After admitting both he and Watson are hoping for a new owner, Alfredsson said the comment was off-the-record. Frankly, I was taken off guard. In the world of off-the-record, the terms of the interview are agreed upon before anything begins.
As a columnist, I[, Susan Sherring] go off-the-record all the time. It?s key to being a columnist, to get an understanding of what?s really going on, of hearing the truth without the person being interviewed in fear of being reported on. But you can?t change the rules of the game part way through an interview.
[...]
Then Watson said Alfredsson told him he didn?t know he was talking to a reporter. Well, that?s hard to believe. If Alfredsson, whom I?ve interviewed several times, didn?t know I was a reporter, why would he have suggested after the interview his comments were off the record?
