most people who work with him fucking love him, his players (from all over), lombardi, guys who played with him, etc.

and he's actually pretty good if you get a chance to talk to him one on one. he's not as hard to understand, he doesn't constantly say "to be quite honest with you," "if you really look at it," and "right?" in every fucking sentence and he typically addresses a question directly with a real answer.

there are certain things he is "quite honest about" and he will just tell you what he thinks in terse terms that don't say much and certainly don't generate a quote. I think he doesn't like the stilted Q&A, but hey, what the fuck? Reporters work all day playing this "hurry up and wait" game to get five or ten minutes with the guy and ask questions quickly enough to get them answered. The whole process is stilted, sorry, we're not chit chatting over a beer and then driving home here.

Some guys understand that and really go big on it. Murray understood the press's goals and he also used it to send messages to guys sometimes. He was so much easier to work with. Hitchcock, Trotz, Boudreau, those guys are all refreshing to work with among others.

That is the thing with Darryl, you want to yuck it up but if the story really calls for a quote or they make very few players available, it makes it really hard to do your job. I'm not worried about it at the moment because that's not really the type of reporting I am doing (working on feature stories) but last year it certainly was. Like I said, I just figured he was giving me absolutely nothing, I'd stay until they kicked me out of the two locker rooms if I had time or just leave and start writing if I didn't.