Truth be known, the same notion skitters across the minds of sportswriters and athletes, too, who wonder if this ritualized behavior is worth the trouble. Before and after games at virtually every stadium and arena, reporters dutifully trek to the locker rooms for a quote or two, a postmortem, an injury update or a sliver of insight. Later comes the dash back to the computers for the deadline assault….

Let’s be clear: This is not a Woe Is Us story. Access is hardly a reporter’s entitlement, unless the assignment is the White House or City Hall. Even then, the willingness to wait out a story is a compulsory part of the job. Imagine, too, the view of an athlete, not yet showered and still absorbing a blown save or a missed shot, confronted by a swarm of notepads and microphones and pressed to answer the brain-numbing question: How do you feel?

“What do they expect you to say to that?” asks LaTroy Hawkins, a veteran relief pitcher. “And could they let you get your pants on?”

– Craig Wolff, Wall Street Journal.

Wolff’s whole piece is worth reading so I urge you to click through. Essentially, it asks whether the time-honored tradition of allowing reporters into locker rooms before and after sporting events is one worth continuing.

With new facilities with deeper clubhouses springing up around sports, players can more often avoid interacting with reporters if they choose. Wolff notes one such experience at Yankee Stadium, and the same is generally true before any Mets home game. Players appear at their lockers to dress, then head to the field to do baseball stuff or recede into some other, presumably way more awesome part of the clubhouse.

Who could blame them, really? Often times, the pre-game scene in the Mets locker room features 40-odd members of the media standing around just sort of waiting for something to happen and one or two players sitting quietly at their lockers, occupied by cell phones or iPads. It’s… well, a bit weird. And I say this as one of those 40-odd members of the media.

Plus access often colors coverage. It’s no secret — especially to media-savvy Mets fans — that the players who provide good quotes and ample time to reporters often seem to receive preferential treatment in certain media outlets. I am not certain this is as nefarious as it appears; reporters become fond of the players that are friendly and well-spoken, and thus less inclined to criticize them when they struggle. See Jeff Francoeur for details.

Still — and I can only speak for myself, here — I have no doubt that access to players and the inside of locker rooms has provided me perspective that has advanced my understanding of baseball and its personalities, if not necessarily my writing.

Via Craig Calcaterra.