Writing ledes/gamers from games watched on TV

We have done this with one of the state universities.

When the team is either (1) on the road or (2) we have too many local events to send a guy 100 miles to their home game.

We only get 8-10 inches from AP (on a good day). Our guy can take the AP stuff, add in some game details and maybe a quote or two off the radio postgame or the SID postgame news release to make a better story. We can even localize it if one of the local kids makes a key play.

Not ideal, but there is no way management would pay to either (1) hire a stringer or (2) send someone to a regular-season road game.

We don't byline it. We just use "From staff and wire reports".

Sometimes we can send someone to the home games, depending on how much else is going on that day. But it pretty much takes a whole day's shift to drive there, cover the game, write the story and drive back. That leaves one fewer person in the office to deal with the phoners, roundups and other Saturday stuff.