Saturday Games in Monday Papers

2 things. First off, if the game hasn't appeared anywhere else, run it like it happened on Sunday and use a staff report. Anything taken over the phone, that wasn't in one of your competitors, probably is still news. That is with prep coverage of course.

Anything staff generated with a byline should be forward looking. The game and score are important, but if you include a 2 out single in the fourth, or a long TD run, I may come and kill you.

As far as writing, you got to go by what it means. Covering a major college beat is difficult. You have to write a true follow and take an angle that no one else does. You have to be original and go further into the story. If you don't, people won't read it.

I always get chided by the AMs about being a PM, but 9 times out of 10, I wish I had a hard deadline where I could just write 15 inches of straightforward garbage.

Seriously, I don't think many AM writers appreciate how difficult it is to craft a PM story. You can't write straightforward nuts and bolts. I have done both. You have more time on a PM, but you also have more pressure. It always has to be the best story out there.