Sports Stars Interviews

I’m trying to figure out how many sport star interviews I’ve watched in my days.

I caught the interview with LeBron James after the hapless Lakers were swept out of the playoffs.

James is a good interview and always answers the questions directly, but I could pretty much answer the questions for him.

“We left it all out there. You have to hand it to them. That’s a good team over there.”

They asked about next year.

“I have to take time and think things over.”

He was asked if he might actually retire, and he was cryptic with his answer.

“I have a lot of thinking to do.”

I’ll answer for him:

He has two years left that will pay him $95 million. He isn’t retiring.

But more than that the interviews that span a couple of years are even more comical.

The Bills had a playoff game last year. Going into  the game they all spoke about how close the team is and how well prepared they were to go to battle.

They got hammered.

Now we hear from the same guys.

“We just weren’t prepared and maybe we weren’t close as a team.”

There’s an art to an interview. I learned during the Derek Jeter years that Yankee superstar players aren’t going to say much. Aaron Judge has followed suit.

“I cant say enough about what a tough pitcher he is,” Judge will say. “I was just hoping to put a good swing on it.”

Humble.

Praise your competition.

Talk about your teammates.

“We’re just trying to win games. We have to battle every night.”

And sports in general has tried to make interviews even more difficult for the coaches and players by grabbing them as they walk off the court, or even putting a microphone on them as they field their positions.

It makes for great television.

But the ones who don’t handle it well are also entertaining.

I used to love to listen to a Bobby Knight interview after a close loss.

“Why did you lose the game?” One reporter asked in what may have been the dumbest question of all time.

“They scored more points than we did,” Knight snapped. “That’s how it works. The team who scores more wins.”

Bill Belichick during the Tom Brady years was a lot of fun too.

Before the game:

“We have our hands full with the Bills. They’re a good team that’s well coached.”

Patriots 45 Bills 10

After the game:

“We caught them on a tough day. We’re lucky to get out of town before they get it figured out.”

But I suppose that I’ve watched or listened to about a million player or coach interviews.

There will be more.

I learn nothing!