Need Opinions

[tmp44]

For all of you who read my post on my playoff game with the ejections, and even for those who didn't..your thoughts, please. My local newspaper published the article on the game in Monday's afternoon paper. In the article (entitled "Foul Play: Controversial calls end _______'s season.), the reporter completely misrepresented some of the facts surrounding the game, including publishing the wrong name of the player ejected, what the player was ejected for, and the events leading up to the ejection. He further published a quote from one of the coaches supporting his article. Would any of you do anything about this, like maybe an email to the sports editor and the reporter? Or am I just getting upset about nothing?

[JugglingReferee]

I would bring it to the knowledge of your local association's executive.

I would also write the newspaper's sports editor, and cc: the author, and say that you were there and that many facts were not as written in the article. No need to mention where you were watching the game from, just that you were there.

[JRutledge]

Not unless the coach was quoted as mentioning my name and the name of my partners. Other than that I would not do anything. The media can write just about anything they like and there is not much you can do about it. You could contact the editor, but it might not do any good.

Peace

[Mark Padgett]

Some papers (like our local fishwrap here in Portland) have a "public editor". This is the person who responds to comments from the public regarding printed articles. They are always interested in learning about factual errors, especially if those errors changed the meaning of the story.

I would at least inform the paper of any factual errors (not opinions). They might even appreciate it and ask you to elaborate. Who knows - another story might come out of this - one from your point of view.

[bigzilla]

tmp44- my advice is based on my real job, not reffing. We have a saying, which is, "you can't win a pissin' match with a skunk". It is used to describe the fact that the newspaper buys their ink by the barrel and their paper by the ton. They control what is and is not printed. Their business is to sell newspapers, not report the truth. So, you send in a response, and what will they do? They will probably print it, so they can again run all the facts which show you were wrong, etc., etc.

About 15 years ago, a co-prosecutor of mine took offense to the defendant's allegations of something the prosecutor allegedly did. The defendant made some very, very scandalous accusations about the prosecutor in a federal lawsuit. The newspaper published them. The co-prosecutor, against our advice, responded to the newspaper and had federal charges of perjury filed against the defendant for the allegations in the federal lawsuit. They printed the prosecutors response, and REPRINTED THE SCANDALOUS ACCUSATION. After that, everytime even the smallest of hearings was held in the federal case, the newspaper would reprint all the scanalous accusations.

Much like the skunk vs. you in a pissin match, they have all the resources, power, and control. You will not win. They are not going to print an article saying, gee, what we published was wrong, the refs were right. Don't write them!!

[totalnewbie]

I'm with big on this. In my line of work you get reporters getting stuff wrong in the press all the time (it is unbelievable actually how wrong they get it) and sometimes it makes you look bad. My blood boiled the first few times but the best bet is to just let it go and blow over.

Clark

[bigzilla]

And I would be willing to bet that if you respond, they will go back to everyone they quoted in the first article, and say, tmp said "x", what is your response? Then they will reprint what all those people have to say about your response. Worse yet, they may misrepresent your response, which will result in even more tilted comments. The media loves a controversy. Don't give it to them. They have run their story, and about the only way for them to keep it in the public eye is for you to comment.

By the way, in the event they contact you for a response, don't make one, but don't say "No comment." "No comment" is almost universally interpreted as a showing of guilt. A response should be "the rules of my association don't allow me to respond to that" or "I don't believe referees should publically comment"...in other words, no f'n comment, but in nice wrapping paper.

[JugglingReferee]

I've noticed a shift in customer service recently. My daily responsibilities require me to deal with vendors. In my personal life I deal with vendors. And service providers. If you do not say anything, you will continue to receive bad service.

We're becoming a service and vendor styled economy. Manufacturing jobs are declining. You'd think that you would receive excellent customer service is a society like ours.

Call the editor, tell him you were there and that text printed in the article were incorrect. Types of facts that are not open to interpretation. Tell him/her that you do not appreciate the misinformation published in the article and you're hesitant about using his product in the future. They'll tell you that they will try to better next time. When they do, reply with "What can you do to earn my trust again?"

