TGIF-Prep Football Thread

[HeinekenMan]

I just filed my gamer for the night. I was a little rusty. I left my ID at home. Fortunately, everyone knew me. I missed a few plays while writing notes and had to ask for jersey numbers. I was 10 minutes late and six inches too long. Then I was 15 minutes late and two inches too long.

Twas a good game, 18-13 with an interception in the corner of the end zone to end it. The final scoring try came after the idiot coach for the winning team called a pitch on second-and-7 with 1:30 to play. It was a fumble, of course, and the defense recovered at their opponents' 44. Four plays from inside the 15 were unsuccessful, particularly the interception.

It was a good night. Now I'm having a coke and a smile.

Please share your stories, even the why did this asshole file his story 15 minutes late and several inches too long stories.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I was 10 minutes late and six inches too long. Then I was 15 minutes late and two inches too long.

Said the hermaphroditic sports writer.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Dear IT guys,

It's Friday night football, so could you please make sure our servers don't crash right as the writers are trying to file? Or, at the very least, get them up and running in less than 30 minutes?

Thanks,
A very pissed off SE

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Just got home and cracked open my post-game beer (Busch Light).
Went to Bugtussle, saw a 27-0 whitewash - few games around here are exciting though - but had a ball.
I love - absolutely love - West Virginia's Friday night football environment.
Sitting up in the press box (a plywood structure with electricity) I can not get cell service, but I do have wireless Internet.
I feed the PA scores all night and ask that he mention scores are coming courtesy of the paper.
Taking notes of the game ... Everytime I leaned out the window I can smell the grilled chicken cooking on the grill across the field. GOD it smelled sooo good.
Having wireless, I sent my story from the press box and was out of there by 10:50.
It was a nice cool evening. No fog on the way home and I got most of local picks right.
All in all a good night.

 

[cougargirl]

I struggled through my first prep football gamer in months. Never mind that I covered an ugly blowout - it took a majestic effort to muster 14 inches. Man, I hope this doesn't set the tone for the rest of the season. I'm so ready for a competitive game.

But I must say, I love schools that have wireless. And I do enjoy bantering with the TV guys, making fun of the ones who read our stuff verbatim on the air.

 

[JBHawkEye]

So far one of my guys on the road can't log in and just got his stats done, and has 45 minutes to write and might have to dictate before deadline.

Is it November yet?

 

[HeinekenMan]

oh, the horror stories.

My first game last year: No phone wire in the press box. At the conclusion of the game, I spotted a guy directing pedestrian traffic off the field, and I asked if he knew how I might be able to file. He was the biggest prick I've ever met. He went on about how he didn't have time to deal with my problems.

But I kept my composure. In a sweet little voice, I said that I'd just go on home to file because that would take only 45 minutes, where standing there waiting for him to stop being an asshole might take an hour. As I was walking off, he hollered at me to stop and then said I should try the band room, where there was a phone line I could use. When I got to the band room and found the band director's office, I discovered that the school had digital phone service and that their wire was more like an ethernet cable. I think I even plugged it in, but I was getting nothing.

I filed almost an hour later, a good 40 minutes past deadline, from home. The next day, I discovered that a columnist from my paper was at the game to do a story on the home team's female kicker. It turns out she had the same filing issues.

Tonight, I covered a tiny school that plays in a city park, on the field that is really designed for Pop Warner ball. We didn't have a flag for the national anthem, so you know we didn't have wireless. Hell, we didn't even have wires. No press box at all.

Fortunately, I only live 10 minutes away. So it didn't take me long to get cracking once the game ended. These early-season games are always a pain in the ass, though, because we have mandatory water breaks and tons of penalties.

 

[Pilot]

The Cats are 1-0, and as usual thanking the Lord that the only other team in they play that is markedly worse than they are always comes first on the schedule.

I did OK. Had to take photos too, and had to make deadline for the first time in a long time. I got some good shots in the first half, so I put the camera way for the second and hooked it to my computer in an area behind the endzone where I felt at least a little bit comfortable and could keep an eye on it. Well, afterward, Coach Assclown packed it all up while I was doing interviews and loaded it on the team bus. "Uh, these are ours," he said when i asked why the **** he took them.

Got it all back, kicked myself for being stupid, and found a free-wireless hotel parking lot to file from. I did OK on deadline. I was about 3 minutes late of an unofficial deadline with my copy and box, then spent another five minutes finding little **** I wanted to change and resending it.

