MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

How about a hand for our buddy Aaron Dorksen of the Wooster Daily Record.

Dorksen took second in the Under 40,000 circulation feature story category.

Hmmm....was the "Dorksen Eight" article the feature story that won him this award?!  

On a more serious note, Congrats to Aaron Dorksen on receiving this national recognition.

[David Collinge]

How did Lucas Sullivan do?  Given his record of accuracy, I expect he's in the "fiction" category. 

[jscwittfan]

How did Lucas Sullivan do?  Given his record of accuracy, I expect he's in the "fiction" category. 

That's beautiful.

[David Collinge]

I must say that we are enjoying an embarrassment of riches when we get to complain about how crummy the reporters that cover our teams are.  Most D3 schools can't even their scores reported in the local paper, much less get inaccurate and inflammatory feature stories written about them. 

[jscwittfan]

Most D3 schools can't even their scores reported in the local paper, much less get inaccurate and inflammatory feature stories written about them. 

Don't worry - since football and men's basketball seasons are over, that's what Wittenberg will deal with.  Anything but those two sports is lucky to get a box score.

How is it at Wooster?  I'm sure there is some quality coverage of the baseball team given their high national ranking every year, but what about all the other sports?

For that matter, what is the reporting like around the rest of the conference as a whole?

[smedindy]

Was that a national award or a local Ohio award? Because every six months or so I see articles in newspapers trumpeting the fact that this reporter won third place in the light middle flyweight feature story division.

[billy_pilgrim]

Was that a national award or a local Ohio award? Because every six months or so I see articles in newspapers trumpeting the fact that this reporter won third place in the light middle flyweight feature story division.

That reminds me of the paper I read growing up that would announce its state winners every year. It always allowed me to add "The Award Winning" before another adjective and the name of the paper.

This was the Associated Press Sports Editors, so that's the biggest deal (though of course it was a low weight class...it wasn't like he was going head-to-head with the times).

I'm still new to the full-time business, but I believe these awards on based on just one story. All of this makes little sense to me, a reporter/writer can produce garbage for 364 days a year, but still be deemed award-winning with one good sweep of the pen. And, again, the release didn't say what the subject of this award-winning story was, just a feature of some sort.

By the way, I speak not out of professional jealousy. I think very little of these awards, though they do supposedly help your resume. I was actually told to prepare a story of mine for the state contest (that's coming up sometime). I looked at the managing editor a little crazy, knowing that that story was hardly my best work. Oh well, maybe it will finish 3rd or 4th in some category and we can all post about it here.

[billy_pilgrim]

Oh, I just came across the APSE/Ohio results:

DIVISION III, Newspapers with daily circulation of 13,000 to 24,999
Best Web Site: The (Dover-New Philadelphia) Times Reporter; The (Hamilton) JournalNews; The (Findlay) Courier.

Best Sports Columnist: Aaron Dorksen, The (Wooster) Daily Record; Bruce Hefflinger, The (Defiance) Crescent-News; Dave Hanneman, The (Findlay) Courier; Joe Arnold, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette; Rick Noland, The Medina Gazette.

Best Sports Writer: Aaron Dorksen, The (Wooster) Daily Record; Dave Hanneman, The (Findlay) Courier; Joe Arnold, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette; Mark Heiman, The (Findlay) Courier.

Best Game Story: Bryan Schaaf, The (Wooster) Daily Record, "Champions!"; Dave Purpura, The (Newark) Advocate, "Pellet Powers NC"; Joe Arnold, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, "Well Worth the Wait"; Skip Weaver, Middletown Journal, "Panther Pressure Wallops Warriors."

Best Sports Enterprise: Dave Hanneman, The (Findlay) Courier, "FHS and Substance Abuse"; Jamie Baker and Mark Heiman, The (Findlay) Courier, "New OHSAA Divisions"; Patrick Meyers, Steubenville Herald-Star, "Zamana: Central's Angel in the Outfield"; Skip Weaver and John Bombatch, Middletown Journal, "An Era Comes to a Close."

Best Special Sports Section: The (Newark) Advocate, "The Game"; Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, "High School Football Preview"; The (Wooster) Daily Record, "High School Football Preview: Throwback Edition"; Middletown Journal, "Career Dreams."

