Well I have to say I like his approach thus far and the way he handles the media. He is a old school style which I like. I also like how he handled late for practice players and made them run the stairs. That is what this team lacked the last few years someone who shows who’s boss.
Your thoughts??
no bull shit kinda guy. nice :rockin:
I find he observes during practice and lets his coaches coach. I like that approach. He hired these guys for a reason, so let them do their jobs.
I also get the sense that he doesn't really care for the media. He can be a bit short with them. He's no John Tortorella (who I think is a complete tool), but I get the feeling that dealing with reporters is the part of his job he likes least.
I like what I've seen from Cortez so far. Now, if the team starts the season 1-4, that opinion will change.
I like it, the last two seasons i've been begging for this kinda coach.You screw up and its not smiles and cupcakes, he will let you know about it.I'm not too keen on how he picks apart the media (this is a fan first league don't forget, we're supposed to get high access into the league and it's players not just the typical robotic "well he wouldn't be here if we didn't think he had something" whenever they ask what he likes about a certain player.)
I think he just gets annoyed when somebody asks a stupid question. He doesn’t sugar coat everything like Marcel did.
Well - you’ve got to be a little careful with that, too.
Don’t get me wrong - I like the tough, get-in-your-face, this is Business attitude. But you got to play with kid gloves, too. Too much toughness can turn the players off, and then you get the ‘Frank Kush’ syndrome - play great during the year, get burned-out during the playoffs, and then you fire the coach.
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I prefer the Al Bruno approach…
His terseness has come from being asked, perhaps, silly questions. But, at the same time, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle it. It’s only training camp and he’s already getting annoyed. How is he going to handle tough questions after a loss or, heaven forbid, when the team losses two or three or four in a row? The questions he’s being asked now are pretty innocent; just general queries about the team and its players. When the questions get tough – and they will, because the team isn’t going to go undefeated – he’s got to be able to handle that better. We all know he’s the smartest football mind in the city, but he doesn’t have to prove it every time a silly question gets asked. I’m not tryingto blast the guy or anything. I really like him so far, but being a little more tactful with the media might not hurt.
Cortez appears to exude a more decisive, candid, and forthright personality type, apparently in stark contrast to the Bellefeuille type persona.
In other words, not one to mince words. He tells it like it is.
...although not in a Frank Kush intimidatory fashion, (hence "screamer") as it is better to instill respect among players than backlashed fear as was Kush's MO.
as well, Cortez seemingly exhibits ample composure, CFL experience and broad autonomy which should bode well under pressure situations.
Hopefully the players respond well under his direction, and until further notice, I like what I see/hear. :thup:
Blogskee wee wee wrote:
"His terseness has come from being asked, perhaps, silly questions. But, at the same time, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle it. It’s only training camp and he’s already getting annoyed. How is he going to handle tough questions after a loss or, heaven forbid, when the team losses two or three or four in a row? The questions he’s being asked now are pretty innocent; just general queries about the team and its players. When the questions get tough – and they will, because the team isn’t going to go undefeated – he’s got to be able to handle that better. We all know he’s the smartest football mind in the city, but he doesn’t have to prove it every time a silly question gets asked. I’m not tryingto blast the guy or anything. I really like him so far, but being a little more tactful with the media might not hurt."
I’m glad you picked up on that because for a while I thought that impression was just me. There’s one media scrum that I saw on TICATS.CA where, I believe, one of the female reporters asked a question. From what I could tell, as George looked away from her, I could sense he was rolling his eyes.
Let me say, before I go any further, that I was quite excited with his hiring, and still think Obie got the best of the lot with George Cortez.
However, it always frustrates me when I see a coach, or a player, show exasperation or lack of patience with reporters or their questions. They are there, in most cases, posing queries that most fans would make if they had the chance to speak with these people. I understand that after a tough loss, or a long day, they want to go home like I would, but their’s is a public job and requires feedback to the reporters and by extension to the fans.
Interaction with the media on a daily basis at this level is an important part of a head coach’s job that Cortez probably hasn’t had to deal with in his previous football jobs and he needs to get it right from the start.
