From the sidelines: Sports coverage a priority
For those of you who don't know me, I'm the new sports reporter for the Marion County Record.
I've been here six weeks now. It's different from anywhere else I've lived, but I like it.
I practically get paid to watch high school sports. OK, so I have to write about them too. But I get to watch a lot of sports.
I told some of my friends from KU I was at a volleyball tournament for eight hours last week. They couldn't believe I "wasted" my Saturday like that. But I love sports, so it wasn't a wasted day. Plus, they "waste" their weekdays with boring jobs.
I've seen some good games and some bad games. I've seen sweat pour down cross country runners' faces as they cross the finish line of a race just five minutes earlier they thought would never end.
I don't even know these athletes yet, but they are still fun to watch. With the support the Marion High School teams receive, obviously I'm preaching to the choir.
But my job is to present the game, or the match, or the meet to the reader so he or she can remember it for more than that one night.
If I'm not doing that well enough, or anyone has a suggestion, let me know.
High school sports are good for a community, and should be well represented in the paper. I remember playing sports (it wasn't that long ago) at a 6A school, and the paper being dominated with national sports.
There was a local weekly paper, but with dozens of schools to cover, some never even made it into print.
It's different here, and better here. MHS sports have now become my focus and will receive all of my attention.
Newspapers are always open to suggestions and the Record is no different.
So, if you see me on the sidelines and have a suggestion about anything, let me know. Even if you want to yell at me that's fine, I can take it. It would just be payback for all the time I yelled at referees and umpires growing up.
