Sports editor: Your day

Hey, I see what you're saying. But I'm saying it's not that easy everywhere. Sad, but true.

 

EVERYONE,

Thanks for the responses. You are all in the same boat as I am. With everything else I do have to do with preps and a JUCO, I really don't have time to go to a grade school. Unfortunately, grade school is part of our coverage, and I knew that when I signed on with the job. That being said, that was when we had two sports writers. I've spoken with the bosses and they just give me the run around about hiring another reporter.

Basically, my ME emailed me and said that the other paper in town is sending people there and he's getting tired of hearing people in town talk about how great they're coverage is. The problem with that is, their paper has about five sports reports.

I wasn't really trying to complain about this, it was just part of my day. I do realize that there are probably plenty more people on here who see their family less.

 

Serious on the fax and laptop, though.

Don't just accept faxes unless that's the only way coaches can send them.

And if you don't have a laptop supplied by the company, you need to twist one out of them.

I am surprised that a paper with five sports writers would cover grade school baseball, though.

 

At one of my stops, we had a preps editor, who would tell every coach "You don't email the boxes, we don't put it in the paper. And if a parent complains to us about it not making the paper, I'm telling them that you're the reason why."

The staff loved him for it and the coaches complied at a ridiculously high rate.

 

Those coaches must actually care about getting their stuff in the paper. I just don't get these people sometimes. It's as if they'd be happier if we DIDN'T cover their teams. I've never been around a group of prep coaches like the ones we have here. Just incredible. I feel bad for my SE for having to deal with stupid phone calls every day.

 

I got to say: It was the grade school state semifinals, so it wasn't exactly a local regular-season game.

And: I love you guys, but one of the things I find amusing about this site is when people at other papers, in other markets, a lot of them presumably bigger, tell an editor in a small-town market what should or should not be important to his or her readership.

Maybe it's one of the most important things in town; maybe every single kid in town plays grade school baseball.

I'm not saying that's the case; I'm saying sometimes our assumptions, based on where WE happen to be, might be just a tad off of reality for that particular sports editor.

 

Absolutely. I have to wonder how many people outside those with kids playing actually give a hoot about grade school sports. You'd think high schools and JUCO would draw more eyeballs ... but that's what I get for thinking. Of course, I also wonder about a shop with a 5-man crew doing that, too. Can't help but think there's a lot more they could be doing with their time and resources.

A full school year with that kind of workload is not advisable. If TPTB aren't willing to help you, you need to be pickier about how you spend your time, lest you end up completely burned out by February.

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SFEx: That's a fair point. If elementary school baseball is, in fact, that important, then something else needs to go. That's not a workload a one-man show can (healthily) keep up for any length of time.

 

Ditto.

 

Thank you.

Some of the "experts" here would get laughed out of his job if they went in with preconceived notions of what's important to readers.

 

Speaking of which, here's what the esteemed Joe Williams thinks SE's do. Take notes, IllinoisSportsEditor, because he's the expert!

Nothing like painting everyone with a broad brush.

 

Good point, Bubbler. That's way off base in my experience.

Sure, all that stuff is true, but I also have to clean the urinals on Wednesdays.