Preps, Savannah GA. opening soon

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GVLakerGuy

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
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380
City & State/Province
Michigan
My name is Rich McGowan, I am the prep sports writer at the Savannah Morning News in Savannah, GA.

My wife got a new job in Toledo, OH, and my last day on the job here is Friday, Aug. 6. With the opening of football season around the corner, I imagine the bigwigs will move quickly to get someone in here.

A few job-specific details (as I experienced them):
--Immediate coverage area includes 20 football-playing high schools (though sister papers primarily cover Effingham County/South Effingham and Bryan County/Richmond Hill).

--Football season will likely include some TV work and maybe some radio work as well as weekly online webcast and blogging.

--Pay, for me, is in the LOW 30s with little to no overtime. I worked many hours I did not get paid for, as does everyone these days. This football season will be even worse as the Savannah public schools will be playing a lot of Thursday and Saturday games.

--I cannot say enough good things about the sports staff here. This paper has quality, hard-working guys. The only problem is we don’t have enough of them.

--The preps scene is Savannah is a mixed bag. The public schools are good in basketball (though have a tendency to flame out in the playoffs) and bad in football because they play in a higher classification than enrollment dictates and athletics has a very small budget. The private schools are generally competitive in a lot of sports. Savannah Christian football and girls basketball went to the state championship game last year in Class A. Savannah Country Day football is a team on the rise that plays in a wide-open system that is fun to watch. Calvary Day has a very strong baseball team, very strong in girls basketball and getting better in boys basketball too.

Any more questions, feel free to PM me. I’ll try to answer, but the next few days will be very busy. My wife was offered the job today and starts in Toledo on Monday. Oh, and she’s eight months pregnant. The next few weeks will be exciting.

Rich
 
Savannah is such a cool city to live in...can't tell you how many slices of pizza I've had a Vinnie's
 
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I think I know three people that work at that paper. Two are aces. One I would gladly punch in the mouth. I'll let them debate within themselves which are which. ;)

rb
 
Hey, Rich, congrats on your wife's job, but more important, your little one on the way...

Oh, and isn't Toledo within driving distance of Hillsdale? OMG!!!!
 
Good overall environment. Paper is open to hiring youngsters.

There are a few people I'd love to punch in the mouth, but none of them are in sports.

The sports editor HAS to be getting up there in age, right? So if you're looking for somewhere with opportunities to advance, I don't think it'll be TOO long...
 
Thief said:
Good overall environment. Paper is open to hiring youngsters.

Um, what paper isn't open to hiring youngsters?

One of the best job openings on this board right now is looking primarily for writers with less than two years experience.
 
Great staff. Workload probably being *slightly* exaggerated by Mr. Rich.

Great gig for someone willing to work hard.
 
Just texted a friend who was a Morning News preps writer some years ago — when they covered 60 some high schools and went from Vidalia to Jesup to Brunswick to cover stuff — for about 33 percent less salary than now.
There's been some good ones there - Geoff Neville, Victor Fernandes. Still wish Guidera was writing for the Morning News. He may be the best they've ever had, in any department there.
 
PBOWKER said:
Hey, Rich, congrats on your wife's job, but more important, your little one on the way...

Oh, and isn't Toledo within driving distance of Hillsdale? OMG!!!!

Hopefully, he's living in one of the suburbs of Toledo and not Toledo itself.
 

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