APSE Judging Thread

It seemed like my life revolved around those awards for a decade. If I won, it was great, if I didn't, it motivated me to come up with something bigger and better so I would win the next year.

My issue with the awards is not the pat on the back. No matter who you are, the recognition is nice.

My issue is that when huge papers are skipping the Final Four and the Super Bowl and just about every paper in the country is having its staff hacked to bare bones, there are more important things than the APSE contests and convention. Papers spend tons of money on what is essentially an extended vacation for most sports editors. Yes, they work hard... and they play even harder... on the company dime... Trust me, I know... I did it.

Based on what some of the papers spend on these things, you could save someone's job by cutting the money spent on APSE.

 

Not to nitpick, but not all of us attend on the company dime. Some of us go to actually learn some shit and get some feedback. And I recall two years ago when Gannett said it wasn't sending its editors to the convention and several showed up on their own dime as well.
For the most part, I would easily agree that the convention is worthless, but like most things, it is what you make of it.

 

Loser seconds Mizzougrad's emotion.

One convention, Loser went out with a group of judges. Loser was at a mid-sized paper at the time and it was some fancy schmancy steakhouse in Orlando. Entrees started at $30. "No way I can expense this," Loser thought to himself.

Check comes at the end of the meal. It's $400 (for 6 people). The sports editor of the biggest-circ paper in the group said, "I got this. Shit, my writers expense stuff like this all the time."

This was 2005.

Loser wonders how many SEs are still dropping a grand or more on this complete waste of time (judging could be done by mail just as easily). Some of those same SEs are the ones not sending their writers on the road for big events.

 

The individual awards are still meaningful (but no, they are no job guarantee).

The section awards hit me this way -- I don't feel anything if we win. But I don't want to lose, either.

 

One year, I went once to pick up an award and wound up judging. The $400 meals happened nightly. We were at a different steakhouse every night and I don't think I ever saw a bill. The stripclubs were also filled with editors and there were also quite a few people there who were supposed to be doing things, who were at the bar getting trashed.

I was at one dinner where the tab was $3500 for 20 of us. A relatively well-known SE picked up the tab. His comment was "It's not my money."

 

LA Times?

 

You got the chain right.

 

few more section results....100-250 daily and 40-100 special


40,000-100,000
SPECIAL SECTIONS

Top 10
Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle
The Canton (Ohio) Repository
Daytona Beach (Fla.) News Journal
Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star
North County Times (Escondido, Calif.)
Provo (Utah) Daily Herald
Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat
The State (Columbia, S.C.)

Honorable Mention
Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette
Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette
Fredericksburg (Va.) Free Lance-Star
Idaho Statesman
Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana
Mobile (Ala.) Press Register
Newport News (Va.) Daily Press
Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun
Roanoke (Va.) Times
Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette


100,000-250,000
DAILY SECTIONS

Top 10
Columbus Dispatch
Des Moines Register
Detroit News
Indianapolis Star
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
New Orleans Times-Picayune
Omaha World Herald
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Seattle Times
Washington Times

Honorable Mention
Charlotte Observer
Lexington Herald-Leader
The Oklahoman
Palm Beach Post
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Salt Lake Tribune
Tampa Tribune
Tulsa World

 

Wow, no Triple Crown for The Palm Beach Post this year. Does that break the string?

 

What I really miss about this year's voting is the must-see judges photo gallery on the APSE site.

Of course, I guess I could just hit up the local Weight Watchers meeting if I yearn for those visuals.