Covering HS football: from the press box or sidelines?

Press box, but mostly because I have always dealt with ridiculous deadlines, so I had to be writing running and keeping my stats up-to-date during the game.

 

Is your job the same as the head coach's?

 

I do both because I have to take pictures. If I didn't, my ass would be parked in the press box. Or on top of the press box.

 

And I disagree with both of these.
I'm not saying emotion isn't important, but I don't know if I'd call it the most important thing.
And I strongly disagree with the thought that you can't get a handle on the emotional flow of the game from the press box. If you're paying attention you can see everything from up there. Do I really need to hear the player yell or swear to know he's upset? Not if I'm paying attention and can see his body language, which is 100 times louder than words anyway.
Unless you've got the windows closed and your nose in your notes (there is a balance between keeping stats and seeing the game), you can decipher emotion from the press box as well.

 

In Maine, we have the legendary Bob McPhee ... staffer for the Lewiston Sun Journal ... has covered games for years ... from the sidelines ... from his wheelchair ... which he can't leave ... he's a quadraplegic ... oh, and did I mention that he can't speak? ... yet, with his touchpad (hammer clutched in his teeth), and with very understanding coaches and players, he manages to pound out stories ... on deadline ... rain, snow, shine ... Any time I feel like complaining about a little wind/rain/mud/congestion, I remember Bob ...

In this state, we have very few workable h.s. football pressboxes ... and none that I'm aware of with any access for the handicapped ... McPhee, if he wanted to, could put every high school out of business with an ADA complaint ... but complaining's not for him .... (how 'bout for you?) ...

 

Bully for Bob.
This thread is not about complaining. It's about whether you feel you are better served covering a game from the press box or sideline.
It has nothing to do with comfort.

 

I would say 90 percent of the leads I wrote came from something I saw from the sideline that I would not have noticed from the press box. What you notice from the sideline also helps you ask better questions to a player or a coach after the game.

I understand deadlines and blogs and calling in scores, but if it was not raining, I was on the sideline.

Watching from the press box seemed too much like watching it on TV. The sideline vantage point allowed me to describe what was going on so much better.

Not all playcallers sit in the pressbox, and I cannot think of one head coach who willingly sits in a pressbox.

 

The side-argument of emotion or, I suppose, play analysis comes down to your readership. If you're in Texas, you probably need to talk about how Podunk attacked Shitville's 4-3. If you're in Indiana, where football is a nine-week (regular season) fun & games show before basketball starts, the average reader just wants to read about kids.
Live blogging is an issue for me, but I downloaded the WordPress app for my iPhone and can now update from the sidelines. It's a bit rougher on me throughout the night (trying to peck out the details of the last scoring drive as the teams are lining up for the kickoff), but it's worth it for me.

 

You know, I just thought of something...

When you are on the line of scrimmage, do you walk perpendicular to the line of scrimmage or do you stand 10-15 yards behind the line of scrimmage? I would almost always stand either behind the QB or with the safeties.

 

THIS is why I'm up in the press box.

 

Why does this thread come up every few months?