When we sent staff writer Ryan Day and staff photographer Jennifer Meyers to Albany this week to cover the Auburn High School football team's trip to be honored at the state Capitol, it was essentially the final chapter in our full-scale coverage of this remarkable story.
The reader feedback for the way our staff, particularly the sports and photo departments, covered the team's state championship run has been overwhelmingly positive. Clearly, many of you loved reading about these young men and their coaches, and the way they brought this community together.
As a quick refresher, here's some of what went into the paper. For the last few weeks of the playoff run, we had daily sports section stories on the team - often profiles about different individuals. State playoff game stories featured expansive coverage, with stories on A1, the inside of the A-section and the sports section, not to mention a photo page. We produced an outstanding retrospective special section a few weeks after the season ended, too.
But the massive amount of coverage has generated some discussion about how much is too much, or whether we don't do enough for other local sports teams.
With respect to the AHS football coverage, though, it's important to understand why that became such a big story. This was a team that captured the attention of this community in an unprecedented way. With each week, the Maroons became much more than a sports story. They became an Auburn story, and it was important for the newspaper to reflect that.
To see that level of coverage on one team again, it will take that kind of a story to unfold.
But it's important for readers to know that we endeavor to cover the entire local sports scene, and want to find ways to get everyone the recognition they deserve.
I can tell you this without hesitation: Our sports staff works extremely hard to cover the local athletic scene, from youth leagues to high schools to adult recreational activities. With two full-time and one part-time in that department, they're kept extremely busy, and it shows on our pages. From daily centerpiece stories to theme pages throughout the week to nightly roundups from all the action out there, the sports section is packed with local content.
All that said, we're always aiming to do more. And that's where you come in.
Three bodies can't possibly be everywhere at all times, but they can usually find a way to track down a score or a story or a statistic if we're told about it by our readers. It's also extremely helpful when coaches, league officials or any other people connected to local sports consistently call us with their results - and their pitches for stories.
So keep the feedback coming, and help us continue growing into the sports section you can't wait to read.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's column runs Saturday's in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
As a quick refresher, here's some of what went into the paper. For the last few weeks of the playoff run, we had daily sports section stories on the team - often profiles about different individuals. State playoff game stories featured expansive coverage, with stories on A1, the inside of the A-section and the sports section, not to mention a photo page. We produced an outstanding retrospective special section a few weeks after the season ended, too.
But the massive amount of coverage has generated some discussion about how much is too much, or whether we don't do enough for other local sports teams.
With respect to the AHS football coverage, though, it's important to understand why that became such a big story. This was a team that captured the attention of this community in an unprecedented way. With each week, the Maroons became much more than a sports story. They became an Auburn story, and it was important for the newspaper to reflect that.
To see that level of coverage on one team again, it will take that kind of a story to unfold.
But it's important for readers to know that we endeavor to cover the entire local sports scene, and want to find ways to get everyone the recognition they deserve.
I can tell you this without hesitation: Our sports staff works extremely hard to cover the local athletic scene, from youth leagues to high schools to adult recreational activities. With two full-time and one part-time in that department, they're kept extremely busy, and it shows on our pages. From daily centerpiece stories to theme pages throughout the week to nightly roundups from all the action out there, the sports section is packed with local content.
All that said, we're always aiming to do more. And that's where you come in.
Three bodies can't possibly be everywhere at all times, but they can usually find a way to track down a score or a story or a statistic if we're told about it by our readers. It's also extremely helpful when coaches, league officials or any other people connected to local sports consistently call us with their results - and their pitches for stories.
So keep the feedback coming, and help us continue growing into the sports section you can't wait to read.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's column runs Saturday's in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
