaper that he wouldn't be granted access to the head football coach unless the article was to be positive. They only want positive articles, no negative ones, the writer was told.
Another sportswriter attempted to gain access to a Big Ten football coach for a story that his public relations flak interpreted as "too controversial." The coach never returned a call.
College coaches keep such a tight lid on their players that sometimes parents can't even contact their sons.
A writer calls a public relations person to request an interview with an athlete. If the story is dubbed to be good publicity for the program, the interview is granted. But if the writer or his media outlet hasn't had a good relationship with the coach...well, don't wait by the phone.
Has anybody ever asked these kids if they'd like to talk for themselves?
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"Has anybody ever asked these KIDS if they'd like to talk for themselves?"
You hit it right on the head. These are KIDS. You compared colleges to the pro's. They have different levels of athletes. Professionals should be mature enough to say the right thing. Kids are more emotional and need someone to help shield them from 21st century reporters looking for a controversial story.
I see nothing wrong with a coach answering questions and telling players not to speak with the media. In high school and college, the coach is in charge of public relations, not the KIDS.
Posted by: Phil | May 4, 2008 09:17 PM
As a media person I am sure you like to have more contact with the kids. I don't blame the coaches for shielding them from the press. I feel most of the press are ego maniacs that are looking to mostly tear kids down. Not looking for the positives. Try writing positive stories for a change. At the college level the coaches shouldn't be paying attention to what the newspaper says. He has more important things to worry about than these dwebes. The media is just as much control freaks as the coaches.
Posted by: Tim from Evanston | May 6, 2008 11:42 AM
It does seem to me that the other aspect of this which you overlook is that the press has fundamentally changed in nature. Too often the only reason for the request is that the writer is seeking to stir up some form of controversy. It's not really journalism, it's the yap dog mentality of much of the press these days. Take a look at a dope like Mariotti. His sole purpose, far too often, is to put himself in the news, not to inform ther public about a sports story. It's all me, me, me journalism.
Why wouldn't the college people want to avoid that sort of publicity?
Posted by: Scott from Chicago | May 6, 2008 01:59 PM
"College coaches keep such a tight lid on their players that sometimes parents can't even contact their sons."
I dont believe that statement for a single solitary minute. Pure hyperbole and frankly reads like pure sophistry.
and when gems like this - "Who is Jerrance Howard? He has no credibility and no stripes in Chicago. He'll get no rhythm in Chicago, no love," one coach said. "The fact that he is black and played at Illinois cuts no mustard up here. It's all about disrespecting Chicago." - are found on the pages of this very paper, why on earth would a coach allow an 18 year olds mind to be infected by such bitterness and bile and backstabbing by a "reporter" (it is not objective or even reporting, it is innuendo, pettiness, and frankly, has been proven over and over to be wrong)
Posted by: Sean Thomas | May 7, 2008 04:44 PM