Nail in the coffin

[villageidiot]

Perhaps you might consider finding one parent for each sport at your five schools. Surely you could find somebody that would be willing to work with you.

No offence, I hate this thinking. The more you get "outsiders/parents/vounteers" to do work, the more management doesn't think it needs PAID REPORTERS.

I'll gladly run the box scores and briefs if the coach, as per our agreement and working relationship, CALLS THEM IN.

If you get a parent to do it, they usually ramble on, get every kid's name in the paper, use cliches and thusly create MORE WORK for me and you.

Also, I don't know too many decently "paid reporters" sitting in the office waiting for the phone to ring with prep scores and stats. Is this the job of a reporter? We've got part-timers and agate clerks for that, not "paid reporters."

20K, decent size city, six schools. We (the two sports reporters, one sports editor - all 40-hour weeks) have to do it all.

OK, I see where you are coming from now. With six schools, it would be best to have good working relationships with the coaches. At least you are not bitching about not being able to get the task done, like the guy on here who has only five schools to deal with.

 

[goalmouth]

At Dorf, where we moved countless high school game capsules on a busy night, a co-worker once ended a baseball recap with "...and that was the whole can of corn," just to see who'd notice. No one did.

 

[Boom_70]

Wonder how she feels about the coffin corner kick.

 

[shotglass]

No cliches. Period.

Wouldn't ending a graf by saying "Period." be a cliche in and of itself?

Just sayin' ... :)

He swinnnngs ... and he scorrrres!

 

[luckyducky]

I had a guy call me up earlier tonight and ask for some help with some "final four" information. He then, I **** you not, asked me to read him all 64 teams in the NCAA tournament so he could fill in what apparently was a print out of the brackets without the first round pairings.

Uh, no.

I slammed the phone, collected my cool and then answered the phone again.

"This is Coach Doe over at Bumble**** High. Got some track results for ya."

Wow, your coaches call in their results? I'm jealous.
There's a little irony and a little truth in that, actually. A lot of our coaches neglect to call in their games. This causes parents to call and complain that we didn't put their kids in the paper, at which point I get chewed out by my bosses for not calling all of the coaches myself and asking for their game information.
Oh, have I mentioned that my shop is a little backwards?

I love answering when parents call and complain that their kids' scores/names weren't in the paper.

"Well ma'am, we only print the scores that coaches call in to us each night, so you'll need to take it up with your kids' (a-hole of a) coach."
"Oh, you mean it's not your fault?"
"Nope, theirs. Start calling him when the scores aren't in the paper and asking why he didn't call them in."

I like indirectly pissing off some of our coaches. Good times.

 

[Wonderlic]

Perhaps you might consider finding one parent for each sport at your five schools. Surely you could find somebody that would be willing to work with you.

No offence, I hate this thinking. The more you get "outsiders/parents/volunteers" to do work, the more management doesn't think it needs PAID REPORTERS.

I'll gladly run the box scores and briefs if the coach, as per our agreement and working relationship, CALLS THEM IN.

If you get a parent to do it, they usually ramble on, get every kid's name in the paper, use cliches and thusly create MORE WORK for me and you.

That's why you only take the information in box score form. The parents aren't writing stories or providing photographs. They're simply calling in and saying who won the game, what the score was and who scored the goals/baskets/runs etc. I never suggested having a parent write the story or even give you information for briefs. I was talking about box scores only. How many schools do you have in your coverage area? We've got 85 plus. If a parent takes the stats from the coach and calls them in, would you suggest I tell that parent to hang up, give the stats back to the coach, and then let him call them back in? What is it that you hate so much about that particular approach?

The parent/volunteer would be the middle man between the paper and the coach. Parents are more reliable.

PARENTS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL SOURCE.

And they're frequently wrong. I can NOT stress this enough. Utilizing parents in the suggested manner is irresponsible and unprofessional on the part of anyone who seriously considers themselves a journalist.

Just call the effin' coach. If he/she doesn't have the decency to phone in or e-mail their kids' results, call him or her out on it. I've found that even the biggest assholes will at least pawn off the responsibility on an assistant coach if you keep after them (i.e., call their AD). If the coach doesn't cooperate at all, then their kids' stuff doesn't get in. Simple as that. And it's not the paper's fault, either.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

I had no idea "nail in the coffin" was in bad taste. I'm, ahem, dead serious -- I only think of that term in relation to "NBA Jam." Boom-shaka-laka! :D

13 years ago, a friend bought a Sega Genesis just so he could get Mortal Kombat. A few months later, I bought the system from him so I could play NBA Jam.

Awesome game.

 

[Tom Petty]

hi, this is mr. petty calling in a softball score. uhhhhm, yeah, heartbreaker u won 1-4 and the littlest heartbreaker was 4-for-3 with two inside-the-park home runs, two doubles and a walk, she also drove in 11 runs. not sure how the rest of the team did, but, there ya go, get it in the paper, *******.

