Get off my field!!!

[93Devil]

Obviously you have been covering Little League baseball with a Liberal slant.

 

[Rhody31]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

 

[JoJo]

We had a 10-year-old baseball team and a 12-year-old baseball team at their respective state tournaments last week, but I stayed around town to cover two state tournaments for high school summer league teams.

I got daily reports from those little league teams and the call I received Thursday said the 12-year-old team was undefeated in the tournament and a win away from the championship. Never heard from that parent again. I heard from another person Saturday that the team had lost twice in the final round of the double-elimination tourney. Typical stuff really.

I hate little league.

 

[slappy4428]

There is no reason to cover little league baseball. Not now. Not with year-round sports like golf, tennis, swimming, baseball and softball to cover. Maybe there was a time it made sense, but it has passed. The only people who care about little league baseball are the parents who have kids on the team. Maybe some extended family, but that's it. It doesn't sell papers and it generates minimal interest.
As for other sports, I have been able to write stories on a summer high school baseball league, not American Legion, thank goodness, USGA and AJGA golf tournaments with high school kids, and auto racing on teenagers racing in Bandeleros and late model stock cars.
There are plenty of other things to cover instead of little league baseball over the summer.
Get off my field? How about get out of my newspaper.

Love every word of this post, but if your CEO thinks you should cover Little League baseball, well, it doesn't matter what you think.

How would you know? :D

 

[crusoes]

My nephew is going to play in an AAU national basketball tournament tomorrow. I think I might ask his parents if they're going to call their local paper with the scores.

 

[Stitch]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

A 45 minute drive gets you halfway to the nearest Legion opponent in my neck of the woods.

 

[steveu]

We only do Little League coverage once the all-star round finals start up for each age bracket. We'll follow each local team through the state meet and regionals and any World Series they may get to... we also have a Big League girls team that's been a perennial fixture at that WS since 2001. People do follow it in my area, but they also understand our limitations.

I'd also wonder what was done to **** off this administrator. Obviously if he's got a bug up his ass, then yeah, any parent calls to the paper get directed right to him.

 

[HanSenSE]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

Not just state size, but logistics as well. Gotta squeeze in a vacation sometime before football starts, right? That cuts the number of people in the sports department in half.

 

[Rhody31]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

Not just state size, but logistics as well. Gotta squeeze in a vacation sometime before football starts, right? That cuts the number of people in the sports department in half.

No overtime?
We're a two-man shop (with some help here and there from our sister paper) but with schieza on vacation, they've allowed me whatever overtime I've needed to make up for not having an extra guy. I took Friday and Saturday off, worked 3 hours today and finished at a tidy 50 hours for the week.
Again, it's way easier for me to cover things because I only have 30-minute drives (which is rare) to go to games. I guess it's a lot easier to fill a 40-hour week when you have a two-hour drive one way to a game and two hours back.

 

[HanSenSE]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

Not just state size, but logistics as well. Gotta squeeze in a vacation sometime before football starts, right? That cuts the number of people in the sports department in half.

No overtime?
We're a two-man shop (with some help here and there from our sister paper) but with schieza on vacation, they've allowed me whatever overtime I've needed to make up for not having an extra guy. I took Friday and Saturday off, worked 3 hours today and finished at a tidy 50 hours for the week.
Again, it's way easier for me to cover things because I only have 30-minute drives (which is rare) to go to games. I guess it's a lot easier to fill a 40-hour week when you have a two-hour drive one way to a game and two hours back.

Yep, there's OT in the budget, but not a lot for travel. We did get some info from a sister paper in that area, so we've got some coverage, which is much better than none!

 

[flexmaster33]

I disagree with the anti-Little League coverage...I see far more people at those tournaments than I do at any legion games I cover. When our area hosts the state tourney, we are asked multiple times where out of towners can pick up copies...there is definitely a following for this stuff.

Sounds like our reporter talked with the umpire about being on the field and the ump said he would talk with the admin...they talked and didn't say anything to our reporter, to he thought he was clear to be off in foul territory...until he actually set up there and was yelled at from the top of the press box no less.

