Dear dimwit on the phone

On the baseball thing...he stated that he had sent all involved an outline of what's needed to get coverage in the paper and had not gotten any response. Hate these minor league outfits with no clue, but plenty of whine.

Oh, and I would call out the football owner on posing as a fan.

 

This weekend, I had the choice between hitting a decathlon/heptathlon event that one of our local track coaches was putting on, or hitting the home opener for our upstart (and 0-3) semi-pro football team.

The track coach is always reliable with getting info/results/returning calls, etc. The football team has given me nothing but the run-around and they post zero when it comes to stats/results on their league website.

Needless to say, I covered the track event, and yes, I fully expect a whiny message on my machine or drop-in at the office Monday from the football dinks.

 

Ahh, OK. Didn't realize you had done all that.

As for as the media person goes, I knew you were referring to the individual not the group.

Flex: Sounds like a well thought-out decision. Here's hoping you don't get too much crap.

 

I always hated drop-ins. They inevitably come around when you are at your busiest. The telephone has been around for over 130 years. Call, or if you really want to talk in person, make an appointment.

 

Smart move on your part, especially if the football people haven't done anything to help make things easier for you.

 

Funny part is he can drop by, but I work from home 90 percent of the time anymore...so I'll have to bring a sympathy card in for the receptionist on Tuesday and leave it at that

 

I've been at shops that did previews of wood-bat college level summer teams and staff them periodically during the season. Granted, it's not even rookie league pro ball, but it gives you SOMETHING in the summer. If the team has produced decent players, is remotely competitive and/or draws fans, it's not a stretch to include them in your coverage.

 

I'd love it if there were one of those teams in this neck of the woods. I think it'd be really fun to cover one of those.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I would be all over that. It would be miles better than Legion ball in the final two innings.

 

I never covered Legion games...I just ran a longer recap gamer. I would go to the park once or twice a week and get a solid player feature for one story and an enterprise story for the other (who maintains the field, what is better? Sunflower seeds or gum?, How the catcher catches a staff he is just starting to learn, etc.). I never heard a peep out of parents since we covered the bases with getting names in the paper, but I didn't have to suffer sitting at the games all summer. Left more time for me to go get fat at Buffalo Wild Wings!

 

Some of the semi-pro teams in Alabama (we have about 50--if you include the ones who play 3 games and forfeit the rest of the season) are actually pretty good. The team I coached in the past had seven guys get paying gigs in indoor leagues just from last season, and one former player now plays in the NFL. I don't want to out myself, so I'll just say he plays in the AFC. Even after those seven left for indoor leagues, the team won the championship.

Sometimes, depending on the area, coverage is warranted. Just my opinion.

 

That's a good way to go about generating copy without having to go to all the games. Well done, sir.