my long hours frustrate her, but she also understands that I’m doing what I love. We talk a little bit about what’s going on, as well as my upcoming schedule. I typically try to have my schedule posted on the board by our door, but haven’t kept that up recently because of a malfunctioning home computer. 1:30 p.m. — Staff Meeting When you work at a small newspaper, the sports department is asked to join in on the daily newsroom staff meetings. Actually, on the rare occasion that Kelly takes a day off, I run those meetings. We go over what is coming up and add to the story “budget,” the list of stories for a given day. Both Jeremy and I try to contribute to the conversation, suggesting story ideas. Our newsroom itself has an interesting dynamic. Of the seven of us, three have over 20 years of experience. (Kelly is over 30 years. Randy Dockendorf, our regional editor, was hired less than a year after me and will celebrate his 25th year later this year.) Jeremy has been here for over 10 years. The rest have been here less than five. This week has been particularly exciting, with the World Indoor Archery Championships taking place in Yankton. Jeremy has been wrapped up in that coverage, with some assistance from our news staff. 5:30 p.m. — Catching Up On this day, one of the many good friends I have made through my job happens to be in town. Mike Henriksen, who hosts “Sportsmax” and co-hosts “Calling All Sports,” two statewide radio shows based out of Sioux Falls, was in town to sell his new book. I have had the pleasure of getting to meet a lot of great men and women who, like me, make their living covering sports. It’s part of what makes the “grind” of covering big events fun, getting to see and catch up with friends. One that made the most impact was one I worked most closely with early in my career, the late great Howard “Hod” Nielsen. Those who grew up in Yankton from the 1950s through the 1990s and played sports will likely have known Hod. His knowledge of Yankton and regional sports was unrivaled, as was his ability to connect with people. For a young sports writer/editor, there was no greater resource. When I broke in during the 1990s, several South Dakota papers had their version of Hod. In Mitchell, it was Dean Minder. Rapid City had Ron Wood and Roger Toland. Aberdeen had — and still has — John Papendick and Dave Vilhauer, though Papendick is semi-retired and Vilhauer has jumped to the radio side. Though he retired before I started in Yankton, Sioux Falls had John Egan. These days, I am probably closer to the “old guard” than I care to admit. Hopefully I do as much for the “next generation” of South Dakota sportswriters as those gentlemen did for me. Anyway, back to catching up: The establishment hosting Mike was also hosting a Mount Marty alumni event that night, allowing me to catch up with a few fellow Lancers. I didn’t get to partake in any refreshments, though, as my day was not done. 7 p.m. — Late-Season Hoops When Yankton, MMC and USD are all off or out of town, we like to take the opportunity to try to hit as many area programs as possible. While the Sub-District C2-5 final between Crofton and Hartington Cedar Catholic might have been a great option, its location (Wayne) meant we opted for a closer game geographically. With our deadline — pages out by 10:30 p.m. — we don’t always get out as much or as far as we might like. We try to compensate by hitting some of the holiday and Saturday classics and tournaments hard. For example, when the Tri-Valley Conference girls’ basketball Classic was at MMC, I shot eight games (six high school and two MMC) and wrote a “notebook” story, while Ben Hegge, one of the two college students currently on our staff, wrote game stories on the two MMC games. On this night, I shot a half of the girls’ game between Freeman and Gayville-Volin, then shot a quarter of the boys’ game before hustling back to the office. In between, I had a good long conversation with one of our longtime area coaches regarding the upcoming track season, as well as a few other things. 8:45 p.m. — The Rush Hits Once I returned from Gayville, it was time to put everything together. After selecting photos from the basketball game and choosing which of Jeremy’s archery photos to use, I started putting items on the page. In the meantime, Jeremy was grabbing games stats out of my email and typing up game reports. A lot of things have changed since I was hired to do just that — take game calls. First off, most games don’t come by phone anymore. Most are reported by email, with a few coming to us by fax. Second, the timeline has changed. My first year at the paper was actually when the Press & Dakotan was an afternoon paper, with the vCIMBUREK continued on page 18 Purchase a 60,000 BTU, 90+ High Efficiency Furnace and a 2 Ton, 13 SEER Air Conditioner For Only ?Tax Included ?Wired ?Installed ?Done 3895 * $ *No other Discounts Apply *Certain restrictions apply HEATING & COOLING 24 Hours...Any Time...Any Day 2401 Broadway, Yankton • 605-665-9461 Vermillion • 605-624-0034 www.larrysheatingandcooling.com HISVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2018v15