What time do you show up?

[Pete Incaviglia]

Just wondering what the general "start time" is for some of us.

I know we don't all cover MLB, NFL or NCAA, so I'm curious about what time you arrive for a game.

My two beats are primarily baseball in the summer and college football in the fall. It's semi-pro baseball and lower level college football.

I'd like to get there earlier than I usually do, but I often have other stories to finish or calls to make and answer. I'm usually on hand about 45 minutes or half hour early and I don't file on site. I come back to the office to write.

How about everyone else? How early are you for games? And, what are you looking and listening for?

 

[Rickys The Best]

For MLB, you gotta get there 3 1/2 hours early or so. NBA, 1 1/2 to 2. I've never done NFL so I have no idea.

 

[Angola!]

For our minor league baseball I show up 1 1/2 hours early, for my high school and small-college games I show up 10-30 minutes early depending on the sport.

 

[txscoop]

Show up as early as possible. That's when you get all the good stuff. Talk to all the trainers, ect...

 

[Bob Loblaw Law Blog]

I cover primarily preps, so I show up whenever the hell I feel like it.

 

[Chi City 81]

I show up around 3-4 p.m. I leave around 12:30-1 a.m. Every day. Never changes.

Oh, wait. I'm on desk. That won't help much.

Ditto.

 

[imjustagirl2]

For NASCAR, it's 6-7 hours before the race starts just to beat traffic. So I'm in the media center by 7 a.m. for a 1 p.m. start. Figure it ends at 5, I write until 8:30 or 9, I'm out of the parking lot by 9:45 at the hotel by 10:30. Good 15 1/2 hour day for 8 hours pay. Wheee.

For college basketball, 60-90 minutes.

For preps, 30 minutes.

That's pretty much my experience.

 

[Dan Rydell]

Don't sweat it, Pete. Get there as early as you can, and bust ass a little bit if you think you're running behind.

But don't feel guilty about it. There are enough hassles in the job anyway, and screw the douchetards in the office who might question your commitment.

Ask 'em when -- or if -- they've ever done what you're doing. And if they say yes, say: "Oh yeah? How long ago was that?"

Some of these suits don't realize how much the workload has changed, or how much it takes to do it all these days.

 

[Hoopsfan23]

I cover primarily preps, so I show up whenever the hell I feel like it.

haha exactly. With preps I can show up a good 10 minutes before the game starts and I'm good.

 

[Babs]

I actually find it helpful to vary my arrival time. You run into different people that way and have some interesting conversations.

 

[Eagleboy]

College sports usually about one and a half hours, perhaps two if I'm ambitious, before it starts. Minor league is about the same, although more often around two. Preps? Last time I showed up to an event a minute before, although usually about 10 minutes.

 

[Cosmo]

College football: 1 1/2-2 hours before the game.
Minor-league baseball: 1 hour before the game.
Golf: Usually between 9-10 a.m. on Thursday/Friday, later on the weekend, depending on when the leaders tee off.
College basketball: 45 minutes early, not really much to do beforehand.
When I covered the NFL, I usually showed up about an hour early, except for that time I showed up halfway through the first quarter after getting stuck in the mother of all traffic jams. Good times.
MLB: Usually 3 p.m. for a 7 p.m. first pitch, the exception being Sunday afternoon games when most teams didn't hold batting practice, leaving the clubhouse mostly empty pre-game.
Prep football: At least 45 minutes early to make sure I have rosters and a good spot on the sideline/press box.

 

[forever_town]

For most of my game stories, I like to try to get there at least an hour early, though I've sometimes been known to make it about half an hour early.

I still remember how pissed I was when I got to a first round NCAA women's lacrosse tournament game only five minutes before the opening draw control. To make it worse, I didn't find the media tent with free sandwiches and drinks until after the game and after I'd already paid for food.

 

[Cosmo]

You're an unethical sonofabitch for even thinking of eating the free food [/writebrained]

 

[chazp]

At least 30 minutes early for preps. 2 hours for college games.

 

[Will Hernandez]

Totally agree with getting there as early as you could. And I just like being at places early because you never know what's going to happen. For 7 p.m. minor league baseball games, I used to get there between 3:30 and 4 p.m. For a 1 p.m. game and usually no on-field batting practice, 11 a.m. Only time I used to walk in just when the first pitch was thrown was those lovely 9 a.m. starts!

For college basketball, I was there about 2 hours before and usually an hour before a prep game just so I could rosters if need be, etc.

 

[Trey Beamon]

For no real reason -- well, other than the obligatory "everyone else comes in early" -- I've gotta be here by 8 a.m. :-\ :

If I stick around and cover, say, a prep hoops game, that's a 13-hour day. No wonder my productivity sucks 99.9% of the time.

Maybe I should get working on that resume ...

 

[hockeybeat]

As early as possible.

 

[audreyld]

write-brained has a problem with eating the food?

 

[TyWebb]

Depends on whether or not I have something I want to go after before the game, but generally 45 min - an hour for preps, 2 hours for anything bigger (college).