Saturday Games in Monday Papers

[SoSueMe]

Just wondering how some of you at six-day-a-week papers handle Saturday games.

With no paper Sunday, chances are "fans" of the team were at the game or have checked league or team sites well before their paper lands on their doorsteps Monday.

I usually try to turn out a feature-ish piece on a player who had a big part in the win or loss, merely mentioning game details and performances of other players (i.e. two paragraphs on the actual game).

Also, I don't mind bumping the final score down a few paragraphs as opposed to getting it in the first three paragraphs like I would in a typical gamer.

As an aside, what do you do if the team plays Saturday at home and Sunday on the road, and you don't travel to the game because you have something to cover "at home" Sunday?

 

[slappy4428]

Newest news first. Saturday's game is 48 hours old in Monday's paper, so Sunday gets the attention, not Saturday. If its' something spectacular, that's different.
Featurish idea is a good one, but still -- new news is better news. Dont ramble and it really doesnt deserve -- again, unless it's a rare circumstance -- major attention.

 

[Oz]

What slappy said. The readers will understand, too.

 

[The Rules of Golf]

Slappy is a wise, wise man

 

[slappy4428]

Slappy is a wise, wise man

He is indeed.



Slappy who?

 

[accguy]

If you write a gamer from Saturday for the Monday paper, to me you need to answer these questions: How did win/loss happen? And what does it mean?

Both are infinitely more important than the who, what and where.

 

[2underpar]

slappy is not wise, and he does not play poker very well, either.
but he did offer good advice.

 

[slappy4428]

slappy is not wise, and he does not play poker very well, either.
but he did offer good advice.

Am sure he'll find a way to take your money in two weeks

 

[FireJimTressel.com]

Lloyd Carr sucks!

 

[ogre]

I agree about changing the focus from 'how it happened' to 'what it means' in the big picture.

Certainly a column is a great way to do it.

Use it as a time to do a notes package, with Saturday's game being the lead item.

I like the feature idea for Monday. Im not sold on using what happened in the game as the focus of that featue. Do a big story on someone with the focus being nothing to do with the game.

Dont forget that in a small town, some people only find out 'how it happened' from your paper. So I guess that means find a balance.

 

[timesup]

I used to work for a Monday-Friday paper. Since it was a small town, people may have already known the score by the time Monday rolled around but they didn't know the game story. I'd try to throw in a feature or a side bar every Monday, though. Especially when things got "high tech" and the games were being broadcast on the radio.

 

[Clerk Typist]

I'm with ogre. At the least, use the story as a look ahead to what's next for old State Tech U. (or Tech High, as appropriate.)

 

[jfs1000]

2 things. First off, if the game hasn't appeared anywhere else, run it like it happened on Sunday and use a staff report. Anything taken over the phone, that wasn't in one of your competitors, probably is still news. That is with prep coverage of course.

Anything staff generated with a byline should be forward looking. The game and score are important, but if you include a 2 out single in the fourth, or a long TD run, I may come and kill you.

As far as writing, you got to go by what it means. Covering a major college beat is difficult. You have to write a true follow and take an angle that no one else does. You have to be original and go further into the story. If you don't, people won't read it.

I always get chided by the AMs about being a PM, but 9 times out of 10, I wish I had a hard deadline where I could just write 15 inches of straightforward garbage.

Seriously, I don't think many AM writers appreciate how difficult it is to craft a PM story. You can't write straightforward nuts and bolts. I have done both. You have more time on a PM, but you also have more pressure. It always has to be the best story out there.