On the flip side of everything I write being terrible

I remembered why I do this job today.

So I make the two-hour trip for a state playoff basketball game, only the third time this team has ever reached states. I get there crazy early, catch and am bored by the first game. My game was amazing and had just about everything you could think of to make a great game.

After I get the interviews I quickly have to decide where to write and send from. I have my laptop and can send through my cell phone, but the battery on my laptop is old and sucks and I need to plug in. I decide to ascend to the third level of the gym, where the indoor track is, and see if I can find an outlet in a quiet corner. I find an empty hallway with an outlet and get to writing.

The third game was going on and had a huge crowd, filling my empty hallway with an insane echo of cheering every time something happened. I race to get the story done, coming up with something relatively quickly that is probably the best thing I've written in weeks, far better, I think, than the crap story that inspired my "terrible" thread.

Still running on the adrenaline, I go to send. Going through your cell phone is about the same as dial-up, loads just as slowly. I finally get to my hotmail and it doesn't load. I try a different e-mail account, doesn't work. After making "Fuck!" echo through my hallway, I try again. The second e-mail works but only after I give it new life because I haven't used it in so long, but my cell phone connection suddenly craps out.

While I redo the whole connection, I left the Web page open, trying to save time. When I get the connection back, it tells me I'm working offline. More cursing. I finally get it to work and my story's in. All that's left is the drive home.

That rush makes all the the typing of agate and previews and blowouts worth it.

 

Incidentally, CU, I heard your desk pulled the story for a zoned story, then forgot to put it back in for final edition.

*rim shot*

 

The key phrase to the entire two-thread CU saga:


I race to get the story done, coming up with something relatively quickly that is probably the best thing I've written in weeks,


Tells me that you are way over thinking everything you write. But when all you have time for is to react and write on instinct, what do you produce ... "probably the best thing I've written in weeks."

Moral of the story: Stop trying so hard and just let it flow.

 

This is one area where stress can be reduced. No matter the level (regular season or tournament) you should always call ahead to secure a spot to transmit. It's a potential headache or panic attack that can be quashed.

 

Let the game come to you.

 

Breathe through your eyelids.

 

Be the free throw.

 

Let it flow, let it flow

Let it blossom, let it grow

In the sun, the rain, the snow ...


(461 Ocean Boulevard still rocks)

 

Danny, I'm a veg.

 

I send through my cell phone when I have to and I've had the same thing happen several times. Drives me nuts.

 

air card, people

never fails

file from anywhere

 

I always have multiple options available.

I always check for a Wi-Fi connection first. If there's one available...great...if not I use cell phone. If cell phone doesn't work (this rarely happens), I bust out a telephone cable and try to send in ye olde method of our forefathers. If site media manager doesn't have an available line or decides to leave before you're finished, you ask the janitors to open some doors to offices. If that is not happening, I'm in the car driving to a populated area to find a Wi-Fi connection to steal.