Memo to political consultants and crisis managers

As a big baseball fan, I tuned in yesterday for A-Rod's news conference, hoping he would come clean but deep down knowing this was just another dog and pony show.

If you're one of those people who runs political campaigns or works as a crisis manager, get a tape of what happened yesterday. It's a great example of how to dig a bigger hole for yourself.

If you're a reporter, you should watch it as well. Once again, lots of softballs thrown in with a few decent questions. Of course, the Yankees set the rules: one question per reporter, no follow-ups. Which negated the chance for any reporter to say, "You really expect anyone to believe that?"

The best non-sound bite of the year, and it's only February, came when A-Rod "choked up" when looking at his teammates. Guess he thought he was eligible for next week's Academy Awards. Amazing how reporters who never use nat sound jumped on this sound of silence.

Two things: if you're working to spin something for the media, the only thing that works is the truth. No rules for reporters, none of this "no follow up" garbage. Right off the bat you look like you've got something to hide. Sure, your job is to spin and make your client look better, but you have to at least make it look like you're not hiding anything.

If you're a reporter, and you run into a situation like that, include the rules in your story. "We're were only allowed to ask one question."

Incredibly, people who work as crisis managers make a lot more than most of us. Yet they still don't get it. (Maybe those of you leaving the business need to look into that as a career... at least you know what news people are looking for.)

You should also note how polite many of the questions were. Once again, Mike Wallace, where are you when we really need you? There's a time to be polite and a time to shove a question in someone's face. Remember, sometimes you need to act like a prosecutor, like the bad cop in an interrogation. Sometimes you need to go all Jack Bauer on someone with a microphone. Especially if the person already admits he's guilty.

Next time you're covering a situation like this, fire away with both barrels. The crisis managers and consultants think news people have gone soft and are easily manipulated.

And every time you play along, you prove them right.