I remember the first time a local newspaper wrote an article about our son's performance in a game that wasn't titled too nicely. Kind of threw me back a tad. No big deal really. It was about 'game performance' and was more or less accurate...just a tad hard for a parent to see.

But over the past few years, I can think of at least a couple of articles about top HS players that were pretty editorial in their criticism of the players' actions not related to the game itself. Kind of written in a way you might see a pro athlete covered.

One was about a star player's refusal to shake the other teams extended hands enroute to the bullpen before the game for a pre-game warmup in a playoff game. The article focused primarily on this one 'incident' and much less on the game itself. Seemed kind of odd to me as I doubt I'd have shaken their hand either before the game. (He apparently was quite gracious in handshakes after the game.)

The other was a piece on a confrontation between a local star player and his HS coach in the dugout during a game. Two very different sides of the story...made the kid and the coach look pretty bad. Since I knew the kid (had coached him in youth baseball), one local paper called me to ask my thoughts on it all. I refused to comment and pleaded with the reporter to NOT write the article. They did anyways. It was painful to see later that week...I felt horrible for both the coach and the player's family.

Is this too early to write articles such as these? Is college ok? I certainly 'accept' that its going to happen there and beyond.

When does an athlete's non-performance behavior or perceived behavior become fair game?

Thoughts?

When they start playing for pay. Leave the criticism before that to college fans message boards...

I agree with JT for on the field performance, public (media) criticism should not be allowed until they start playing for a check. Scathing remarks can be hard on a young person, and often tougher on the parents.
With regards to behavior, correcting bad behavior in the SA is the domain of the head coach. If the player's behavior is totally unacceptable, and that behavior goes uncorrected then a bit of media heat can be a major force in correcting said behavior. Shame is a powerful social punishment, and it must be used appropriately.

I read an article in SI that was about 2 brothers one in MLB and one in MiLB. In reality each brother loved, respected and admired the other.... SI took what was said twisted and slanted it into the story the writer wanted.It was horrible.

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When does an athlete's non-performance behavior or perceived behavior become fair game?

To the level of " a parent's heart ",......it's never fair game.

Some might argue that college scholarship players should be fair game for criticism.

What is the purpose of pointing out the negative? Does it sell more papers? There is definitely a difference between being informative vs. being demeaning.

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Some might argue that college scholarship players should be fair game for criticism.

That's an interesting point. With scholarship players (and varying awards) playing alongside non-scholarship players on the same field would they argue for varying degrees of immunity as well?

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Originally posted by justbaseball:
Is this too early to write articles such as these? Is college ok? I certainly 'accept' that its going to happen there and beyond.

When does an athlete's non-performance behavior or perceived behavior become fair game?

I have mixed emotions on that subject and they spring from me being an SK and also someone who does a play-by-play after every game, and sends in the newspaper articles for the HS baseball team.

In my play-by-play, I’ve always made it a point to keep the personal negative things to an absolute minimums. FI, very seldom will I mention one of our guy’s striking out in a crucial situation, or mention the players name who made an error. But, that newsletter is pointed directly at the players and their families, and isn’t meant to be an unbiased piece.

But the newspaper articles are something completely different. That gets to be a lot more like keeping score. In order to say something really good about a player on offense, you’re automatically saying something bad about a player on defense. How does one say a player got 5 hits and drove in 8 runs without that showing up in the box score against the pitchers?

What its come down to for me is, if mommy and daddy like to clap their hands and point proudly to the newspaper or magazine article of their little one getting lots of ink on a good day, they have to be ready, willing, and able to suck it up and take it when he had a day when he stunk it up or did something foolish too.

Its extremely difficult to say a lot of positive things when your team got blasted 18-2 in 5 innings!

as long as it's about the game and the truth, i think a little reality can't hurt. i think it can toughen the boy's up some.

my son's have had some less than glowing press in the sports page's. it can be a great motivator,as long as it's not the first time they've heard it.

you can;t really expect good write up's, without acepting the bad ones. imo

Bad press is never good, but I agree, when it becomes a job and you are being paid for it by ticket sales or by a team, I think you are opening yourself up to commentary in the press.

Wins and losses, errors, stats, etc at the youth level are going to happen in the local papers, but personal attacks and negative commentary by the local papers are going too far in youth, high school, and college articles.

The article about a youth player and what happened to their high school coach is way out of line and needed to be handle out of the press.

Very good topic justbaseball. I have thought about this quite often as my son's baseball career had peaks and valleys (as most do) and many times I prepared for the "bad press" but it really never happened. I think for the most part the sports media is as Fox news says --- "fair and balanced". Many parents on the other hand -- are not. If a parent is realistic about their son's performance and he has a bad outing on the mound and the press reports that "Little Johnny has bad outing on the mound" then no feathers are ruffled. However if a parent finds fault with the catcher, the umpire, the lack of offensive support from his teammates when their son takes the loss, then they are offended when the media reports the facts and they perceive it as "negative press".
As a parent there were days I didn't read the newspapers (especially the "away" series) and there are college games of which I have TV recordings that I don't review simply because the actual events were not pleasant --- No fault of the reporters --- just a bad performances and not fun to watch.