There's no need to mention that you're an official. Just that you were watching the game.

For example: Subway here in Ontario has been forced to raise their prices because the minimum wage recently increased. I've seen 4 different prices for the same product at different franchises (6.79, 6.99, 7.49, 7.99). Sure the manager has the right to set his own prices, within reason, but I have no problems telling the manager that I will no longer choose his restaurant because of his prices. It may not be true, but I've even had one employee reply to me that the manager has heard complaints from many customers about the increase in prices. Frankly, it's not worth $8 for a sub anymore. I can make my own for considerably cheaper than that.

People wake up! If you accept shotty service, that's all you're going to get.

[runonmt]

Todd,

Having gotten into officiating very late in life (reading this board for the past 3 years just to soak up info and opinions)thought I would never register to give a neophyte opinion on any topic. However, being employed in a profession that suffers media scrutiny for 30+ years I'm imminently qualified to give you advice on the question of correcting a journalistic piece. Please, please take the advice of B'zilla and do NOT contact the paper or submit a letter to the editor. It would not result in a positive outcome for your position (truth and accuracy are of little concern to any publication).

You can relate it to responding to an obnoxious and annoying fan who loudly proclaims your incompetence and ignorance. Responding may momentarily make you feel better but the potential for negative consequences is huge. Knowing they've provoked a reaction, the likely response will not be to acknowledge they are mistaken but to castigate you further (and, unlike the fan, the media has plenty of time, resources and outlets to further question you and/or emphasize their point of view - and you have no power to eject them from the venue). Just ignore it and sleep well knowing that you and those associated with you are aware of the truth.

[M&M Guy]

Sometimes it best to let it go, especially when you're dealing with an entity that has more resources than you. But how would you respond (or would you at all) to something like a Letter To The Editor? We recently had a letter printed in our local paper criticizing officials at a particular game. The basic premise of the letter was how come officials think they're always right, how come they don't get more training, the poor kids suffer from the bad calls, yada, etc. The letter was signed. I called the school to talk to the coach and see if he had seen the letter, or knew of any problems with that particular game. He told me his AD had seen the letter and was checking on who wrote it. There had been no problems with the game in question, and the officials had done a good job. He also told me who the officials were - I know them and have worked with them, and they are excellent officials. The coach told me the school was not too pleased with the letter as well, and he told me some of the things they were doing, such as talking to their players about sportsmanship, dealing with officials, and talking to their parents about their behavior in the stands. So, it was being dealt with in a positive manner at the school level. But my question is, should there be a response to the letter itself? One idea would be to let it go, it's just a crackpot, doesn't deserve a response, etc. But, on the other hand, if it's left alone, does it just add to the general perception of officials being incompetent? You know, an article here or there (see some of the other threads), a letter here or there, does the general public start thinking that maybe officials in general aren't that good? If you do address it, how would you address it?

[buckrog64]

It's frustrating to be sure, and you think you're getting a public exam from the local proctologist. But I'd let it go and consider the support you're receiving from those who really matter. That won't include the media, that's for sure.

[bigzilla]

M&M- I would ask the AD if he is going to respond to the letter. Anything response a ref makes is going to be greeted with "see, I told you they always think they're right!". If the AD says the game was well officiated, then he should have no problem reporting that to the paper.

[M&M Guy]

Originally posted by bigzilla
M&M- I would ask the AD if he is going to respond to the letter. Anything response a ref makes is going to be greeted with "see, I told you they always think they're right!". If the AD says the game was well officiated, then he should have no problem reporting that to the paper.

I talked to the AD again yesterday afternoon, and he did tell me he had thought about responding to the letter with one of his own. But, he decided against dignifying it with a response. He is also going to be talking the AD of the other school to find out if it's a relative of one of their players. He's still interested in persuing it a little, just in the "background" so to speak.