UCLA coach Jim Mora does not pardon the interruption

Published On September 10, 2013 | By Alice Cook

 

 

UCLA coach Jim Mora opened his news conference yesterday expressing his sympathy  to the family of one of his players.   Freshman wide receiver Nick Pasquelle was killed over the weekend after being hit by a car.

A television technician made the mistake of answering his phone a minute and a half into Mora’s emotional opening statement at a news conference.

Mora was so incensed he told the guy to shut up, called him disrespectful, then abruptly ended the news conference.

As a veteran reporter who has covered countless news conferences, watching this video was disturbing, to say the least.  The technician was most likely answering a call from his news desk.  Why the news desk would be calling the tech in the middle of  statement of sympathy is beyond me.   Maybe his live shot wasn’t framed right, maybe the microphone was not working, maybe they were asking him if he could work over time that day.

I must say, I don’t blame coaches, players, general managers, owners or anyone else for losing it on the media.  If the call came from his station’s newsroom, a co-worker put this guy in a horrible position.  He should not have answered his phone.  He should not have asked Mora to “go on.”   The tech should have apologized immediately, and agreed that his actions were disrespectful.

This guy is probably in huge trouble with his bosses.  I am sure memos are flying around newsroom everywhere about proper etiquette during news conferences.

Too late.  Somebody blew it by calling the guy at the wrong time, and he blew it for picking up his phone.

How about texting next time?

Watch the video and tell us what you think.

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About The Author

is a veteran television sports reporter and Olympian. Her experience includes 25 years of sports reporting for WBZ-TV, the CBS and former NBC affiliate in Boston. Cook has worked for ESPN, Turner Sports, and WTBS. Cook is a feature writer for She's Game Sports and Boston.com. She is also President and Founder of She's Game Sports LLC.