Playing along

A sports story in the A section of The New York Times? A picture of two guys sporting Yankees logos? When I read further, I really liked this story. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/nyregion/29blind.html?ex=1185422400&en=c9211741304faed8&ei=5070) Aiden McGuire of upstate New York went to great lengths to have his friend - who is losing his eyesight - have a special day at Yankee Stadium and even meet one of his favorite players (who was one of my favorites, too). So many businesses, including the Yankees, gave of themselves to help carry this out. I stopped short, though, when I read the role the reporter played in the story about this dream day. The reporter fudged the truth, a bit, when interviewing Michael Sayre, who wasn't aware of the surprise McGuire was about to spring on him. As the story explained: "When Mr. Sayre was interviewed, he was told that the article concerned fans who take long and grueling bus rides to see their favorite teams, at Mr. McGuire's suggestion, to keep today's surprise intact." (A deception that produced a two-sentence quote late in the story.) Spoiling a surprise is unnecessary, but what about misleading a source? Were those the only choices? Given a chance to play assignment editor at The Times, I would have asked the reporter to ditch the ruse and to instead document Sayre's magical visit to Yankee Stadium and capture, honestly, his reaction as it unfolded.