Dear dimwit on the phone

I had the most up-to-date roster they had sent us last Tuesday, so it wasn't a case of not having the kid's number.

And in the vein of costing kids scholarships and such: One of the kids from that game scored five touchdowns for the winning team. He apparently called the newsroom looking for me Saturday, wanting me to do a story on him so he could get a scholarship. I've got the kid's cell number, and I'm debating whether I should call him or whatnot just to see what he says.

 

haha, That kind of gumption would actually kind of impress me. Is he a cocky kid? A kind of tongue-in-cheek feature could be good: "John Smith wants to tell you why he's so good, if the five touchdowns he scored Friday don't tell you enough already."

 

You should do the story and your lead should be: "Little Jimmy called the Podunk Press Saturday hoping to gain enough attention to compete for a scholarship. If he keeps playing like he did Saturday, pretty soon recruiters will be calling him instead."

The kid will take it like a compliment. In actuality, it's an insult.

 

The team's not in our coverage area. They just play one -- sometimes two -- of our teams on a yearly (or every other yearly) basis.

 

I've always felt that if a kid has the talent, he will get scouted by someone. Don't know if its like this anywhere else, but over the last six months I've gotten press releases/flyers from companies putting on "NFL-style" combines or camps, always with the quote from the local director, "Kids from the Podunk Valley have always been overlooked. This is therit chance to get seen." .

 

Don't blame him. It was 4th and 15 and he was looking at a full-court press.

 

The Oakland Raiders called. They said it was 4th and 16.

 

Yeah, well Colorado called. It was fifth down.

 

But you can still swing for the fences and make a buzzer-beater.

 

C'mon guys, I was just making a general reference to parents relying on their kids athletic prowess or lack thereof in hopes of a scholarship. There are many more available for academics...albeit not of the full-ride variety.

No need to flag me for a technical foul on this one

 

Guy called today to point out a factual error in a story involving a local college.

"That's not true. We didn't do that," he said.

"Are you with the college," I said.

"Are you trying to be a smartass?"

"No. You were pointing out an error. I was trying to determine if you knew for sure it was wrong or if it's something you heard or what."

"Oh, OK. I thought you were trying to be a smartass."

"Not me."

 

Not on the phone, but still laughable. This was posted on our paper's Facebook page.

"I have a question: the stats are posted for all Football teams across (the state) but the 8th grade football teams such (as some crappy school are not). How is it they are omitted? They are just as important to the sports news as all others that play football. Recognize these babies. They need to know their hard work isn't going unnoticed. Who do we need to speak to about this?"

The funny thing is, I included the 8th grade score for the Junior High roundup, but had to chop it because of space.