In house LONGform from the Bucs

[Double Down]

If you think magazine writers of this generation need an editor, I present to you "First 100 Days" a longform story done by the Tampa Bay Bucs in house media that is (not a joke) 32,000 words long.

http://www.buccaneers.com/longform/first100days/

I suppose if you think your fanbase wants this, go for it. But good lord. Even David Foster Wallace would find this excessive.

(No I did not read it.)

 

[Steak Snabler]

And the author's name is Scott Smith. Obvious nepotism.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Disgusted with the length, but it is interesting even the house organs are willing to sell longform.
You know, when the Tampa Bay Bucs start serving it for dinner, maybe it ain't so kewl anymore.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I doubt this becomes the norm anywhere.

It almost seems like an excuse to get the new head coach comfortable with the writer by getting them to hang out for a bit and to have the writer fellate the coach in print.

 

[reformedhack]

Give them credit for trying something different than the usual press releases, but it was, to quote the late Casey Kasem, "ponderous, man ... ****ing ponderous."

I bailed after about 20,000 words ... and honestly started skimming after about 10,000. Way too long. Which is saying something, considering I worked in the magazine business.

This could have benefitted from a good editor. Thankfully, this wasn't exactly a case of a writer masturbating in print — the story wasn't showy, just over-documented. But it was a perfect example of why professional editors — as opposed to proofreaders — still serve a critical function. Since self-control clearly had taken a vacation, someone should have been there to rein it in.

Of course, when the writer is on the team's payroll, which colleague on the PR staff is really going to tell him "no"?

 

[The Basement]

Reformedhack got to some of this as I was typing, but I too got through half of it when the lack of editing finally overwhelmed me. That, and the structure, just made it unbearable by chapter seven. That, and the fact that by that point the only quoted source was Smith bothered me. I get it's about his first 100 days - but all these other characters were introduced and there was nothing in there, quoted or inferred (to me), that the author talked to anyone else about this. I tried to put aside any biases about a team employee getting such "access" to an NFL head coach (which is a whole other thing) but frankly it just wasn't any good. As we've seen in newspapers/magazines/websites, anyone can try #longform - but without editors, it can be bad, as this was.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Will there be an update on the "Second 100 days," if/when the Bucs are 2-4 going into their bye week?

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Yeah, short of Lovie turning the Bucs into a SB contender (possible, but not likely) this may be the only chance you have to write a story like this on a coach. That doesn't excuse the 32,000 words.

Using the 12 inches = 400 words formula, this is 960 inches.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

A snip-snip here and a tuck-tuck there, and a few tra-la-las, and I could make it semi-readable.
Maybe the reader wouldn't fall asleep until the second "chapter."

 

[SFIND]

I don't think Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' is that long.

 

[Double Down]

I know "Old Man and The Sea" is fewer words.

 

[reformedhack]

A friend of mine who just sold her first novel tells me that a typical full-length book (fiction) runs a minimum of 60,000 words. So there's your stat of perspective ... half a novel on the first 100 days for a new coach.

 

[Double Down]

100,000 words is roughly 300 pages of a book.

 

[93Devil]

That's a lot of data on one click. I guess breaking it up into parts would be too much to ask?

And some people will read it. Some.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The people who write these things do realize it's meant to be read, yes?

 

[93Devil]

The people who write these things do realize it's meant to be read, yes?

Every sports team has their cult following. ****, maybe it's only written for the owner to show off to friends.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

No, no. The point is these fking things are meant to be CONSUMED.
This isn't some zen abstraction for the writer.
It's not just this piece, either. Also that awful Tebow piece by one of the Longform Studs somebody posted, the one that painstakingly offered play-by-play of three-year-old games.

 

[Boom_70]

100,000 words is roughly 300 pages of a book.

Reformed's friend must write short books.

 

[reformedhack]

100,000 words is roughly 300 pages of a book.

Reformed's friend must write short books.

I did say it was a minimum, of course ... but 60,000 words would be roughly a 200-page book, which isn't *that* short.

 

[Double Down]

BTW, the 49ers put out their own LONGFORM! piece today. I'd link it, but I don't care enough to go looking. Maybe LTL can read it and report back.