Overheard in the press box

Smash: OK, excellent point. I see what you're saying.

I would agree with Novelist in that if you are in a situation where you absolutely need the seat, you make the call in advnace.

 

Best thing to do is call a few days in advance and try to reserve a seat in the box. If they can't make it happen, well then you do the sidelines.

 

It's a tricky situation, but what would happen if you couldn't get in free to a game. I'm sure some ME and publishers would say not to cover that school anymore.

BTW, not getting a press box seat is a way of dictating coverage, especially if some papers live blog a game.

As for myself, I've covered games and written other stories from the bleachers. If a press box gets crowded, I'll sit in the regular seats.

 

It's not a matter of not covering the event.

The point is, the press should not be told there are no seats in the "press" box for them when clearly they are allowing non-press in there. If that happens then some hell should be raised about it.

 

Hell, I've been in a situation where I needed to write a running gamer and didn't have pressbox access during the game. I wrote, piece by piece, in my iPhone... emailing to my gmail account. After the game, grabbed some quotes, got into the pressbox, cut and paste, add quotes, clean up. Voila.

Sometimes, you just gotta McGyver it.

 

This isn't entirely related - then again, a lot isn't lately - but the post about the TV guy cutting off the interview made me think of this:

About four years ago, I was covering a playoff football game. The home team played in a terribly weak conference and went 10-1, so it had the advantage over the powerhouse team that was 8-3 or something of the sort. The visiting team rolled the home team 42-7 and I'm on the field talking to home team's running back.

I asked a few questions about the game, and about three questions in, a homer reporter from the local hometown paper shows up with his microphone. I asked him another question about what it means to lose in his senior year, and the kid, about to cry for a while, finally lets it go. The other reporter turns off his tape recorder, puts his hand on the kid's shoulder and says, "Don't worry, Kenny. You don't have to talk to us now if you don't want."

The kid nods and walks away as I stand there agape. The other guy's only deadline was 30 minutes ago; I still had to roll in about 40 for first. I would have said something if I wasn't so blindsided.

Anyway, carry on...

 

Exactly, or you cover the school enough that they know you attend every game. If it's a situation where you've gotta have a press box, then you do everything in your power to make sure you have a seat. But even then, sometimes things come up and someone higher up the chain kicks every non-booster or whatever out (I am thinking of you, Fightin' Antlers muckity mucks who are now long gone). That's a royal PITA and something to bring up for a serious discussion with the school/district AD on Monday.

I've covered games from the bleachers which is difficult for me because I use two sheets when I stat - one PBP and one running totals for quick final stats, but every time was decent enough weather. The shop I work at now has a decent deadline situation for 95 percent of games (save your odd 4 hour multiple-overtime monster), which definitely helps too. But I know shops out there where the situation isn't nearly as nice and where you need a running gamer ASAP. That makes a press box almost necessary, especially if combined with rainy weather.

Same goes for those who liveblog or Tweet through games. Although smart phones are definitely everywhere now, many of us are still using their dumb cousins and can't get online without a power-sucking laptop. And even though can get away with the laptop in the bleachers most nights, there is always the unpredictable weather factor.

As far as the thread title, I heard this recently on press row:

"Suzie Perfectpants can do everything. She can pass, she can score and she can defend. I bet she could even come over here and write my blog better me. Next game, she should and write Twitter updates at the same."

 

All this carping about having a phone line and a power outlet. Use your laptop battery and a sat card. If your battery sucks, buy one of those 20 dollar cigarette adapters that works in any car. Or, failing that, call up the desk and dictate. Or, drive to the nearest free wifi, or Starbucks, or whatever. Shit, in this day and age it wouldn't be impossible to write some or all of your story on your Blackberry and send it in that way, either.

You should do what you have to do.

 

I covered a game two weeks ago, and arranged everything in advance. E-mailed the AD asking to be put on the pass list and also e-mailed the guy who does tech stuff for the school. He assured me that wifi in the pressbox would be working. No, it wasn't working, and I didn't have time to drive anywhere else and find a free hot spot. So I wrote and sent the whole thing -- story and box score -- on my phone.

 

I had a booster club parent try to keep me out of a podunk game last year. They wanted to charge me $5 and I refused. I didn't really care about a seat in the box, but I had to work some equipment for the sports department. I flat out told the lady that I could care less about the football team, the school, or anything else and that I needed to be here for my job. I wasn't paying and if she wasn't let me in, her team wouldn't have a broadcast that night. She let me in, and I felt like an asshole.

 

My android has the option of talk to type, and usually it is a great way to cover a game.

 

Back to the original topic at hand...

Was watching a college scrimmage for big State U. We were in the stands of the stadium for some unknown reason, and parents of the players were scattered all about as well. One young reporter turns to another and goes, "Is there a bigger bust in the history of recruiting than Johnny Superstar?" The parents of Superstar, a former five-star recruit now in his fifth year, could not have been more than five feet away.