Orange County Register USC beat writer

I have a pal who worked at the OCR circa 2000-2002, terrific writer, and then all of a sudden without a job for no good reason. There was other stuff going on too, but who knows. Ancient history, huh? Perhaps just an isolated deal, but a red flag nonetheless.

That aside, this sounds like a nice gig, but don't you have to make something like 100K a year just to live halfway decently in the L.A. area? 50-60K might be reasonable if living in D/FW or even Chicago, but 50-60K in L.A. would be peanuts. Tell me I"m wrong.

 

Sorry for being obtuse. I mean possibly Pulitzer-type, like GD's investigation of Minnesota several years ago.

That lack of clarity demonstrates why I couldn't touch this job.  :

And I think you could live very close to USC for 50-60K a year ;D

 

Yes and no. Southern California is an expensive area, but it isn't as expensive as the San Francisco area or New York. There is more rental housing available and you might have to go 10 or 15 miles outside Orange County, but it is possible. You won't live as well on $60K as you would in Dallas/Fort Worth, but you won't need to eat Ramen noodles or boxed macaroni and cheese (why the heck would anybody eat that junk anyway - if you get macaroni and sauce for pasta that isn't more expensive and is better in every way).

 

Word has it that the SE has been calling all over for a month now trying to find candidates. This ad may be a formality.

 

Trying to find candidates? He's looking in the wrong place. There are a few hundred of them right here on this board!

(And if you're lurking, Greg, feel free to PM me with an offer)

 

Pay is OK, although not living large. Department has quality and challenges; send a PM if you have specific questions.

 

Kinda of a funny story with the Register, circa 1991:

At the state track championships, I'm covering Compton, which brought a 4-man team. Many of the teams had upwards of 30 kids, including those snotty OC schools. Compton's quartet ends up winning the team title. Toward the end of the meet they run the 4x200 relay. It comes down to Hawthorne vs. Compton. Hawthorne leads early and gets to the final handoff first, with Compton's Ricky Carrigan getting the baton and starting his anchor leg 10 meters back. The next 18 to 20 seconds were some of the purest shit I ever saw. Carrigan, ranked top 5 in the nation in the 100 and 200 (he won state titles in both) makes up ground, and by the final bend rallies within 5 meters. Everyone in stadium rises and screams as Carrigan tries to catch the Hawthorne kid (I think it was Eric Allen, but I just can't remember). Inch by inch Carrigan hauls ass and creeps closer to the lead. The noise from the crowd becomes louder and louder as they approach the finish line. With 25 meters to go it's neck and neck, 20, 15, 10, 5 and then Carrigan barely edges past the Hawthorne kid at the tape for a win that clinched Compton's championship.

Guys in the press box went every bit as nuts as the crowd, and the Register's sports writer, for whatever reason, came up to me and shook my hand. I was never sure why, and I'm still not sure why 15 years later. That race, that Compton championsihp quartet, and that Orange County Register handshake are memories that will never go away.

 

Is Greg Gibson still the SE there?

 

Ye he is.

 

That kind of money in L.A. area wouldn't be bad. The words "savings account" would never come up, but you could pay bills and hold some paper at the same time. There would be no reason (cost of living wise and distance away) to live in the O.C. though if you were coving SC. All the action for this beat, other than alumni and recruiting, is in L.A.

On a personal note, this is the type of job I would poop my pants in public to get.

 

What he said. I can't top that.