Running Football Tab Thread

I love Yakima's tab. It's quality. And yet.

This is why I hate themes.

"WORKLOAD" for "SCHEDULE"? "MATERIALS"? Why don't we just give the reader a companion glossary?

Classic example of trying too hard to make a theme work.

 

Shot, I agree completely. Cheesy is exactly what I thought.

And the first story was unreadable, right from the "Who let the dogs out?" lede. Ugh.

 

Just to make sure, I asked this reader, and he said it was a bit cheesy too.

 

It might have a little cheese in it, but you know what, they took a chance, and I think overall they made it work. It's much better than the boring old format you see 90 percent of papers produce year in and year out.

I didn't like that they carried the theme into the capsule information (materials, etc.), but I like that they kept it throughout their stories and photos. To do that in a 48-page tab is pretty good. If you're going to do a theme like that, you've either got to do it all the way or not at all. They did it all the way and I'd say it worked. Like I said, I give them a lot of credit for trying something different.

This Yakima tab blew away just about every tab I've done, and put together a much better product than either of the dailies in Denver ever do.

 

Question for those who are including pros in their tabs: How much, if any space is being devoted to fantasy football? What sort of stuff do you think should be included?

 

We do a 28-page tabloid the Sunday after our prep/college sections come out. And to be honest, after you get through all the NFL team capsules, schedules and hitting your local teams harder, it's awfully difficult to find the room.

That's not to say that I don't think fantasy has its place; I do. But it's got to place down on the list of priorities, if only because it has a niche readership. And you've also got to consider whether most fantasy drafts are being done before your tab comes out.

 

Along with our one-page team previews (just seven teams), I'm doing district overview capsules. Is a good idea to include last year's standings/stat leaders, or would such a section be best served focusing on what MIGHT happen rather than what DID?

 

Anybody who's doing 16 pages for 4 or 5 teams, or 28 pages for 8 or 10 teams, wanna lend me a little space?

76 teams in 56 pages (including ads) tends to get a little tight.

 

You don't know what WILL happen. That happens on the field and you tell the story of that. You can make guesses as to what MIGHT happen.


And yes, it's always good to put a recap in from the previous season. People new to the community won't know what happened last year. And people can forget stats and standings.

 

Another feature we began 2-3 years ago sort of ties the high school and college together. We run lists of ALL local players in college football. Divide them up I-A, I-AA, II, III and NAIA.

It's a pretty intense process, especially since the D-III schools generally don't give any hint of their freshmen until they're in camp. But you can pretty much get through the I-A and I-AA right now, and if this is the type of exercise that doesn't drive you or whoever's assigned to it crazy, it's a superb addition.

Myself, I love combing those Web sites. It's going to get laborious at some point, but if you're in Massachusetts and uncover one of your local kids playing for an NAIA school in Idaho, you get the feeling like it's worth it right there.

And you also come across some interesting stories. Going through Temple's roster, we found a freshman linebacker we'd never heard of from a local school. And going through the newspaper library and the school's recent football rosters, the only place we could find him was in a track preview. So it looks like this kid never played high school football and is walking onto I-A (OK, as low as I-A gets, but anyway...).

 

Fixed.

 

I have seen Shot's FB sections .... fantastic.
If he gives you advice, take it.