KY TV sportscaster sues local HS

[Cosmo]

Was always a sideline guy in my prep football days. I would find the stats guy for the team I was covering and walk with him the entire time. Was an easy way to confirm yardages and such. If it was two local teams playing, I'd spend a half on each sideline.

 

[Big Circus]

I was a sideline guy whenever I did prep football, and at my first job (where I was working when I got married), that included taking pictures. The only time I ever came close to getting hurt, I swear to god, was five days before my wedding. We had Monday night games that week because of massive rainstorms on Friday, and I was out taking pictures and noticed people coming to me late. Fortunately, I was able to move some, and all that happened was a guy landing on my foot at full speed. I was sore for a few days but was good to go Saturday for the wedding, first dance, and all that.

I actually knew the player who had landed on me and gave him some good-natured shirt about it the next time we talked (while making it abundantly clear that it was my own dumb-ass fault).

 

[MileHigh]

I was a sideline guy too. As on official, as long as they stay out of the way, I don't mind them. Plus, if we screw up and there is a discrepancy on which down it is among the crew and the chain guys, I'll casually go over and ask, "Hey, what down do you have" but they most likely have a PxP of the game.

 

[jr/shotglass]

You always knew what coaches would dodge you and take the guys straight to the bus, too. If you had one of those, it was SOP to move from the press box to the sideline with 3-4 minutes left so you could catch him and/or the players before they disappeared.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Which is another reason I prefer the sideline. Half the time I do go up to the press box, even at some of the bigger schools, there's little to no room.

Likewise, Batman. Just have a comfort zone on the sideline. ALWAYS have to know where the ball/tacklers are.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Was always a sideline guy in my prep football days. I would find the stats guy for the team I was covering and walk with him the entire time. Was an easy way to confirm yardages and such. If it was two local teams playing, I'd spend a half on each sideline.

Yes I like to man both sidelines, my own self.

 

[ChrisLong]

I always preferred the sidelines. Sometimes there are pileups on fumbles and in the clutter of players, you can't see who made the recovery. Once they come off the field, just ask somebody who got it. Punt returns were the hardest. You had to line up with the receiver to see what yard line he caught it in case he runs it back for a touchdown. But if they rush the punter and it gets blocked, it can be hard to see from 50 yards away who blocked it. Again, ask somebody once they exit the field. If it is the other team, make a note and ask later. If you never get it, write around it. The Tigers blocked a punt. The Lions recovered the fumble.

There were a couple of fields where the only yard markers were on the fence between the benches and bleachers. No markings on the field whatsoever. That was a pain.

 

[dixiehack]

Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio by James… | Poetry Foundation


Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio
By James Wright
In the Shreve High football stadium,
I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville,
And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood,
And the ruptured night watchman of Wheeling Steel,
Dreaming of heroes.

All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home,
Their women cluck like starved pullets,
Dying for love.

Therefore,
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful
At the beginning of October,
And gallop terribly against each other's bodies.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself at a men's church dinner where I knew virtually no one and the majority of people at my table were in my parents' age bracket at minimum. But after a bit of talking I discovered that one of them has three decades of experience and counting with the local football officials association and we were able to swap stories and bridge any communication gap quite easily after that. And for a moment in time I felt the old adrenaline rush and I almost wished I was back on the road to a stadium with a clean spiral notebook in the passenger seat and enough time before kickoff to discover the local barbecue joint or pizza parlor that would be decked out in the small town colors as another chapter of promise began.

 

[Big Circus]

It can always get worse!