
You may recall in the previous blog that I got a part-time job working at the Elmira Star-Gazette while a student at Manfield. (You can see that post in the Library of Past Blogs and Videos in the website header).
Each evening, I drove from Mansfield to Elmira, NY, to work the sports desk at the Elmira Star Gazette from 6 to 9. I'd take calls from coaches in the area and write short blurbs for the paper's sports page.
On my own, I went to a dairy farm to meet a coach and a player whose family owned a large dairy farm in Athens, PA. The article with photos appeared in the Sunday edition with my byline.
The paper began sending me out to cover football games at night on Fridays and Saturdays. I didn't know how to write a high school football game story, so I searched the Mansfield library for microfiche articles in the Philadelphia newspapers.
I came across a reporter named Bill Lyon at the Inquirer. Like me, Lyon was young and just starting out getting game assignments. Although he was ten years older than me, I immediately recognized his flair for reporting on football games. I developed his style.
For example, instead of just reporting on the score and statistics of the game, Lyon made it a story. Like this: "The snow swirled around by South Side's goal post, kicked up ice particles, and carried them into the north stands. The fans groaned when the wind blew, but their groaning worsened when East Corning's all-star running back, Tommy Harris shot through the open holes on the right side of South Side's defensive line. The colder it got, the more Harris ran for daylight."
"And the more the fans groaned even more."
The more games I covered, the more bylines I got. Soon, other reporters in the newsroom were recognizing me. One, Garth Wade, the Star Gazette's investigative reporter, introduced himself and took me aside.
"Look," Wade said, "when you go to cover a game, look around and see if you can get two or three other stories to do along with the game story."
It was great advice, and it was precisely what I did — and the paper loved it.
For example, on a Saturday night at the Wellsbor-Towanda football game, in addition to the main story, I did two others: One on the cheerleading squad that won a trophy in competition and another on a fan in the stands who brought two dogs to the game to give Towanda good luck. The paper loved it because if they didn't have room they wouldn't run the sides, but if they were short, they had stuff to use.
As Garth Wade told me, I kept the stories short so that writing them wouldn't take forever. And the paper loved it. And I loved it. I went to school full-time at Mansfield State during the day and worked for the Star Gazette in the evening and on weekends.
However, Denise looked at this with a weary eye.
That Spring, I received a call from Sports Editor Al Malotte. He said, "What time are you coming here tonight?"
I said, 5:30.
"Can you get here at four and wear a tie?"
Sure, I said. I'll be there at four." I had no idea why.
"And wear a tie, dammit." And he hung up.
I had no clue what was waiting for me at the Star-Gazette.
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