One area of "press" that puzzles me is college media guides. Some media guides critique their own players by giving examples of poor stats and bad performances. I think this results from a "tough coach" when asked about a particular players performance or what he sees for the player in the next year and in answering he can be very insensitive. Then the inexperienced "reporter" prints this stuff in the media guide and substantiates the harsh remarks with stats.
Fungo

I believe this is part of the game also, that player's and parent's must learn to deal with.
I can see why players get a tough , combative stance towards the media.
Those that can Grin and bear it have learned to let it roll off like water on a duck's back.
EH

Being a realistic parent is very important. And recognizing and knowing that your son/daughter had a less than steller perfomance is part of the deal. No excuse making allowed.
But when others ( including the media ) shout it out loud from the roof tops or across the airways, it can make a parent start to twitch, no matter how thick their skin is.

In our area at the HS level, the tone of any article is generally dictated by the coach of the player. i.e. he wants to send the kid a messege so he gives a negative comment to the reporter...he wants to praise the kid, he gives the appropriate comment to the reporter.... I don't see the media going after players unless there is an obvious on field problem and/or the coach has something negative to say.

More often I see a supportive article about a HS player that is missing important critical info!!

At the 4 year college level it seems reporters and radio annouchers are "learning the trade" and can be very quick to judge and critize a player, especially when they don't understand the game.

--I stopped listening to internet college level broadcasts as the student announchers ripped the wrong players for plays gone bad, had a little league understanding of strategy, and made uniformed comments/assumptions/speculation about players w/o asking the player first or ever.

To answer your question I think its fair to critixe starting at the college level......as long as you know what you're talking about and are accurate

Once a player is playing for money and that includes college scholarships, it's fair game.

Not so much high school only because most players aren't going pro getting college money to play and media coverage of high school ball is spotty at best. However, top sought-after high school players are open to bad press as well as the good. They'll all just have to learn to deal with it or find something else to do.

fair? what is fair. I always was told if you take praise you better learn to take criticism as well. It is about exposure. If nobody is there to see it or report it then? Perspective and importance. Turn on the TV this week and even last with the regional coverage we have coverage of 12 year old boys playing baseball. How did that evolve? some people say it is great when things go well but change their tune if something does not. Can't have it both ways.

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Originally posted by Will:
fair? what is fair. I always was told if you take praise you better learn to take criticism as well. It is about exposure. If nobody is there to see it or report it then? Perspective and importance. Turn on the TV this week and even last with the regional coverage we have coverage of 12 year old boys playing baseball. How did that evolve? some people say it is great when things go well but change their tune if something does not. Can't have it both ways.

I totally agree. Once they get the attention, everybody loves it. Especially the parents. If they can't take the good with the bad, don't participate.

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I always was told if you take praise you better learn to take criticism as well.

Good point.

With age comes wisdom. It has to do with experience not so much book learning. You sort of figure out who you can trust etc etc. I think the earlier you experience things both good and bad the better it is. However the problem today is that there is the cant make anybody feel bad syndrome so we sugar coat everything. You know everybody gets a trophy and all that. My experience as a player was one of tough coaches who let you have it if you did not do things well. It never bothered me. I sort of brought that to my coaching experience many years ago. Of course as the years went on I toned things down but there were times when I went off. Being out of it for over 10 years I doubt very much I could survive in todays atmosphere. It would probably take one time expressing my displeasure at something and I would be called on the carpet. Just an opinion.

the question asked was at what level does it become fair for the media.......
I think the best advice to give a young person today is that life is not fair and to think it ever will be is going to bite you. Sounds cruel I know but that is just the way it is.

Something happened the first year I coached high school. I was still wet behind the ears. we were very successful and there was this fan who after a win would come up and congratulate me on doing such a fine job etc etc etc. You know the pat on the back. I was stupid and flatterd by such praise. We won the league championship and went on to the finals. we did not do well and my strting pitcher was getting roughed up. as I went out to the mound to remove him I heard a loud voice coming from the stands showing his displeasurwe saying something like it is about time you took him out etc etc etc. Yes it was the same guy who was shaking my hand congratulating me when things were going well. Lesson learned early.

I am not sure that JBB was referring to game performance rather things that happen that are not related to the game. In the examples he used, I am not sure if there is a right or wrong answer. You have to learn that there is always the bad that comes with the good stuff. You have to learn to look past it.
I have found that most fan boards can be critical but not often nasty, there is a differnce. Parents naturally don't want to see negative things about their player, the best advice is not to read them. That goes for reading the opposing team's boards as well.

I have found that the sites like scout.com and rivals.com do responsible reporting from responsible reporters from reliable sources. You will find that people more often want to report the good things, not the bad. I know that where son went to school, out of respect, nothing was written without reliable quotes or information. My son's HC was very funny about certain things too, he taught players how to talk to the press and at most college's you can't have an interview without prior permission by the SID (student information director).

As far as media guides, those are written by the SID in conjunction with the coaches input. They often will give positive points as to the player so that you can understand why he is on the squad and his contributions. It's their job to make the player look like a winner.

As far as negative reporting of incidents that occur off the field that's the players job to make sure there is nothing to report.

And if you think baseball can get ugly, I am glad mine didn't play college football.