Joe Pa Is Not A Lisa Salters Fan
Friday, January 02, 2009
When you're about to get blown out in the Rose Bowl, and you have a bum leg, the last thing you want to do is answer a random reporters set of pregame questions. Well at least that's how Joe Paterno felt before yesterday's game. ABC's Lisa Salters was trying to get a hold of Joe Pa before the game, and even went so far as to stand outside his booth, drawing the ire of the Penn State Coach. Via Farther Off The Wall....
Paterno didn't come down on the field during pre-game warmups. Nor did he do "a scheduled interview with us even though he was contractually obligated because of our Rose Bowl game deal," she reported.Well that's a salty way to be, isn't it? In all seriousness though, coaches give the media a ton of information leading up to the game, that they shouldn't be forced right before the start of a big Bowl Game. Plus, $10K isn't a lot of money for a University like Penn State. Just pay it with, straight cash Joe Pa.
Paterno instead told Penn State officials he was tired of the focus being on him all week, and rather than draw more cameras and reporters to him before the game against USC started, he'd just retreat to his press box seat.
"I can tell you Paterno has been on a slow boil about this (attention) issue all week long," said Salters, who relayed a story about asking him before the game if he'd talk to the team on the field before heading up to the press box, he snapped back: "Stop talking about me!"
Salters added that Penn State could be "fined up to $10,000" for Paterno's refusal to let her interview him before the game, "and apparently he doesn't care."
JoePa snubs Lisa Salters, and neither she (nor ABC) is happy about it (Farther Off The Wall)
11 Comments:
If he wanted people to stop talking about him, he should probably "STOP BEING A HEAD COACH".
"Wah."
/artie lange
/takes a swig from his Big Gulp of Pac-10 Haterade
If Penn State had a two touchdown lead in the 4th quarter, then maybe, maybe ESPN would have to stop giving Southern Cal the daily blowjobs that have been ongoing since Selection Sunday. And don't forget that Outside The Lines hatchet piece from earlier this season. ESPN is on JoPa's shit list right now, so he probably considers that $10,000 money well spent.
Shut Up, Lisa Salters.
Wah
BTW, Salters is a Penn State alumna.
Well, y'know, if he's contractually obligated to do a pregame interview -- usually, what, two questions totaling about 45 seconds? -- then JoePa should stop whining and talk to the mean ol' reporter.
Salters is lucky Joe Pa didn't cuss her out, like he did to that women driving in front of him.
Why does Lisa Salters have a job with ESPN??? Oh that's right, they need a token black girl reporter. She is awful and needs to be fired.
The ignorance by some who post is uncanny here. Salters is doing her job. It's so easy to hate all the big TV networks when you often fail to realize how much they've done for the popularity of sports.
As you learn in PR 101 - free attention is ALWAYS good. I always wished especially in smaller markets where teams get smarmy - that media would just boycott them. See what it's like when no one talks to you, writes about you, or puts your games on TV.
Don't bite the hand that feeds!
Paterno and Penn State gladly accept their millions of dollars for participating in the game, so he should gladly answer the questions he promised to answer in return for the cash. Whether answering a couple questions is incredibly burdensome or not (I'd say its not) is entirely beside the point- he agreed to answer the questions, so he should answer them.
And Lisa Salters is an very good reporter, the latest evidence of which is her choice to do her job despite Paterno's failure to do his.
Not doing pre-game interviews? That's just stuff old white coaches do.