Let us say at the outset that we're not talking about the Pentagon Papers here. But today's papers all had stories about Roger Clemens ending his postgame press conference in a huff Sunday after a reporter asked a question about "negative things" written in the press. Everyone wrote about it. The T-T's Donnie Collins referred to him as an "unsuspecting reporter." Dave Konopki of the Times Leader called him "a reporter from a small newspaper in rural Pennsylvania." The New York Post merely called the reporter "someone." Again, this isn't as crucial as, say, the books at the library in Kingston. But if the fellow triggered a Rocket temper tantrum and caused the press conference to end early, isn't his identity newsworthy?
I agree. Who was the reporter?
ReplyDeleteThey just aired his comments on ESPN Radio...You could hear him bang the table at the end of the sound bite...The host was also wondering who asked the question...
ReplyDeleteI don't know who asked the "last straw" question, but damn, it was a fantastic answer. Which means it was a great question.
ReplyDeleteI just read the exchange and it seems the Rocket didn't listen to the question. Seemed harmless.
ReplyDeleteThen again I probably wouldn't if I was going to make $28 million for working this summer.
If that 'someone' reporter plays his cards right he'll be on every ESPN show the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteKudos.
Who cares who the reporter was? Nobody. Only other reporters. It wasn't newsworthy. It wasn't even someone people would know.
ReplyDeleteScuttlebutt is it was a guy from some Towanda paper. Don't know for sure, but that's what I heard.
ReplyDeleteHeard it was Shamokin. The question was a pretty good one and didn't deserve the tirade. Clemens, I heard some sportscasters speculate, may have just needed to vent and may have been trying to send a message to the struggling Yankees that he's jacked up and ready to go. If you listen to the audio, he started to answer politely, then just sort of went off for some reason.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight, a reporter in a room full of reporters asked a question and you guys can't find out who it is. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThis underscores how egomaniacal journalists can be. None of them wants to name the reporter because they're pissed he asked a question that sparked an attention-getting tirade. They don't want to give credit to someone else for asking a question that got a kick-ass response when most of them probably asked softball, ass-kissing questions.
ReplyDeleteTell me those weren't reporters clapping at the end of the YouTube clip.
ReplyDeleteThe real news is how jumbled and meaningless Roger's tirade was. The meathead made no sense ("I stay positive so the 10-year-old doesn't get the wrong idea") and just threw a fit for effect. He's like a minor league Ed Christine.
ReplyDeleteI was curious as to who asked the question, but does the viewer/reader/listener really care? It's not the question that counts. It's the answer.
ReplyDeleteIt was Chris Kelly asking, "Hey Rocket, you going to finish that honeybun?"
ReplyDeleteNice.
ReplyDelete> He's like a minor league Ed Christine.
Brian Fees, ex-Times staffer now in Towanda. I was there. It was designed as a puff-ball question to get Roger to say nice things about the fans.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, there was applause from many in the room after the fist pound.