Scout
11-18-2007, 07:05 AM
with Gregg Drinnan
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday . . . .
There has been an interesting battle brewing in Medicine Hat that has served to shed some light on what has been an ongoing problem faced by sports writers who cover the league and the WHL and its teams. In a Wednesday game in Medicine Hat, Tigers C Tyler Ennis took two minor penalties late in the third period of a 2-2 game. The Regina Pats scored on the power play and won, 3-2. A writer from the Medicine Hat News asked to speak with Ennis after the game but was told he couldn’t. This wasn’t the first time a writer from the News had found himself in such a predicament. So the News filed a complaint with the WHL office and a story detailing the situation appeared in the newspaper. . . . Two people from the News sports department have since sat down with Willie Desjardins, the GM/head coach of the Tigers, and hopefully ironed things out. . . . While this may not seem like such a big deal to the average fan, it is a huge issue with the people who cover the teams in this league. In the OHL, the media policy calls for dressing rooms to be open to media 10 minutes after games. In the WHL, coaches and players (unless they are being treated for injuries) are to be made available to the media 15 minutes after games. . . . Very few, if any, WHL teams open their dressing rooms to the media after games. Most, but not all, have someone stationed outside the dressing room who will go in and tell a player he is wanted for an interview. But I cannot tell you how much time I have wasted standing in a hallway waiting for a player, or players, to come out and talk about a game that has been over for 15, 20 or 25 minutes. . . . And all of this with a deadline breathing down my neck. . . . The WHL will tell you again and again that it is a developmental league. That being the case, it should open its dressing rooms to the media on practice days, before and after pregame skates and 10 minutes after games. That would make for better media relations and allow writers to breathe a whole lot easier. . . . Of course, we won’t even get into the fact that those who are employed by the great god TV are allowed to interview players or coaches before games, during games and immediately after games. Meanwhile, the ink-stained wretches, who are there game after game and day after day, get frozen out by an outdated media policy. . . . So the next time you are reading a story in your favourite birdcage liner and you are wondering why there isn’t a quote there from a player involved in a key play, perhaps it’s because the writer involved was faced with an early deadline and didn’t have time to wait for a player to shower and come out of a dressing room, a situation that could be alleviated were those rooms open to the press for 10 or 15 minutes after games. . . . And don’t think for a moment that writers especially enjoy going into a dressing room after a game. But, please, we do have jobs to do. . . . And, under present circumstances, the WHL could be whistled far too often for interference.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday . . . .
There has been an interesting battle brewing in Medicine Hat that has served to shed some light on what has been an ongoing problem faced by sports writers who cover the league and the WHL and its teams. In a Wednesday game in Medicine Hat, Tigers C Tyler Ennis took two minor penalties late in the third period of a 2-2 game. The Regina Pats scored on the power play and won, 3-2. A writer from the Medicine Hat News asked to speak with Ennis after the game but was told he couldn’t. This wasn’t the first time a writer from the News had found himself in such a predicament. So the News filed a complaint with the WHL office and a story detailing the situation appeared in the newspaper. . . . Two people from the News sports department have since sat down with Willie Desjardins, the GM/head coach of the Tigers, and hopefully ironed things out. . . . While this may not seem like such a big deal to the average fan, it is a huge issue with the people who cover the teams in this league. In the OHL, the media policy calls for dressing rooms to be open to media 10 minutes after games. In the WHL, coaches and players (unless they are being treated for injuries) are to be made available to the media 15 minutes after games. . . . Very few, if any, WHL teams open their dressing rooms to the media after games. Most, but not all, have someone stationed outside the dressing room who will go in and tell a player he is wanted for an interview. But I cannot tell you how much time I have wasted standing in a hallway waiting for a player, or players, to come out and talk about a game that has been over for 15, 20 or 25 minutes. . . . And all of this with a deadline breathing down my neck. . . . The WHL will tell you again and again that it is a developmental league. That being the case, it should open its dressing rooms to the media on practice days, before and after pregame skates and 10 minutes after games. That would make for better media relations and allow writers to breathe a whole lot easier. . . . Of course, we won’t even get into the fact that those who are employed by the great god TV are allowed to interview players or coaches before games, during games and immediately after games. Meanwhile, the ink-stained wretches, who are there game after game and day after day, get frozen out by an outdated media policy. . . . So the next time you are reading a story in your favourite birdcage liner and you are wondering why there isn’t a quote there from a player involved in a key play, perhaps it’s because the writer involved was faced with an early deadline and didn’t have time to wait for a player to shower and come out of a dressing room, a situation that could be alleviated were those rooms open to the press for 10 or 15 minutes after games. . . . And don’t think for a moment that writers especially enjoy going into a dressing room after a game. But, please, we do have jobs to do. . . . And, under present circumstances, the WHL could be whistled far too often for interference.