Reports out of Philadelphia (I viewed a story by the Toronto Sun) suggest there is a bit of a freeze in place between Flyers captain Mike Richards and the local media that covers the hockey club.
According to reports, some of the team’s young players have been mentioned in the context of allowing their social activities to affect their play. (Evidently a number of them moved "downtown" last season, away from the where the club trains in New Jersey.)
In any event, I certainly don’t know the details, but if media reports are accurate, Richards asked the team’s media folks to ensure that reporters didn’t question Flyer players about this particular matter.
When related questions were asked anyway, Richards apparently subsequently tried a media “boycott” and then resorted to providing only short, clipped answers to questions about a game that had just been played.
It would seem the Flyers captain was trying to send a message to the local media, but it may not have been effective.
Based on various reports, club management is not only aware of but is monitoring the “situation”. This gives the impression, to the public at least, that this is of at least modest concern to the club. (One of the players in the “group” that moved downtown last season, Scottie Upshall, has since been traded to Aanheim.)
Here’s a thought for young athletes: It is understandable that you will feel that your “personal” life is no one’s business but your own. But if/when your performance fades in any way, reporters will look for reasons why.
You will always face what I call “performance criticism”. It’s part of the job. If you can’t handle that, professional sports will be a tough field for you.
And reporters can get too personal. No question. You need to be aware of effective and appropriate ways to try and guard your privacy.
But in the above situation (again, I don’t know all the circumstances), it seems that, rather than asking the media relations department to tell reporters not to ask certain questions (that only makes them want to ask those questions all the more), it would have been better to address the issue head on.
It the captain had simply said, “Here’s your chance. If you want to talk about the issue, let’s deal with it openly. After this, I’m not going to address this going forward”, it may have helped.
Would it have helped for sure? Who knows? Nothing is guaranteed.
But trying to hide, or trying to avoid dealing with a sensitive issue, rarely if ever really works.
I’ve often told professional coaches who are clients of mine that the “local media beat reporter or columnist generally will last a lot longer in that market than you will.” In other words, they best better figure out an effective way to interact in a professional and mature manner with those individuals.
Handled poorly, a situation like that which is apparently facing the Flyers can sometimes worsen, much to everyone’s discomfort. The issue becomes bigger, and “lasts” longer, than it otherwise might.
And, as an athlete, if it gets into your head and affects your play on the ice, then you have a real problem.
The media is doing their job, whether the players like it or not.
The players have to do their jobs effectively on the ice – and off.
