Dear dimwit on the phone

This doesn't really fit under the dimwit category, but what the hell ...

Many years ago, pre-internet, we had an older gent who collected baseball honors voting lists. If for whatever reason we didn't publish the full voting list for Cy Young awards, MVP or even rookie of the year, he would call me. Very nice, very polite and very appreciative if I was able to give him the information.

Certainly the opposite of some of the real dickheads I've dealt with over the years.

 

Never bad to hear a good story every once in a while.

Although...they are few and far between.

 

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Hurt like a sumbitch, too.

 

Had a "dear dimwit" moment on the phone Tuesday, but it came out OK.

Woman leaves a voice mail, so I respond. Her son is a Podunk native living in a town nearby, but out of our circulation area, who will be running "for the USA" next month (I suspect on one of those sports tour firms, since I'm sure I would have heard about it had someone locally made the real national team), and would we like to do a story?

Me: But he's not living here now, right?
Caller: Yes.
Me: When did he last live here?
Caller: In fifth grade.
Me: And he's how old now?
Caller: He's a senior ... but his grandparents still live in Podunk and they think it would be a neat story.
Me (while wondering why they just don't send them an e-mail of him in his uniform): It may be interesting to them, but I don't think it would be to a lot of our readers, and we have a lot of kids in town whose stories we have to do.
Caller: OK, just thought I'd call and ask.

 

This story does bring up a valid point, however. At what age does an athlete have to have residence in the area before moving away to warrant a story?

In the last couple years, as part of the local odds-and-ends column I did, I did an item on a kid who started his hockey career in the area before moving away at the age of 6... and is now in the NHL (although he has relatives who still are in the area, and cousins who are currently successful athletes in HS).

Also did a story on a kid who only lived in the area for a year, but it was his senior year of high school, led his golf team to a state title... and is now on the PGA Tour.

Both of these might be a stretch, just like yours. But if he's legitimately on a Team USA, it might warrant a small mention.

 

Heck, Jimmer Fredette's parents grew up in our town before moving to Grens Falls.

We did a big deal when he played up here.

Of course, that's an order of magnitude.

 

Both examples I think are fine. The odds-and-ends piece works and since the golf kid was a high school student, a story was probably fine as well.

Now, had it been a full-on story about the NHLer, eh...that's overdoing it.

If you are "hyper-local", using the tag: Jimmy Skater, who is the grandson of Homer and Judy Skater, left Podunk when he was six...I think is fine also. Depends on how local you want to go.

 

How much to localize? I always keep in mind an example of overdoing it I saw in college: "Harry S. Truman, whose whistlestop tour during the 1948 presidential campaign stopped here, has died ..."

We have a similar situation too. There's a boxer whose family left here after his freshman year in high school for SoCal, mostly to get him better competition, but he still has some family and a good following here. And he did compete for the USA ... in the Beijing Olympics! He's since turned pro, still based in SoCal, but does fight here a couple of times a year at the local casino, where the PR folks list Podunk as his hometown. When I write about him, I mention "he calls Podunk and Smogville home."

But to put in a story "just so his grandparents can read it," I draw the line. We're the sports section, not the club newsletter. Or, in the spirit of my sig line, the yearbook!

 

Interesting discussion.
We had a basketball player who transferred in to the local parochial high school for his senior year. Our prep guy covered the hell out of them and I think he was our area player of the year.
He went on to a prominent college program and, as the college writer, I landed at the same regional one year. I was assigned to do a preview feature on him. I tracked him down during the media session and introduced myself as being from his hometown paper. He said, "Fresno's my hometown, see you later."

 

If you lived in Rhode Island at any time, we take credit for you.
Justin Fargas? Rhode Islander (IIRC, he dad was a Navy guy and he lived in Newport for a year or two when he a pre-teen).
Paul Konerko? Rhode Islander (Born in Providence, moved out of state when he was real young but he still has relatives who live in Cranston).
Rheal Cormier? Rhode Islander (Went to CCRI before a career in the majors)
Billy Andrade? Rhode Islander (Grew up in Bristol, then went to Wake Forest and when he hit it big on the PGA Tour, moved to Atlanta).
We don't have much, but once a Rhode Islander, always a Rhode Islander.

 

You have Family Guy. Nuff said.

 

I went to URI, and toward the end of my time there - 2006 and 2007 - people started asking me where Quahog was. They weren't joking. (For the record, it most closely resembles Cranston or Warwick, in my opinion.)

That being said, it's only a matter of time before Buddy Cianci gets his name on a school. In certain portions of RI, people love him, even though he has multiple felony convictions.