As much as I have lamented the West Central Tribune sports section
as an information source, I really wasn't expecting such a big glitch
again so soon. I innocently grabbed the June 1 sports section here at
the Morris Public Library, eager to see how the Tigers did in section. I
had no reason to expect problems.
At the top of page B2 is an article with photos that focuses on
Tiger track and field in the 6A meet (held in Moorhead). There are two
photos, one of Katie Holzheimer and the other of MaKenzie Smith. The
headline also bestows attention on these two: "Holzheimer, Smith qualify
for state meet in 6A."
Wonderful, I thought. The article accompanying these photos gives
details. It reports that Holzheimer qualified for state in the 100m and
200m dashes.
Coach Dale Henrich told me at Willie's that
Holzheimer met the qualifying standard in the 200m, thus she advanced
despite placing third. Normally it's the top two. Meeting the qualifying
standard is something to crow about.
The West Central Tribune article reported that Smith qualified for
state in the 3200m, the longest distance. That didn't surprise me
because I saw what Smith was capable of doing last fall in cross
country. I discovered later that Smith also qualified in the 1600m but
that wasn't reported on 6/1. My head is starting to swim just reporting
the discrepancies.
The article concludes by announcing the dates of the state meet.
I
bumped into the always-amiable coach Henrich toward the end of the week
when he was stocking up on Gatorade-like drinks. At this point I
assumed the West Central Tribune article had given me all I needed to
know. I wrote a few paragraphs online to give these two athletes their
much-deserved acknowledgment.
Fast-forward to June 11. That's the Monday after the state meet.
Because the West Central Tribune doesn't publish on Sunday, all eyes
were going to be on the Monday edition.
Actually I checked
online Sunday night and was unable to find anything. Here's a hint,
coach Henrich: Make sure that one way or another, track and field news
gets reported in a timely way, whether it's via an "old media" site, or
Pheasant Country Sports, or a completely independent website. The kids
of today expect all important news to be online.
Looking at the June 11 edition of the Willmar paper, I was shocked
to see that other Tigers besides Holzheimer and Smith had qualified for
state. I was shocked and saddened because I had used that earlier West
Central Tribune article as an information source.
Can we assume the Willmar newspaper is a credible source of sports
info? I notice minor problems popping up quite often, like stats not
adding up the way they should, or other details not reconciling
properly.
On June 11, I read that Holzheimer took third in the 100m and sixth
in the 200m in state, but also anchored the eighth place 4x100m relay
team which also included Beth Holland, Sydney Engebretson and Adrianela
Mendez. Why weren't those other three Tigers acknowledged in the West
Central Tribune's coverage after the section meet?
Not only that, we had a pole vaulter in state. Wow! Abby Travis
placed 16th, getting over the bar at eight feet/three inches.
Congratulations to all, but I would like to have acknowledged all you
athletes earlier.
Distance runner Smith placed eleventh in the 1600m and 13th in the 3200m.
I hope coach Henrich had enough Gatorade (or whatever brand) along. Certainly it was a weekend to savor special memories.
Track and field seems to have an inherent disadvantage when it comes to
media coverage. The baseball and softball teams receive "team specific"
coverage. As a result there are frequent headlines that refer to "MACA
baseball" and "MACA softball," and these articles focus on the athletes
of MACA and the opponent, only.
Track and field tends to get represented in "meet coverage" which
has a big block of space turned over to a particular meet (with very
small type usually) and you have to painstakingly sift through to ferret
out the Morris names.
By mid-season I could almost recite the MACA baseball and softball
lineups for you, but I hardly knew who was out for track. I think this
is unfortunate.
My remedy as it always is, is for these teams
to establish online homes in one manner or another. It costs nothing or
next to nothing. The kids themselves could guide you. It's likely they
have more insights than many of the coaches.
Forget about the very inconsistent West Central Tribune of Willmar.
How much longer can it hang on as a daily anyway? Papers around the
U.S. are reducing their frequency of publication. Newspapers are so
stressed they can be nightmarish places to work.
Online, no one is encumbered by huge overhead costs which reflect
the old U.S. industrial model. Everything is getting more nimble now.
I
shudder to think what could have happened to me, in my newspaper
career, if I had written an article omitting names of state qualifiers.
I'd be called dumber than a pail of nails. Can there be any excuse for
this?
The West Central Tribune tries to be too many things to too many
people. Too much of the type size is inexcusably small. You get ink on
your fingers. Their 6/1 coverage of Tiger track did more harm than good.
Maybe the Morris paper (owned by the same
company) got the section meet info right the next day, but I rarely look
at the Morris paper. I certainly don't buy it. Who wants to deal with a
big Office Max sack that has to be disposed of? Where is the Office Max
store located in Morris?
I know, it's in Alexandria which is where the Morris paper seems to want to steer everyone to spend their money.
Let's allow the Morris and Willmar papers to both fade into well-deserved irrelevance.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment