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Despite what most people think about people who work on a sports desk, i.e., that their job is really easy, documenting what happened in the world of sports in a single section and presenting that on deadline is often a difficult task.
John Casper,24, is prep-sports editor for the Oshkosh Northwestern. He has also reported sports for the Marquette University newspaper and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“What people don't realize is the extreme deadline pressure that sports people have to deal with each night,” said Casper.
An Oshkosh Northwestern sports page is mainly comprised of wire stories. Most sporting events end late in the afternoon meaning that stories about them typically don't appear on the Associated Press wire until late at night.
“Most of the time we have a pretty good idea where a certain event is going to go on the page, regardless of outcome,” Casper said. “But sometimes unexpected things happen. I've worked in the newsroom until 3 a.m. before.”
Casper said that one of the many misconceptions about the sports desk is the way that people perceive reporters.
Like many 24-year-olds, Casper likes to watch tv, go out to the bars, and listen to music. He is also an avid reader.
“Just because I'm a sports reporter doesn't mean that I only know sports,” Casper said. “I'm a well-read person, and I keep up on world events, like the pope and the tsunami and stuff like that.”
Casper said thinks that most people believe the sports reporters get many perks, when really they do not.
“Contrary to popular belief, we don't get free tickets, and we aren't best friends with the athletes that we report on,” Casper said. “I have no interest in receiving things like that and creating a bias, it's unnecessary.”
Mike Krumrei is an agett file clerk at the Oshkosh Northwestern. An agett is a box-score that summarizes, through the use of numbers and statistics, the outcome of a sporting event. Agett reporters are regarded as the lowest ranking individuals on the sports desk.
“Nobody likes laying out agett as a job but you have to start somewhere,” Krumrei said.
As an agett reporter, Krumrei waits until game round-ups are sent to him so he can then lay them out on the page. When coaches sent game-round ups and statistics he talks with the coach and double checks that facts are right. Other sporting event statistics are taken from the Associated Press wire.
“On Tuesday and Thursday, when most of the high school sporting events happen in Oshkosh I am so busy I don't have time to take a break,” Krumrei said. “The phone rings non-stop and I have so much work to do.”
Krumrei said that he thinks that agett reporting is relatively boring but finds his job to be altogether rewarding.
“I'm learning so much right now,” Krumrei said. “I'm learning how a sports desk functions, how to write stories better and how to deal with parents.”
Casper was also a former agett reporter. Before coming to Oshkosh, he worked on the agett desk at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was given less opportunity for work than Krumrei does that the Northwestern.
“Everybody has to start somewhere,” Casper said. “At the Journal Sentinel I didn't do round-ups or anything like that so he [Krumrei] has much more opportunity here.”
Krumrei also writes stories for the KidsPlay section of the Oshkosh Northwestern. The section runs on the Neighbors page in ever Sunday edition.
“I've seen so many odd things at sporting events,” Krumrei said. “Most of the time it's a parent yelling at their kid or something but sometimes it's overwhelming.”
Since high school sports are such a large part of a local sports page, parents are often involved with the sports desk.
“I think that high school people take us as a service instead of being reporters,”
Casper said. “Parents think that we should write a story on their kid just because he or she made it to finals or something but most of the time nobody except grandma cares.”
Casper said that he credits complains from parents and their constant antagonizing as something beneficial to the sports desk though.
“I'd rather have on complain than 20 compliments,” Casper said. “It keeps my job in check.”