Everyone has a bad day or two at the office. But when one flips out in public, it is sure to gather a lot of negative attention.
Reds manager
Bryan Price lashed out in front of a group of 10 media members Monday,
reportedly using the F-word 77 times and 10 more variants of other
vulgarities in a five-and-a-half minute rant because he was unhappy about
recent reports that in his view could be beneficial to opponents.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Price said "I
don't get it. It's, you know, look, I don't need you guys to be fans of
the Reds." I just need to know if there's something we
want to keep here, it stays here."
Price was upset that minor league promotions and demotions were hitting the press and public before the actual players were notified by the team. He was also upset with the report that catcher Devin Mesoraco was unavailable to pinch hitter due to a hip injury. "I've
got to f---ing read that on a f---ing tweet on our own people in here
that we don't have a f---ing player?" Price said. "How the f--- does
that benefit the Reds? It doesn't benefit us one f---ing bit."
Price is naive or stupid on the role of the press in covering the Reds. He did not dispute the accuracy of any of the news reports. The press and local media is supposed to report the news on the Reds team, including roster moves before or after the official announcements by the team. The press represents the fans and public in providing information to them. The press does not work for the Reds.
Many managers are livid that beat reporters ask the same questions day after day, especially after a series of tough losses or during long losing streaks. But a basic story needs to cover the who, what, when, where, how and why a game's outcome was decided by plays and decisions by the manager.
Part of the problem is also that the professional sports teams have packaged their games with the networks in such a way as to have mutual admiration clauses in the contract to self-promote the "good" aspects of the sport. Rarely does a network criticize the NFL during the season (with the exception of player criminal cases or conduct.) Each sports league wants to "control the coverage" of their sport through their public relations marketing departments. But real life cannot be contained inside a vacuum of press releases.
Newspapers, radio and television stations are all in competition with other forms of media to attract and retain readers, listeners and viewers. In order to do so, they need to give sports fans up to date, breaking news. Nothing the Cincinnati media did was wrong. Price just made himself and team look foolish by his outburst.
