TOM HARRIS
Star Beacon
May 15, 2008 02:51 am
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It happens every year about this time. The other night, we’re sitting around the sports desk and someone starts mumbling. If he had been a cartoon, the mumbler would have had a bubble full of angry punctuation marks.
The poor man’s upset was caused by an incomplete report from an area Little League diamond. He read the report once, twice a third time, and he still couldn’t figure out which team won.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he whined.
Yes, sports writers whine, but only for just cause, and not being able to get the name of your young ballplayer in the paper is just cause.
“Quit your whining and give them a call,” a colleague said.
“There’s no phone number on this,” the whiner whined.
So, somewhere in Ashtabula County the next morning, some loving parent picked up the Star Beacon, ripped open the sports section and went directly to Sandlot Roundup. Then the bubble above his head filled with punctuation marks, much angrier than those of the sports writer, all because the one game he wanted to read about wasn’t there.
Now, to be honest, we are occasionally guilty of error and oversight. We do our best to avoid them. Nothing is worse than coming to work and finding a string of messages from upset parents. It does, however, focus our attention for a day or two.
Other than reminding us of our mistakes, there’s not much you can do when we drop the ball. You, however, can play error-free ball when reporting your team’s scores by paying attention to the little things, like scores, team names, players’ names and who won.
n Scores — OK, 6-2 is a score, but it doesn’t tell us a lot. Whether you’re providing just the score or a line score, please identify the teams and make it clear which team won.
While you’re at it, please be sure to indicate which league the teams are in and what level of play. After all, the kids on the Geneva majors don’t want to find there game in with the Kingsville minors.
n Names — In the interest of full disclosure, our purpose here is to sell papers. We understand that many people are willing to plunk down a half a buck for the paper if they think their child’s name will be in that day’s edition. Coaches, you can help us sell papers and make our customers happy by taking care include the first and last names of the players and spelling those names correctly.
In the old days, back in 1920s and 1930s, the first name of athletes seldom appeared in the sports page. “Schmedlack emerged from the cloud of dust at second base, and Garfinkle, the umpire, yelled, ‘Safe!’” was considered adequate identification for all concerned. But times change. People demand full identification, and we won’t print your game summary if you list only last names. For that matter, we won’t print it if you list only first names.
We understand that the standardization has gone out the window when it comes to the spelling of names. But if you can make sure it’s Ashley and not Ashleigh or Ashlee, or Jared and not Jarrod or Jarod, it will help us a lot. Besides, if the parents call us to say their child’s name is misspelled, we’ll tell them we printed it as it appeared on game summary you turned in.
n What to include — Let us know about the notable performances. If someone drove in the winning run in the bottom of the final inning, let us know his name. Give us the name of the kids who had two or more hits or an extra-base hit. Let us know about the pitcher — if she struck out a bunch and walked only a few, give us her numbers.
It helps us write a more complete summary if you include your team’s record and the record of the opposition, if you can get it. If you’re riding a winning streak, or if this win was the first one in a while, let us know. We might not be able put it in every night — just as TV stations have time restrains, we are limited by the space available — but if we can make it fit, we will.
n Getting the news to us — Game summary forms are available at the Star Beacon office. These might be helpful, because they indicate all the important things we need to know. But, if you chose to use another form, or make one up as you go, that’s fine, too. Just be sure to get all the pertinent information down.
Then drop the paper in the mail slot in the Star Beacon’s front door on Park Avenue. If you’re afraid we’re all asleep in the newsroom, you can rap you’re keys on the door to let us know there’s something we need to pick up. Please do this as soon as possible after your game. We don’t have a set-in-stone deadline, but after 9 p.m. or so, we break pencils and snarl when we hear people at the mail slot.
Trees still have to die in order for us to get the news out, but the Star Beacon isn’t mired in the 20th Century. You can email your game summary to sandlot@starbeacon.com. We check that address throughout the evening, at least until 9 p.m. or so.
Remember, though, we will not open attachments. If you email, put everything in the body of email. We will not attempt to open attachments because of dreaded virus concerns.
Because of the number of sandlot baseball and softball games played every night, we do not take sandlot scores over the phone. We’ll be polite when you call, but we won’t take the information.
n Who are you? — Whether we find your information under the mail slot or in the inbox, you can help us by including your name and phone number. That way, if we have a question, we’ll be able to ask it.
Beyond that, write neatly, don’t send us any attachments and we’ll do all we can to see that the exploits of the young athletes in the area don’t go unnoticed.
Harris is a freelance writer from Ashtabula Township. Reach him at tharris508@yahoo.com.
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TOM HARRIS Star Beacon