Middle school sports

[Tom Petty]

Example:

Two local soccer-playing lasses make an out-of-town university varsity team as walk-on freshmen. One of the two moms (the crazy self-serving one, of course) calls my extension. I get message. I delete message.

Fellow reporter gets message. He deletes message.

Sports editor gets message. He assigns story. Both reporters beg not to do story because of aforementioned "can of worms" (there are kids from town playing sports all over as walk-on, no-time-gettin' freshmen).

Anyway, we do story and I kid you not, 8:33 AM the day the issue came, I get message:
"You did a great job on the story about Sally and Sarah. But you know, my daughter walked on Podunk University's soccer team this year as a freshman and Podunk is a better team. I think that's worth a story."

Um, I don't.

your editor is an asshole.

 

[Starman]

We've gone over this a lot in the past, but I hope you don't mind if I bring it up again. The other day I received a call and an e-mail telling me about the middle school boys soccer team that finished an undefeated season for the first time in several years and that it would be worthy of coverage.
I informed them that if they sent a press release I'd try to publish it, but I can't cover the team or write a story about it myself. I have my hands full just covering all the high school varsity teams, especially now during state tournaments and with a Thanksgiving Day football tab to put out. Also, if I wrote about one middle school team, I'd have to write about all of them, plus all the JV and freshman high school teams.

There ya go. If they want to type up a little blurb and send you a photo, you can scan it in, type up a very tightly edited synopsis of the information, and run it on page 6D some day when you have a few inches to kill.

But you are never, ever, ever ever ever, going out and personally covering anything below high school varsity. As soon as the Thanksgiving Day football tab is on the streets, you gotta get to work on the preseason previews for boys' basketball.

Boys' varsity basketball, that is.

 

[slappy4428]

But you are never, ever, ever ever ever, going out and personally covering anything below high school varsity.

Unless you work for jrc...

 

[playthrough]

At my old shop we had a once-a-week page in the county section (this is a top-25 daily with daily regional editions) that was all community stuff: girl scouts making a fortune selling cookies, retirement home women knitting a six-mile quilt, etc. Middle school sports went there too. They could get a little write-up and have the team photo run as well. Little Johnny Kung Fu with his 200 trophies also got pub there.

That page, and the gal in the office who would cheerfully put it together AND let me forward all the parent phone calls to her, were pure bliss. It was darn near as good of a perk as paid vacation.

 

[bigpern23]

Example:

Two local soccer-playing lasses make an out-of-town university varsity team as walk-on freshmen. One of the two moms (the crazy self-serving one, of course) calls my extension. I get message. I delete message.

Fellow reporter gets message. He deletes message.

Sports editor gets message. He assigns story. Both reporters beg not to do story because of aforementioned "can of worms" (there are kids from town playing sports all over as walk-on, no-time-gettin' freshmen).

Anyway, we do story and I kid you not, 8:33 AM the day the issue came, I get message:
"You did a great job on the story about Sally and Sarah. But you know, my daughter walked on Podunk University's soccer team this year as a freshman and Podunk is a better team. I think that's worth a story."

Um, I don't.

Someone makes a fortune on a movie about a walk-on football player at Notre Dame and suddenly every mom whose kid walks on at D-III Muhlenberg or some other such athletic abyss thinks their kid's story is just as great.

Sorry, mom. Kids walk on at universities all over the country. After all, the scholarship players need somebody to abuse in practice. Call me when that walk-on earns a scholarship, or contributes in some meaningful way to the team other than "The practice squad really helped us prepare for the Crappy U. this week."

 

[turnovers]

No middle school sports would be nice ...

Unless you can't help it. Unless you were hired out of college at a 250,000 circ for pretty good money covering youth sports exclusively. Unless you took said job as a foot in the door at a major daily, to get quality editing, and to avoid working at the Podunk Banner-Democrat. ...

How odd is that? That's me.

I just think what Florida Today does with Little Leagues should be the norm for that kind of stuff. Parents can post all their scores and photos and show them off to their friends until kingdom come.

 

[shotglass]

No middle school sports would be nice ...

Unless you can't help it. Unless you were hired out of college at a 250,000 circ for pretty good money covering youth sports exclusively. Unless you took said job as a foot in the door at a major daily, to get quality editing, and to avoid working at the Podunk Banner-Democrat. ...

How odd is that? That's me.

I just think what Florida Today does with Little Leagues should be the norm for that kind of stuff. Parents can post all their scores and photos and show them off to their friends until kingdom come.

Well put.

 

[lone star scribe]

No middle school sports? Sure, but remember, there are no absolutes (including that one). Just don't close your mind to a good story, no matter where it is. Back in the day, I had a middle school coach wearing me out about doing a story on his point guard. "Best point guard in the county!" he gushed. Now, the county HS was a district champion, had several players left over from a state championship team, and a few would play on the (small) college level. But I gave in, mostly to get him off my back.