I'm going out tonight to attempt the championship round, so we'll see how that goes.

But yes, sometimes you have to shoot through the fence holes...just would have been nice if they could have communicated that to us without embarrassing our reporter.

 

[Ace]

Little League/Babe Ruth is a big deal when it gets to district/state.

The kids are representing their town or neighborhood, unlike AAU teams and all that rot.

 

[HanSenSE]

I disagree with the anti-Little League coverage...I see far more people at those tournaments than I do at any legion games I cover. When our area hosts the state tourney, we are asked multiple times where out of towners can pick up copies...there is definitely a following for this stuff.

Sounds like our reporter talked with the umpire about being on the field and the ump said he would talk with the admin...they talked and didn't say anything to our reporter, to he thought he was clear to be off in foul territory...until he actually set up there and was yelled at from the top of the press box no less.

I'm going out tonight to attempt the championship round, so we'll see how that goes.

But yes, sometimes you have to shoot through the fence holes...just would have been nice if they could have communicated that to us without embarrassing our reporter.

Why do I see someone who goes home after the game and brags to his wife/kids/buddies about putting that "damn liberal media" in its place?

 

[flexmaster33]

Asked the admin his side of the story tonight...pretty much the same as what I had described. I talked with him after the game, and he did mention that he preferred that photos were taken only between innings and such...I informed him that I had just shot the entire game and it didn't seem to traumatize anyone :)

I guess he's ignoring all the parents holding up their cell phones from the bleachers.

Oh well, this league hosts only once every 6 or 7 years, so no worries for awhile.

 

[slappy4428]

Asked the admin his side of the story tonight...pretty much the same as what I had described. I talked with him after the game, and he did mention that he preferred that photos were taken only between innings and such..

Cause you know, that's when all the action is...

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Asked the admin his side of the story tonight...pretty much the same as what I had described. I talked with him after the game, and he did mention that he preferred that photos were taken only between innings and such...I informed him that I had just shot the entire game and it didn't seem to traumatize anyone :)

I guess he's ignoring all the parents holding up their cell phones from the bleachers.

Oh well, this league hosts only once every 6 or 7 years, so no worries for awhile.

Between innings? What were you supposed to shoot, the kids on the bench picking their noses?

 

[Stitch]

Asked the admin his side of the story tonight...pretty much the same as what I had described. I talked with him after the game, and he did mention that he preferred that photos were taken only between innings and such...I informed him that I had just shot the entire game and it didn't seem to traumatize anyone :)

I guess he's ignoring all the parents holding up their cell phones from the bleachers.

Oh well, this league hosts only once every 6 or 7 years, so no worries for awhile.

Between innings? What were you supposed to shoot, the kids on the bench picking their noses?

I think some parents think that makes a good photo. It's better than them trying to shoot a picture of their kid playing outfield with a point-and-shoot.

 

[flexmaster33]

No, the parents think the shot is squeezing in with them after the game and getting that team photo with the banner and trophy in place and goofy faces on every kid. Now, that's the stuff!!!

Although I did just win a state award for a 2009 Little League shot of a kid celebrating a district field on his way off the field. :)

 

[BillyT]

It's funny reading some of the responses you guys put up about not being able to cover districts and states because I keep forgetting how big some of your states are. I live in the northern half of the state and our papers cover the southern half.
Today at the game - "way" up north - I heard a parent talking to another about taking the "long drive" to come see the game.
We're talking maybe 45 minutes - with lights and not going over the speed limit.
So I guess it's a little different for me to wonder why the rest of you aren't covering everything.

Rhody, dude, I grew up in Westerly. We packed for an overnight if we were making the long trip to Woonsocket or Bristol.

Over the bridge to Newport, forget about it.

Back in the 70s, our league was usually us, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, East Greenwich, Chariho, Coventry and West Warwick. There was no Exeter-West Greenwich at the time.

For those not familiar with southern RI geography, the two schools farthest apart -- us and West Warwick -- were maybe 45 minutes apart. Most "road trips" were 30 minutes max in school buses.

 

[BillyT]

Flex: Kudos to you for going back and for dealing with the guy!