How many different places have you gone to cover high school football?

I've probably covered football at about 40 different places over the last decade -- the farthest being a 3-hour drive.

I've probably covered basketball in about 100 different gymnasiums, including the two largest high school gymnasiums in the country, and the tiny gymnasium where the bulk of the movie "Hoosiers" was shot.

 

Since my province is so small, I have gone to 18 different places in the last four years. Some within walking distance, and some that were five-six hour drives.

 

Smallpots didn't get this treatment, but I remember a poster here noting how the Cape Cod Times used to fly him from Hyannis to Nantucket, in the same plane the refs used to hop over.

If you don't get on the expensive fast-ferry or fly, it's a couple-hour boat ride.

(Still want to do the Island Bowl; maybe this year, finally.)

 

Just started two weeks ago. My list is at 3.

 

28 in one state, two in another, 24 in this one... over 20 years

 

It was a state first round game in Idaho. There are only three rounds and it was the first time in the playoffs for a team in about 5 years. It was in November and the game was played in the panhandle of Idaho. To get there it would have been a 7-hour drive, cutting through Oregon and Washington (which would have involved crossing a major mountain pass) or driving on sketchy two-laners through mostly mountains up Idaho.
So, the paper flew me.
I think the only  reason they were down is because my parents lived in Spokane and the paper didn't have to pay for a hotel room or a rental car because my dad went to the game with me.
Actually, now that I think about it. The paper flew me up there two years in a row.
The best part of the first year's game was it was played in a crazy blizzard. There was no room in the press box so I walked the sidelines, keeping my notes in a giant zip lock bag. It snowed about 2 feet during the game and the team I was covering won in triple overtime on a half-back pass.
It was crazy.

The worst part was flying back it was crazy foggy in Boise and my plane circled for about 20 minutes before returning to Spokane because it was too dangerous to land. So, I had to get up and do it all over again in the morning. But it sure as hell beat driving 7 hours on snow-covered freeways/highways.

 

26 places in 9 years.

 

Great points. And don't forget having a little pocket cash to bribe the janitor with to let you stay in the press box until you file, which I had to do a couple of times. Not counting the time I offered this guy $10 to get off the phone at the Palm Springs Big Boy so I could use it.

I stopped counting last night at 74, in two states: California and New Mexico. I'm sure there's probably a couple I'm missing, considering I worked for four different SoCal papers.

Longest drive in California was 5 hours to Morro Bay for a divisional final, although the first CIF playoff game I covered was in El Centro, right by the California-Arizona-Mexico border. Longest drive in New Mexico was 3 1/2 hours to Carlsbad.

 

30, including NinetySix, SC. Bump it to 47 if you include baseball.

It was a while back. Toughest place to visit/play? North Augusta, right across the state line from James Brown and the Masters.

 

Just off the top of my head, I can recall 40 places. There may be a few more floating out there. Longest drive was about 3 1/2 -4 hours. St Marys, Ohio, middle of freakin' nowhere. Couple of other places like that as well for Ohio high school playoffs.

 

I've covered games at 55 different sites in Indiana, 14 (I think) in Wisconsin, and one each in Illinois and Ohio.

I'm certain I'm well into the 100s for basketball in Indiana alone. The state association used to send maps out to all of the newspapers, I snagged an old one and have map tacks up to show where I've been. There are very few south of Indy I haven't hit in some way and very few east of I-69 south of Fort Wayne either.

 

I'd say somewhere between 30 and 40. I never had to drive more than three hours to cover a game.