i really do like to work on a daily deadline. my sports editor called me from the airport in san antonio this afternoon (he was covering state championships in tennis and golf), and told me he'd caught wind that the new boys basketball coach would be announced at tonight's highland park school board meeting. of course, i was already going to the meeting, like a good little education reporter should. the announcement was a big secret. athletic director and head football coach randy allen hadn't even told the other hp staff coaches about it before tonight.
the reason it was a big secret, i found out, was because they basically "stole" the plano west (my alma mater) coach, david piehler, who started the program there in 1999. piehler went to smu (also my alma mater) and was No. 4 on the all-time scoring list when he graduated. he also signed as a free agent with the dallas mavericks in 1984, but was released at the start of the season.
point is, i got this story at 4 p.m., went to the meeting at 5 p.m. and had the story finished and filed by 7:30. there were interviews with the new coach, the AD and the superintendent. it's 680 words.
it's newsy. not your usual "sarah sidebar."
but it's fun to be driving around town and calling people on their cell phones. your editor's in the airport. you're writing quotes with a spare pencil from under your car seat while you sit at a red light on the way back to the office. it's greatness. what i always imagined journalism would be.
is it a sign that i get 100 percent more excited about sports stories than i do any other story?
unrelated, well, basketballish, at least: the mavs are winning 58-38 at half time in game 2. nice.
1 comment:
Journalism should be that. I love the rush of getting something and busting your ass to cover it. But then the let down of it sitting for three days to a week for the story to finally come out kind of leaves you sick. It's a buzz kill.
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