If you had the chance to ask a famous celebrity or powerful political leader a question what would it be? Would you ask them to share their views on a controversial social issue? Or would you be more inclined to ask what they were thinking when something not-so-great happened in their past? Most people never get that chance and so those questions basically go unanswered. A news reporter may attempt to pry a response but anyone who has been around those that have been trained to deal with members of the media know that they are often skilled at evading those questions altogether. From creating an eloquent answer that tells you nothing at all to the more direct, ‘no comment’ type of response. Without a doubt there are inappropriate questions, but for various reasons a celebrity or politician will avoid saying anything that may be held against them at a later time as they fully realize whatever they say will be recorded and likely reported.
Professional sports is not all that different. The athletes are very similar in profile to that of celebrities and powerful political figures and they too realize that they’re instantly quotable. Especially with Twitter, even supposedly off-the-record comments can become ‘news’ items or the fodder that could spark more intrusive questions by members of the media later. Most professional sports have their athletes attend ‘media training’ where they become comfortable answering questions in a succinct manner. What would you ask an NHL coach / player if you had the chance? Would you ask them about their successes and / or failures as well as their thoughts on the upcoming season? Or would you try to ask them a more humorous question to perhaps see a more candid side of the coach / player?
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Before I say anything else, I want to thank the Minnesota Wild for the opportunity they provided to ask Head Coach Mike Yeo, and young defenseman Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon questions about the development camp, the 2011-12 season and the upcoming prospect scrimmages this Saturday and Sunday. I must also give a big thank you to my partner in crime (Theresa Ferries) for forwarding to me the E-mail she got informing her of this unique opportunity.
The event was emceed by wild.com’s own Kevin Falness and according to him there were nearly 4,000 fans that called in hoping to hear what these members of the Wild franchise had to say and perhaps join in by asking a question themselves. I really had no idea there were going to be that many fans at this teleconference and I must admit I feel immensely lucky to have had the opportunity to ask a question. The event had slightly more formal version of Wild Unplugged events the team holds throughout the cities during the regular season. Since having moved away from the Twin Cities and being unable to attend these meet-and-greet events I really appreciated the chance to call in (from my home in South Central Wisconsin) as did another fan who called into the forum from Winnipeg. Predictably, there was a bit of a sales pitch to encourage people to purchase season ticket packages but it wasn’t too invasive to turn the fan forum into some hockey version of a timeshare ‘free’ lunch.
The fan forum addressed a huge variety of topics, from the additions of Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Darroll Powe and Mike Lundin, what fans can expect to see at the scrimmages this weekend, what Mike Yeo’s plans and philosophy for the 2011-12 season, and more. It certainly was fun and another great event for the fans to stay excited about hockey in the summer. You can hear the whole fan forum (including my question) here.
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