Wish had been a little more crisp, but damn it feels good to be done.

 

[Pilot]

Oh, and while chasing down Coach Assclown I managed to step into a ditch filled with mud and water despite the fact that I think we're in a drought and it hasn't rained since June. My foot is still soggy.

F-you, coach.

 

[HeinekenMan]

The Cats are 1-0, and as usual thanking the Lord that the only other team in they play that is markedly worse than they are always comes first on the schedule.

I did OK. Had to take photos too, and had to make deadline for the first time in a long time. I got some good shots in the first half, so I put the camera way for the second and hooked it to my computer in an area behind the endzone where I felt at least a little bit comfortable and could keep an eye on it. Well, afterward, Coach Assclown packed it all up while I was doing interviews and loaded it on the team bus. "Uh, these are ours," he said when i asked why the **** he took them.

Got it all back, kicked myself for being stupid, and found a free-wireless hotel parking lot to file from. I did OK on deadline. I was about 3 minutes late of an unofficial deadline with my copy and box, then spent another five minutes finding little **** I wanted to change and resending it.

Wish had been a little more crisp, but damn it feels good to be done.

I wish I had an excuse as good as the coach taking my computer and loading into the team bus.

 

[zeke12]

The pages went out on time.

We got about half the call-ins we should have.

Can't wait for November.

 

[Stone Cane]

The next day, I discovered that a columnist from my paper was at the game to do a story on the home team's female kicker. It turns out she had the same filing issues.

how do you cover a game and not know your paper had a columnist there too?

just curious

 

[JBHawkEye]

We made it out right on our page deadline.

Again, I wish it was November.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Well, I'll tell you how we did tomorrow, after I listen to my early morning phone messages.

But we were pretty close on the deadline – for a first night, anyway.

We had things better organized than this time a year ago and our deadline took the early season heat breaks into account ... unlike last year.

So, we shall see.

 

[joe_schmoe]

20 minutes prior to kickoff, teams go into locker rooms as normal, for final prep talk before official pregame cermony. 12 minutes to kickoff, annoucer comes on PA: Please clear the stands, there is a thunderstorm about to hit and lightning in the area. Stand slowly clear. 5 minutes before schaudle kickoff: Storm hits. Wind picks up, those "cute" inflatable tunnels teams come out of try to blow away. One just collapses. 10 minutes after scheduled kickoff: Rain and wind slow from a downpour and hurrican like wind to drizzle and a breeze, but lightning is all around us. Scene continues for over an hour. One hour 15 minutes after scheduled kickoff teams take field. Stands fill. One hour 40 minutes after scheduled kickoff, it kicks off. Game ends near midnight. I finish gamer in about 5 minutes (and I'm sure it shows), and luckly find wireless connection to send it. Call in stats about half hour later. Go to IHOP, then go home.
It's gonna be a long season.

 

[slappy4428]

I worked the desk... We tried a new web system... I'm having a much needed drink and decompressing.....more to come...

 

[Clever username]

A thought I had tonight: We spend so much prepping for the season and for the games each week, going all crazy with previews, capsules, notebooks and god knows what else, and then we have 45 minutes to crank out these ****ass stories about the one sport most of the readers can agree they care about. What the ****?

I mean, I realize of course the time and length of the games, but every week just seems like one big letdown.

 

[amraeder]

Posted bits and pieces about this on other threads, but might as well shoot it here too.
First off, week 1 is well in the rearview mirror. It's Week 4 up here, so I'm much more in the flow of things.
Game took insanely long. To winless crosstown rivals playing, ends up a 63-10 blowout. Two players are taking off the field in ambulances, so that makes things go longer. Stadium is just 6 miles from office, so I get back and make deadline easy. Running back for winning team goes for 306 yards, 5 TDs, so it's an easy storyline for a blowout. All in all, quite happy with how I did tonight.
Even had my stats, and stats from another game typed up before deadline. It feels good to be in the groove.

 

[FishHack76]

In my experience, it took about three games to get into a full groove so that sounds about right.

 

[TrooperBari]

Had the two city high schools playing their season-opener. All kinds of ugly ... one couldn't hold its water against the simplest of blitzes, the other completed all of one pass while debuting its new "spread" offense.

It was a 7:30 p.m. kickoff that not only started 10 minutes late, but also went into overtime. Had 20 minutes until deadline, knocked the story out in 15. Won't be able to enjoy such an experience next Friday as our SE just informed me he's taking that day off (leaving me stuck in the office).