By FRANK WARD

The soundbite. It’s the thing that drives all broadcast media journalism.

With limited time, television and radio newscasts rely on brief, 10-second soundbites to tell stories. That is really nothing new. However, in this day of the race to be first with news, and not necessarily accurate, news outlets will take a statement and run with it. The fallout for those speaking to the media can be devastating.

Pro athletes must now be as careful as a political candidate or a company CEO. Say the wrong thing, and your reputation or approval rating will drop quicker than a Brad Lidge sinker (when he’s Lights Out).

Cole Hamel's postgame comments on Saturday demonstrate that pro athletes must receive more media training.

Cole Hamels proved this point with his postgame comments after Saturday’s loss in Game 3 of the World Series. The Phillies 2009 postseason LVP was quoted as saying, “I can’t wait for it (the season) to end. It’s been mentally draining. It’s one of those things, a year in, you just can’t wait for a fresh start.”

These quotes set off a firestorm in Philly among fans, traditional media, social media and talk radio.  Many, including your Daily Philadelphian, called for the end of Hamels’ season even if the team went on to force a Game 7. How do you wish for the season to end when your team is in the thick of World Series battle?

Hamels is lucky he’s not an NFL quarterback or he’d have had the Ray Lewis and Brian Dawkins of the world battling him in practice the next day.

However, it now appears his comments were taken out of context. According to media members such as Comcast SportsNet’s Leslie Gudel, Hamels was first asked about the game and answered those questions. He then was asked if he couldn’t wait for the season to end so he could reflect on it. That is when he made the absurd statement heard around South Philly.

Hamels is honest and always has been, sometimes to the detriment of his reputation. Of course, win, and his reputation will regain its all-time high status.

All the 2008 World Series MVP did was answer a question honestly in an era when athletes don’t talk frankly. However, Hamels and other athletes need to learn when to, and when not to, answer questions. They need to learn how to answer certain questions.

Hamels simply should have said something such as, “You know, we’re still in a battle to defend our world title, and I’m going to prepare to pitch a Game 7, if I’m called upon to do so. I’ll have plenty of time to reflect on the season when this series is over. Until then, we have nothing to think about except how to win the next ballgame.”

Deflect the question on reflection until after the season is completely over.

Chad Ochocinco is an athlete who may benefit from additional media training.

To avoid these situations, Hamels and pro athletes need media training. They need the same workshops and lessons that CEOs and politicians learn from their public relations professionals.

Many athletes are paid higher than the leadership of Fortune 500 corporations, and they need to be trained as such. They are the ambassadors for professional sports franchises. A frontline pitcher, hitter, quarterback, defensive back, or point guard is the spokesperson for the organization.

That’s not to say that pro teams’ public relations staffs haven’t worked with the athletes. The NFL and MBA conduct rookie symposiums, and media relations is likely part of those programs.

However, more must be done as young players enter franchises. Unless the players studied communications and public relations in college, this is a topic and a skill they know very little about.

Athletes must learn how to avoid making inflammatory statements. They must learn how to work with the media.

Pro teams should not be as overzealous as the New York Knicks who insisted that Larry Brown only talk to the media when a member of the PR staff was present.

However, they do need to teach athletes basic PR rules such as:

• Always talk in good times and bad (Mitch Williams himself will tell you this);
• Never say “no comment;”
• Don’t lie;
• Never say something you do not want to see in print;
• Remember to speak in 10-second soundbites, which means simply to keep in mind a long answer (or the preceding question) may be left on the cutting-room floor. Had Hamels known or thought of this point, he may never have made the statement he did.

There are many more points to media training, but these basics would help deflect any potential controversies in a number of situations.

With ESPN, Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports, Sirius Radio, and countless Internet sites and blogs, athletes will continue to be under scrutiny unlike any faced by athletes throughout time. The microscope they are under will only get bigger with time.

Media training should become a necessity with periodic workshops throughout the season and offseason. Then, you won’t risk the chemistry of a team based on what is said and reported in the media.