Best Daily Sports Section: Elyria Chronicle-Telegram; The (Newark) Advocate; The (Findlay) Courier; Middletown Journal.

Best Sports Photo: Bridget Commiso, The Medina Gazette, "Pinned"; Daniel Kraus, The (Ashtabula) Star-Beacon, "What Gravity?"; Eric George, The (Newark) Advocate, "State Track"; Frank Robertson, Chillicothe Gazette, "State Volleyball"; Jim Noelker, Middletown Journal, "T-Ball."


Feel lucky Wooster, you have one of the three best columnists and writers in the entire state of Ohio.....in papers that entered the contest....and with circulations 13,000-24,999.

[pufin]

How is it at Wooster?  I'm sure there is some quality coverage of the baseball team given their high national ranking every year, but what about all the other sports?

When I was at Wooster (more than a few years ago), I worked in the SID office, covering the college sports teams. For sports other than football, men's basketball, and baseball, everything written in the Daily Record came from student reporters in the SID office. All sports were covered in the Daily Record, sometimes just in a round-up, sometimes with a full by-lined article. Although it was the Daily Record, it was nice to see my name printed as the reporter.

[David Collinge]

How is it at Wooster?  I'm sure there is some quality coverage of the baseball team given their high national ranking every year, but what about all the other sports?

When I was at Wooster (more than a few years ago), I worked in the SID office, covering the college sports teams. For sports other than football, men's basketball, and baseball, everything written in the Daily Record came from student reporters in the SID office. All sports were covered in the Daily Record, sometimes just in a round-up, sometimes with a full by-lined article. Although it was the Daily Record, it was nice to see my name printed as the reporter.

These days, the byline on such stories just reads "COLLEGE NEWS SERVICE." 

[David Collinge]

Interesting that, in his preview of the men's tournament, Pat seems to think that the sectional will be held on the court of one of the upper-half teams, possibly Rochester, even though he seems to think that Wooster will advance through this weekend.  I'm not sure how the New York State teams grade out in terms of the hosting criteria, but I can't see how Rochester, who's not even hosting a regional, would get a sectional nod over Wooster.  St. John Fisher, maybe, although I know nothing about their facilities.  It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. 

[pufin]

David, I thought about that when I was filling out my bracket. It's probably more about distances. If the four teams will be Williams, Rochester, Wooster and JCU, then the only option for a flight-free location is Rochester (or possibly JCU).

Williams to Rochester ~260 miles
Williams to JCU ~495 miles
Williams to Wooster ~555 miles
Rochester to Wooster ~310 miles
Rochester to JCU ~250 miles
JCU to Wooster ~60 miles

The presence of Williams shifts the sectional up north into NY. If, for example, Brockport were to get through, Wooster is a possibility. The presence of St. Lawrence probably eliminates Wooster, but keeps JCU in the hunt for hosting.

[David Collinge]

I guess that's the case.  Considering we have teams in this section spread from Boston, MA (Wentworth) to Danville, KY (Centre)--a distance of just over 1000 miles--we'll have to see who wins Saturday before having a good idea of sectional hosting duties.  A sectional made up of Rochester or Fisher, Brockport, Wooster, and any of the LEC/JCU/Westminster pod would be within 500 miles of one another, I believe.  As you suggest, it's the rest of the Brockport pod that messes things up (the rest of the Wooster pod does, too, but I won't care where the sectional is held if Wooster's not in it), so Go Golden Eagles! 

[Pat Coleman]

David, I thought about that when I was filling out my bracket. It's probably more about distances. If the four teams will be Williams, Rochester, Wooster and JCU, then the only option for a flight-free location is Rochester (or possibly JCU).

Williams to Rochester ~260 miles
Williams to JCU ~495 miles
Williams to Wooster ~555 miles
Rochester to Wooster ~310 miles
Rochester to JCU ~250 miles
JCU to Wooster ~60 miles

The presence of Williams shifts the sectional up north into NY. If, for example, Brockport were to get through, Wooster is a possibility. The presence of St. Lawrence probably eliminates Wooster, but keeps JCU in the hunt for hosting.

Bingo -- pufin channels my thoughts correctly here.

[pennstghs]

i'd agree-if perhaps it was like last year with Wittenberg and Mississippi College's presence-then Wooster may be the central location......

John Carroll winning the region according to the Tournament Preview? I'm not so sure about that one