While on vacation in Florida last week, I had a lot of time to think.
Normally when I go to Florida for vacation, I spend a lot of time outside. But that is often in the winter, when the temperature is usually in the 70s and not 95-plus like it was last week.
Not minding the heat, however, I started to go out for a walk the first afternoon I was there. My sister, who had recently moved to the Orlando area with her family, looked at me like I was nuts.
My sister, who is a doctor and much, much smarter than me, explained that the heat index was around 110 and strongly advised against going outside in the heat of the afternoon.
So that left me a few afternoons to ponder how, as The Republic’s new sports editor, I can meet and exceed the expectations of you, our readers.
Football practice opened Monday and another high school sports season kicks off Wednesday with the beginning of girls golf. Columbus and Bartholomew County schools have rich sports traditions that are continuing to grow, and we want to be there to chronicle the defining moments.
Having been a sports writer here for the past 4½ years, I have a pretty good idea of what most of our readers like and don’t like. Hint: Try to keep the coverage between Columbus East and Columbus North as even as possible.
But our coverage is not limited to the school sports. We want to hear about youth sports and adult sports, as well.
The Republic has been named the state’s best sports section among newspapers our size by the Hoosier State Press Association each of the past three years, but that is little consolation if the locals don’t enjoy our product.
So if you have a story idea, I want to hear from you. My email address is [email protected], and my phone number is 812-379-5628.
While some submissions may turn into a story for The Republic, others will run in our Sports Scrapbook section on Sundays. Deadline for items to run on Sunday, whether in the sports briefs section or in our sports roundup, is noon Friday.
Those submitting photos for our Sports Scrapbook page should be sure to include first and last names of everyone in the picture (including coaches) in the order they appear. Photos should be sent as large as possible.
So again, feel free to call, email or even snail mail me with your thoughts or ideas. Together, we can keep The Republic sports section great.
