Comebacks that kill your story

I covered that game, too. And left with the exact same sentiments.

 

This is excellent advice, maybe the best advice you can give a young weekly writer. The worst situation you can put yourself in is for it to be Tuesday morning and you still haven't written your game follo.

 

Had one in Roswell but it didn't kill the story or anything. Just made it cooler to write. Carlsbad is at Goddard, and the Cavemen are winning 12-0 into the 4th quarter. Goddard rallies and pulls out 17-12 win.

Few weeks later, Artesia is at Goddard. One of the most emotionally wrenching games I've covered. Goddard is up 14-0 and is going to win the thing under a mist that didn't stop falling from before kickoff till after. But Artesia, the New York Yankees of New Mexico football, rallies to force overtime, then wins in overtime. The RDR doesn't have a Saturday paper, but I went back to the office anyway and wrote a really long gamer. Wouldn't have had the same emotion had I waited till Saturday afternoon.

Still my favorite season of HS football, and I've been lucky to cover some great teams.

 

Had one this past HS baseball season. State playoffs elimination game, Team A, playing at home against its most hated rival, was down eight runs going into the bottom of the seventh and came back to tie, then won in the ninth, and on a suicide squeeze no less. Fortunately, no deadline issues, but still it completely changed my whole postgame approach.

 

Covered an Appalachian League contest between the Kingsport Mets and Johnson City Cardinals last week. Kingsport tanked for seven-plus innings, and trailed 9-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth. I've got about 10 inches done, including a lead. The Mets proceed to plate 10 in the frame, including a three-run walkoff homer. Needless to say, at 11 p.m. with a midnight deadline and a 30-minute postgame team meeting to suffer through, I wasn't pleased.

 

playoff football game in 2006. team im covering is up 32-7 at halftime. i had written maybe 10 grafs during the break. home team came back to win, 44-38 in ot. it was a great thing we didnt publish on saturday.

 

Funny thing was, I had tickets to the game, and we were just walking out of the ballpark as Branyan homered to lead off the seventh. By the time I dropped my then-girlfriend/now-wife off at her home, the Indians were tied. She still gets pissed (since it was her idea to leave in the first place) whenever I mention the game.

 

"Yeah? Well, the Jerk Store called, and they're all out of you!"

That's not the kind of story-killing comeback you're looking for, is it?

 

Media Matters did a documentary on Buster Olney years ago when he was still with The Times. It's a wonderful piece on covering a baseball beat if you can ever catch it. One of the highlights to me is a Yankee-Mets game with a late comeback and how it affects the writers. Good stuff.

 

When I was in strining in college, I covered a bunch of baseball games for the Double-A team in the city and wrote about four ledes or so for one game.

I had a tight deadline so I usually started writing in the sixth or seventh inning. Home team pitcher had a no-hitter going and a three-run lead after the top of the seventh. So I start writing and had a good deal of the story done by two outs in the top of the eighth. Then he loses the no-hitter and gives up a run but still has a two-run lead.

OK, no problem, minor fix. In the top of the ninth, however, he coughs up the lede, so I rewrite again. I'm still not done. Home team ties the game in the bottom of the ninth so that's another lede scrubbed. Home team wins in extra innings, 11 or 12 innings, and if I remember correctly, the visiting team took one more lead in extra innings.

Fun times.