The "Homer" sports writer

two-part question: is that a burb of cleveland; and will the plain dealer be sending a staffer? ;D

 

No. But I think Ace is offering to string the game in exchange for a tour of the newsroom and press plant.

 

I'm actually not hoping for losses at this point. I just submitted my hours yesterday, and this check will be quite nice. The next will be very fat, and if the right teams win, so will the one after that, hopfully allowing me to take MrsExpendable somewhere nice for a weekend.

 

Absolutely. Unfortunately we have two local teams playing each other in the regional finals, so we'll have at least one team at the Final Four in Big City.

 

Must be nice to get overtime. If I got overtime I'd be rooting for all of my teams as well. Instead, I don't get anything, except long ass drives around West Texas to watch shitty basketball.

 

That would change my entire tune.

 

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. But I'm not so easy. Also asked for a popcorn and coke during the game.

 

well, on an up note, i guess they don't UA their stringers.

 

I eventually left my first full-time gig due to the extreme homer coverage the publisher wanted. His kid plays for the school teams, and he's a Grade-A toolbox. In almost two years, I had a countless exchange of words with the guy, voicing my displeasure with what he expected out of me and his other writers. He'd go into the system and change information in stories if he thought it'd besmirch his buddies.

I was out of school, coming off a short, part-time stop at a bigger paper -- probably five times the size of my new one -- and had no ties to the area. So I was given a low salary and handed shit assignments. Not a big deal starting off. But I never felt I got the respect my work deserved.

My replacement, a new writer from the area -- not great, not bad ... just really wet behind the ears -- started a couple thousand more than I did and was praised repeatedly as a part-timer. They couldn't wait to get me out of the office. The feeling was mutual.

 

Diabetus, do you eat the free food in the press box? Do you pay for your own parking? Not trying to be confrontational or anything. Just genuinely curious as to where you draw the line.

 

... and if that line is drawn, is it drawn in pencil, chalk or crayon?

 

I say draw the line in colors, bright colors, and then draw a hotscotch pattern around it. Worked for me in third grade.