I often use the word blowout, but lately I’ve been pulling back a bit. It happened after a conversation with a coach, who viewed the term as offensive in the context of a recent result.
I could have defended myself. I could have argued the finer points of a blowout. I could have articulated how it’s not really the final score that determines a blowout. It’s about how many successful consecutive possessions a team must have while holding an opponent scoreless.
I could have stood my ground, but I don’t attend games to bloviate to coaches, who undoubtedly know more about the sport in question. I’m there for the story, the quote and to act like a professional if confronted. Besides, maybe the coach was right. It’s kind of a grey area.
The Iola Register is a tightly run newspaper, but not all newspapers have such an adept hand guiding their reporters. During one of my first sports reporting jobs, a parent horrified me about the previous sports editor outing her daughter over a mistake during a basketball game, which cost her team the game.
Was the previous sports editor a bad guy, probably not. I never met him. He probably wanted to tell the story with historical accuracy. Sometimes a cold, historically accurate story neglects the emotional toll it puts on the subject.
These are kids after all. They may have beards, tattoos and piercings, but underneath those accessories are children.
Isn’t life, school and performing in front of crowds enough pressure? Do they really need a grown man or woman piling on them for the purpose of entertainment?
Theodore Roosevelt had it right when it comes to sports reporting. He famously claimed he read the news section to learn of mankind’s follies and the sports section to learn of mankind’s achievements.
That doesn’t mean only sunshine and rainbows in reporting local sports, but it does mean recognizing what sports reporting should be, at least at the high school level.
Most high school athletes will not play in college. Teams going deep into the postseason may have a handful of college athletes and maybe half of those players will last longer than his or her freshman year.
In the span of most lifetimes, sports careers are the equivalent of a minute to an hour — a flicker in humanity’s candle.
Telling the story of a game is one thing, but these aren’t millionaire college and pro athletes training year-round.
Is it really necessary to know what high school athlete fumbled the ball, accidentally stepped out of bounds or committed the silly penalty to tell the story?
It depends, but in the flicker of time I get to spend with these athletes, exercising discretion is my best guide.
