Northern Arizona University football beat writer

Speaking as the one-time (moons ago) NAU football beat writer, it is most definitely OK that NAU plays indoors. It is remarkably easy to freeze one's bits off in the tall pines once you get into October and beyond.

As for the job, if you're young and unattached, give it a run. The money will be predictably awful, though you may get some minor flexibility based on the urgent need. If you can make that part work and you don't mind the usual summer routine of Little League and competitive equine dancing and such, it's a very good place to get your start. Flagstaff is one of my favorite places on Earth and I'd still live there if I could actually afford it.

 

PS -- Gabel had an NAU football byline as recently as the Saturday paper.

 

And the Lumberjacks play at Appy State in a couple weeks.

 

I was just going to post that.

 

Word on the street is Gabel took the opening in Reno.

 

That is true, but he be there until after the Appy State game I think.

 

From little Flag to not-as-little Reno ... but from Lee to Gannett ... I'm so torn between congratulations and condolences that my head hurts.

 

what's a house run in flagstaff?

 

No way you can afford a house while working at this paper unless you're the managing editor or publisher. You'll be lucky to live without a roommate on the salary they pay this position.

 

That being said, if you're just out of college or a couple of years out and can tolerate low pay (and it's a lot better than when I started there, FWIW, but it's still low) and a bit of a meddlesome M.E. (you better deal with the fact that you're going to write about running ... a lot), this is a good gig.

People have moved onto bigger and better things from this paper ... off the top of my head, Daily Sun alums have moved on to be:
* sports editor at a mid-sized paper in the northeast
* novelist/inspirational speaker
* basketball writer in Tokyo at the Japan Times
* accomplished golf writer
* college beat writer at a mid-sized daily who placed in APSE last year
* NFL writer at a suburban paper in Phoenix
* accomplished columnist at a mid-size paper in the Midwest
* humor columnist at the Dallas Morning News

So, you can go places from here. And Flagstaff is a fun town if you like live music and fresh microbrews. Also, a very good selection of local restaurants for a town its size. It's cold as hell in the winter, but there's no place on this earth I'd rather be in the summer than Flagstaff. 85 with no humidity and brilliant sunshine every day. Damn, I miss that.

 

Even better than Pocatello?

 

I'd rather get a 10-dollar BJ behind Nuttin But Horseplay in Myrtle Beach (if such a thing were to exist) than go back to Poky.