APSE Judging Thread

I think it has been quite some time, yes.

As for conventions: There's drinking and eating at judging, but there's a hell of a lot of work, too.

Not surprisingly, I disagree with apseloser and others who says the judging could be done by mail. Sure it could. But it wouldn't be done as well, and getting together with fellow sports editors is a benefit.

I make this argument once a year, and this is apparently the time. Many don't listen anyway, but I don't care, to me it's still valid.

Rampant expense account abuse isn't something I'd condone -- and I worked at a place where we picked up every tab, every time, for much of my time there -- but whenever we get into these things, there's an annoying aspect of the counterargument: That somehow, picking up a tab or whatever is ultimately coming at the expense of some poor shlub who lost his job.

In other words: Stay away from the conventions, and more people would have work.

Business budgets don't work that way, never have.

First of all, while all the major newspaper companies have cut payroll and jobs, they've also cut business expenses. Nobody's traveling like they used to back in the good old days. That's obvious.

But business expenses are a separate part of the budget. There are tax advantages for the company. Despite what some here continue to say, participation in APSE and APSE judging CAN return to the paper a better sports editor, and ultimately a better section, maybe even one who can find different ways to monetize what they're doing. Yeah, there's some eating and drinking. There's also professional development that certainly aided me in my career, and ultimately, my newspapers, and since this is personal experience, you can dispute it all you want, but it's true. It also, at its most basic, simply energizes you to go back to the office with renewed enthusiasm. Go ahead and knock that notion, but frankly, again it's a dumb argument; it's human nature that when you spend a few days with colleagues from around the country, you're going to want to hit the ground running back at home.

So guys like apseloser will always stereotype the participants and say it's one big drinkfest and knock the whole process. But I guarantee you: It helped me, it helped the newspapers I worked for, and since I was reasonable in my expenses, it was worth every penny in the long run to the places I worked for. And I'll admit this is so even though some of those APSE sessions were accompanied by a hangover.

 

It doesn't get our job back, but it's nice to see the Washington Times sports section pick up a Top 10 daily and honorable mention for special section.

 

Comparing Sunday with Sunday and other days with other days . . .

My paper's best section in 2010 will be worse than our worst section in 1997.

 

Congratulations to the APSE winners so far.

I'm sorry I couldn't make it down for judging.

Apseloser, is it OK if I pat them on the back?

OK, guys, back to ripping me again.

 

Well, of course, in the Golden Years, Dwyre could run up an expense account on a dinner with 10 sports editors with the best of them -- hell, he WAS the best of them. Those were the days.

 

Early results from today:

UNDER 40,000
BREAKING NEWS STORY
Top 10
Marc Weiszer, Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald
Chris Koman and Hugh Kellenberger, (Bloomington, Ind.) Herald-Times
Dave O’Onofrio, Concord (N.H.) Monitor
Alicia Johnson, (Glen Falls, N.Y.) Post-Star
Dugan Arnett, (Lawrence, Kan.) Journal-World
Patrick Ridgell, (Longmont, Colo.) Daily Times-Call
Stacy Long, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser
Brad Engel and Jason Ivanitz, Naperville (Ill.) Sun
Jim Seimas and Jennifer Squires, Santa Cruz (Calif.) Sentinel
Kevin Melton, (Spartanburg, S.C.) Herald-Journal

OVER 250,000
EXPLANATORY
Top 10
Shira Springer, Boston Globe
Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times
Mark Kram, Philadelphia Daily News
Mike Jensen, Philadelphia Inquirer
Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Michael Kruse and Stephen F. Holder, St. Petersburg Times
Brent Schrotenboer, San Diego Union-Tribune
Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune
Jon Wilner and Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News

 

I don't think apseloser was picking on you. He seems to be more of a chubby chaser.

 

Awards may not help save your job, but people are still impressed by them and take them into consideration.

I'm willing to bet they can still help you get a job, and these days, that counts for something.

 

After one more snarky post — no top 20 finishes for any AJC section? Wow — Loser has decided to turn over a new leaf and be nicer on this board.

As his first post with his new 'tude, Loser would like to offer major kudos to the Triple Crown winners — KC, Dallas, P'burgh, Columbia, New Orleans and everyone else. That's an impressive achievement in any era.

And it's the one honor — decided by 3 sets of judges — where there's clearly no bias.

Loser does not believe there is bias and does not dispute how hard the judges work, as a former judge himself. Loser isn't as big a fan of the handful of editors who sit in a room and collect the votes from the actual judges.