Dealing with early deadline

[MightyMouse]

OK, so for reasons beyond the control of anyone in the newsroom, we have been saddled with ridiculous deadlines. I'm talking 10 p.m. deadline on a Friday night when we have a schedule full of 7 and 7:30 basketball games.

This is not me whining or venting, but rather really trying to figure out how we can cover a game that gets over 10 to 15 minutes before deadline.

Is anyone else out there dealing with a similar problem, and how did you address it? There has to be a better answer than, "Well, we just won't cover any games that night."

Obviously, you can't cover a game in that situation the same way you usually would, but is there an alternative out there that I'm not seeing?

 

[zebracoy]

Submit a running gamer after the third quarter, top it when it's final and either e-mail quotes or write through.

 

[JRoyal]

Write a feature from the game, then throw in the final score and a couple of graphs on the game when it's over. Write a full-blown game story for the Web, and run a key in withe the feature in print to the Web game story.

 

[DanOregon]

I assume you work at a daily. You can't do what you can't do. Use bare results and maybe a graph or two for the Saturday and do a more featureish game story for Sunday with complete scores and standings and a look ahead to the next week. Just make sure you have the space and the supervisors know how you are going to handle it.
Who knows - it might be fun to take some time and talk with a player or coach after a game when things have quieted down and you aren't sweating the clock so much.
I always wanted to write a story about a high school football player knowing he was playing his last game, taking off the pads and helmet for the last time. It's not like baseball or basketball where there are rec leagues.
But no - I had a deadline to meet and had to bust my ass back to the office, composing the story in my head, hoping I had the stats right etc.
Another thought - a lot of teams computerize a lot of their stats etc. Maybe they could e-mail them to the office as soon as the game ends.

 

[MightyMouse]

I assume you work at a daily. You can't do what you can't do. Use bare results and maybe a graph or two for the Saturday and do a more featureish game story for Sunday with complete scores and standings and a look ahead to the next week. Just make sure you have the space and the supervisors know how you are going to handle it.
Who knows - it might be fun to take some time and talk with a player or coach after a game when things have quieted down and you aren't sweating the clock so much.
I always wanted to write a story about a high school football player knowing he was playing his last game, taking off the pads and helmet for the last time. It's not like baseball or basketball where there are rec leagues.
But no - I had a deadline to meet and had to bust my ass back to the office, composing the story in my head, hoping I had the stats right etc.
Another thought - a lot of teams computerize a lot of their stats etc. Maybe they could e-mail them to the office as soon as the game ends.

Actually, we're on an e-mail-only system for high school results, and we have a number of coaches who refuse to comply, though that's a thread for another day.

But the second-day story is not a bad idea. I can't count the number of times I've heard the reporter lament, "Oh, I meant to ask him/her that, but I was rushed and forgot." A recap (a brief recap) and a look ahead would alleviate some of that.

I appreciate the input, folks. Thanks.