Robservations – Sports writing more than just fun and games
The smell of freshly cut grass. The sound of a well-hit line drive. The cheers of the crowd after an 18-yard shot finds the back of the soccer net.
You?ve got to love spring sports.
Or…
Standing in a drizzle while coaches say ?I think this?ll blow over.? Fans wrapped in blankets watching players in short pants while temperatures dip into the 30?s. Figuring out which two games you?ll cover and which six will be left on their own.
Maybe you don?t have to love it all that much.
Seriously, the spring brings plenty of work to your friendly neighborhood sports department, and we?re tickled to have the chance to get out and cover as many games as possible. But sometimes this time of year provides a few headaches.
To the uninitiated, it may seem that Dale and I go to games for a living. That?s a popular misconception, so don?t feel bad if you share those thoughts. But there are many other responsibilities that prevent us from being just professional spectators.
Right off the bat, there?s the six pages of copy, photos, graphics and ads that you?re perusing at this very moment. Three days a week, the powers that be simply insist that we trudge into the office and put together a sports section for you to enjoy. It makes sense, seeing as if there were no section, there would be no reason to take in all these athletic contests. But writing all this copy, and piecing together the stories with the photos takes time, and often ? especially during this part of the year ? puts us in a rush.
When you?ve got to finish your 15.6 inches of column, and write up the bowling results, and look for tennis scores, then find the NASCAR standings, then finish tomorrow?s section in time to get to today?s games, which mean today?s games will be in Sunday?s edition… you get the idea.
In short, we?re busy. Very busy. That?s why we sometimes take it a little personally when fans chide us about not attending this game or that one.
Generally, it?s all in jest. But there are occasions ? more often than not these days ? where parents are legitimately upset because neither Dale nor myself were in attendance at their kids? game. Now, I won?t fault anybody for having pride in their kids, but I will ask that ? before you place that phone call to the powers that be wondering where your coverage was ? you consider the logistics involved.
Dale is one man. So am I. That?s a grand total of two.
On any given weekday during the spring, there could be as many as eight or more different local teams playing at home, all at roughly the same time. Are you with me so far?
We?d love to turn on some sort of Jamie Madrox-esque power, and clone ourselves into multiple sports writers. (That?s an X-Men reference.) But unfortunately, we can only get to so many games, and leave the rest up to the coaches to provide what information they see fit.
So there you have it. The next time your little angel is on the mound, or has a goal, or goes 2-for-3 at the plate, I hope we?re there to see it. Heck, I hope we get pictures of it. But in case we don?t, understand it?s because we?re somewhere else, seeing someone else?s little angel. It?s a hectic time of year, and we?ll do everything we can to cover your favorite team next time.
Hopefully it?ll be warm, and the skies will be clear.