Local tournament vs. local team

I don't do much paginating, so I was curious what you thought should be given center package.

We have a state basketball tournament in town. A few area teams play in it but no local team.

There is also a team from a small school from our city playing at a different state tournament out of town. They have a good chance at playing for the championship.

Come championship day, what should be given top billing? Local tournament or local team?

 

I vote for local team, especially if there are two-non-local teams in the finals of the state tournament in your area.

More people will want to read about the local team than read about two schools from out of your area.

 

Definitely the local team.

 

Local team, without question.

 

Local team, unless the other state tournament is squash or team handball or something and you have top-notch college prospects in town playing in the state basketball tourney.

 

Even then it's still team.

 

I would have to think team would get the nod most of the time strictly on news value alone. Perhaps you'd go with the tournament if you had access to better art or if your organization was somehow involved in staging the event however.

 

But What If It's The SWAC Tournament?

 

I say local team, but what do you mean by area teams?
If you have teams in your coverage area playing for a state title in your town, you can make that the play with a top cross spread with some art for the local team.
That way, you can get the local team some nice play up top but still have area teams with local art as a nice centerpiece that is something happening in town as well.
Just a suggestion if you have a final that is truly teams inside your coverage area playing for the title.

 

local team...if you haven't got the message already

 

We had this very dilemma come up last month. The state girls wrestling tournament was in town, but there were no local competitors. On the same day, we had about a half-dozen basketball playoff game going on. It was a no-brainer. Sent a photog out to get a wild art package of the wrestling and covered basketball at night.

 

A dilemma is when you are faced with only bad choices -- such as having to run into the stalled station wagon ahead or drive into the ditch. Or having to pick one of the candidates in a typical Republican primary.

Unless you consider state girls wrestling and basketball playoffs both bad options (and you might well), then you would have been in a quandry.