Dear dimwit on the phone

Some lady from West Virginia e-mailed us (apparently after speaking to someone on staff or in the newsroom) about her 6-year-old daughter's gymnastics accomplishments, including a photo, as if we are to write a story.

I am several states over from West Virginia, but her grandparents live in the area.

 

What drives me to drink, though (not that it takes much) is that there's folks who, despite all evidence to the contrary, expect us to run stuff like that verbatim, or throw in a few "AWESOME job, team.Way to go, Nosepickers!" Like their under-10 (and, dammit, please stop using U-10) team winning the subregional divisional soccer championship is going to be the exception to the rule.

 

Phone call this morning after paper came out today:

Caller: This is Jane Doe from Podunk Speedway.
Me: How are you today?
Caller: I'm doing well because you outdid yourself.
Me:Thank you very much!

Now that's how you start a day!

 

Only because someone has to ask ...

What exactly did you do for Jane Doe from Podunk Speedway?

 

;-) If only there were more than the centerpiece and a column to give her. :-D*sigh* Oh, well.

 

They met on a brown blanket along the backstretch.

 

If I weren't married and had even a remote chance (which I don't) I would jump on that idea.

 

"Jump on the idea."

That is so not what you were thinking.

It is very nice to hear the "thank you."

 

How many texts has she sent? [/crossthread]

 

and boom goes the dynamite.

 

We covered a baseball game on Tuesday that featured 17 errors and 18 unearned runs, so of course we have a photo of the shortstop booting the ball. I knew I was going to get shit for it, but it was the shot that best exemplified the story. There were other photos, but fuck it.

Run it 5 columns, along with another photo of the winning team's best hitter trotting around the bases after a home run. Keep in mind we cover both teams.

Message yesterday morning from some old lady: "I'm not a fan of either team (which is utter bullshit, you're obviously his grandmother) but I was dismayed by the photo you ran with the high school baseball story yesterday. With all of the terrible things going on in this world, you think you could be a little more kind."

I know these kids aren't professional, but if you really want to play high school varsity sports, you have to be able to take the good with the bad. Why can't people understand that?

 

Every paper has a different philosophy on this, but mine wouldn't have run it, especially not 5-columns.

Our policy is to generally not directly mention players at high school level and below who make errors or other bad plays, such as fumbles in football, because they are not pros or even college players, they're still kids.

Obviously, there are exceptions where if the mistake is absolutely central to the story, like a player missing a last-second shot in basketball or a QB throwing a pick late in a close defeat. But in a normal situation, we avoid those references.

As an aside, you didn't have a better game to cover for your CP?