The kid was amazing. 12 or 13 years old, only about 5-7 or so, and just amazing. So I went to a couple games, wrote a takeout feature, everybody was happy. The kid played D-I in a major conf and had a solid NBA career. I'd out myself if I mentioned the team or school involved, but suffice to say, the kid was a great source as I moved through the college and NBA writing ranks. And he would tell his teammates how I "discovered" him and was the first to write about him. Gotta love gratitude.

 

[scribeinwiscy]

Example:

Two local soccer-playing lasses make an out-of-town university varsity team as walk-on freshmen. One of the two moms (the crazy self-serving one, of course) calls my extension. I get message. I delete message.

Fellow reporter gets message. He deletes message.

Sports editor gets message. He assigns story. Both reporters beg not to do story because of aforementioned "can of worms" (there are kids from town playing sports all over as walk-on, no-time-gettin' freshmen).

Anyway, we do story and I kid you not, 8:33 AM the day the issue came, I get message:
"You did a great job on the story about Sally and Sarah. But you know, my daughter walked on Podunk University's soccer team this year as a freshman and Podunk is a better team. I think that's worth a story."

Um, I don't.

Someone makes a fortune on a movie about a walk-on football player at Notre Dame and suddenly every mom whose kid walks on at D-III Muhlenberg or some other such athletic abyss thinks their kid's story is just as great.

Sorry, mom. Kids walk on at universities all over the country. After all, the scholarship players need somebody to abuse in practice. Call me when that walk-on earns a scholarship, or contributes in some meaningful way to the team other than "The practice squad really helped us prepare for the Crappy U. this week."

BigPern, while I agree a daily/weekly/annual story on local kids who go on to make a handful of receptions during their college career (see my first full-time SE) is not a good idea, your discount of Division III athletes and walk-ons is unfair. There are all sorts of good stories with those kids. No need to go overboard, I agree. But if you discount every kid who isn't a D-I prospect or blue chipper, you will get beat by someone who does their homework, IMHO. :-*

 

[bigpern23]

Example:

Two local soccer-playing lasses make an out-of-town university varsity team as walk-on freshmen. One of the two moms (the crazy self-serving one, of course) calls my extension. I get message. I delete message.

Fellow reporter gets message. He deletes message.

Sports editor gets message. He assigns story. Both reporters beg not to do story because of aforementioned "can of worms" (there are kids from town playing sports all over as walk-on, no-time-gettin' freshmen).

Anyway, we do story and I kid you not, 8:33 AM the day the issue came, I get message:
"You did a great job on the story about Sally and Sarah. But you know, my daughter walked on Podunk University's soccer team this year as a freshman and Podunk is a better team. I think that's worth a story."

Um, I don't.

Someone makes a fortune on a movie about a walk-on football player at Notre Dame and suddenly every mom whose kid walks on at D-III Muhlenberg or some other such athletic abyss thinks their kid's story is just as great.

Sorry, mom. Kids walk on at universities all over the country. After all, the scholarship players need somebody to abuse in practice. Call me when that walk-on earns a scholarship, or contributes in some meaningful way to the team other than "The practice squad really helped us prepare for the Crappy U. this week."

BigPern, while I agree a daily/weekly/annual story on local kids who go on to make a handful of receptions during their college career (see my first full-time SE) is not a good idea, your discount of Division III athletes and walk-ons is unfair. There are all sorts of good stories with those kids. No need to go overboard, I agree. But if you discount every kid who isn't a D-I prospect or blue chipper, you will get beat by someone who does their homework, IMHO. :-*

Of course, I understand that. I was referring more to the parents who suddenly think that every walk-on is a Disney movie in the making and expect you to make sure you treat every walk-on equally. "Johnny Jockstrap got a story, my little Timmy Twostep deserves one too!"

 

[longjumper42]

I am with bigpern on MS sports coverage. I work for a tiny tiny 4,000 daily and I swear I have every mother and father within 100 miles who's son/daughter filling up my inbox and vmail with how I just need to do a story on timmy/tommy/sally/... it drives me nuts... I am a ONE person sports desk... so along with just covering all varsity sports and doing my columns, etc. I literally don't have an hour of free time in my day to cover the MS. Yet they still expect me to do it.
My publisher also expects it because his kids play... I seriously want to shoot myself.... please.. if anyone has a gun send it my way.

 

[shotglass]

My publisher also expects it because his kids play... I seriously want to shoot myself.... please.. if anyone has a gun send it my way.

There's always coal-mining work. Try it for a few weeks and get back to us.