Things that bug sports journalists

I wouldn't consider Springsteen awesome. Fairly mediocre to terrible, perhaps.

 

Not having a seat in the "press" box when it is shitty outside.

The bands.

Getting cutoff while talking to a kid because the slap dick local cable outlet needs to get back to editing the tape no one will watch.





I will say pretty much the only thing I miss about sportswriting is walking the sideline on a fall evening. Fuck, nothing beats watching football from the sideline.

 

Except watching it from anywhere else.

 

Or newbie writers, straight out of college, who say they know how to keep stats. Then the first Friday night, when there are 10 total touchdowns scored in a game, can't tell you who scored any of them or how far they were.

 

Speaking of stats, I've only met a couple of coaches I trust to give me stats. I hate it when Joe Dad sends them over and the points don't add up, errors are not charged/over charged, stats are incomplete, extra yards are added on to the stats. When I'm standing next to the dude and can hear that he doesn't know how to add, that's a problem. Starting from the 35 and going to the 44 is nine yards, not 10 to 12 or whatever number you throw on there to pad the stats. I don't care—because I'm not using your stats—except that you call it into the big metro wrong and it's on Maxpreps wrong and I'm the only one to say you're wrong. It gets annoying.

 

Something sports journalists don't mind: complaining.

 

I covered a game last week where the stats guy after the game had the star running back rushing for 112 yards (even showed it to me on their iPad) , then sent in a box score with the kid having 144 yards.

 

I once had Gus Malzahn come to the office and drop off a tape of the previous weekend's game to double-check stats for his QB, who was on the verge of setting a national record.

 

There were two coaching staffs I could trust with stats because they had kids rush for two of the top five single-game records and shorted their kids yards after I went over every play to confirm the numbers.

 

Thin-clads. Don't forget thin-clads.

Idiots (sportswriters, coaches, bookkeepers) whose boxes don't add up.

Stringers who suck (though it's better than nothing?)

9:30 deadline for print. What's the fucking point?

 

If I remember, this was the first rule I learned as a sportswriter: At games where there's not an experienced crew doing it, never trust the stats you didn't take.

 

Unless the weather was bad, I always enjoyed walking the sidelines. And if I was far enough out of town to have to file electronically, I always enjoyed the drive home.