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Sports Reporter - The Villages Daily Sun - The Villages, FL

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by nickfeely, Jul 24, 2019.

  1. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Looks like you misunderstood the ad's emphasis on pickleball and bowling.
     
    HanSenSE and RonClements like this.
  2. TGO157

    TGO157 Active Member

    Watch out for the high rates of STDs and golf-cart traffic jams.
     
  3. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    Nah, he's just trolling.
     
  4. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Isn't this the routine on all job announcements here, along with noobs posting they're throwing their hat in the ring? Job description and what's expected in the first post, and someone immediately asks in there will be coverage of CFP Tech or Nearby Proballers? Work hard and finding those pickleball stories, and you can push your way onto a college/pro beat. That's what you're there to cover.
     
    Zads07 and Waldo9939 like this.
  5. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    Rinse, wash and repeat. I've seen this time and time again. This one hotshot who was briefly in my neck of the woods, took a preps job but what he really wanted was to cover ACC sports. Preps weren't good enough for him. That attitude evenually cost him his job. A friend of mine who was the SE at that paper was telling me about a wrestling coach calling in to say they won the state championship. Preps guy had blown it off. And that was it for him.
     
  6. Tom Ato

    Tom Ato Member

    ^^^The above quote should be copied-and-pasted every time one of those queries about "covering nearby big college or pro teams" pops up on a thread for a high school beat writer position (or something similar).

    It's from a thread on another part of the board, but tip of the cap to HanSenSE for the stroke of genius.
     
  7. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Thanks, Tom. My first full-time gig in the business was at the Podunk Weekly, and naturally I figured "hey, Mid-Major State is an hour away, so I can cover them. And all the pro teams are just a couple of hours away too." But I soon found out the gig was Friday night football, and bowling agate, and, of course, explaining to Tennis Mom why I decided to cost little Brianna Backhand a scholarship by writing only 100 words on tennis and 500 on the football team's playoff victory.
     
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Preps, including girl's sports, were a big emphasis at the Herald, and we columnists were expected to do our share. I soon discovered two things. 1. Often great stories more interesting to me than the usual pro ESPN-speak. 2. The best and only way to approach a sports event is to recognize it's the biggest game in the world to the people in it. I am sure Villages pickleball is a hotbed of rivalries, rules disputes and bitter neighborhood arguments. Those are fun, even if the sport isn't.
     
    wicked and Batman like this.
  9. Sports Barf

    Sports Barf Well-Known Member

    Well said. This sounds like a great job, good luck to all those applying!
     
  10. Tom Ato

    Tom Ato Member

    If I had a dollar for every time over the years I've heard a parent accuse Sport X receiving more photos/longer stories than Sport Y (which their kid happens to play on), then ... I still would be a poor journalist. (Hey, gotta lean into the trope, right?)

    I will echo the thoughts of others on this thread, though: I think it's beneficial for any reporter to cut their teeth covering high school/recreation sports in their first job or two.

    Woj put it pretty nicely, I think:

     
  11. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

    Bill Simmons says "Fuck all that shit."
     
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