Victoria Advocate: Top-flight sports editor

I think Doug Drabek is from there as well.

 

Drabek's from Victoria, and so is Ron Gant. Reds reliever Logan Ondrusek is from Shiner. Cuero up the road produces its fair share of college and NFL football players, El Campo just went to a state football title game and Refugio is a hot story in prep football year in year out. There are some really good stories to be mined in and around Victoria if you're willing to pursue it.

The drives to Houston and Corpus Christi are not bad because 59 is a real highway; Houston is a solid two hours while Corpus Christi is 90 minutes. San Antonio takes you over some gnarly backroads that are choked with tankers these days, and the trip to Austin is just long. The beach is 30 minutes away, if that. Not good beaches, mind you, but beaches nonetheless.

I can answer any questions about the job. Just PM me.

 

Agreed. But I'm not sure they cover much in any of those places. Seems like it's pretty much high schools and small colleges.

That's one of the big changes I've noticed compared to when I started more than 20 years ago. back then, go to a pro or major college games and chances were you'd run into writers from a dozen or more places, most of whom would drive in for the day to get a taste of the "big time". Not sure how much that is encouraged, or even allowed, anymore.

 

Most places it's allowed, but it's on your own time.

 

Yeah, that was sort of always the case: do a good job with the stuff in your own backyard and then you can go cover the pro/college teams as time allows if you want to.

But in recent years, quite a few papers even began nixing that after some yahoo filed wage and hour lawsuits. So managers responded by cracking down on what employees were doing. Once, several years ago, I was even suspended because I got a press pass and went to an event and wrote something ON MY OWN TIME. (Needless to say, I was outta there pretty soon afterward.)

I do see both sides of the argument. But if you're going to cut out what some consider the most attractive parts of the jobs, then what is left is going to be less attractive.

 

any update on this one?

 

Damn workers wanting to get paid for doing work. I'm sure you're a real trooper, though.

 

Hell, if you don't want to go, stay home. Since when did you get to pick and choose what you cover? The bread-and-butter of the job is never going to be that stuff. That's supposed to be the icing on the cake.

 

This one is done.

 

Except there are managers out there who insist on you icing the cake for free.

 

What's the over-under on how long this new guy lasts? It seems they have had three of four sports editors in the last four years.

 

The parents in a town like this must be unbearable.