Career hypothetical

How on earth do you cover prep swimming?

Just wondering.

I didn't even know such things existed.

 

yea but how many writers have JUST game coverage anymore? Most places, even fairly large papers, the writers will have either desk or roundup calls. Just the nature of the business now.

 

I hope you're being facetious. Or are there actually people out there who lead such charmed lives?

Do it just like you would a track meet. Find out beforehand if there are any marquee races or performers, and make sure you're there for those. The coach should have an idea of approximately when those events take place.

 

I don't think I've ever worked in a state that didn't have serious high school swimming.

 

By the way, everything else being equal, I'd take the major college job at the smaller paper every time.

 

Here's a thought.

If you want to some day have a college beat at that big paper, wouldn't working the college beat at a smaller paper give you a better chance to be recognized? Often times people soak up everything that's written/said about a major college team, regardless of the size of outlet it came from. Doing good work and beating the competition could mean a quick move up.

Do people outside of the preps community, even at a big metro, know who's covering preps? Newsroom politics could easily stall such advancement at the bigger gig.

Not that I see anything wrong with a good preps beat. I pretty much see both of these jobs as a draw.

 

On the quality of life issue, I think I'll take the 60K college beat.

I'm already second-guessing myself.

 

Every night is a game night in preps. In California, football is played Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Girls volleyball games are also at night. In winter, hoops is every night (except Sunday, of course) and wrestling tournaments are Fri-Sat all day/night. Not so many night games in baseball, but there is boys volleyball here and many swim meets and some track meets require night/weekend work.

That said, I'd take a prep job at the L.A. Times over the UCLA beat at whatever 60K paper is around. There are guys at the Times that started on preps and are now covering major beats (Steve Henson--Dodgers; Mike Bresnahan--Dodgers; Gary Klein--USC football). Plus, one of their prep writers told me he makes more than $40,000 a year.

Maybe the L.A. Times is an extreme example of a 200K plus, but if I could make that kind of money covering preps with that kind of opportunity for advancement there wouldn't be a rocket ship fast enough to get me out of a 60K major college gig.

 

Classic.

 

In the dirty South, high schools don't play any sports on Sunday or Wednesday. People got church to go to. Football is usually Friday with occasional Thursday games. Sometimes Saturday for some oddbal reason or for a state championship
Basketball is generally DHs on Tuesday and Friday. You might see some games on other nights, but most are Tuesday and Friday. Volleyball usually goes in the afternoon, to avoid scheduling conflicts with the hoops. Only so many gyms to go around. And almost anything, besides football, played outside was during the day. No lights, mean no nights.
Plus, I don't think working the prep beat and just writing gamers is the right way to go. Do some features or projects.

 

Yes, says a lot about me. But it's an excellent hypothetical, too.

 

Or you could show up 15-20 minutes before the meet starts, talk with the scorekeeper about verifying finishing results at the end if need be, keep score as the meet goes on and watch your story take shape as the meet goes on. That usually works for me.