An Interviewer's Guide to 'Breaking' Athletes. Option 1: 🔥 Scorched Earth🔥

Discord can be your friend, but never go 'full Simers'

I used to work with a journalist who had a unique approach to opening up interview subjects. “I like to start an argument.” Discord came naturally to him, so it never felt like he was being wilfully obtuse. He was a pain to sit beside in the office, but he was a good hack. The quotes he got from the athletes he interviewed “glowed like burning coals”, to quote Bobby D.

Friction makes good copy. Anyone who has read The Miracle of Castel di Sangro will recall the sheer entertainment value of author Joe McGinniss blustering and berating his way through 400 pages - lambasting the manager for his tactics and the owners for their decision making (we actually made a mini-doc on The Miracle, including an interview with McGinniss’ widow, Nancy).

I thought about my fire-starting former colleague last week when my pal Kenny Millar sent me a 2008 piece written by the late TJ Simers on LA Dodgers baseball player Andruw Jones. Words like ‘acerbic’ and ‘hard-hitting’ are sometimes tossed around when discussing columnists who take an unflinching approach to their subjects. I’m not sure such terminology covers Simers’ scorched-earth approach to his encounter with Jones, who he confronted about his waistline and refers to throughout his piece as a ‘Tubbo’.

Jones in action in 2008. TJ Simers not pictured

At this point, I strongly recommend you read it (it is short and … far from sweet)

Dodgers didn’t receive care package for Jones

Here’s my highlights.

Both a Tubbo and clueless, which really isn’t a very good combination for the player with the highest annual salary in Dodgers history.

I tried to tell him he was taking the wrong approach with the fans here by saying really dumb things and reporting to work fat.

Jones does not take his criticism lying down

“Look at your belly hanging out of your shirt,” Jones said. “You’re probably going to die tomorrow.”

“Not before I write this column,” I said