So, MACA versus New London-Spicer is a "non-conference" game. That's what I read on the West Central Tribune site on this Saturday morning.
It can be tough keeping track of all such details. Non-parents need to be given some slack if they assume anything wrongly. With a wink I would suggest that someone like myself be given some slack too: a writer who wants to stay close to these activities. I'm so proud that I am still "up" on all the names, just as much as when I was with the newspaper.
I could not write for the paper again because there would be an expectation to be batting a thousand. So I would not dare assume that MACA vs. New London-Spicer was a conference game. Someone might get excited, a parent no doubt. I remember when I was still with the paper, I learned that Minnewaska was not a conference opponent for a particular time or particular sport. I might be inclined to assume that Minnewaska was.
Assume something, and I might be shot out of the saddle. Think of the myriad other details I'd have to get right. At age 68 maybe I'm not as sharp as I once was. I actually doubt that's the issue - I think it's that today's sports parents set standards so absolutely sky-high. Man, back when I started with the paper, they'd be happy if I just showed up now and then.
To further illustrate what I'm talking about, allow me to note that if I called the High School League just a couple days before a state tourney, I could arrange for press credentials to be picked up at "will call" in such a routine way. With a smile and "have a nice day." Today: my God, it's like everyone is on uppers.
When I left the paper, I had been asked to submit a photo of myself for some sort of official ID tag. I did not even know how to go through that process, so would have to consult my more "geeky" co-workers. I kept up with the endless changes and innovations for a long time, then I started getting exasperated. And then I left the paper. I assure you, my position there had become untenable.
I ruminate about all that to this day.
I covered the Morris Area graduation so routinely for so many years - and I did a good job of it - but in the end, Sue Dieter was wanting every graduate to be photographed for - you guessed it - display on the paper's website. The idea being to sell them of course. In effect the paper was creating a whole new business. And I could no longer keep up with the demands.
As a side note, I will observe that the paper's editor at the time showed up for graduation and vetoed the plans for photographing every graduate. Sue had also arranged for an "intern" to be there that night. It was tremendous overkill, just like the High School League with all its hoops to jump through for getting press credentials. The old days with its stable and relaxed systems were out the window.
Forum Communications owned the paper when I left. It had a reputation for being draconian. Everyone knew it was a "top-down" company in which you'd better do as you're told by your superior. And yet our editor was able to torpedo Sue's plans with no apparent repercussions.
I suspected that the editor did not really answer to Sue - he answered to a person or persons higher up. I think the people higher up became aware of the issue of how I handled the goalpost incident at UMM, fall of 2005. I make no apologies. But certain people got their pants in a bundle, most notably a physician last name of Busian. I think it was Busian's letter to the editor that totally sowed the seeds for me having to leave the paper. Don't be Pollyannish: a company can make sure a certain individual is going to leave.
The fact that Busian could affix the "Dr." prefix meant that people were likely to assume he knew something, even if he did not.
Small town politics may have come into play. We went through a protracted time in this community, late '80s primarily, when school district issues bubbled to the surface. It was impossible to be passive about that. I could not get in line with the local public school teachers union. Not in a million years could I do that.
So I sit here today continuing to deal with the repercussions of it all. But when I write today online, I don't have to be so nervous about getting everything 100 percent right, precise, as in differentiating conference opponents and non-conference. Because when I write online, I can go in and correct or fix anything. Print is permanent.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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