Relearning Old Lessons

Years have passed since I wrote deadline stories from a college press box. I admit some trepidation going into last Saturday's Georgia Tech-Georgia contest. But falling back on old skills, I survived.

Writing such articles requires some prior thought. As the football game unfolds, you start looking for subjects that will support the main game story. If you wait until the game is over to do this thinking, you start off in trouble. Fortunately for me, the outcome of the game wasn't in question in the fourth quarter. I realized Tech Coach Chan Gailey's job would be in jeopardy so that took care of one sidebar. For the second story, I thought of some bizarre situations during the game that led to Georgia's victory.

By making these decisions you go into the post-game interviews ready to listen for comments that fit your plan. Of course, if you're wise, you listen for comments from coaches or players that lead you to throw out the stories you've planned in favor of something more interesting. That didn't happen Saturday. My ideas survived and so did I.