No means No, dammit

[slappy4428]

OK, I've got the prep slot tonight and Thursday is our early deadline night because the paper runs our weekend entertainment section ROP instead of pre-print. First copy deadline for preps is 8:30, second is 10.
So we're late with the prep copy amnyway, because one dickhead baseball coach decides to call in his city championship game with a 1:30 p.m. start at 10:15 p.m.
10:20 the phone rings.
"I want to call in a pair of games"
Sir, it's past our deadline. We can't..
Long Pause.
"You can't get my game in the paper. It went 8 innings."
I'd love to, but I can't.
"Can I call it in for Saturday's paper"
No. you can't. We don't do that.
Long steaming pause.
"You won't put my game in the paper."
It is at this point, all I can do not to yell "IT'S A ****ING BASEBALL GAME! YOU PLAY 40-50 OF THEM A YEAR! YOU CALLED TOO LATE! WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TAKE IT EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT GETTING IN THE PAPER?"
Instead, I say politely but firmly: Coach, it's not that I won't, but I can't. We don't have room for second-day games. I'm sorry but it's too late.
"Fine. I'll just call the (prep editor) tomorrow and have him put it in."
and he hung up, which was a good thing because I did so want to say "Guess who's working tomorrow night too?"

Three minutes later, the phone rings again.
Different coach, different game, same tourney, same result.
Coach, I'm sorry, but I can't get this in the paper. We are too late for our paper. Thank you for calling, but there's nothing I can do.
"Fine. You guys just don't give a **** about us when we win." as if I was supposed to know his team won before I answered the phone.


****ing Spring coaches... I hate 'em....

 

[chazp]

Look, don't hold back, what do you really think about prep baseball coaches?

 

[slappy4428]

Isn't just baseball coaches.
Spring coaches -- all over -- just dont get it. Softball coach calls at 9:45 last week "I have a doubleheader to call in from this afternoon..."

 

[chazp]

I agree. I have 8:30 tuesday deadline for Wednesday's paper. I sent out a letter stating this to all coaches in my area and then called them to see if they got the letter. I still get calls at 8:45 or 9 p.m. from coaches wanting to know if they can get their scores in Wednesday's paper. A local tennis coach who always calls in every match does this sometimes, which I can't understand because her team's matches start at 4 p.m. No way tennis takes five hours. I'm with you, I don't understand why they have to wait so long to call games in.

 

[Della9250]

This is a problem that really bugs me too, especially during tournament play.

Team plays two games — 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. When do they call? Seven hours after the last games ends and all the night games are wrapping up.

 

[slappy4428]

Got one from a coach yesterday, when I called him to get the last game from a tourney.
"I went to our JV tourney, then I went out to dinner...
"I forgot. Can I call you later?"

If you "forgot" once, why the **** do you think I'm calling you now... assclown.


And what really pushed my ****ing button was when this coach said "Oh. I'll just call (prep editor) tomorrow and he'll put it in Saturday."
Oh. I'll just quiver while you threaten to go over my head.

 

[villageidiot]

I had a doubleheader called in 15 minutes before deadline tonight from a softball coach. It normally takes about a minute, maybe two, to take one. This lady had me on the phone for nearly 10 minutes. I agree, spring sports coaches are the worst.

 

[zeke12]

And they ***** the most. That's the ****ing rub.

 

[Tom Petty]

Isn't just baseball coaches.
Spring coaches -- all over -- just dont get it. Softball coach calls at 9:45 last week "I have a doubleheader to call in from this afternoon..."

a little piece of me wants to believe they all conspire to be cocksuckers, AND, they do a damn fine job.

<notice the lack of blue font.>

 

[dooley_womack1]

As a centipede would say: no, no, a thousand times, no.

 

[slappy4428]

Isn't just baseball coaches.
Spring coaches -- all over -- just dont get it. Softball coach calls at 9:45 last week "I have a doubleheader to call in from this afternoon..."

a little piece of me wants to believe they all conspire to be cocksuckers, AND, they do a damn fine job.

<notice the lack of blue font.>

Damn fine job at their job or in their conspiracy to be cocksuckers?

 

[Taylee]

Every time I deal with a dickhead spring coach, I just remember that the spring season is the shortest and then it's summer.

 

[Ace]

slappy,

I would give the guy some slack for at least trying to call in his game. Just let them know they have to call by 9 p.m. or whatever next time or it won't make it so they know to call before going to Applebees.

What if the game didn't even get over till 10:15. Would it never make the paper?

 

[villageidiot]

Every time I deal with a dickhead spring coach, I just remember that the spring season is the shortest and then it's summer.

Amen.

That is, perhaps, the only thing keeping me going with these people at this point.

 

[Human_Paraquat]

My favorites are the golf coaches who call in at 10 p.m. "I see we were under the lights tonight, eh coach?"

There used to be a somewhat valid excuse for calling in late on road games, if you've got a long drive. Let's face it -- a 15-14 baseball or softball game takes a while, even a 7-inning one. But ever since Jesus invented cell phones, I've stopped accepting road games as an excuse.

 

[ColbertNation]

Had a JV softball coach call in at 11:50 once -- after the presses had started -- and wanted to know if we could get it in the next day.
Stop the presses!! I've got a hot JV softball game here. By the way, he didn't have any stats, just the score, but this is still the biggest news we got all night. News, you'll probably want to promo this on the front -- try to get it above the fold.
I love people. If nothing else, they're very entertaining.

 

[HejiraHenry]

We will, within reason, run games the next day that were called in after deadline.

But I've started drawing the line on calls at 9:45 p.m. about games played the day before.

 

[ColbertNation]

We run stuff the next day all the time. Said softball coach got his abbreviated brief in the following day's paper. I just think its funny that so few people realize that an a.m. paper doesn't go to press at 4 in the morning. I don't know how many 10:45-11 p.m. call-ins I've received with the coach asking me if it was too late to get it in the next day's paper. They seem truly amazed when I tell them that my deadline is 11:30, which means their deadline is 10:30.

 

[villageidiot]

Had a boys soccer coach call me on Wednesday. His team had played a game on Tuesday against a team 85 miles away. The coach said he looked in the paper that (Wednesday) morning and noticed Bumble**** High didn't call in the score. Now, about, oh, 24 hours after the fact, and more than 12 hours after he would have noticed it wasn't in the paper, he was calling to see if we could get it in Thursday's paper.

 

[MGoBlue]

Slappy ... leave cocksuckers outta this, or I'm coming to 'Bama to slap you upside your head.

Ah, prep calls. How I long for the day ... to slash my wrist.

Don't have that to worry about anymore. Give me police, city councils and CRAs, please. Parents don't *****, and most avoid wanting to get in the paper (since they did or voted on something stupid).

I feel your pain, Slappy. Used to share it. Now, I just don't give a damn.

Preps are dead to me.