Prep sports writer, Tallahassee, Fla.

FWIW, this "boy" has been in this business nearly 15 years... lol

And papers around here of similar size do pay that. It's gotta be the Gannett connection... I had no idea the paper had declined so badly since its K-R days.

Ya, I have to admit the "we're all in trouble" line was obvious. I guess it's just frustration.

 

McLaughlin and Mary Beth both did a great job with the beat. It's a hard beat because the Democrat covers a large area in preps and those cities in the Big Bend are far apart. So the pay is a bit low considering the ridiculous amount of travel.

Still the right person will get to cover great talent and probably assist on the FSU stuff from time to time, so it could always be worse.

 

I think Brian, Jim and Mary Beth will tell you there's not a lot of spare time with this job. They pick all-area teams in 20-some sports, including girls flag football, so there isn't much down time. Finding time to do college stuff will be tough unless it's working on a combined staff project. The stringer pool fluctuates, so that's another issue. When they have three or four reliable stringers, it isn't such a grind. But that hasn't been often in recent years. All the college kids who care about sportswriting don't have problems hooking up with other state papers to help cover FSU. The Democrat really needs to hire a second preps writer, or at least hire someone who actually does half preps/half colleges.
And a fair warning, the executive editor has little-man syndrome. He's about 5-4 but his ego is gigantic.

 

All-area in girls flag football?

Dear god, please tell me you're kidding.

 

I don't know ... my ME thinks tractor-pulling is a sport.

 

I'm not kidding about All-Big Bend Flag Football.
As for the revolving door at the Democrat, Bob Ferrante, Ike Morgan, Jim Henry, Randy Beard and Mary Beth Bishop are those who have left sports in the past year -- Morgan, Beard and Bishop in the past few months. I'm told Jack Corcoran is with naval reserves and may or may not come back. Still, that's a lot of big hits for what was a small department and they haven't exactly replaced them with quality hires.

 

Flag football is, hands down, the most popular girls spring sport in the high schools. Track and softball are struggling because of it.

 

I'm told they've already made a hire for the preps job ... Sucker.

 

Nice to give everyone a fair shot. Two weeks from posting to job offer's pretty quick if this was on the up and up (you don't need the blue font on that last part, anyone?)

I get that this happens a lot. But the timing's weird. If you want your (wo)man, why not make the hire right away? If you want to make it look legit, why only give it two weeks?

Eh, what can you do? (not get hired in Tallahassee).

 

Nothing is on the up and up at the Democrat these days.