I happened to see this last night during the Olympics coverage. I immediately cringed. Apparently I wasn't alone: There was a huge backlash against an NBC reporter for how she handed an interview with USA skier Bode Miller, specifically how she kept goading him about his dead brother until he broke down.
Deadspin published a transcript -- and has an embedded video. Here's part of it:
Cooper: For a guy who said the medals don’t really matter, they aren’t “the thing,” you’ve amassed quite a collection. What does this one mean to you in terms of all the others?
Miller: This was a little different. With my brother passing away, I really wanted to come back here and race the way he sends it. So this was a little different.
Cooper: Bode, you’re showing so much emotion down here. What’s going through your mind?
Miller: A lot, obviously. Just a long struggle coming in here. Just a tough year.
Cooper: I know you wanted to be here with Chelly experiencing these games, how much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?
Miller: I mean, I don’t know if it’s really for him. But I wanted to come here and…I don’t know, I guess make myself proud.Cooper: When you’re looking up in the sky at the start, we see you there and it looks like you’re talking to somebody. What’s going on there?
The problem isn't the first question. Or maybe even the second. But the third and fourth one cross the line. You want emotion, yes, but sometimes you take what you get.
Folks were pissed. Search Twitter for "Bode Miller apology."
But Bode was being cool about it:
I totally agree. The point was made, he was already emotional and gave all he was going to for the interview. Using his brother's name in such a casual manner and continuing the follow up questions when he really wasn't answering questions was hard to watch. He was very generous with his Tweets.
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