Thank you, but no need to call me 'Blogger Arenberg'
/A Monday Facebook post by WVTM-13 news anchor Rick Karle that admonished sports reporters for not respectfully referring to Nick Saban as “Coach Saban” during public press conferences went viral on social media and other platforms. Tellingly, the sports journalists who responded mostly defended their use of “Nick” while fans mostly applauded Karle. Yet another disconnect between how sports journalists see their jobs and how fans see sports journalists.
Karle is a former TV sportscaster and I’ve heard him talk about journalism to UA students. He laid a lot of wisdom on them. But I don’t share the same view on this.
Sports writers in general still suffer from the (sometimes valid) perception that they get cowered into soft journalism by fear of lost access or reluctance to challenge popular and powerful figures. Even in small ways such as name references, it’s unwise to project an image of deference. Deference can start to look like reverence.
How to refer to a coach in public is not a recent question. In an appearance on the Paul Finebaum radio show in (I think) 2008, I had to explain to an offended caller why my UA beat writer at the time, Ian Rapoport, referred to Saban as “Nick.” As best I can remember, all my Birmingham News reporters preferred the first-name approach with their coaches.
It’s possible to go too far the other way, though. Another former TV sportscaster, Mike Raita, wrote in his autobiography “The Show Goes On” that Dennis Franchione told him to quit calling the coach “Dennis.” A lot of reporters called him “Fran.” Nicknames seem a little too chummy-chummy.
“Coach” is a job description. It’s not a title. “Coach” is good if you play for one, not so much if you report on one.
And to those who say it doesn’t matter, well, I will certainly acknowledge this: Deference in publicly addressing a coach is a lot less harmful than deference in choosing what kinds of stories to write.
“It’s the most proper, most classy and most respectful thing to do when in news conference settings.”