Decisions, decisions

The only thing worse than track is field. Go to the soccer. It's a once in a lifetime event for those kids. You can always do a phoner on the track or maybe swing by there and pick up results without OT being an issue.

 

And what's the SE doing through all this? If you're at a paper covering regional high school sports, the SE probably has to write. So... what's the SE writing about for Saturday that precludes these two regionals?

 

That's his call. Maybe he really wants to be there.

 

Soccer sucks. But the game is bigger, go there.

 

What's your problem here?

Even assuming worst-case where soccer goes to PKs, you're still going to get done in plenty of time to make it to track before the end of the meet, if finals don't start until 6:30.

As someone else said, all you really need is to get w/the meet officials, look at the results sheet, pick out a couple of the best performers for a quick interview, maybe get Nearby High's coach to make a general comment and, voila!, solid 12-14-inch track gamer.

Of course, you could move to Mississippi and be secure in the knowledge that all of your preps are done for the school year. <rim-shot>

 

WFW. Soccer games shouldn't take more than an hour and a half, maybe 100 minutes. 45 minute drive after interviews, you're looking at getting to the track meet by 7.

No problems.

 

Soccer is the bigger deal, it sounds, so I'd be there.

However, can you contact the meet director and get the track results sent to you that night? Maybe when you get back to file your soccer gamer, you can check the e-mail or fax (coolrunning.com?) and find your results that way, then make some calls to the coaches and write the story like that. It's not ideal, but it will allow you to get both in the paper.

I don't think the track parents would mind as long as something is in the paper.

 

Hire a stringer and pay him/her $50 for the soccer game.

 

Go to the soccer game. The track meet will run long. Compiling results will take even longer. You will have time to write your soccer story while you're waiting for the track meet to end.

 

Can you get in trouble for not being at soccer? No.
Can you get in trouble for not being at track? Yes.

Whatever you or I or anyone else thinks is the bigger story isn't important. Your first job is the track met because that's what you've been told by your boss.

What if there's an injury that makes the game run really long? What if there's bad traffic or you have car trouble on that 45-minute drive to or from the game? What if track starts early or ends early because of the organizers switching things around (it's happened to me)?

Too many variables. Focus on track, then you and the SE and whoever figure our how best to handle soccer, depending on the result.

 

Meat, I think he could do both of them and please his boss. You are right, pleasing the boss is the first order of business but he could catch the second half of the soccer match and then hit the track meet without breaking a sweat.

 

If SE says track is your assignment, that's exactly what you need to focus on.

But it does sound like soccer is the real story.