« Balsillie Secures Hamilton Arena For NHL Team | Main | More Knob Hockey »

With all due respect Eric, you're in the room now. Ask away!

Perhaps I should have been clearer. When I posted that question, I was firmly pointing the finger at myself as well.

Because that's not the job. The job is to get great quotes, not ask great questions. Not the same thing.

BD - Good point. Really good point, actually.

Bouncing off on that point (which may not be where you are going), some of the best questions out there are not the ones the Mark Cubans and the Sidney Crosbys are posed. It's the ones the fans are posed. The question isn't what is important when the athlete is asked, it's the response.

And, going beyond that: If the athlete is going to answer in a lame way, why ask the question? Why do you think Dennis Rodman or Jeremy Roenick are asked such provocative questions? Simple, they will answer. Ask a third line winger his real opinion, and try to get it in print.

Also, if you want to point the finger back at yourself, look at your interview with Donald Brashear. You said yourself that he had heard the question before, and was tired of it. Would asking something new have been any different? I think not. It was when you engaged him in conversation, got a little more than a sound bite from him that it got interesting.

As for Cuban, what does he want out of an interview? Does he want to provide a sound bite? Does he want to actually provide something different? Does he want to promote his team? If Cuban wants to be asked new and interesting questions, send him my way. I have a few.

Thanks for signing in, .

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)