After Friday's Game

[beamout2000]

The Austin paper did a great story and has a wonderful slide show of pictures on what is was like in the Texas State locker room after Friday's game. Thought it might interest you guys. Click on the photo's link under the picture to get the slide show.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/cont...rts/index.html

[Newsbreaker]

That was fantastic...thanks for posting that. Some great images.

[speechpanther]

Why do photojournalists have to take pictures of the players crying? I know that journalists should have the right to take these pictures, but I just think they are in poor taste and do not serve the public good. This is just a football game here, not a foreign war. The public does not have the need for documentation of every single moment. TX State had a heartbreaking loss, they deserve their space.

[Newsbreaker]

Why do photojournalists have to take pictures of the players crying? I know that journalists should have the right to take these pictures, but I just think they are in poor taste and do not serve the public good. This is just a football game here, not a foreign war. The public does not have the need for documentation of every single moment. TX State had a heartbreaking loss, they deserve their space.

On purely philosophical grounds, I could not disagree with the above more.

[AmesPanther]

Why do photojournalists have to take pictures of the players crying? I know that journalists should have the right to take these pictures, but I just think they are in poor taste and do not serve the public good. This is just a football game here, not a foreign war. The public does not have the need for documentation of every single moment. TX State had a heartbreaking loss, they deserve their space.

I think it's fine. The kid shouldn't be ashamed of crying, it shows he cares. I'd be proud if it was my team. He isn't *****ing about the officials or coaches, he is crying.

[B.True]

i could go either way on this subject. short story, i distinctly remember my father making the same comments when i was really young when the local paper ran a picture of my high school's kicker (who actually was a kicker at UNI in the mid 90's) with his head in his hands on the bench after missing a field goal. i felt awful for him then and still do now...but at the same time looking back....it really did help tell the story about the game because even as a kicker, his uniform was really dirty and it was a muddy game....the caption helped it out.....i don't know, i could go either way.....

[speechpanther]

I completely understand the reasons to allow a photographer to take these shots, don't get me wrong.

What I am asking instead is whether they serve the public good. There is a big difference between having the right to do something and doing what is right. I just don't see what these pictures do besides provide a source of embarrassment for these players. At the same time, some could argue that they show how football players are human too, etc. I may disagree with that argument, but I guess I can accept it as logical.

[panther2317]

Losing is a part of athletics. There is a losing team that walks off the field after every athletic competition. I think it's great to see how passionate these kids were about their football team and to see how much their coaching and support staff's care about these kids as they consoled them. It's a big part of the story. I think people need to see these images. These are positive images of student-athletes (something that isn't shown enough in the media if you want my opinion) and the public needs to see more of that!

It also makes me want our guys to win even more this Friday, because I don't want them to have to go through that after a game.

It's not a war...but it's something these kids have been dreaming about and working towards for a long time now. They are emotionally and intellectually invested in each and every game. After a loss, they are physicall and emotionally drained and sometimes they let loose and it's caught on film. I think it shows future student-athletes that it's ok to be emtional about a loss, but what I hope more people saw...were the coaches and support staff consoling those kids. That shows they care about them as individuals and not just football players. More people need to see that.

[speechpanther]

Losing is a part of athletics. There is a losing team that walks off the field after every athletic competition. I think it's great to see how passionate these kids were about their football team and to see how much their coaching and support staff's care about these kids as they consoled them. It's a big part of the story. I think people need to see these images. These are positive images of student-athletes (something that isn't shown enough in the media if you want my opinion) and the public needs to see more of that!

It also makes me want our guys to win even more this Friday, because I don't want them to have to go through that after a game.

It's not a war...but it's something these kids have been dreaming about and working towards for a long time now. They are emotionally and intellectually invested in each and every game. After a loss, they are physicall and emotionally drained and sometimes they let loose and it's caught on film. I think it shows future student-athletes that it's ok to be emtional about a loss, but what I hope more people saw...were the coaches and support staff consoling those kids. That shows they care about them as individuals and not just football players. More people need to see that.

I guess I will have to grant you that one about coaches consoling players...good point.

[Newsbreaker]

I completely understand the reasons to allow a photographer to take these shots, don't get me wrong.

What I am asking instead is whether they serve the public good. There is a big difference between having the right to do something and doing what is right. I just don't see what these pictures do besides provide a source of embarrassment for these players. At the same time, some could argue that they show how football players are human too, etc. I may disagree with that argument, but I guess I can accept it as logical.

Again, on a philosophical level, I'm not sure that the right exists to say that something, as long as it isn't intrinsically harming the subject or morally objectionable, doesn't have a right to be seen.

On a more 'real' level, however, I think these types of images are incredibly valuable. Too often today we, and 'our' children, only see images of over-hyped, over-payed, selfish athletes only playing for a paycheck. They hear "SHOW ME THE MONEY" and so much talk about contract years and the dollars and cents of sports, but they don't see NEARLY enough of that.

They don't see a kid crying becasue something he was going to gain NOTHING other then pride in a job well-done from, has been stripped suddenly away.

They don't see a young man who gave so much to not just his teammates and school, but to his community (look at what the UNI Panthers are doing for the Cedar Valley right now!!!!), standing there in the tunnel to the stadium, feeling like he let them all down, realizing that in a tenth of a second, it was all gone.

They don't see a coach consolling a young man, who's seen his dreams dashed.

They don't see enough of that type of passion, that type of realism, that type of emotion.

Beyond all that, we all take a personal stake in these games. After the Cubs lost the NLCS a few years ago, I was emotionally down for WEEKS if not MONTHS. If we loose on friday, I'll feel much the same way, and it's good for everyone to see that they share that with the players, who often are as much an abstract idea of a person, as they are an actual individual.

These are very important images.

[speechpanther]

One question while we are on the subject:

I remember as a kid watching championships and the media would go to the losing team's locker room and it would be shut...what is the policy with that in the NCAA? Is there a time limit you can have a closed locker room, etc?

[Newsbreaker]

One question while we are on the subject:

I remember as a kid watching championships and the media would go to the losing team's locker room and it would be shut...what is the policy with that in the NCAA? Is there a time limit you can have a closed locker room, etc?

I believe, and I'm sure someone can clarify, there is a 10 or 15 minute "cooling off period" after which the locker room is open.

[JayJ79]

I believe, and I'm sure someone can clarify, there is a 10 or 15 minute "cooling off period" after which the locker room is open.

personally, I don't think a team should be REQUIRED to "open" their locker room if they really don't want to. I mean, it is good for PR and publicity to keep a good relation with the press. But after a particularly tough/emotional loss, I think a coach should have the power to keep the press hounds at bay, and just address them at the press conference (do they do press conferences after games?)

[panther2317]

As I've worked the locker rooms at NCAA Championships before, there is a 10 minute 'cooling off' period before media is allowed to enter. Those nights were some of the most gut wrenching I've spent around college sports...and I had no affiliation with those teams. I just remember how devastated I was after losing to SIU in the 1994 Valley Championship game. I can't imagine what it's like to get to the final game and lose. Let's not experience that this Friday. GO PANTHERS!!!

[speechpanther]

Newsbreaker:

You know what this proves? I am going to be the most hypersensive, overprotective soccer-mom ever