This ever happen to you?

To answer your question, I'm a one-man ship, so if I don't do it, it don't get done. On the clock, always, unfortunately.

 

I worked on my regular days off last week and will take them during the holiday break.

 

It happens once in a while. It's happened to me where the game could actually be interesting to watch and I might actually get something out of it, but instead I can't think of a decent question, my lede sucks and the story drags.

Like Songbird said, chalk it up to a bad day. It will pick up. Always does.

 

Don't know how long you've been in the business, but the one thing I've better understood the longer I'm at it is: Let it go and move on to the next one. Depending on what you're doing, you'll probably cover an obscene number of games and write 300 to 500 stories a year, and beating yourself up over one game story isn't very productive.

Having said that, it's sometimes easier said than done.

 

According to the photo editor where I work (the same one who feels that just because he's out in the rain, I should be, too) a true pro never has a bad day.

 

Truer words. Truer words.

 

Yes he does.

 

As a fellow high school sports writer, let me add this: It's high school sports. Expectations should be set to "low" anyway. I went to a game tonight that wasn't worth shit until I kid was called for a technical and his coach threw him off the court. Later, coach was an assbag to me and I wasn't even pressing the issue.

Confrontation is entertaining, which is why I'm against all these "sportsmanship" rules.

 

Buffalo biscuits.[/ShermanTPotter] Unless your paper hires androids, I'd bet he's had at least a few days where he just wasn't feeling it.

---------

Speaking as someone who's pulled the same feat before, SSM, I don't suggest making a habit of working two weeks straight. Good way to run yourself down and get sick.

 

Bad day. We all have them. Sound like you're a bit burned out. Go home and shut down for a couple of days, catch up on your sleep. It will be better in the morning.

 

Echoing the thoughts of many on here, it happens. A crap lede/story? Well, not everything can be nominated for a Pulitzer. Just forge onward through the fog.

A pet theory: There's stuff I wrote I thought was gold and stuff I wrote I thought was crap. But in reading both extremes months or years later, there's really not all that much difference in any of it. I think your perception of it depends a lot on the mood you're in when you read it.

 

Early in my career I drove myself crazy trying to make sure everything was perfect and a copy editor picked up on it and pulled me aside and said, "They're not all going to be great. Sometimes you've just got to feed the beast."

We're all off our game at times, the secret is just to make sure everybody can't tell when you're off... If I have an AP type lede on my gamer, it's usually a pretty good sign that I'm having an off night.

We all have them. Those of us who cover a beat feel that way all the time toward the end of the season because we're exhausted. During the beginning of the season, I write down a ton of story ideas because toward the end of the season, you can be tapped out...