Dear dimwit on the phone

Unfortunately, some editors and sportswriters have the notion that the vast majority of readers actually give a crap about Little League and other youth sports

 

Some places do. The area where I work, is an example.
Some places don't. The area where I live, is an example.

 

I really don't get some of the commentary on this thread.

Let's assume, you make a news judgment that enough of your local readers care about youth baseball and softball tournaments that you should run them in the paper.

That puts the ball in your court -- to mix a metaphor.

It is our responsibility as reporters and editors to get the news.

Cope news is important, we don't wait for them to call.

Town meetings are important, we either go or call.

If you decide that something -- whether it's high school football, the local college's teams or Little League -- is newsworthy, you get the stuff.

If the folks cooperate, that's a bonus. Otherwise you call them.

If you see something going on -- whether it's an unexpected game or a news event -- you stop and check it out, unless you are headed somewhere specific.

If you reach out a little, usually folks cooperate.

Now, if in your professional opinion you don't think there are enough interested people to support the coverage, then don't pursue it.

But if you are taking phoned-in results and running them, you have made your decision.

(Note: I know this works differently depening on the size of the paper/town or city)

 

@ Billy T...in my scenario, we have a mix of 6 or 7 youth tourneys going on in the area right now (yes, Little League has an audience in our area). So that requires us hitting one of the games and getting the rest of the details filled in later.

We had that set up beforehand, but Monday morning no update comes in but I'm hearing rumors that the team won. I call the coach expecting to get some quotes and some highlights, and the guy has nothing. Then drops the ball again later that night.

Typical for this one community, and it's Cal Ripken which is run poorly in this state. Last update on its website was from early-June. Calls and emails to the tourney directors went unanswered, as well.

For our larger paper, I have many more options, so we cover the tournaments that work well with us (which the majority do)...unfortunately not the case in the tiny suburb.

 

Flex: It certainly seems as though you are trying to do the right thing, and idiocy happens, not matter how much we stress things to people.

It just seems like some folks are much quicker to say "Screw it."

 

Yes, and I am quick to say screw it with our large-circulation paper...this small-town publication has much more limited options. So you have to put up with some of the idiocy, as frustrating as it is.

During a busier time of year, I would have thrown up my hands and walked away on this one

 

Hey now, I had to go to page 2 to find this never ending thread of vents...don't ever let that happen again

How about track mom, who calls the main desk clamoring that there was a major error on the sports page today. We only listed five of the area's top finishers at a recent Regional meet. Apparently, we had missed a couple.

I'm a track guy and am usually on top of this stuff, so I double check the pages of results sifting through, and it was as I suspected. I always set parameters for who gets results printed based on the size of the meet, etc...in this case, I figured you had to be top-five to get your name in.

Dear track mom: If your kid places eighth out of nine, that wouldn't be considered a "top finisher", nor would it be considered an error on our part.

 

But he beat the ninth place finisher! He deserves a story!

STOP COSTING LITTLE JIMMY A SCHOLARSHIP!

 

Huh, huh, Little Jimmy.

 

You're costing the Lil Jimmies across the nation a scholarship!!!!!!!!111111!!!!

 

It's a conspiracy!

 

C-O-N- SPIRACY!