No means No, dammit

slappy,

I would give the guy some slack for at least trying to call in his game. Just let them know they have to call by 9 p.m. or whatever next time or it won't make it so they know to call before going to Applebees.

What if the game didn't even get over till 10:15. Would it never make the paper?

 

Amen.

That is, perhaps, the only thing keeping me going with these people at this point.

 

My favorites are the golf coaches who call in at 10 p.m. "I see we were under the lights tonight, eh coach?"

There used to be a somewhat valid excuse for calling in late on road games, if you've got a long drive. Let's face it -- a 15-14 baseball or softball game takes a while, even a 7-inning one. But ever since Jesus invented cell phones, I've stopped accepting road games as an excuse.

 

Had a JV softball coach call in at 11:50 once -- after the presses had started -- and wanted to know if we could get it in the next day.
Stop the presses!! I've got a hot JV softball game here. By the way, he didn't have any stats, just the score, but this is still the biggest news we got all night. News, you'll probably want to promo this on the front -- try to get it above the fold.
I love people. If nothing else, they're very entertaining.

 

We will, within reason, run games the next day that were called in after deadline.

But I've started drawing the line on calls at 9:45 p.m. about games played the day before.

 

We run stuff the next day all the time. Said softball coach got his abbreviated brief in the following day's paper. I just think its funny that so few people realize that an a.m. paper doesn't go to press at 4 in the morning. I don't know how many 10:45-11 p.m. call-ins I've received with the coach asking me if it was too late to get it in the next day's paper. They seem truly amazed when I tell them that my deadline is 11:30, which means their deadline is 10:30.

 

Had a boys soccer coach call me on Wednesday. His team had played a game on Tuesday against a team 85 miles away. The coach said he looked in the paper that (Wednesday) morning and noticed Bumblefuck High didn't call in the score. Now, about, oh, 24 hours after the fact, and more than 12 hours after he would have noticed it wasn't in the paper, he was calling to see if we could get it in Thursday's paper.

 

Slappy ... leave cocksuckers outta this, or I'm coming to 'Bama to slap you upside your head.

Ah, prep calls. How I long for the day ... to slash my wrist.

Don't have that to worry about anymore. Give me police, city councils and CRAs, please. Parents don't bitch, and most avoid wanting to get in the paper (since they did or voted on something stupid).

I feel your pain, Slappy. Used to share it. Now, I just don't give a damn.

Preps are dead to me.

 

Gang,

You might as well get used to this stuff because it won't change. Even if you train this crop of coaches, you'll have weeds springing up next year.

 

First, kill me if I ever work at a paper that runs briefs on JV softball....especially a day late.

Second, we knew last week was going to be a pain because it was spring break. But Tuesday a pretty big storm hits about 3:30 and most everything is canceled. We sen most of our guys home to work Wednesday, as most of the stuff has been rescheduled for then. Me and one other guy stay behind to do pages. 11 p.m. coach calls. I'd like to call in a softball game. I take it, then ask, so you didn't get any rain out there? "Yes, but we knew it was coming, we started at 1:30. Got off the field and it started pouring." Ugh. And this coach is usually very prompt

Third, what I hate more is any of the following:

Me: Okay, batteries?
Them: For us Jones and Smith. I don't have theirs.
Me: You don't have theirs?
Them: No I didn't get their names.
Uhh, did you get a lineup card? Anything?

or
Me: Totals?
Them: Okay they had 5 runs on...1, 2, 3, 4, 5...no wait,1...2...3...4...5...6....7 wait. hold on. 9 no 10 hits and 2..3..4..5okay 3 errors. Us 8 runs on 1...2....3 wait....let me add this up.....5-6-7-8---10---ummm,13 hits. and twono, no errors
Me: Okay batteries?

Them: For us, Jones then Franks in the 3rd...wait no, the 4th, then Davis, wait no, not Davis, Burn, no not Burns, Wilson in the 5th and Wilson was the catcher.
For them, Lloyd no, not Lloyd, Hendirckson, no not Hendrickson.

 

Maybe it's just this time of the year, but I'm so sick of prep coaches/parents. This week alone I've had:

- U19 soccer dad complaining that I edit out the names of kids who didn't do anything. "They work so hard, they deserve to be rewarded with their name in the paper."

- The coach/parent of a fifth-grade YMCA basketball team that wanted us to send a reporter and photog out to the end-of-season dinner.

- Softball mom bitching that her daughter's name was spelled wrong, when it was the coach who got it wrong on the official roster.

- Arguments with the track coaches who want me to sit at every track meet, screw the other sports. "Coach, you'll get a longer writeup in the paper if you would include last names in your results." "I don't have time for that. You've got a roster, can't you look them up?"

- And I can't get a good quote out of the star golfer without her using the phrase "glorify God."

'Tis the season, I guess.

I know it won't change, I know this is how it goes, but I need an off season!

 

Preps were always part of my franchise when I worked in newspapers, because I was patient enough to deal with them, I guess.

But boy, I have to admit, I don't miss it.

Track results with only FIRST names Cadet? Those should take up zero space, as in not running at all.