What not to ask after a state title game

When guys and gals from competing companies or businesses get together, they tend to make fun of everyone else in that industry.

I don’t care if it’s in banking (did you hear Frank at NMS lost that big potato account to Joe from WDP?), fashion (I heard that new blue suede top with the pink accents turned out as a total flop at retail!) or journalism.

 For folks in media covering sports, well, we make fun of one another for a lot of reasons, but one that’s always stood out is how we’ll make fun of another dude’s questions at a press conference.

Let me paint the picture. Press conferences are a common thing. You see them all the time on TV with a coach or player staring out at a field of tape recorders and cameras while being peppered with questions on the game, practice, whatever.

Something that’s apparent after a year doing this sports writing gig is that every reporter — whether they’re from print, radio or television — thinks they ask the best questions, and we love to make fun of what some other idiot asked during a presser.

You’ll hear things like, ‘Man, I had to carry that press conference today, because Guy X was asking the worst questions.” Or, “I can’t stand covering a press conference with him, he asks the longest, most drawn-out questions possible. His questions are longer than the answers!”

But I’ve really tried to stay away from making fun of other reporter’s in this area, and it’s not because I’m above that petty sort of thing. It’s more that I’m the one everybody else should mimic in distaste.

It’s not that I’m long-winded, but mine consistently stink. Think of it this way: My queries are like Christian Ponder at quarterback — generally underwhelming.

With that as a backdrop, I bring you the story of the time I asked the worst question of my career.

Saturday evening, Shelley holds on with a final defensive stand to knock off Fruitland 17-14, and the Russets claim a second consecutive 3A state football championship in a wacky game with nine combined turnovers.

Neither team played well offensively, but attribute most of that mediocrity to each squad’s defense. Together, the Grizzlies and Russets gave up a total of 23.58 points a contest and each recorded three shutouts during the season. Shocking how the old adage “defense win championships” rings true year after year.

Anyway, it was an emotional rematch from last season’s state title clash (which the Russets won 37-10). On the field afterward media members gathered around the winning coach, Shelley’s Travis Hobson.

Hobson lost his mother earlier this year and had been emotional all day. “I balled like a girl pregame,” he said. “I told my dad and brother. ‘... We better dial mom up; we’re going to need her help here.’”

Literally right after that comment, a sentence where a big, burley coach revealed a tender side, I asked a historically stupid question. Think of my question and grimace the way Cowboy fans do when Tony Romo tosses another killer interception late in a game.

Me: “Was this your worst game of the year?”

What kind of question is that? Seriously. It isn’t nuanced, open ended or even useful. How should a coach respond to that?

Here’s what Hobson said: “How do we win a state title playing the worst game of the year? Franko, c’mon, for real? That was an awesome game.”

Uh, yeah it was coach. It was a spectacular game where Shelley led 17-7 at half and Fruitland rallied to nearly upset the Russets. The high stakes and all the turnovers made for an epic battle between the two premiere 3A programs in Idaho.

And the first question to spring from my lips is basically asking to assess how poorly you played? I’m lucky Hobson is a good guy and didn’t body slam me to the turf in Holt Arena.

I’m not about to defend what I asked. But I will explain what I was going for. You see, Shelley beat every 3A team its faced this season (before Fruitland) by at least 12 points and by an average of 25.

I’d seen the Russets manhandle a dang-good Snake River squad in person and considering what Hobson’s players had done to Fruitland in last season’s title game, I expected more of the same Saturday, especially after Shelley scored 17 straight in the first half to open up a 10-point lead.


The Russets are just better than everybody else at the 3A level. Hobson won’t tell you that, but I can. So it was just ... weird to watch Shelley struggle. Fruitland deserves a ton of credit for that. The Grizzlies played well.

But for the last two years, Shelley has crushed its opponents’ souls. I just wanted to know how Fruitland managed to hang for 48 minutes.

What I really need is to improve my interviewing game. So football coaches, know this: Before the 2014 season rolls around I’m headed to the film room. Expect marked improvement next year.