So, what does your sports editor do for a living?

Much the same here, which I think is a great thing to do. Surround yourself with people you trust, then delegate.

 

not a damn thing!

 

Mine works as hard as anyone at the paper, so I have no complaints. He writes, designs, edits, and deals with a bunch of management stuff that I'm glad I don't have to worry about.

He's also the first SE I've ever had about whom I can write such nice things.

 

maybe he should think about taking some phone calls.

 

naw, probably be some fucktard who's calling to ruin his day.

 

Those are some interesting responses and some very depressing responses. I'm guessing that depressing will win out. :-[

 

My old one talked about food and downloaded college fight songs all day. And I am deadly serious.

 

Readers don't bother him too much. It's the section. Employees can put out a good section without him worrying so damn much.

The guy is good, and the section is good.

His problem is having no life outside of work.

 

I know there are some shitty sports eds out there. I also know there is a lot of administrative bullshit that a lot of writers and deskers have no clue about.
It's why some guys are in the office at 10 a.m. and aren't leaving until close to midnight a lot of days.
In my experience, there's a ton of meetings to go to, and occasionally taking up for a staff to a management team that really doesn't understand the sports department.

Management: why didn't we get little johnny's t-ball game in?
Sports Ed: they didn't call until 11:30 when the game was over at 5.
Management: can you call this lady and explain that to her?

management: There's a manager's meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss enterprise story's for the next three months. Come with all of your ideas and a plan.
Sports Ed: yessir boss.

Management: you seem to be doing fine since you lost your desker. Is it absolutely necessary to fill that job?
Sports ed: yessir boss, and here's why.
Management (an hour later): so you really need that guy, huh? But advertising is having a terrible month. Maybe we can hold off on that for a while. Oh, and no overtime, either.
Sports ed, while bending over: yessir boss.

 

Point being?

 

You know, God love the guys who do this, but I never believed in it. Perhaps it's innate laziness, or perhaps it's healthy, but unless there was something unusual going on, I tried to keep my workday to 8-9-10 hours (10 being extreme for me). I say this without apology; fortunately, my job philosophy dovetails neatly with my desire to be out having fun.

For one thing, it's better for the sports editor to not be killing him or herself like that. But I think it's better for the staff, too. It means that the sports editor is delegating (because if he does everything, he's going to need those 14 hours), and that people are being given important responsibilities. And it also means the sports editor isn't going to be hovering around and micromanaging and sticking his hands into everything thing as the paper gets put out.

Finally, modern technology has made this easier. Because if the SE feels he has to be reachable, that's what cells and fax machines are for. He can go out and have a life and still be in touch in an instant if need be.

 

You sure we don't work at the same place?