Trying to get in touch with the five area swimmers who won state titles last week has been like a game of Marco Polo.
It's actually been quite beneficial to my people-finding skills and my on the spot interview skills. My editor told me to get in touch the five swimmers who won state titles so we could write a story about them - seemingly an easy task - just call their coaches, interview their coaches about them, then have the coaches give you their number.
It hasn't been that easy, though. Most swimming coaches aren't listed in our directory, which means I have to call the Athletic Director. And, most athletic director phone numbers listed in the directory go straight to their office. As I am in the Inquirer office at night, I can't get in touch with them unless I call them during the day.
So, the process has taken a lot of phone calls at different times in the day. So far, I've interviewed three coaches and one athlete. I'm waiting on two coaches/ADs to get back to me and point me in the right direction, and two athletes to get back to me - one of whom I have to call around 3:00 tomorrow.
But, calls are out, messages are recorded, and emails are sent. Now, it's just a waiting game. By tomorrow, I should have enough quotes and content to put together a story. The goal is to talk to AT LEAST one person per athlete. That could be the player her/himself (preferably), the coach, or the AD (preferably not). I think I'm on the right track.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Capsules Galore
I've spent the past week working on two "capsule" assignments. One of which was the NCAA tournament capsules and the other was the Villanova 1985 basketball team "Where are they now."
For the NCAA capsules, I was given 12 teams to research, find stats and write analysis about. The end result was 13 pages of analysis and stats. It took up a good chunk of my time last week at the office, and carried over to time out of the office. On Sunday, the capsules ran, along with other capsules written by the entire sports staff.
For the "Where are they now" capsules, I just finished. I had information on almost every player of the 1985 team from when I went to the reception a few weeks ago. However, there were a few players who weren't there. I had to make some calls and find them online in order to figure out what they were up to. The process was a little tedious and frusterating, but I got through it. The end result should pay off.
Besides those two projects, there hasn't been anything breaking I've been working on in the past week. Who knows what's in store for next week.
For the NCAA capsules, I was given 12 teams to research, find stats and write analysis about. The end result was 13 pages of analysis and stats. It took up a good chunk of my time last week at the office, and carried over to time out of the office. On Sunday, the capsules ran, along with other capsules written by the entire sports staff.
For the "Where are they now" capsules, I just finished. I had information on almost every player of the 1985 team from when I went to the reception a few weeks ago. However, there were a few players who weren't there. I had to make some calls and find them online in order to figure out what they were up to. The process was a little tedious and frusterating, but I got through it. The end result should pay off.
Besides those two projects, there hasn't been anything breaking I've been working on in the past week. Who knows what's in store for next week.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Back and Busy
I'm back at the Inquirer for a new semester, and I'm busier than ever. Once again, I'm mostly working with Gary Miles - the high school sports editor. I've done a few advances for high school playoff basketball games, and a few small features for the section as well - one a girls basketball team, one on a record-breaking track athlete, and I've been working on one involving a Christian sports league starting up in May.
In addition, John Quinn, the college sports editor, has kept me busy beyond the times I've been in the office. On Saturday, John sent me and another intern to the Wachovia Center to cover Villanova's 1985 national champion team, which was being honored at halftime. Before halftime, however, they had a reception. It was my duty to not only write about what happened at halftime, but to also interview each player in order to put together a "Where are they now" section in the paper.
Everything went smoothly. We got access to the reception, even though we weren't supposed to originally. The players saw us standing outside and invited us in. Between me and the other intern, we talked to everyone there. We're now working on collaberating to put together the spread. The end result will turn out to be a great byline. I also wrote the story for Sunday's paper about the halftime presentation and got to sit through a thrilling overtime gaime between the current Villanova team and West Virginia.
John has also had me working on capsules for the NCAA tournament. He split up teams between the staff writers, and each of us were required to find certain facts regarding each team. It took much longer than expected - I ended up with 17 pages and nearly 3000 words of statistics and analysis. The capsules should be running on Sunday when they announce who gets a bid to the NCAA tournament.
In addition, John Quinn, the college sports editor, has kept me busy beyond the times I've been in the office. On Saturday, John sent me and another intern to the Wachovia Center to cover Villanova's 1985 national champion team, which was being honored at halftime. Before halftime, however, they had a reception. It was my duty to not only write about what happened at halftime, but to also interview each player in order to put together a "Where are they now" section in the paper.
Everything went smoothly. We got access to the reception, even though we weren't supposed to originally. The players saw us standing outside and invited us in. Between me and the other intern, we talked to everyone there. We're now working on collaberating to put together the spread. The end result will turn out to be a great byline. I also wrote the story for Sunday's paper about the halftime presentation and got to sit through a thrilling overtime gaime between the current Villanova team and West Virginia.
John has also had me working on capsules for the NCAA tournament. He split up teams between the staff writers, and each of us were required to find certain facts regarding each team. It took much longer than expected - I ended up with 17 pages and nearly 3000 words of statistics and analysis. The capsules should be running on Sunday when they announce who gets a bid to the NCAA tournament.
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