Frank Ward is a public relations consultant and freelance writer. To contact him, please send an e-mail to dailyphiladelphian@gmail.com.

“I can’t wait for a fresh start. There are 30 other teams sitting at home right now thinking the same thing. I can’t wait for the season to be over.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the reaction from your former staff ace following the Phillies 8-5 loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday. The win put the Yankees up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Cole Hamels again failed to make it out of the sixth inning on Saturday.

Young Cole, don’t worry. Your season is now officially over. There is no way in Queens, NY, hell that you will will take the mound again after making those statements.

Hamels again failed to get out of the fifth inning and was unable to shake off any mistakes; he also still can’t locate his curveball. Last year’s playoff MVP has become a two-pitch thrower, and that won’t get it done at the big league level, and certainly not in the playoffs.

Hamels cruised through the first three innings. Then, as has been the case all year, he was unable to shake off his mistakes and went from Cole 2008 to Cole 2009 in a matter of seconds. First, he surrendered a two-run shot to A-Roid in the first instant replay revew in postseason history.

The next inning, he completely unraveled and allowed three more runs before getting the hook. His final line for the night: 4.1 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs and a 10.38 ERA.

The Phils were never able to recover even though Jason Werth tried to carry the offense with two homers, including a massive bomb in the sixth inning. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley again forgot to bring their bats to the ballpark.

As for Cole, he should absolutely be frustrated with his performance on Saturday and throughout the year. He should want a fresh start.

However, save those comments until the season is over. While fans should appreciate the honesty to a degree, the Phils are still fighting to defend their World Series Championship and are only down one game. Unfortunately, in this situation, you need to be politically correct. The team doesn’t need to hear its supposed front-line pitcher give up right now.

Then again, Cole, you are now getting what you want; go home because you will not take the mound again this season.

“I hope I can win; I think I can win; I know I can win.”

Former Phils skipper Larry Bowa has said that players and teams go through those three phases on the way to becoming champions.

The Phillies need a confident Cole Hamels to take the mound tonight.

A year ago, Cole Hamels was an unquestioned ace, a World Series MVP, who knew he’d win every time he got the ball.

Today, Heidi’s husband has clearly regressed back to the “I hope I can win” stage. Following a very up-and-down regular season, Hamels has been putrid in the playoffs. He’s become Brett Myers circa July 2008.

In three starts this month, Hamels is 1-1 with an unsightly 6.75 ERA. He has yet to get out of the fifth inning in any postseason start.

That will not get it done. Not against a lineup with Jeter and A-Roid and Teixeira and Matsui and the rest of the newest Bronx Bombers. And, it certainly won’t get the job done when his counterpart is Andy Pettitte, the all-time winningest pitcher in postseason history who is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA this October.

The Phils need to hope Hamels has found his “I think I can win” persona entering tonight’s game, and that he gets off to a great start which propels his “I know I will win” self to come out of its shell.

A poor outing by Hamels could spell doom for not only Game 3, but the rest of the series. Going down 2 games to 1 is not an option.

Charlie Manuel misused his bullpen on Friday.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has seemingly pulled all the right strings during the postseason. Yesterday, he caused a critical mis-Happ with the way he used his pitching staff, specifically JA Happ.

Happ was one of the team’s most consistent starting pitchers all year long. The rookie-of-the-year candidate posted a 12-3 record and 2.93 ERA in 35 games, including 23 starts. He also had experience as a reliever, and Manuel mistakenly leaned on “Happ the reliever” yesterday.

Happ started the season in the bullpen, before replacing Chan Ho Park in the rotation. That move benefited both players, as Park thrived when pitching in relief. He was a disaster as a starter.

Although Happ pitched virtually lights out as a starter, Manuel was forced to make him available in the bullpen because the Phillies relievers have been ravished by injury.

In the eighth inning of Friday’s game, Uncle Charlie trudged his way to the mound to hand the ball to Happ with the score knotted at 1 and the bases juiced more than Barry Bonds in a BALCO lab. The problem is, Happ has not come into games in pressure-filled situations much this year, and definitely not in the last four months.

