Back to writing... and old habits
It bugs me when writers mention how long it took to write a story, for two reasons — a) the time it takes to write a story is not necessarily an indication of its quality (and a lot of the time, writing too much is not a good thing), and b) no one cares.
That said, I can't believe how long it took me to write my Hockey East preview for USCHO.com. Or I should say I can't believe I'm surprised how long it took.
For years, I wrote at least three season previews a year for local high school teams — a project that included a feature article and a capsule for each team. That meant I had to spend time on the phone with each coach going through his or her roster, a task that took a considerable amount of time.
Each season I had the same mentality — I'd fool myself into thinking the preview was a three, four-hour job. Five tops. Definitely could do it in one shift.
Then there I'd be, frantically typing at 2 a.m. the morning it was due. The same thing happened with my Hockey East preview — I figured I could bang it out in one afternoon — except this time the clock read 5 when I finally hit send.
I know a lot of writers take pride in working through the night to meet deadlines, and sometimes it has to be done. For me, there was no heroism involved in staying up so late. Once again, I'd just underestimated how long the project would take to finish.
PODCAST RETURNS NEXT WEEK
I'll be in Albuquerque this weekend to catch the Colorado State-New Mexico football game, featuring my 68(?)-year-old father in law on trumpet for the Lobo band! A TV station out there will be doing a story.
When I get back, I'll get to work on Episode 34, featuring Jon Finkel, author of “1996: A Biography — Reliving the Legend-Packed, Dynasty-Stacked, Most Iconic Sports Year Ever”. Follow Jon on Twitter here.
Love to read?
Here's what I enjoyed this week:
SPORTS:
Baseball stole the NFL’s thunder on Sunday. A compelling and potentially chaotic MLB playoffs await
***PAST GUEST ALERT***
Episode 3 guest Chad Finn of the Globe nails it here, laying out the pros and cons of baseball's postseason format. Hey, is it "fair" that the Dodgers (106 wins) had to put it all on the line in a one-game playoff vs. the Cardinals (90 wins)? Probably not. But as Finn notes, that’s not reason enough to abandon or revamp the way baseball matches up teams in the postseason.
It still breaks my heart to see how far baseball has fallen
I had a similar experience last weekend to Boston Globe Columnist Dan Shaughnessy's. Dan lamented going into a favorite restaurant during the Red Sox' season finale against the Washington Nationals — a game with enormous playoff implications — only to find the establishment's one television tuned to an NFL game. I was at a major chain restaurant where I had to ask a manager to turn one of the dozens of TVs to baseball.
Brunswick fires football coach, cancels rest of season in wake of hazing investigation
I'm standing up at my laptop, applauding the adults who run the schools in Brunswick, Maine, for canceling the rest of the football season after a stomach-turning act of hazing was discovered to have occurred during a preseason retreat. Yeah, I feel sorry for the kids who had nothing to do with the incident and saw their season put on ice — but you just can't have this. And the better question is, why were these kids on retreat?
My former co-worker and friend Steve Craig reports it right down the middle for the Portland Press Herald, though some details are not for the squeamish.
NON-SPORTS
I Was Powerless Over Diet Coke
I Am Also Powerless Over Diet Coke, and It Rules
Abby Ellin in the New York Times details her lifelong addiction to Diet Coke, which prompted Dan Kois of Slate to write about how much he embraces his. It reminded me of how often I see friends on Twitter swear off coffee and, subsequently, post about how good it feels. Me? I drink about eight cups a day and I'm good, thanks.