This ever happen to you?

[SoSueMe]

Tonight, I went to a high school basketball game. I was there early. I truly enjoy high school hoops and the game featured the top two teams in the city league. But for some reason, I just wasn't into it. It felt like I didn't even watch the game. I had nothing to ask afterward. It was like I vegged out during the game. My lede sucked and I wasn't sure where the game/story was going or went!

I'm not sure what this means. Maybe I'm tired? Looking forward to two days off after working 13 consecutive days? Who knows?

Anyone else ever experience anything like this? What did you make of it?

 

[da man]

Guess you picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

Guess you picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.

Guess you picked the wrong day to quit amphetamines.

 

[Cadet]

Come on, man, how can you say that? You've got the greatest job in the world - you get paid to watch games!

I mean, I understand when accountants space out, their jobs are boring! But you get paid to watch games! Really, you shouldn't be complaining about working 13 straight days. I understand when, say, lawyers complain about working five straight, but your work isn't really work!

Buck up, or you could find yourself in a job where you don't follow high school kids around...

 

[BYH]

My advice is to begin drinking heavily.

 

[Songbird]

Chalk it up to a bad day. We have them. We have to whip up creative juices every day in this business and sometimes they just don't shoot up like Las Vegas geysers. Don't sweat it. All of us go through cycles, for good and worse.

 

[da man]

There are geysers in Vegas?

 

[spnited]

Working 13 days in a row. That will do it.

 

[audreyld]

Don't sweat it man. Take a couple of days off and see how much better you feel when you go back.

It happens to everyone.

 

[Songbird]

Good advice by the UTshooter. I finished this week's edition (going on 21 straight days of work), and even though three local teams opened the season tonight at home, I came home and slept. Gotta rest the brain. Said teams have more games in the next few days, and tonight's games would be a week old by next week's edition. Sometimes, as Joel Goodson's buddy once proffered, you've just gotta say 'What the ****,' make your move.

 

[spnited]

13 straight days? 21 straight days?
Unless you're on an MLB road trip, this is basically called slavery, which was outlawed more than a century ago

 

[Cadet]

Nope, it's called being on salary as an exempt employee. Am I right guys?

 

[Songbird]

To answer your question, I'm a one-man ship, so if I don't do it, it don't get done. On the clock, always, unfortunately.

 

[SoSueMe]

13 straight days? 21 straight days?
Unless you're on an MLB road trip, this is basically called slavery, which was outlawed more than a century ago

I worked on my regular days off last week and will take them during the holiday break.

 

[Eagleboy]

It happens once in a while. It's happened to me where the game could actually be interesting to watch and I might actually get something out of it, but instead I can't think of a decent question, my lede sucks and the story drags.

Like Songbird said, chalk it up to a bad day. It will pick up. Always does.

 

[SteveThePirate]

Don't know how long you've been in the business, but the one thing I've better understood the longer I'm at it is: Let it go and move on to the next one. Depending on what you're doing, you'll probably cover an obscene number of games and write 300 to 500 stories a year, and beating yourself up over one game story isn't very productive.

Having said that, it's sometimes easier said than done.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

According to the photo editor where I work (the same one who feels that just because he's out in the rain, I should be, too) a true pro never has a bad day.

 

[pallister]

Nope, it's called being on salary as an exempt employee. Am I right guys?

Truer words. Truer words.

 

[KP]

According to the photo editor where I work (the same one who feels that just because he's out in the rain, I should be, too) a true pro never has a bad day.

Yes he does.

 

[Crimson Tide]

As a fellow high school sports writer, let me add this: It's high school sports. Expectations should be set to "low" anyway. I went to a game tonight that wasn't worth **** until I kid was called for a technical and his coach threw him off the court. Later, coach was an assbag to me and I wasn't even pressing the issue.

Confrontation is entertaining, which is why I'm against all these "sportsmanship" rules.