When the media asks a question, treat it like a fan (ie: a customer) asking a question. In other words, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. It takes lots of patience and restraint and he needs to be able to flip that “switch” when required to interact with the media and the public - he can’t afford to alienate them or the relationship will just get worse.
I don’t think Cortez is handling it the wrong way, I think that’s just his personality. He’s not lashing out at the media, he’s being straight up with them.
This is interesting, Cortez does seem decisive. You can tell he’s very cerebral. He does tend to interrupt reporters when they’re asking questions, but maybe that’s because he comes up with an answer so quickly and reacts by saying what comes to mind, and it just seems like he’s being rude. Just a thought…
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I wonder if we can change slightly how these Videos with Reporters are taken.
I don’t know if it is only me, but unless my hearing is failing - I can’t hear ANY of the Reporter(s) questions!
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Yes - we see everyone holding their voice recorder units, always pointing them at the coach.
But my gosh - don’t you think it just makes common sense, that if a REPORTER is asking a question, he/she should point the V/R towards themselves first, & then point it back to the coach ( or whoever they are interviewing ) for their response?
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So, all I get to hear is the coach responding - not knowing what the actual questions are…
GEEZ…
Marcel reminded me a lot like a glass of water,
George reminds me of a peck of habaneros,
I could give a rats bottom how he reacts to the media, If we win 10+ regular season games this season and George treats the media like a used diaper all year, he won't hurt my feelings too much......as previously stated, he's a strict and cerebral kind of dude maybe?
Either way, there's a kind of fire that he and his staff bring this year that we havn't seen on the left coast of Lake Ontario since Lancaster's years in the wheelhouse....
Seems like a well read, intelligent man who doesn't put up with bull, but seldom needs to raise his voice. He honestly reminds a somewhat more outspoken and slightly stricter Mark Trestman and I think he understands that the physical gifts are present on our team, it's overcoming the mental blocks and slip ups that stopped us short. Still, too soon to tell until we see his play calling.
Regardless, I'm calling it right now, at some point he will lose two games in a row and suddenly the fanbase wills start screaming for his blood. Seriously, last season, especially in this forum, Marcel was the mangy goat one week and the second coming next week. I think he'll take it well though and outright say "This is what we did wrong, this is what we need to fix" instead of Marcel's "Oh, well we did a lot of good things, but there are areas we need to improve on" and then bring it into the locker room.
It doesn’t matter where all those different reporters point their recorders if Ticats TV doesn’t get a copy of all the different recordings. This isn’t unique to football. In any media scrum, the reporters (Ticats TV included) are concerned about getting a mic in the face of the primary source. Getting your own mic moved back and forth among the various reporters around the scrum and the coach isn’t practical. And working outdoors in the wind means there is a technical tradeoff between wanting to pick up multiple directions/sources versus wanting to keep wind and other noise down.
Actually, I think there are no stupid questions, just a lot of inquisitive idiots.
I’ll take Cortez over Bellefeuille’s “say nothing” answers any day. Do people not realize that the primary function of any individual on a pro football team is not to schmooze the media, but to win?
You can do both. One doesn’t affect the other, and coaches are stupid if they don’t realize that a good relationship with the media can only help, not hurt them. It’s fashionable to berate and abuse reporters, but these are just ordinary people doing a job. Without the media, the publicity and buzz surrounding the Cats wouldn’t exist. You can’t take good publicity with one hand while smacking the reporter in the face with the other. It’s training camp, and these are softball questions. Cortez has to learn to act like a professional and give answers even if internally he would rather be doing anything else. While I don’t like idiotic questions any more than the next person, I also don’t think it’s right to denigrate someone’s livelihood.
Cortez keeps this up and he’ll find himself on the receiving end of a lot of bad press the first time the team is on a losing streak. That adds up.
Sure he has side stepped a few question but what coach doesn't? his interview from yesterday was much more "friendly" so maybe he is opening up a little.
Good to hear. I hope he becomes a bit more media-friendly, for his own sake. He’s only hurting himself and the team by showing exasperation this early in his tenure as head coach. He’s proven nothing yet. Win a Grey Cup and you can afford to be a bit of a dbag (even though I still don’t think it’s wise). Right now, win people over, so that when tough times hit, you’ll have reporters in your corner, not out for your blood.