KY TV sportscaster sues local HS

It's been almost 20 years since I covered preps, but two of the four states I did high school sports had credentials then. Now, how advanced it was, like did they just hand them out to any person on the street who had a friend at the school who wanted one? I don't know. But they existed and if you didn't have it, it could be a pain in the ass to get access to stuff in those places. That said, I don't remember them at the other two and most places just let you in when you said who you were with. I don't remember ever having an issue.

I agree, though, amazing this isn't common everywhere.

 

At the last state where I covered preps (Missouri), the state association would be more likely to never credential anyone for anything.

Their disdain for the media covering things at the championship level was damn near legendary.

 

The first place I worked, the section issued media passes, about the same size as a credit card, to all media. Only time I had a problem was going out of town for a playoff game when I occasionally had a hassle with someone who wasn't told "no passes" didn't apply to media. One year, a few days after one such incident, I was at Candlestick Park doing a hometown feature and, after getting y credential, was not looking forward to the hike up the hill for the press gate. An usher overheard me talking to our shooter, who was laden with gear, and let us in a side gate.

Now that I'm stringing, I mostly do the clipboard-and-a-confident-wave thing.

 

I never didn't have a press credential. I don't understand why some of you don't. I certainly had one when I worked full time and then when I was in the keys, I had to get one issued by the sheriff's department. And then my last freelance gig which lasted the last 15 years of my career, they provided me with a credential and I showed it when I went to events. I also always called the AD to let them know that I would be covering the game whether it was football, volleyball, or cross country.

 

We have credentials issued by our paper and the state press association. Nothing fancy, and nothing super official. Anyone with a lamination machine could make them. They do look official enough to wave at a gate and get into games, though. Then I usually put them away unless I have a need to display them (road game where people don't know me, basketball or baseball where the officials might hassle me for standing on the edge of the playing area, youth sports where I don't want to look like a weirdo shooting pictures of kids, etc.).
The state high school association issues their own credentials for championship events, usually by signing in at a pass gate.

As far as getting close to the field, once you talk your way past the person taking the money and/or manning to gate to the field no one seems to care. If I started going Johnny Gonzo and climbing fences to get weird angles it might be a different story, but as long as I act like a professional it's all good. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been told to move or leave in 20+ years of doing this.
And I've also had way more collisions (none major, thankfully) shooting from the baseline in basketball than I've ever come close to on a football sideline.

 

Hell, we had a photog who climbed on top of the backstop at a baseball game to get an artsy straight-down shot of the batter. The umpire ran his ass.

At my first job (I had been there a while), all the reporters had I.D. credentials issued by the police department. The sports people didn't. I mentioned that to the editor. I said we probably should have them. We are out and about, we see things, traffic accidents, fires (and, it seemed like it might be cool to have). The editor agreed and arranged for the police to come to the office to credential us. Well, something came up and they couldn't come that day. Then, the editor canceled it and said we didn't need them. Truth is, I was never sent to cover anything like that.
The worst thing was having to deal with court. I knew nothing about the rules and regulations, what I could do, what I was entitled to, what wasn't allowed. This was the son of a former Dodger (deceased). He was a star at a high school we covered and went to UCLA on a football scholarship. He got arrested with some friends, was kicked off the team and out of school. Our court reporter was swamped and it fell back on me. I sat there with his mom and she was a bleating-heart snob. I hated the whole thing.

 

At my first job, I loved having the state press association sticker for my front windshield, especially when it came to people wanting to charge me to park at a high school football game. In the current climate I’m guessing I’d have to replace busted out glass a couple of times a year with one.

 

Work in northwest Ohio.
Rarely if ever have to call ahead for regular-season passes. Just show up and mention the paper's name. Most of the gate people recognize you and the paper.
Do have to call ahead for post-season passes. Name's put on a list and they hand you a pass when you sign in. Sometimes even have to show ID.
As for coverage, I always try to walk the sidelines for a football game. The press box offers a great view for much of the game, but some angles make it difficult to get the right yard marker, and you can't always go by the announcer. I've been at games where what they announced was five yards off from the actual spot.

 

Too many f**kin moms (some hot) on the sidelines taking pictures for their personal Facebook album. Administrators never care to get them off the field.

 

Maybe I'm not watching these games correctly or something, but I can't think of a worse place for keeping track of where the ball is spotted than the sideline. Unless you're running to the chains/yard marker every play.

 

Most plays don't go for 50 yards. Most of the time, if you stay around the line of scrimmage and keep in front of the players on the sideline you can easily keep up with it. I normally stand a couple of yards in front of or behind the ball when it's snapped, depending on where there's an opening. Lets me get an accurate spot, be in a position to shoot pictures, and get out of the way if they run a play my way.
A few times a game, though, I do show off my blazing 6.5-second 40-yard dash speed to catch up to a long play.

 

You also get way more color on the sideline vs. being in the box. You're not going to quote people based on overhearing them, but much easier to see what's a heated argument between coach and player vs. a calm conversation. And, if you're at a Texas-sized stadium, it's often way easier to keep up with the yardage on the field than up in the box.

re: Credentials, Rhode Island required you to have them if you were on the sidelines, or, you had to be with the team. You filled out a form, sent it to the state board, and you pick it up a couple days later if you didn't want them to mail it to you. Obviously, if you cover the home schools, they get to know you and don't care about the credential, but it was always useful for road games.

I don't think Texas has anything standardized across the ISDs. For one of them, the sports editor would just email to get me on the list, which usually only mattered for football. Swimming would always be a pain in the ass, because coaches for that didn't want times published.