So, AP ...

Been doing it that way for 26 years --- at least until this year, when Tribune "modules" took care of the roundups (See a mistake? Too bad! Can't fix it.).

The only reason I can ever see for using capsules is if you are slammed all night and have to begin putting your roundup together 5 minutes before deadline.

 

I'll admit, Tribune modules are making it easier for me to read the paper. I just skip 'em all.

With all respect to the national notes guys who are showing up in my local Sunday sports section instead of guys from this paper, sorry; that's just not part of the Sunday rotation anymore. And not a knock on those national guys, just not my interest.

 

Exactly what I wrote, and exactly what I did. Thanks for the idea, though.

I simply prefer the capsules - less editing - and rare is the night at least a first run hasn't moved by midnight Central.
I was more expressing surprise - even asked the question to see if other people saw the same thing, wondering if it was just an issue with our wire. And I had a comfortable amount of time to do so.

Thanks for your concern, though. It's touching.

 

Wis, your Earl Warren quote certainly isn't as true today as it was in 1968.

 

You know, I've had that same thought, sadly. Maybe it's time for a change.

 

Seriously, if you're doing a roundup, grab the ledes or even the AP News Now ledes and edit your own capsules. You know the capsules move later, and usually AP waits to send several together. So you're playing with fire if you delay like that. Only time I use capsules is for day games.

 

Among the things I don't miss about playing newspaper: Refreshing the wire every 10 seconds to build my roundup.

 

lone star: Maybe it's because our deadline is much later than most a.m. dailies (press doesn't roll until 1 a.m.), but I wait for the capsules almost every single night, and so, I believe, do my colleagues.

If you've got the time, and we do, it's just quicker/less editing. So I prefer the capsules, and 99 percent of the time it's no problem waiting for them.

 

IMO, if you've got the time, that's all the more reason to create a unique roundup from the game stories. Many times a unique fact or quote is buried in the game stories that will give the reader more than the "Cole Hamels pitched 7 strong innings, and Ryan Howard hit his 38th home run . . . " that he can already get from the box score.

 

I should clarify. What I mean by "we have the time," is we have a later press start than the average bear, so we don't have to start tackling the roundups at 9 p.m. just to get them in the paper.

That doesn't mean that, from 9-11 p.m., we're sitting around playing canasta. Pushing off the capsules enables us to perform one of our other many duties.

 

Not exactly what youo wrote:

You were bitching about it and you know it. You could have been done by 11:45 if you grabbed the ledes as they moved.

 

This time around, I didn't even wait for the optional of the glorious Rangers victory. Even though the game ended at the same time as last night. I capitulated and just let the AP give our readers the direct FU.