Earlier Deadlines screws sport coverage

I think everyone reaches that point sooner or later when they're working like this.

For me, the hardest part was just letting go of stuff. At the peak of my shop, we had our SE, a full-time guy who could devote his time to ONLY layout, a full-time guy who did mostly layout but also reporting, two full-time guys who did mostly reporting and a little layout, a 32-hour PTer and a 20-hour PTer. I was looking back through some old archives yesterday for a project I'm doing and holy shit did we put out a kick-ass section. I mean, we had EVERYTHING covered. Multiple gamers, a feature, roundups, previews, briefs, national and state wire, dynamic layouts, great art, just about every day, the whole works.

Fast-forward to now, and it's just me with the early deadlines. Thank goodness we have an RDC and the other SE in our little chain handles most of my production from his shop close by so I can focus on content, but there's still no way I can get to everything. So, when it wasn't that long ago that we were doing so much, it's so easy to feel like you're failing when you can't come close to that level of content. Thankfully, the majority of people in my coverage area get this and don't give me a hard time, but there are certainly some that don't get it. Most of all, though, I set such high standards for myself that I can't possibly meet them without killing myself.

I was on the verge of breakdown not long ago, though that was also combined with some stuff in my personal life that I'm working to improve. I took an LOA for some health reasons and basically had to just let other editors handle the section with minimal input from me. It was hard to swallow, but I really learned to let go. None of this is worth wrecking our mental health or stressing our families to the point of creating major problems. It's just a job. And what I came to realize was that even when we were producing such a comprehensive section years ago, people STILL complained all the time that it wasn't enough. Probably even more. You're never going to please everyone.

My rule now is, if I can't get it done in 8 hours, it can wait for another day or just go by the wayside. Obviously, HS football Fridays and postseason games can be exceptions. And right now, I'm working like 25-30 hours with this virus canceling all sports. Fuck it. If the bosses are off my back, who cares?

 

I wish I could like this 100 times. Alas, we're limited to one.
Ten years ago, we had two FT sports writers, a sports editor who also wrote, and two FT photographers. Today, we have me and a staff photographer. Maybe one of the news folks will cover a game for me during football season or do layout when I'm on vacation. My own standards, though, are to still produce content like it was 2010, and it still irks me on some level that I can't. I feel like I've worked miracles for the six years or so I've been on my own, and when people break out the, "Why weren't you there?" card I want to punch them in the face.

One thing I have done that I'm exceptionally proud of is a nearly six-year streak of not producing what I call an "irrelevant section" filled with nothing but random national AP content. The last time we had a sports section without at least one local or state-level story of interest (like a State U. college gamer or feature, which I consider as good as a local story) was July 2014 -- and we've been at least five days a week until just this week. Even when I've been on vacation, I've left enough content behind to bridge the gap for 7-10 days until I got back.
Considering the limitations that I'm working with, that's damn near Ripkenesque.
It also makes me want to kick in the nuts the people who say they canceled their subscriptions because we never had any local content. I want to do a lot of violent things to our whiny readers.

 

That's amazing that you've done that. I have to go to the "wire well" from time to time, but I hate to do it.

I guess the only thing that comforts me in all this is that, even when we were producing those amazing sections, it was pretty evident people mostly only read stuff when it applied to them or their families. Sure, there are those wonderful few local sports fans who like to read everything that you see (and like) around town, but mostly it's the, "I want to read about my kid," etc.

One person on staff or 100, they won't be happy unless it's about them. Plus, as well all know, 95 percent of our readers only care about state and national teams, anyway, and you won't give them anything on the wire they can't get elsewhere, so you're fucked either way.

Grim portrait, I know, but we do our best and enjoy life when we're not at work. As I've said in other threads, I have other career interests I will be exploring when this virus stuff subsides. Maybe even before that. I can't deny anymore that I'm just not that passionate about sports as I get older. I just want to watch games and enjoy like everyone else. Tired of it being my job in any capactity now.

 

I, too, have become what radio host Steve Czaban calls a "die easy" fan. I enjoy watching sports, but it's at the point where I don't get too worked up about the outcome 99 percent of the time. If it's a game I'm covering, I want the locals to do well (it's good for business if nothing else) but if they lose then I still have a job to do when it's over. If I'm watching as a fan, the outcome is not going to greatly affect my life the next day.

With the state and national stuff, I'm starting to at least take our little sliver of that pie. I'll post something on our website if it's of enough interest. Even if it only gets marginal traffic I figure it shows a presence to our readers. We won't get as much off of it as a bigger outlet, but maybe we'll get some benefit.

And with the streak, I haven't totally forsaken wire copy. I still use plenty of it on inside pages and as secondary stories on the front. I just strive to have at least one local or state story on the front every day to build the section around. It might be an extended 300-word brief on a gamer, a rehashed press release from one of the state schools, or a story on State U. from one of our sister papers, but it's some piece of content I would consider relevant even if the rest of that day's section is shit.
Not having unfettered access to AP photos has helped in this, as well. There are workarounds for certain stories, but it's a lot harder to plug in a random MLB game story when you have to justify paying as much as $75 for a single picture. Without that crutch, you know in the back of your mind that you'd better have something to build the page around.

 

You're the Albert Pujols of local journalism -- Albert "The Machine" Pujols.