Bringing a young pitcher into a pressure-cooker when he’s generally been starting innings with nobody on base was asking for trouble.

Happ can bail himself out of jams he creates. He doesn’t have a large frame-of-reference for bailing the team out of situations other people create. He’s not a Scott Eyre or JC Romero. He’s not a Brad Lidge circa 2008.

Uncle Charlie put Happ in a situation for which he was ill prepared. Doing that in a postseason game with a commanding 2-0 series lead on the line was not one of the manager’s finest moves.

Phillies pitcher JA Happ, seen here earlier this year, walked in the winning run on Friday.

With no margin for error, Happ proceeded to walk in the winning run.

The fact is, Happ has not been able to get settled into a role this postseason. Obviously, he needs to be available as a reliever because he is the best option of the Phillies five starters. However, Manuel can’t decide what to do with his young gun.

Against Colorado, Happ pitched in relief in Game 2, then started Game 3. This series, he’s now had to come in as a reliever in each of the first two games. He needs to know his role because preparing as a reliever and starter are very different.

He’s not as finicky as Cole Hamels. However, he’s also not able to go with the flow like a Randy Johnson either.

Manuel has pushed the right buttons for most of the postseason. Yesterday, however, was a huge mis-Happ that cost the Phillies the game and sent both teams back to Philadelphia with the NLCS tied at one game each.

Manuel, Happ and the Phillies will look to rebound in Game 3 on Sunday night.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel might want to add Mother Nature to his holiday card mailing list.

According to David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News, pitcher JA Happ will start Sunday night’s NLDS Game 3 instead of Pedro Martinez.

JA Happ will now start for the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLDS on Sunday night.

Martinez had been scheduled to start Saturday night, however that game was postponed due to snow and extremely cold temperatures. He was the only Phillies starter with full rest after Uncle Charlie used both Happ and Joe Blanton in relief of Cole Hamels on Thursday.

Now, Happ can throw on Sunday, likely followed by Cliff Lee on Monday.

Mother Nature has handed the pitching advantage over to the Phillies since the Rockies batted just .210 against lefties this season.

If needed, lefty Cole Hamels could get a chance to redeem himself in a Game 5 on Tuesday. Otherwise, he’ll likely get Game 1 of the NLCS against the winner of the Dodgers-Cardinals series, which could be decided later today.

Uncle Charlie’s decision to use both Joe Blanton and JA Happ in Thursday’s 5-4 loss to the Rockies may turn the Phillies manager from Dallas Green into Grady Little overnight.

Pedro Martinez gets the start in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Pedro Martinez now must start on Saturday night in a game that the Phillies need to win. Blanton and Happ have both been among the team’s most consistent pitchers all season. In limited time with the Phillies, Martinez has shown flashes of both his old Cy Young self and the pitcher who spent the last three years in New York playing for his daddy’s stepson — the Chokers Mets.

Now, with the NLDS knotted at 1-1, Pedro will take the mound on Saturday when temperature is projected to be in the 20s and snow showers are predicted to infiltrate Coors Field.

Martinez hasn’t pitched deep into a game in nearly three weeks due to a stiff neck. Let’s hope he doesn’t reaggravate the injury because of jerking around to watch balls flying over the wall in the cold Colorado night.

Pedro, who won a World Series with Boston in 2004, is capable of pitching in high pressure, playoff situations. However, the guy can’t go more than 100 pitches anymore. His last outing came over a week ago, when he tossed 84 pitches in four innings.

With so many questions in the Phils bullpen, how can you send Pedro out in Game 3 with the series tied at one game each, especially when you know he won’t go more than six innings at most?

Of course, the six innings assumes he doesn’t hurt his neck or pull something else in such cold whether. The training staff better have some stretching planned between innings.

Do you really want the possibility of going to your long relief guys? If you had confidence in them in the first place, would Pedro even be pitching on Saturday? Or, would you have been able to save Blanton or Happ for that game?

Uncle Charlie really is banking his reputation on Pedro right now. If this doesn’t turn out well, his yearlong love affair with Philadelphia could be over by early Monday morning.