(Mis)Adventures of a small-town sports writer
I pissed off a lot of people with guns this week. Also, the saddest thing ever.
Posted 31st July 2011 at 07:08 AM by Dosipede
The local trap-shooting youth team went to a big tournament in Vegas a week or two ago and "dominated", according to everyone affiliated with the club. After my paper came out Friday, I had several angry calls and emails about how pathetic it was they only got back page coverage, without the 14 pictures they sent in. One of them yells, "I don't know how many kids there are in this swim team you have in there every week..." Ummm, between the two teams in town, only about 350.
How do I explain to them that I hate running pictures of kids standing there holding their guns with goofy looks on their faces? That respectable sports sections avoid them at all costs?
In their defense, I should have given it more than I did. I know I won't please everyone in this business, but I try not to enrage them the way these people have been enraged. I'm trying to get ahold of one of the kids who shot a perfect round so I can featurize it, and maybe make up for it a little.
Speaking of the swim team, I was at the league championships yesterday. They were swimming the 100-yard individual medley, which if you're unfamiliar with swimming, goes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, 25 yards each. I watched as an 8-year-old kid dove in and started swimming the freestyle.
This kid had the fastest time coming into the championships, and this was an instant disqualification in the preliminaries.
The poor kid didn't realize his mistake until he was three-quarters of the way across the pool. When it finally dawned on him, he just stopped swimming and drifted for a couple of seconds, his mouth open, a pained expression on his face as he looked up into the sky. He got to the edge of the pool and looked up at his coach as if asking what to do now. His coach told him to finish the race. And he did, even though it didn't matter to him any more.
When he finished, he pulled himself out of the pool and ran off. I didn't see any tears. It was heartbreaking though. If I was him, I'm sure I would have bawled my eyes out.
How do I explain to them that I hate running pictures of kids standing there holding their guns with goofy looks on their faces? That respectable sports sections avoid them at all costs?
In their defense, I should have given it more than I did. I know I won't please everyone in this business, but I try not to enrage them the way these people have been enraged. I'm trying to get ahold of one of the kids who shot a perfect round so I can featurize it, and maybe make up for it a little.
Speaking of the swim team, I was at the league championships yesterday. They were swimming the 100-yard individual medley, which if you're unfamiliar with swimming, goes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, 25 yards each. I watched as an 8-year-old kid dove in and started swimming the freestyle.
This kid had the fastest time coming into the championships, and this was an instant disqualification in the preliminaries.
The poor kid didn't realize his mistake until he was three-quarters of the way across the pool. When it finally dawned on him, he just stopped swimming and drifted for a couple of seconds, his mouth open, a pained expression on his face as he looked up into the sky. He got to the edge of the pool and looked up at his coach as if asking what to do now. His coach told him to finish the race. And he did, even though it didn't matter to him any more.
When he finished, he pulled himself out of the pool and ran off. I didn't see any tears. It was heartbreaking though. If I was him, I'm sure I would have bawled my eyes out.
Total Comments 5
Comments
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That's a terrible shame about the kid in the swimming championships, Dosipede.
Did you ever get hold of the kid who shot the perfect round?Posted 23rd August 2011 at 05:40 AM by Uthrecht 
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Nope, but I ran a photo of the team the next week, and they sent an email saying thanks. I did, however, earn the ire of the local kung fu studio this past week, though.
Posted 23rd August 2011 at 08:10 AM by Dosipede
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It never ends.
Posted 23rd August 2011 at 09:23 AM by Uthrecht
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Gun clubs, kung fu... You sure do know how to piss off the wrong people. What's next, the homemade explosives club?
Posted 14th September 2011 at 06:01 PM by NeitherRainNorSnow
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I should figure out a way to flip off both of the rival gangs that are always taking pot shots at each other around here.
"Hey everyone! The Nortenos suck harder than the Surenos' mothers!"Posted 14th September 2011 at 07:37 PM by Dosipede
