It bothers SOS when writers work hard on their articles or papers and blow off their headline.
Your headline is like a hostess welcoming you into her restaurant. (La Kid’s hostessing this summer at a local ‘thesdan eatery, so SOS has that on her mind.) Does she make you feel welcome? Do you positively want to go in ?
So here’s an Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer’s headline for his Pitino piece:
SEX IN A RESTAURANT, A JOB IN JEOPARDY
Dullsville. Spice it up.
SEX AT A TABLE, FUTURE UNSTABLE
SEX AT A DIVE, WILL HE SURVIVE?
SEX ON A PLATE, PITINOGATE
SEX AND GRUB, THERE’S THE RUB
SEX IN TRATTORIA, SIC TRANSIT GLORIA
August 13th, 2009 at 10:03AM
Several of the stories have mentioned that the encounter in question took place on the floor, though I’m not sure where that little detail came from. Anyway, you’d like to be able to work "Balls on the Floor" into your headline.
And there are a number of basketball terms that sound reasonably dirty in the right context:
Box and one
Backdoor cut
Pick and roll
Give and go
Motion offense
Diving for loose balls
Nailing crazy blondes while drunk
August 13th, 2009 at 11:39AM
Sorry, UD but at most newspapers (even weekly papers) there is a division of labor. Reporters write the stories but not the headlines. That is considered an editorial function at most papers. Part of the reason may also be that its the editors who decide where in the paper the story will be printed and that, in turn, determines how much space there will be for the headline. It is a constant source of frustration for reporters who complain constantly that when readers complain about the story it is often the headline they are complaining about, not the article. When the reporter says they didn’t write the headline, they are not believed.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:05PM
Table for two, Pitino adieu.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:47PM
Your advertising background is showing.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:49PM
True, James, true.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:51PM
Van: Yes, I discovered this sad fact when I attended Medill at NU years and years ago. But it’s also true that at many papers writers can at least see or get an idea of the proposed headline, and maybe have some influence over it.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:17PM
Or we could think like the headline writers at the NY Post:
"B-Ball Boss Banished for Bistro Boink?"
August 13th, 2009 at 1:32PM
Of course, there was what some fans of tabloids consider the best all-time headline in the N Y Post. The case involved a fellow who was murdered with his throat sliced completely. He was in a bar where women dance for the entertainment of the customers. "Headless body found in topless bar."
August 13th, 2009 at 10:03PM
Sypher Nailed, Pitino Blackmailed
August 14th, 2009 at 1:08AM
I love you. What would the blogosphere be without the SOS?
August 14th, 2009 at 4:17AM
I blush, Claire. Thank you.
SOS
August 14th, 2009 at 8:30AM
"Bonehead Play by Drunk Pitino"?
August 14th, 2009 at 8:30AM
Oh, and what Claire said. We would indeed be lost.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:56PM
I liked the last one so much, I kicked around
The last one is superioria?
Wondered whether there was such a thing as "superioria"…
Googled. Best I could come up with is Superior, IA
Close enough!
Bill
August 14th, 2009 at 4:40PM
Michael, you are very kind.
UD/SOS
November 1st, 2009 at 10:12AM
[…] … involves Scathing Online Schoolmarm complaining about headlines. […]
October 2nd, 2015 at 7:29PM
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