DAMMIT, AP...

[shotglass]

Our final edition floor time was 12:35. Needed one of those early quoteless sidebars to fill second baseball page.

At 12:30, I call New York and ask how soon we'd see one. The guy told me five minutes, I'd have it in hand.

At 12:42, I put in some early story and unloaded.

I STILL don't see a damn sidebar.

 

[crusoes]

They've spit the bit often in this series.

 

[DyePack]

HE ...

Agh, I'm going soft. I can't do it.

 

[silvercharm]

Our final edition floor time was 12:35. Needed one of those early quoteless sidebars to fill second baseball page.

At 12:30, I call New York and ask how soon we'd see one. The guy told me five minutes, I'd have it in hand.

12:30? 12:30? when is that? about 90 minutes later than we're ever allowed to be off the floor. Sometimes, it's even 10. I'd kill for midnight off the floor.

 

[JBHawkEye]

Finally got a sidebar. But it was too late, the inside page was done.

 

[shotglass]

HE ...

Agh, I'm going soft. I can't do it.

Appreciated ... in my state of disgust, I couldn't have taken it well.

 

[sartrean]

Well it's a good thing so many papers are still working on the old press deadlines. You know, there's a cornucopia of Americans out there (maybe canadians, too) that need that newsprint to wrap up their dishes while packing up for the big move.

 

[EStreetJoe]

We used to have deadlines of 1130, 12 and 1. Now due to having another paper print (and paginate) the paper (shared production to save money) our final deadline is 11 (we were allowed to move it back later during the World Series).

 

[MileHigh]

With so much circulation loss, you'd think deadlines would be better because we have to print fewer papers.

 

[BillyT]

I have a good friend in Albany, NY, and I visit maybe every third weekend.

I like the Albany Times-Union a lot. Good paper in general. Strong local sports section.

But (and I assume it's because they put out a huge Saturday paper complete with all the Sunday stuffs), their Friday night deadline is ridiculously early (at least for the area I get the paper in), that all they have on Friday night football (playoffs this week in fact) are photos and bare scores.

It's frustrating because I read these great advances on Friday night, but cannot read the gamers.

 

[Angola!]

With so much circulation loss, you'd think deadlines would be better because we have to print fewer papers.

With so much technology advancement, you'd think deadlines would be later because papers could print faster.

You are assuming that pressmen and mailroom personnel could actually do their jobs and not be crackheads that often miss work, are arrested or quit.

 

[shotglass]

In 1983, I was a one-man sports desk, working with composing room guys, everything paste-up. Our final edition was 1:45 a.m.

Today, we are a five-man desk, fully paginated, pages go directly to the RIP from our fingers. Our final edition is 12:35 a.m.

And sadly, I even know the reason for it.

 

[HeinekenMan]

I'm always tickled when I file at 10:45 p.m. and hear the paper hit the porch at 2 a.m. I live 30 minutes from the press. So that's impressive. But I often question why the entire sports department is busting ass to get the paper out when everybody's going to be snoozing at that time of day. I suppose there are legitimate reasons, and I assume this is a battle that sports guys and gals have been fighting for eons.

 

[DyePack]

I still remember coming back from the bars once, collapsing into a chair and hearing the paper land outside the door at 3:45 a.m. So I read it.

The next morning/afternoon, I woke up. It was such a disappointment to know I'd already read the paper.

 

[shotglass]

The death of the 13-year-old paperboy killed the late deadline. Now, you've got "professional" delivery people who are using it as a second income. And if you don't have the paper in their hands by 2:30 so they can be done by 5:30 and get to their day job, they aren't going to work for you.

 

[DyePack]

I used to deliver the morning paper. This time of year, it was a great time to smash pumpkins.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I used to deliver the morning paper. This time of year, it was a great time to smash pumpkins.

This dude abides:

 

[HeinekenMan]

I used to deliver the morning paper. This time of year, it was a great time to smash pumpkins.

Yes. I loved smashing pumpkins during the few times that I accompanied my neighbor friend on his route. But he didn't have the same gusto for the sport and requested that I quit doing it.

 

[DyePack]

The fear of being caught and fired from the first job ever eventually brought the morning smashings to a halt.

The other smashings stopped after the time I somehow managed to pick up a Whitlock-sized pumpkin. The release was more of a simple letting-go than an actual smash.

The pumpkin itself was undamaged, but the wooden porch it landed on was not. After that, I retired from the sport.

 

[MC Sports Guy]

We started a new football Friday template this year w/ expanded coverage, and on the first Friday night we were horribly late. Probably at least 45 minutes. I talked to some guy I know who delivers the papers, and he said the papers arrived at our office (we print off-site) earlier than he'd ever seen them there on a Saturday. It was then that I realized it makes no damn difference what time we get done. It's all about the mail room and press operators.