 

[murciélago]

I didn't see a link between Luggie's cheerleader story and inane cliches, but I liked the cheerleader part way better.

 

[villageidiot]

Perhaps you might consider finding one parent for each sport at your five schools. Surely you could find somebody that would be willing to work with you.

No offence, I hate this thinking. The more you get "outsiders/parents/volunteers" to do work, the more management doesn't think it needs PAID REPORTERS.

I'll gladly run the box scores and briefs if the coach, as per our agreement and working relationship, CALLS THEM IN.

If you get a parent to do it, they usually ramble on, get every kid's name in the paper, use cliches and thusly create MORE WORK for me and you.

That's why you only take the information in box score form. The parents aren't writing stories or providing photographs. They're simply calling in and saying who won the game, what the score was and who scored the goals/baskets/runs etc. I never suggested having a parent write the story or even give you information for briefs. I was talking about box scores only. How many schools do you have in your coverage area? We've got 85 plus. If a parent takes the stats from the coach and calls them in, would you suggest I tell that parent to hang up, give the stats back to the coach, and then let him call them back in? What is it that you hate so much about that particular approach?

The parent/volunteer would be the middle man between the paper and the coach. Parents are more reliable.

PARENTS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL SOURCE.

And they're frequently wrong. I can NOT stress this enough. Utilizing parents in the suggested manner is irresponsible and unprofessional on the part of anyone who seriously considers themselves a journalist.

Just call the effin' coach. If he/she doesn't have the decency to phone in or e-mail their kids' results, call him or her out on it. I've found that even the biggest assholes will at least pawn off the responsibility on an assistant coach if you keep after them (i.e., call their AD). If the coach doesn't cooperate at all, then their kids' stuff doesn't get in. Simple as that. And it's not the paper's fault, either.

What if the coach pawns it off to a parent who has volunteered to take the time to call in the stats. Do you not take them from a parent then?

 

[Ace]

Perhaps you might consider finding one parent for each sport at your five schools. Surely you could find somebody that would be willing to work with you.

No offence, I hate this thinking. The more you get "outsiders/parents/volunteers" to do work, the more management doesn't think it needs PAID REPORTERS.

I'll gladly run the box scores and briefs if the coach, as per our agreement and working relationship, CALLS THEM IN.

If you get a parent to do it, they usually ramble on, get every kid's name in the paper, use cliches and thusly create MORE WORK for me and you.

That's why you only take the information in box score form. The parents aren't writing stories or providing photographs. They're simply calling in and saying who won the game, what the score was and who scored the goals/baskets/runs etc. I never suggested having a parent write the story or even give you information for briefs. I was talking about box scores only. How many schools do you have in your coverage area? We've got 85 plus. If a parent takes the stats from the coach and calls them in, would you suggest I tell that parent to hang up, give the stats back to the coach, and then let him call them back in? What is it that you hate so much about that particular approach?

The parent/volunteer would be the middle man between the paper and the coach. Parents are more reliable.

PARENTS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL SOURCE.

And they're frequently wrong. I can NOT stress this enough. Utilizing parents in the suggested manner is irresponsible and unprofessional on the part of anyone who seriously considers themselves a journalist.

Just call the effin' coach. If he/she doesn't have the decency to phone in or e-mail their kids' results, call him or her out on it. I've found that even the biggest assholes will at least pawn off the responsibility on an assistant coach if you keep after them (i.e., call their AD). If the coach doesn't cooperate at all, then their kids' stuff doesn't get in. Simple as that. And it's not the paper's fault, either.

What if the coach pawns it off to a parent who has volunteered to take the time to call in the stats. Do you not take them from a parent then?

I tell parents we will take results (or corrections) from the head coach or someone the coach designates to call in results.

 

[Tom Petty]

i tell coaches to do their ****ing jobs.

 

[Angola!]

I had no idea "nail in the coffin" was in bad taste. I'm, ahem, dead serious -- I only think of that term in relation to "NBA Jam." Boom-shaka-laka! :D

13 years ago, a friend bought a Sega Genesis just so he could get Mortal Kombat. A few months later, I bought the system from him so I could play NBA Jam.

Awesome game.

A very awesome game, but the computer has a way of rallying in a hurry that is utter bull****.

 

[jimnorden]

Is it the shoes?

He's on fire!

 

[LiveStrong]

My team:

Is it the shoes?

He's on fire!

My team in the arcade: Golden State. I don't know how many times I made a stranger mutter, "****ing Mullin" while walking away.

 

[jimnorden]

the worst team was the bucks - Brad Lohaus and Blue Edwards.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

I once (long, long ago) used "laugher" to describe a blowout soccer game between an area and non-area team. Someone complained. It was posted on the board the next day with a note: "Don't use laugher"

I've laughed about it since.